Integrated Awning Housing for RV Marker Lights and Camera
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Solution Overview
Problem
Recreational vehicles and trailers with rear ramp doors face challenges in installing marker lights, overhead canopies, and rear-facing cameras due to space constraints, where maximizing the door length for ramp or patio deck configurations often precludes the installation of these features, and existing camera mountings are often unstable and obstructed.
Innovation Solution
An integrated awning system housing that incorporates marker lights and a rear view camera, allowing for their mounting near the vehicle's top, providing a sturdy and unobstructed field of view while allowing for adjustable camera positioning and simultaneous deployment of an awning canopy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the rear ramp door is extended to maximize length for ramp or patio deck configurations, then the door length is improved, but the space available for installing marker lights and awnings near the top of the vehicle is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions (marker lights, awning housing, camera mounting) into a single integrated assembly mounted at the top rear of the vehicle. This merging allows all components to share the limited installation space rather than requiring separate mounting areas, resolving the contradiction between maximizing door length and providing space for auxiliary features.
2Adaptability or versatility
If an overhead canopy or awning is installed to shade the patio deck, then the usability of the patio area is improved, but the space required for the awning housing conflicts with the space needed for marker lights
Solution Approach 1:
The awning housing is merged with the marker light assembly and camera mounting structure into a single integrated unit. This allows the awning functionality to be added without requiring additional space at the top of the vehicle, as all components share the same mounting footprint.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated assembly at the top rear of the vehicle serves multiple functions simultaneously: it houses the marker lights for safety visibility, contains the awning mechanism for patio shading, and provides a mounting structure for the rear-facing camera. This multi-functionality resolves the space conflict by making one structure serve all purposes.
3Ease of manufacture
If discrete cameras are mounted to the rear of the vehicle using brackets, then camera installation is simplified, but the mounting stability is reduced and the camera may be readily impacted or reoriented
Solution Approach 1:
The camera mounting is merged with the structural awning housing assembly rather than being a separate bracket attachment. This integration provides inherent structural support and stability, as the camera becomes part of the load-bearing awning structure rather than a separate component requiring its own mounting hardware.
Data Source
AI summary
An awning system includes a housing connectable to a rear of a vehicle and an awning canopy extendable from and retractable into the housing. In an embodiment, a plurality of marker lights is integrated with the housing and oriented to project light in a rearward direction when the housing is attached to the rear of the vehicle. In another embodiment, a rear-facing camera is integrated with the housing and oriented to have a field of view covering an area rearward of the vehicle and below the canopy.