Tail cover structure

Field of the invention:

The subject matter described herein, relates to a 'Tail cover structure" for a two-wheeled vehicle, and more particularly relates to a tail cover structure provided in a motorcycle.

Background of the invention:

Motorcycles designed for road use include tail lamp assembly on the back of the motorcycle for obvious safety reasons and to meet government regulations. Tail lights are commonly mounted on the rear portion of the motorcycle or on the rear fender, and can include both the running light and the brake light.

Tail lights typically include a base and cover. The base includes a bulb mount for receiving a light bulb and a wiring harness for providing power to the light bulb. The cover includes a lens, usually colored transparent red, that is positioned over the base. The cover and base are secured to the rear of the motorcycle using fasteners (e.g., bolts or screws) extending through the cover and base and threaded into the motorcycle. For example, the fasteners can be threaded into the rear fender of the motorcycle.

The tail lamp assembly is generally mounted on the rearmost portion of the vehicle in such a way that the tail cover centre, tail cover left and the tail cover right which constitute the tail cover assembly, enclose the tail lamp from the top, left and right sides respectively. Since the tail lamp assembly in a single plane with two-point mounting, there is possibility of rocking along the horizontal plane that results in vibration getting transferred to the said tail lamp assembly causing damage to the nearby parts. Hence the objective of the invention is to overcome the aforementioned problem.

Brief description of the invention:

To alleviate the abovesaid problem, the present invention provides a motorcycle tail cover assembly that facilitates the reducion in vibrations occuring to the tail lamp assembly thereby increasing the life of the bulbs housed inside.

The tail cover assembly includes the tail cover left, the tail cover right and the tail cover centre. The tail lamp assembly includes a cover, including a tail light lens, adapted to be positioned over the base, and an attaching means for attaching the cover to a motorcycle.

One aspect of the invention embodies an overlap between the tail cover centre and the lens of the said tail lamp assembly. The tail cover center has a protruding portion formed at its end. A recess is provided on the tail lamp lens and the base top portion of the tail lamp assembly in such a way that the projecting portion of the tail cover center snuggly locates itself in the recess provided in the tail lamp lens. Hook type locators are provided on the tail cover centre and the said tail cover centre is connected to the tail cover left and tail cover right by means of these locaters.

The tail cover left and tail cover right are mounted at two points on to the upper tubes of the motorcycle frame. The said left and right tail covers are sandwiched between the bridge tail cover and the tail lamp bracket at the rearmost portion. The tail cover centre is independently fastened to the tail lamp bracket by means of screws.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 illustrates side view of a motorcycle according to one embodiment of the present invention

Figure 2 illustrates top view of the tail cover structure according to one embodiment of the present invention

Figure 3 illustrates sectional view of the tail cover structure according to one embodiment of the present invention

Figure 4 illustrates the bridge portion of the tail cover structure according to one embodiment of the present invention

Detailed description of the invention:

A selected illustrative embodiment of the present invention will be now described with respect to the accompanying figures 1,2 3 and 4. A motorcycle comprises of a frame 101, front fork 102 attached to a pivot tube 103 of the vehicle frame 101, a front wheel 104 attached to these front forks 102, a handle bar 105 connected to the front forks 102, a fuel tank 106 attached so as to straddle an upper part of the vehicle frame 101, a seat 107 attached to the upper rear portion of the vehicle frame 101, an engine unit 108 attached to the lower front section of the vehicle frame 101, a swing arm 109 attached to a lower rear section of the vehicle frame 101, suspended by a rear shock absorber 110 from the vehicle frame 101 and a rear wheel 111 attached to a rear end of swing arm 109. The intake system of the engine (not shown in the figure) comprises of a carburettor, intake duct and an air cleaner. The exhaust system of the engine (not shown in the figure) comprises of exhaust pipe and a muffler.

