Combined direction,parking and hazard warning signaling apparatus

Claim 1

A combined direction, parking and hazard warning signaling apparatus for automotive vehicles: which comprises a base member, a direction signal actuating member mounted on said base member for sliding and pivotal movement thereon, an operating lever connected to said actuating member to pivot said actuating member from a neutral position to operating positions at opposite sides thereof; a hazard warning actuating member mounted on said base member and movable from a disabled position to an actuated position in a direction substantially transverse to the direction of movement of the direction signal actuating member; movable contact means operatively connected both to the direction signal actuating member and to the hazard warning actuating member and movable selectively upon actuation of the direction signal actuating member or the hazard warning actuating member; stationary contact means positioned to be selectively connectable with the movable contact means and including at least three rows of stationary contacts, each row extending in a direction substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the direction signal actuating member, said rows being equally-spaced from one another in the direction of movement of the hazard warning actuating member, a first of said rows of stationary contacts including a first contact connected to an electric power source through first switch means and two further contacts spaced on opposite sides of said first contact and connected, respectively, to left and right-hand parking lamps, a second row of said stationary contacts including a first contact, and two pairs of spaced contacts spaced on opposite sides, respectively, of said first contact of said second row and connected, respectively, to left and right turn signaling lamps, and a third row of said stationary contacts including at least a central contact; a first flasher unit connecting said first contact of said second row to said electric power source; a second flasher unit and a second switch means connecting said central contact of said third row to said electric power source; said movable contact means bridging, when the direction signal actuating member is at its neutral position and the hazard warning actuating member is at its disabled position, all three of said contacts in said first row upon closing said switch means to effect turning-on of the parking lamps, and completing, when the direction signal actuating member is pivoted to one of its operating positions, an electric circuit for energizing the turn signaling lamp corresponding to the desired turning direction of the vehicle by means of the central contact in the third row, and simultaneously disconnecting the first contact in said first row from the further contact on the first row which is connected to a parking lamp on the side corresponding to the energized turning signaling lamp, and bridging, when the hazard warning actuating member is aT its actuated position, the first contact in said second row and the two adjacent contacts in the second row to flash both the left and right-hand turn signal lamps, while disconnecting the contacts in the first row which connect with the parking lamps.