Modular light and accessory bar for vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10604059-B2
Application number	US-201916384255-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 15, 2019
Priority date	Feb 13, 2017
Publication date	Mar 31, 2020
Grant date	Mar 31, 2020

Abstract

A modular light and accessory bar for a vehicle includes a top rail having a length selected to span a width of the vehicle along the top of the windshield, a right end, and a left end. A right side pillar is configured to be attached to the top rail at the right end thereof and extend downwardly therefrom. A left side pillar is configured to be attached to the top rail at the left end thereof and extend downwardly therefrom. The top rail is formed with at least one T-slot that extends along the length of the top rail. At least one bracket is configured to support a lighting fixture or accessory and is attachable to the T-slot of the top rail at a desired location therealong. The T-slot is configured to permit the at least one bracket to be slid to a desired location along the top rail and secured at that location. The top rail may be curved forwardly relative to the vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An auxiliary lighting system fora vehicle comprising:
a right side pillar configured to be attached to a right side pillar of the vehicle;
a left side pillar configured to be attached to a left side pillar of the vehicle;
the right side pillar and the left side pillar being formed with at least one attachment feature extending therealong;
at least one bracket configured to support a lighting fixture or an accessory, the at least one bracket being attachable to the at least one attachment feature of the right side pillar or the left side pillar; and
the at least one attachment feature being configured to permit the at least one bracket to be attached at substantially any desired location along the left side pillar or the right side pillar.

2. The auxiliary lighting system for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one bracket comprises a curved bottom segment and a fixture support extending from the curved bottom segment.

3. The auxiliary lighting system for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary lighting system includes a top rail.

4. The auxiliary lighting system for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the right side pillar and the left side pillar each include a wiring port cover.

5. The auxiliary lighting system for a vehicle as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the wiring port covers extend from a bottom end of the right side pillar and the left side pillar respectively.

6. The auxiliary lighting system for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the right side pillar and the left side pillar extend from a bottom of a windshield of the vehicle to a top of the windshield of the vehicle.

7. The auxiliary lighting system for a vehicle as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the right side pillar includes mounting holes to connect the right side pillar to the right side pillar of the vehicle and the left side pillar includes mounting holes to connect the left side pillar to the left side pillar of the vehicle.

8. The auxiliary lighting system for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a right attachment feature extending along the right side pillar and a left attachment feature extending along the left side pillar, the right attachment feature and the left attachment feature being configured to receive and support the at least one bracket for securing the lighting fixture or the accessory at the desired location along the right side pillar and the left side pillar.

9. The auxiliary lighting system for a vehicle as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the left attachment feature and the right attachment feature comprise a slot extending along the respective side pillar.

10. The auxiliary lighting system for a vehicle as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the slot comprises a T-slot.

11. The auxiliary lighting system for a vehicle as claimed in claim 8 , further comprising a wiring channel extending along the right side pillar and a wiring channel extending along the left side pillar, the wiring channels being configured to contain wiring related to lights or accessories mounted to the side pillars and a top rail.

12. The auxiliary lighting system for a vehicle as claimed in claim 11 , further comprising a cover over the wiring channels and the cover is removably attachable to the right side pillar or the left side pillar.

13. The auxiliary lighting system for a vehicle as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the cover is slidably removably attachable to the right side pillar or the left side pillar.

14. An auxiliary lighting system for attachment to a vehicle having a windshield with a top edge, a right side edge, and a left side edge, the auxiliary lighting system comprising:
a right side pillar configured to be attached to the vehicle extending along the right side edge of the windshield;
a left side pillar configured to be attached to the vehicle extending along the left side edge of the windshield;
at least one slot extending along a length of the right side pillar and being configured to receive at least one fastener element and to allow the at least one fastener element to slide along a length of the at least one slot;
at least one slot extending along a length of the left side pillar and being configured to receive at least one fastener element;
at least one mounting bracket attachable to the at least one fastener element of the right side pillar and movable therewith along the length of the at least one slot thereof; and
at least one mounting bracket attachable to the at least one fastener element of the left side pillar and movable therewith along the length of the at least one slot thereof, the mounting brackets being configured to receive and secure lighting fixtures or accessories to the left side pillar and the right side pillar.

15. The auxiliary lighting system as claimed in claim 14 , further comprising a right side wiring channel extending along the right side pillar and a left side wiring channel extending along the left side pillar, the right side wiring channel and the left side wiring channel being configured to contain wiring associated with the lighting fixtures or the accessories attached to the auxiliary lighting system.

16. The auxiliary lighting system as claimed in claim 15 , further comprising a wiring channel cover removably attached to each of the right side pillar and the left side pillar, the wiring channel covers covering their respective channels and wiring disposed therein.

17. The auxiliary lighting system for a vehicle as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the at least one bracket attachable to the left side pillar and the at least one bracket to the right side pillar each comprises a curved bottom segment and a fixture support extending from the curved bottom segment.

18. The auxiliary lighting system of claim 14 , wherein the right side pillar is configured to extend from the top edge of the windshield to a bottom edge of the windshield and the left side pillar is configured to extend from the top edge of the windshield to the bottom edge of the windshield.

19. The auxiliary lighting system for a vehicle as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the auxiliary lighting system includes a top rail that is horizontally oriented.

20. The auxiliary lighting system for a vehicle as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the right side pillar and the left side pillar each include a wiring port cover, and the wiring port covers extend from a bottom end of the right side pillar and the left side pillar respectively.

Assignees

• Omix Ada Inc

Inventors

• Van Buren Christopher D
• Bennett Patrick W
• Russell Eric

Classifications

• B60Q1/0088

  Details of electrical connections (B60Q1/305 takes precedence; electrical connection of the light source itself F21S41/192, F21S43/195) · CPC title

• B60Q1/18

  being additional front lights {(bracket mounted headlights B60Q1/0483)} · CPC title

• B60Q1/0035

  relative to the vehicle · CPC title

• B60Q1/0041

  of several lamps in relation to each other · CPC title

• B60Q1/0483 Primary

  mounted on a bracket, e.g. details concerning the mouting of the lamps on the vehicle body · CPC title