The present invention relates to a lighting system for illuminating a cargo bed of a pickup truck.
Typically, pickup truck bed lighting is provided by a lamp installed on the back wall of the cab shining light downward and rearward into the bed. This single light source may not illuminate the bed as well as is desired. Moreover, if a cover is installed on the bed, this light source may be somewhat blocked by the cover, preventing the light from reaching areas in the bed that need to be illuminated.
An embodiment contemplates a pickup truck bed lighting system for mounting on a bed rail of a cargo bed side wall. The system including a scuff plate having a plurality of downward extending retention clips engaging holes in the bed rail to secure the scuff plate on top of the bed rail; and a lighting assembly including an electrical cable supported by the retention clips and a plurality of lamps mounted to the cable, the lamps spaced along the cable adjacent to the retention clips and aligning with the holes in the bed rail.
An embodiment contemplates a pickup truck having a bed lighting system. The pickup truck including a cargo bed having a pair of longitudinally extending side walls and a pair of bed rails, one each on a respective one of the side walls, each of the bed rails including a plurality of holes therethrough; a pair of scuff plates, each mounted on one of the bed rails, and each of the scuff plates including at least one downwardly extending retention clip extending through one of the holes in the bed rails and engaging the bed rails to secure the scuff plates to the respective bed rails; and a lighting assembly including an electrical cable supported by the at least one retention clip on one of the scuff plates and at least one lamp mounted to the cable adjacent to the retention clip and aligned with the hole in the bed rail through which the retention clip extends.
An advantage of an embodiment is that the lighting system allows the bed to be illuminated with or without a bed cover added to the bed, and the lights are protected from damage by being recessed under the bed rails. Also, with the lighting system mounted to the scuff plates, locating and installing the lighting system can be achieved essentially simultaneously with the installation of the scuff plates. Moreover, the lamps can be installed from above the bed rails and yet extend through existing holes in the bed rails to illuminate the truck bed.
Bed rails 42 extend along and form the top of the side walls 30. The bed rails 42 include a series of holes 44, which may be used to secure scuff plates 46 to the top of the bed rails 42. The scuff plates 46 may be formed of molded plastic to allow for loading and unloading of cargo from the cargo box 36 without scratching the paint on the vehicle body 22.
A lighting assembly 50 for the cargo bed 26 will now be discussed relative to
For each scuff plate 46, an electrical cable 66 may extend through and be supported by the support cavities 64 in the retaining clips 56. The electrical cables 66 are part of the lighting assembly 50 and are connected to a series of lamps 70. The lamps 70 may be positioned on the cables 66 adjacent to the retaining clips 56, which allows the lamps 70 to align with the holes 44 in the bed rails 42. The light 72 (shown in phantom lines in
The retaining clips 56 may be integral with their respective scuff plates 46—that is the retaining clips 56 may be molded with the scuff plates 46 as a single monolithic piece. When the term integral is used herein, it refers to elements that are formed as a single, monolithic piece, not elements that are formed separately and then later attached together via fasteners, adhesive, welding or some other means. By having the retaining clips 56 integral with the scuff plates 46, and the retaining clips 56 themselves supporting the electrical cables 66 and lamps 70, the lighting assembly 50 can be pre-assembled to the scuff plates 46 prior to assembling the scuff plates 46 (with the lighting assembly 50 already attached) onto the bed rails 42. The lamps 70 align with holes 44 already designed into the bed rails 42 for receiving the retaining clips 56. Thus, no additional holes need to be added to the bed rails 42 and no additional hardware is needed to mount the lighting assembly 50 since it is supported by existing retaining clips 56.
While certain embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which this invention relates will recognize various alternative designs and embodiments for practicing the invention as defined by the following claims.