Vehicle lighting assembly
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsAaron Bradley Johnson, Paul Kenneth Dellock, Stephen Kenneth Helwig, Stuart C. Salter, Jeffrey Alan Mesko
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A running board top plate is provided that comprises a plurality of light-diffusing waveguides, a reflective layer positioned around a portion of each light-diffusing waveguide, a base layer configured to receive one or more of the light-diffusing waveguides and the reflective layer, and a clear lens layer positioned over the light-diffusing waveguides, the reflective layer, and the base layer.
Claims20
A running board for a vehicle, comprising:
- a bottom plate operably coupled to a top plate, each of the bottom plate and the top plate including a base layer;
- a plurality of lighting assemblies coupled to the base layer of one of the top plate and the bottom plate, wherein each of the plurality of lighting assemblies comprises:
- a reflective layer defining a channel;
- and
- a light-diffusing waveguide positioned within the channel, the light-diffusing waveguide having a plurality of scattering sites;
- and
- a lighting module optically coupled to each of the plurality of lighting assemblies, wherein each of the lighting modules includes a laser diode.
A running board top plate comprising:
- a plurality of light-diffusing waveguides;
- a reflective layer positioned around a portion of each light-diffusing waveguide;
- a base layer configured to receive one or more of the light-diffusing waveguides and the reflective layer;
- and
- a clear lens layer positioned over the light-diffusing waveguides, the reflective layer, and the base layer.
A method of manufacturing a running board comprising the steps of:
- extruding a base layer of a lighting assembly, wherein the base layer forms a portion of the running board;
- extruding a clear lens layer of the lighting assembly, wherein the clear lens layer comprises clarified polypropylene;
- and
- extruding a light-diffusing fiber into a reflective layer of the lighting assembly, wherein the light-diffusing fiber includes a plurality of scattering sites.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.