Projection assembly for a vehicle

A projection assembly for a motorcycle vehicle, comprising:

• a housing that at least partially surrounds and defines a chamber, the housing includes a bottom portion that has an arcuate shape that is least partially complementary to and configured to be coupled to a rear fender of the motorcycle, the housing further includes a slot defined in and positioned along a forward end of the housing;
• a projection mechanism that is at least partially received within the chamber of the housing, the projection mechanism is positioned substantially adjacent to the slot in the housing and is configured to project light through the slot in the housing to generate images or a series of images onto at least a portion of an operator or passenger of the motorcycle;
• a controller in communication with the projection mechanism and with a brake system and a turn signal assembly of the motorcycle, the controller is at least partially received within the chamber of the housing, and operable to control the projection mechanism to project one or more images or one or more series of images onto the operator or passenger of the motorcycle that correspond to one or more operations of the brake system and the turn signal assembly of the motorcycle, wherein when the motorcycle operator activates a brake of the brake system of the motorcycle, the projection mechanism projects an image including a stop sign onto the driver or passenger of the motorcycle, and when the motorcycle operator activates a turn signal of the turn signal assembly of the motorcycle, the projection mechanism projects and image including an arrow corresponding to a direction of the turn signal onto the driver or passenger of the motorcycle;
• an ambient light sensor in communication with the controller, the ambient light sensor captures one or more light conditions and transmits information related to the one or more light conditions to the controller, the controller is operable to automatically adjust an intensity of the light from the projection mechanism based upon the information related to the one or more light conditions captured by the ambient light sensor;
• and
• one or more of a global positioning system (GPS) unit, a sensor, and a transmitter or receiver in communication with the controller such that the projection mechanism changes a projection of first images or a first series of images to a projection of second images or a second series of images upon receiving a signal from the one or more of the GPS unit, the sensor, and the receiver, the second images or the second series of images are different than the first images or the first series of images.

A projection assembly for a motorcycle, comprising:

• a housing including top, bottom, rear, and side portions that at least partially define a chamber, the housing having an opening defined therealong and positioned substantially adjacent to a forward end thereof, the bottom portion of the housing includes a generally arcuate shape that is complementary to a surface of a rear fender of the motorcycle to facilitate attachment of the projection assembly to the rear fender of the motorcycle, the rear portion of the housing includes an at least partially translucent section;
• a projection mechanism that is received within the chamber of the housing, the projection mechanism is positioned substantially adjacent to the opening of the housing to allow light generated by the projection mechanism to pass through the opening to project a plurality of images onto a driver or passenger of the motorcycle;
• a controller that is received within the chamber of the housing and in communication with a brake system and a turn signal assembly of the motorcycle, the controller operable to control the projection mechanism to project one or more images of the plurality of images onto the driver or passenger of the motorcycle that correspond to one or more operations of the brake system and the turn signal assembly of the motorcycle, such that when the driver activates a brake of the brake system of the motorcycle, the projection mechanism projects an image including a stop sign onto the driver or passenger of the motorcycle, and when the driver activates a turn signal of the turn signal assembly of the motorcycle, the projection mechanism projects and image including an arrow corresponding to a direction of the turn signal onto the driver or passenger of the motorcycle;
• an ambient light sensor received along the housing and in communication with the controller, the ambient light sensor captures one or more light conditions and transmits information related to the one or more light conditions to the controller, the controller is operable to automatically adjust an intensity of the light from the projection mechanism based upon the information related to the one or more light conditions captured by the ambient light sensor;
• and
• at least one light source received in a compartment defined within the chamber of the housing and in communication with the brake system, when the operator activates a brake of the brake system, the at least one light source activates to illuminate the translucent section of the rear portion of the housing.