The motorcycle is also provided with a side cover 112 for covering a side section of the vehicle frame 101, a seat cover (not shown in the figure) for covering a rear section of the vehicle frame 101 below the seat 107, a front fender 113 for covering an upper part of the front wheel 104, and a rear fender 114 for covering an upper part of the rear wheel 111. The said motorcycle is provided with a tail cover assembly 115 having a centre 201 located between the side covers 112, which has a protruding portion 202 at its rear end in such a way that it locates itself on to a recess 203 provided in the tail lamp lens 204 of the said tail lamp assembly in order to prevent the tail lamp assembly from vibrations by creating a sealed engagement between the two parts.

The rearmost part of the motorcycle comprises of the tube lower (not shown in the figure) provided on either sides of the vehicle body wherein one end of the tube lower (not shown in the figure) is connected to the swing arm pivot and the other end is attached to the upper tube of the frame 101. The aesthetics in the rear portion of the vehicle are improved by means of the tail cover assembly 115 The said tail cover assembly 115 is mounted on the upper tubes by means of screws and snap fits. Registers are provided on the tail cover left 205, right 206 and center 201 to improve the fitment between the three parts.

The present invention embodies a recess 203 formed on the lens 204 and the tail lamp base top portion, of the tail lamp assembly 115. The tail lamp assembly 115 is mounted to the tail lamp bracket 207 by means of two mountings studs at the rear portion of the tail lamp base. As illustrated, the rear portion of the motorcycle houses the tail cover assembly 115, which comprises of the tail cover left 205, tail cover center 201 and the tail cover right 206. The tail cover left 205 and tail cover right 206 are mounted at two points 210 on to the upper tubes of the motorcycle frame 101. A bridge tail cover 208 is an elongated structure having mounting bosses at both the ends and the tail cover left 205 and tail cover right 206 is connected to the said bridge tail cover 208 on the left and right sides respectively such that the bridge tail cover 208 helps to maintain the position of the tail cover left 205 and right 206 by sandwiching it between the tail lamp bracket 207 and said tail bridge cover 208.

The tail cover center 201 has a protruding portion 202 formed at its end. A recess 203 is provided on the tail lamp lens 204 and the base top portion of the tail lamp assembly 115 in such a way that the projecting portion of the tail cover center 201 snuggly locates itself in the recess provided in the tail lamp lens 204.

The tail cover centre 201 is further provided with hook type locators 209 and the said centre cover 201 is connected, to the tail cover left 205 and tail cover right 206 by means of these hook type locaters 209. The cover center 201 is fastened to the tail lamp bracket 207 independently by means of screws.

In order to remove the lens 204 of the tail lamp for the purpose of servicing, the lens 204 can be removed easily by taking out the tail cover center 201 only, without disturbing the other two covers. This type of design makes
accessibility easy as the bulb can be changed with removing only the tail cover center 201 independently fixed by removing a single screw.

Also the above-mentioned overlap of the tail cover center 201 with the tail lamp lens 204 prevents the tail lamp assembly 115 from engine vibrations by creating a sealed engagement between the lens 204 and the tail cover center
201.

Although the subject matter has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. As such, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiment contained therein.

Claims:

We claim:

1. A tail cover structure 115 for a motorcycle comprising a tail cover left 205, a tail cover right 206 and a centre 201, wherein the said tail cover left 205 and said tail cover right 206 are connected by a bridge tail cover 208.

2. A tail cover structure 115 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said bridge tail cover 208 maintains the position of the said tail cover left 205 and said tail cover right 206 by negotiating them between a tail lamp bracket 207 and itself 208.

3. A tail cover structure 115 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said tail cover centre 201 has a protruding portion 202 which is located in the recess 203 provided between the base top portion of the tail lamp structure 115 and tail lamp lens 204.

4. A tail cover structure 115 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said tail cover centre 201 is connected to tail cover left 205 and tail cover right 206 by means of hook type locators 209.

5. A tail cover structure 115 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said cover centre 201 is fastened to the tail tamp bracket 207 by means of screws.

6. A motorcycle having tail cover structure 115 comprising a tail cover left 205, a tail cover right 206 and a centre 201, wherein the said tail cover left 205 and said tail cover right 206 are connected by a bridge tail cover 208.