Combination center high mounted stop lamp and cargo lamp

A combined center high mounted stop lamp and cargo lamp assembly for pick-up trucks, vans and the like, including a unitary integral molded laterally elongated casing member to be mounted on a truck cab, van, or the like, shaped to provide an exterior hood-like collar formation defining an encircling surround about a horizontal transverse elongated plural lamp zone for three side-by-side lamps. Three truncated substantially parabolic reflector cellular formations extend from the collar formation toward the front of the vehicle in use position defining lamb-bulb-housing reflector cavities directing light rearwardly of the vehicle and being provided with reflective metal coatings on the inner surfaces thereof. A red lens is supported by said collar formation in rearwardly covering relation to the centermost cellular formation and white lenses are provided for the other two cellular formations.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates in general to multi-lamp units for vehicles, 
and more particularly to multiple lamp assemblies providing a center high 
mounted stop lamp and cargo or similar function lamps for use on vans, 
pick-up trucks, utility vehicles and the like. 
Heretofore, double lamps have been provided for automotive vehicles, such 
as double braking lamps having red lenses for automotive stop and braking 
signaling, and a plurality of lamps with different lenses have been 
provided for the rear body lamp banks or arrays at each side of the 
vehicle providing a red lens braking or stop lamp and a clear lens 
providing white light for a backup lamp, arranged in sets at each side of 
the vehicle. 
An object of the present invention is the provision of a novel type of lamp 
assembly especially for use on vans, pick-up trucks and utility vehicles, 
which provides the combined features of a center high mounted stop lamp 
and also provides a pair of cargo lamps, which are optically separate, 
with the high mounted stop lamp meeting the Federal Department of 
Transportation requirements for center stop lamps and the cargo lamps 
providing illumination for a pick-up truck box or to serve as a utility 
light on vans and utility vehicles. In this manner, the single unit can 
provide a center high mounted stop lamp visible to a following vehicle and 
also provide the added feature of cargo area illumination. By providing a 
single housing or casing having a main collar or hood portion forming a 
framing or encircling surround about an array of cellular lamp and 
reflector units, shaped to adapt it readily to be mounted on the cab or 
upper rear high body portion of a pick-up truck or van with the reflector 
and lamp units arranged side-by-side and forming truncated parabolic 
surfaces covered by lenses of appropriate color and angular disposition, a 
single unitary structure is provided which combines high mounted center 
stop lamp and cargo lamp functions in a novel and convenient manner. 
Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the present invention will 
become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in 
conjunction with accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment 
of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate 
corresponding parts throughout the Figures, the combination center high 
mounted stop lamp and cargo lamp assembly of the present invention is 
indicated generally by the reference character 10, and is shown in FIG. 1 
as mounted on the upper rear portion of the cab, indicated in broken lines 
by the reference character 12, of a pick-up truck or similar utility 
vehicle, although it may be understood that the portion of the vehicle 
designated by the broken line 12 may also represent the upper rear portion 
of a van or the like. As shown in FIG. 1, the combination stop lamp and 
cargo lamp assembly includes a casing or main body 14, formed for example 
from a high impact molded plastic, providing a unitary exterior collar or 
hood-like formation forming an encircling frame for a center high mounted 
stop lamp indicated at 16 and a pair of flanking cargo lamps 17, 18 
arranged as a laterally elongated bar or series of lamps. 
Projecting forwardly or toward the front of the vehicle from the exterior 
collar or framing surround portion 15 are three truncated parabolic 
reflector cellular formations 20a, 20b, and 20c which have flat 
substantially planiform top and bottom surfaces 22, 24 and are arranged in 
a laterally aligned series of protruding reflector-forming bulges which 
may be readily inserted through a rectangular opening cut in the 
rearwardly facing wall portion of the trunk cab or van rear body portion 
12. The cut forms a laterally elongated rectangular opening having upper 
and lower parallel edges spaced slightly further apart than the vertical 
spacing between the top and bottom flat surfaces 22, 24 of the cellular 
reflector formations 20, and which have vertical side edges spaced apart a 
distance slightly greater than the total distance spanned by the three 
cellular reflector formations 20. The collar or hood-like framing surround 
15 of the casing 14 is shaped to define a recurved flange portion 15f 
having a curved stop surface 15a forming an abutment edge at the 
forwardmost end of appropriate configuration to conform to the shape of 
the confronting surface portions of the cab or van bounding the opening 
which receives the cellular parabolic reflector formations 20 and to be 
tightly sealed against such confronting surfaces by appropriate sealing 
compound to ensure a water tight joint. The recurved flange portion 15f 
terminates rearwardly in a return bend 15b defining a rounded border 15c 
framing the lenses of the lamp units 16, 17 and 18. 
As will be evident from inspection of the drawings, the cellular reflector 
formation 20a for the stop lamp is provided with substantially parabolic 
convex surfaces 28 curving forwardly of the vehicle from a substantially 
flat wall portion 30 at the base end thereof suitably aperatured to 
receive the base 32a of a stop lamp 34a and merging into short truncation 
wall sections 28a adjacent the collar or hood-like formation 15, all of 
which are vacu-metalized on the inside surface portions 28 and 30 to 
provide high reflectivity and define a parabolic reflector surface for the 
stop lamp. Similarly, the cargo lamps cellular units 17, 18, have 
substantially parabolically curved reflector wall sections 36 extending 
from a flattened base region 38 immediately adjacent the hole 38' therein 
for receiving the base 32b or 32c for the cargo lamps 34b, 34c. The curved 
walls 36 of the cargo lamps 20b, 20c extend to and join substantially 
vertical flat truncation wall sections 40 which extend to and integrally 
join the collar or hood-like surround portion 15 of the casing 14, as a 
unitary single molding. The inside surfaces of these reflector cellular 
units 17, 18 of the cargo lamps are also vacu-metalized to provide high 
reflectively. 
The truncated parabolic reflector cellular formation 20a is covered by a 
red lens 44 at the transverse center of the combined stop lamp and cargo 
lamps structure, designed to meet the Federal Department of Transportation 
requirements for high mounted stop lamps, and in the illustrated 
embodiment is located by abutment shoulder formations 46 to be disposed in 
a substantially vertical plane when the lamp assembly is properly 
installed in its position of use on the truck cab or van. The two flanking 
truncated parabolic reflector cellular units 20b and 20c for cargo lamps 
are covered by clear lenses 48 with optics to direct light for cargo or 
utility functions, which in the illustrated embodiment are positioned by 
the abutment shoulder surfaces 50 in a plane which inclines upwardly and 
rearwardly relative to the vertical plane through the stop lamp lenses 44, 
to effectively direct light down into the cargo area of the pick-up truck 
or the area rearwardly of the rear doors of the van. The lenses 44 and 48 
are tightly secured in sealed relation against the abutment shoulder 
surfaces 46 and 50 by suitable known sealing adhesive compounds, and the 
lamp bases 32a, 32b and 32c are suitably connected together by 
conventional wire harness 54 connected to a suitable plug to supply power 
appropriately to the lamp bulbs 34a, 34b and 34c.