Abstract:
A window wiper motor housing is employed in a vehicle with a tailgate to mount a cargo light assembly which includes one or more sources of illumination. Upon raising the tailgate, a motion-actuated switch actuates the cargo and work light assembly to provide illumination downwardly toward the cargo area and/or rearwardly to facilitate use of the cargo area and/or the work area near the rear of the vehicle.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/199,326 entitled CARGO LIGHT, filed on Jul. 31, 2015, by Jonathan P. Marcus, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to an auxiliary light for illuminating the rear cargo area and behind the vehicle for a vehicle having a tailgate. 
         [0003]    Many vehicles, including SUV style vehicles and Jeep® vehicles such as the JK, have tailgates that lift either as one section or two sections. The rear window typically includes a window wiper which is actuated by a motor mounted in a housing near the hinge area of the tailgate. When using the rear cargo area at night either for loading or unloading articles or other activities behind the vehicle, such as coupling a trailer hitch, lighting in the rear cargo area and behind the vehicle is minimal at best. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    This invention utilizes unoccupied space in the existing window wiper motor housing of a vehicle having a tailgate to mount a cargo light assembly. The cargo light assembly includes one or more lights which are illuminated upon raising the tailgate to provide illumination downwardly toward the cargo area and/or rearwardly to a work area to facilitate use of both the cargo area and the area near the rear of the vehicle. The rear-facing light also alerts oncoming traffic when the tailgate is raised when the vehicle is along the side of a road. 
         [0005]    These and other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following description thereof together with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a fragmentary perspective view of a vehicle with a raised tailgate showing the mounting of a cargo light assembly of this invention; 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the cargo light assembly shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the wiper motor housing and cargo light assembly shown removed from the vehicle; 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  is a front elevational view of a wiper motor housing with a single light source; 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  is a rear perspective view of a wiper motor housing showing the components of the cargo light assembly; 
           [0011]      FIG. 6  is a rear perspective view of a wiper motor assembly showing components of an alternative embodiment of the cargo light assembly; and 
           [0012]      FIG. 7  is an electrical circuit diagram in schematic form of the wiring of the cargo light assembly shown in  FIGS. 1-6 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0013]    Referring initially to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , there is shown a vehicle  10 , such as a Jeep® JK  10 , having a two-piece tailgate including an upper window section  12  and a lower door section  14 . Although shown in the environment of a Jeep®, this invention can be used with any type of vehicle having a one or two piece tailgate, which includes a window wiper and motor housing for the wiper motor. Mounted to the upper edge of window section  12  is a window wiper motor housing  16  for actuating an arm  18  holding a wiper blade  19 . The shell-like housing  16  is typically molded of a thermoplastic material, such as PVC, and has considerable unoccupied space surrounding the wiper motor. Mounted within the available space in housing  16  is the cargo light assembly  20  of the present invention. 
         [0014]    Cargo light assembly  20  includes one or more LEDs or other sources of illumination within the wiper motor housing  16 , which basically is a hollow shell which covers the windshield wiper motor (not shown) driving the arm  18  for the wiper blade  19 , as seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The interior of the housing  16  is shown in the embodiments of  FIGS. 5 and 6 . In the first embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , mounted to apertures in the housing  16  is a first lens  22  behind which is a source of illumination, such as an LED, and a second strip light  24  which can be a series of LEDs which is mounted to housing  16  on a rear-facing wall  11  of the housing when the window section  12  of the tailgate is open, as seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Lens  22  can extend on two planes of the housing  16 , including the rearward facing wall  11  and a downward facing wall  13  to provide illumination both for the entire cargo area  15  of the vehicle and also behind the vehicle. By using the wiper motor housing as a mounting platform for the cargo light, unused space is efficiently employed for providing additional directed light not typically available from dome lights or tailgate lights in existing vehicles. The details of construction of the various embodiments are shown in  FIGS. 4-7 . It being understood that the same electrical components shown in these figures are employed in the first embodiment of  FIGS. 1-3 . 
         [0015]    In  FIGS. 4 and 5 , a generally rectangular LED light array  30  is mounted to the wall  13  of housing  16  and faces outwardly from the housing  16 .  FIG. 5  shows details of the housing  16 , which includes the outward facing wall  13  to which the LED array  30  is mounted, a curvilinear wall  11 , and a side wall  17 . The light assembly  20  shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  includes a motion-actuated switch  32  coupled in series with a manually actuated switch  34  (as seen in  FIG. 7 ) coupling a power supply, such as a battery  36 , to the LED array  30 . Power is applied to the LED array  30  from battery  36  through motion-actuated switch  32  and manually actuated switch  34  when motion-actuator switch  32  detects that the tailgate window section  12  has been elevated. Switch  32  can be a mercury switch or other motion-controlled switch, allowing the motion of the tailgate to provide operating power to the LED assembly  30 . 
         [0016]    Switch  34  can be controlled by the operator to deactivate the lighting of the LEDs  30  when no light is desired but normally will be in a closed position, as shown in  FIG. 7 , to allow the motion of the window section  12  to provide illumination to the cargo area or wherever LEDs positioned on housing  16  are desired to provide illumination. Thus, in the first embodiment of  FIGS. 1-3 , LEDs are mounted to the wall  11  or the junction of walls  11  and  13  to direct illumination downwardly and rearwardly. 
         [0017]    In  FIG. 5 , one conductor  31  from the battery is coupled to the motion actuator switch  32 , which is coupled by a conductor  33  to manually actuated switch  34 . Switch  34  has a conductor  35  extending to one or more LEDs, such as LED array  30  shown in  FIG. 5 , or the LEDs behind lenses  22  and  24  in the  FIGS. 1-3  embodiment. The negative conductor  37  from battery  36  is coupled to the negative terminal of the light emitting diodes, as shown in the schematic diagram of  FIG. 7 . 
         [0018]    The battery  36  and motion-actuator switch  32  are appropriately positioned within the housing  16  and held in place by conventional battery holding cartridges, clip mounts, or other suitable fasteners. Since the cargo light assembly is self-powered, preferably the battery  36  is mounted in a battery housing affixed to the interior of the housing  16  with mating contact clips, such that it can be easily replaced as necessary. 
         [0019]    In  FIG. 5 , an LED light bar  40  is mounted to the edge of wall  13  to direct light inwardly and downwardly when the tailgate or window section  12  is raised. Light bar  40  is coupled in the circuit by conductor  37  from the battery and conductor  35  from switch  34 , as shown also in  FIG. 7 . Light  30  directs illumination rearwardly behind the vehicle. When the circuit components, such as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , are mounted to the housing, the housing can be snap-fitted using spring clips  28  which are part of the original housing assembly and which snap-fit the housing over receiving sockets adjacent the wiper motor. It is easily removed and reinstalled for replacement of the battery as necessary. 
         [0020]      FIG. 6  shows an alternative embodiment of the mounting of the electrical components of the cargo light assembly  20  in which a pair of batteries  36  and  36 ′ are coupled in parallel to provide the operating power for the light bar  40  via motion-actuated switch  32  and a wire harness including conductors  31 ,  33 ,  35 , and  37  as in the previous embodiment. Again, a second light  30  provides rearward illumination when the window section  12  is raised. Also, switch  34  in series with motion-actuated switch  32  can be manually changed to an open position to deactivate the cargo light as desired. The circuit for all of the embodiments is shown in  FIG. 7 . 
         [0021]    It will become apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications to the preferred embodiment of the invention as described herein can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.