Granted Patent B2

US 12,630,259 · App. 17/979,066 · Granted May 19, 2026

Inventors: David Larry Vigen (Thief River Falls, MN); Steven Theodore Janzow (Thief River Falls, MN)

Assignee: Arctic Cat Inc.

B62M27/02B62J6/04B62J15/04B62M2027/028

Abstract

Claims (30)

1 . A taillight housing assembly for a snowmobile, said taillight housing assembly comprising:

a main body that is connectable to a drive track tunnel of a snowmobile; and

a pair of opposing retention wings extending from opposing lateral ends of the main body that are structured and operable to mount to a bumper/hand bar of the snowmobile, the opposing retention wings having a C-like shape at a most lateral portion of the taillight housing assembly such that opposing retention wings are mateable with an inboard side, an outboard and a forward side of the bumper/hand bar,

wherein the taillight housing assembly is mountable to the drive track tunnel and the bumper/hand bar such that the taillight housing assembly provides structural reinforcement to the drive track tunnel.

2 . The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the retention wings are structured to be contoured and shaped to mate with a shape and contour of an outer surface of the bumper/hand bar.

3 . The assembly of claim 2 , wherein the taillight housing main body comprises a rear lens face for mounting at least one of one or more lighting fixture and one or more reflective lens, and the taillight housing fixture further comprises a flap mounting tail extending from the rear lens face, the flap mounting tail structured and operable to have a snow flap mounted thereto.

4 . The assembly of claim 3 , wherein the flap mounting tail comprises at least one heat exchanger shield access port structured and operable to provide access to a heat exchanger of the snowmobile for installing and removing one or more heat exchanger shield of the snowmobile.

5 . A taillight and snow flap assembly for a snowmobile, said assembly comprising:

a taillight housing assembly mountable to a bumper/hand bar and a drive track tunnel of a snowmobile such that the taillight housing assembly provides structural reinforcement to the drive track tunnel; and

a snow flap mountable to a taillight housing assembly, the snow flap comprising a pair of opposing retention arms extending from ends of opposing sidewalls of the snow flap and structured and operable to mount to the bumper/hand bar at a most lateral portion of the snow flap.

6 . The assembly of claim 5 , wherein the taillight housing assembly comprises:

a main body that is connectable to the drive track tunnel; and

a pair of opposing retention wings extending from opposing lateral ends of the taillight housing main body that are structured and operable to mount to the bumper/hand bar.

7 . The assembly of claim 6 , wherein the retention wings are structured to be contoured and shaped to mate with a shape and contour of an outer surface of the bumper/hand bar.

8 . The assembly of claim 7 , wherein the taillight housing main body comprises a rear lens face for mounting at least one of one or more lighting fixture and one or more reflective lens, and the taillight housing fixture further comprises a flap mounting tail extending from the rear lens face, the flap mounting tail structured and operable to have the snow flap mounted thereto.

9 . The assembly of claim 8 , wherein the flap mounting tail comprises at least one heat exchanger shield access port structured and operable to provide access to a heat exchanger of the snowmobile for installing and removing one or more heat exchanger shield of the snowmobile.

10 . The assembly of claim 7 , wherein the snow flap comprises a main body having a central panel and the opposing sidewalls extending from central panel, wherein the snow flap main body comprises an upper portion and lower portion extending at an angle from the upper portion thereby defining an elbow the snow flap main body.

11 . The assembly of claim 10 , wherein the opposing retention arms are structured to be contoured and shaped to mate with a shape and contour of an outer surface of the bumper/hand bar.

12 . The assembly of claim 11 , wherein the snow flap further comprises a plurality of support and guide ribs formed on an under side of the snow flap main body central panel and within the elbow, the support and guide ribs structured and operable to provide structural support of the snow flap along the elbow and to direct snow thrown up by a snowmobile drive track onto an underside of the drive track tunnel.

13 . The assembly of claim 12 , wherein the snow flap further comprises plurality of anti-hooking ribs formed on an underside of the snow flap along a distal end section of the snow flap main body lower portion, the anti-hooking ribs structured and operable to prevent the drive track from hooking on a lower distal end the snow flap.

14 . A snow flap for a snowmobile, said snow flap comprising:

a main body; and

a pair of opposing retention arms extending from ends of opposing sidewalls of the main body, the retention arms structured and operable to mount to a bumper/hand bar of a snowmobile at a most lateral portion of the bumper/hand bar.

15 . The snow flap of claim 14 further comprising a mounting lip structured and operable to mount the snow flap to a taillight housing assembly of the snowmobile.

16 . The snow flap of claim 14 , wherein the main body comprises:

a central panel and the pair of opposing sidewalls extending from central panel, and

an upper portion and lower portion extending at an angle from the upper portion thereby defining an elbow the main body.

17 . The snow flap of claim 16 , wherein the retention arms are structured to be contoured and shaped to mate with a shape and contour of an outer surface of the bumper/hand bar.

18 . The snow flap of claim 17 , wherein the snow flap further comprises a plurality of support and guide ribs formed on an under side of the main body central panel and within the elbow, the support and guide ribs structured and operable to provide structural support of the snow flap along the elbow and to direct snow thrown up by a snowmobile drive track onto an underside of a tunnel of the snowmobile drive track.

19 . The snow flap of claim 18 , wherein the snow flap further comprises plurality of anti-hooking ribs formed on an underside of the snow flap along a distal end section of the main body lower portion, the anti-hooking ribs structured and operable to prevent the snowmobile drive track from hooking on a lower distal end the snow flap.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (400)