Hook-up light for a truck tractor
OwnerJeff E. Justusinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A device for mounting on the rear wall of a truck tractor including a housing and a lamp pivotally mounted on the housing, for illuminating a working area between the tractor and a trailer during hookup or to provide an additional safety warning light behind the tractor. The housing contains a receptacle and a pair of glad hand brackets mounted on side walls of the housing for retaining the plug end of an electrical power cord and the coupling ends of a pair of air pressure lines, respectively, when disconnected from the trailer. One of the male prongs of the receptacle is electrically connected to a switch mounted within the cab of the tractor for illuminating the lamp. This switch normally actuates one of the trailer accessories, such as its marking light, when the power cord is connected to the trailer.
Claims19
A device for mounting on a truck tractor illuminating a working area behind the tractor and for retaining an air line and a plug end of an electrical power cable in a fixed position when the power cable is disconnected from a trailer, said device including:
- a housing configured to be mounted in a fixed position on the tractor;
- an electrical receptacle mounted in said housing and containing a plurality of male prongs, said male prongs being complementary to electrical sockets formed in the plug end of the power cable said receptacle removably receiving and retaining said plug end when the power cable is disconnected from the trailer;
- a lamp configured to be mounted on the housing for illuminating the working area behind the tractor;
- an electrical connection electrically connecting the lamp to at least one of the male prongs of the receptacle;
- an electrical supply line electrically connecting and extending between said at least one male prong and a control switch configured to be mounted within the tractor for electrically connecting the lamp to an electrical supply of the tractor;
- brackets means mounted on the housing and removably retaining at least one air line thereon when the air line is disconnected from the trailer;
- and
- fastener means for mounting the housing on the tractor.
In combination:
- a truck tractor containing sources of air pressure and electricity, a flexible power supply cable mounted on the tractor and connected to the source of electricity and terminating in plug end containing a plurality of first electrical connectors, and a trailer accessory switch mounted on the tractor connecting the source of electricity to at least one of the first electrical connectors for subsequently connecting the source of electricity to an accessory of a trailer when the trailer is connected to the tractor;
- a housing and a lamp mounted on the tractor illuminating a work area behind the tractor;
- a receptacle securely mounted on the housing and having a plurality of second electrical connectors matingly engaging with the first electrical connectors of the plug end of the power supply cable to retain the plug end in the receptacle and to electrically connect the lamp to the source of electricity through the trailer accessory switch when the power supply cable is disconnected from the trailer, with at least one of said second electrical connectors of the receptacle being electrically connected to the lamp.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.