Electric lamp having a cover with a light guide

1. An electric powered vehicle marker lamp, comprising:

A base for said vehicle marker lamp, a light source, and a cover over the light source;

Said light source being mounted, directly or indirectly, on said base with said light source pointing generally outward in a Z-axis direction that is generally perpendicular to said base;

Said cover being light-transmissive plastic material wherein:

a) Said cover forms a cavity thereunder between said cover and said base;

b) Said cover has a light guide extending downward through said cavity from an inside surface of said cover, generally along said Z-axis, and toward said light source, said cover defining a plurality of stair-stepped facets on an outside surface of said cover, said facets providing a generally transverse exit for light rays travelling transversely through said cover plastic material; and,

c) Said cover defining a light reflective surface on an outside surface of said cover, said light reflective surface comprising a trough in said cover and located at an upper portion of said light guide and angled to (i) reflect, (ii) refract, or (iii) reflect and refract: light rays emanating from said light source and through said light guide at angles generally transverse to said Z-axis, said light rays thereafter travelling generally transversely through said cover plastic material before exiting said cover.

2. The lamp of claim 1 , wherein said reflective surface is formed in said plastic material.

3. The lamp of claim 2 , wherein said light guide is formed from said plastic material as a unitary portion of said cover.

4. The lamp of claim 3 , wherein said cover has at least one facet surface being generally parallel to said Z-axis and providing a generally transverse exit for light rays travelling transversely through said cover plastic material.

5. The lamp of claim 4 , wherein said reflective surface comprises a two-plane V-shape.

6. The lamp of claim 5 , wherein said light guide has a lower comprising a concave lens located directly over said light source.

7. The lamp of claim 6 , wherein said cover adjacent to said reflective surface has a thickness, and wherein said reflective surface extends across at least about two millimeters deep into said thickness.

8. The lamp of claim 7 , wherein said cover is generally dome-shaped with a zenith above said light source, and wherein said plurality of stair-stepped facets step downward from said zenith.

9. The lamp of claim 1 , wherein said reflective surface comprises a two-plane V-shape.

10. The lamp of claim 1 , wherein said reflective surface comprises at least one flat plane that extends an entire width of said cover.

11. The lamp of claim 1 , wherein said light guide is molded from said plastic material as a unitary portion said cover and wherein said light guide extends downwardly and is a length that is longer than it is wide.

12. The lamp of claim 1 , wherein said cover has at least one facet surface being generally parallel to said Z-axis and providing a generally transverse exit for light rays travelling transversely through said cover plastic material.

13. The lamp of claim 1 , wherein said light guide extends a length below said cover at least 5 millimeters and has a lower comprising a concave lens located directly over said light source.

14. The lamp of claim 1 , wherein said cover adjacent to said reflective surface has a thickness, and wherein said reflective surface extends across at least about two millimeters deep into said thickness.

15. The lamp of claim 1 , wherein said cover is generally dome-shaped with a zenith above said light source, and wherein said cover has a plurality of stair-stepped facets stepping downward from said zenith with said facets providing a generally transverse exit for light rays travelling transversely through said cover plastic material.

16. An electric powered lamp, comprising:

A base, a light source, and a cover over a light source;

Said light source being mounted, directly or indirectly, on said base with said light source pointing generally outward in a Z-axis direction that is generally perpendicular to said base;

Said cover being light-transmissive plastic material wherein:

a) Said cover forms a cavity thereunder between said cover and said base;

b) Said cover has a light guide extending downward through said cavity from an inside surface of said cover at least 5 millimeters, generally along said Z-axis, and toward said light source, said light source comprising an LED mounted to a circuit board; and,

c) Said cover is generally dome-shaped with a zenith above said light source, and wherein said cover has a plurality of stair-stepped facets stepping downward from said zenith with said facets providing a generally transverse exit for light rays travelling transversely through said cover plastic material.

17. The lamp of claim 1 , wherein the reflective surface is a V-shaped trough running across the lamp cover.