Vehicle-mounted, rear-directed message display apparatus

Abstract

A vehicle-mounted, rear-directed message display apparatus includes a housing which includes a transparent rear wall, a front wall, side walls, a bottom wall, and a cover. Support assemblies are connected to the side walls and extend downward. Illumination lamps are supported inside the housing near the front wall. A display sign is supported inside the housing between the illumination lamps and the transparent rear wall. The display sign includes an opaque background and transparent message lettering. An illumination control switch is electrically connected to the illumination lamps. With the invention installed in a front vehicle, when the driver of the front vehicle thinks that a following vehicle is following too closely, the driver of the front vehicle can operate the illumination control switch to light the illumination lamps to illuminate the display sign to warn the driver of the following vehicle that the following vehicle is following too closely. The front wall includes an illumination monitor aperture so that a driver can observe the status of the message display in the rear view mirror of the vehicle. With another embodiment of the invention, each of the support assemblies further includes a lock nut connected to a respective strut-to-housing connector portion for locking the housing in a selected orientation angle with respect to the respective support assembly.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.