GB2080095A - Accessory mounting bracket - Google Patents

Abstract

A bracket for mounting an accessory such as a stop lamp on a vehicle window has its base (18) secured to the window by an adhesive pad (22) with a projection (16) engaging in the channel of a seal (32) which receives the edge of the window pane. An arm (14) projects from the base (18) and supports the accessory (36) via a universal coupling (40, 42, 44). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Accessory mounting bracket This invention relates to a bracket for use in mounting an accessory on or adjacent a bordered surface such as a motor vehicle window light. The invention is particularly but nor necessarily exclusively applicable to the mounting of a stop lamp adjacent the rear window of a motor vehicle so as to provide a line of sight braking signal which is readily observable not only from a vehicle immediately behind but also to vehicles further behind. Also, the light emitted by the stop lamp is visible at least to some extent to the driver of the vehicle in which it is installed thereby enabling the lamp failure to be detected more easily.

One of the difficulties in mounting accessories such as stop lamps adjacent to vehicle window screens is the lack of available attachment points. One attempt at solving this problem involves providing the accessory with a suction cup for application to the window.

This however is not very satisfactory because the suction may be lost when the accessory is subject to vibrations through for example slamming of the vehicle doors and boot lid.

An improved solution proposed specifically for stop lamps involves mounting a rod so that it extends between the upper and lower edges of the vehicle rear window, the rod being provided at each end with connectors having fingers which can be inserted into the channels in the conventional seal bordering the window. The lamp is then mounted on the rod by means of a slide coupling so that the lamp can be adjusted lengthwise of the rod.

This arrangement suffers from the drawback that, after the lamp has been adjusted to a selected position along the rod, a considerable length of the rod remains exposed and therefore impairs visibility. Moreover, as the dimension between the upper and lower edges of the rear window varies from one model of vehicle to another, it is necessary to make the connectors separate from the rod so that the rod can be cut to size and consequently a certain amount of care and labour is required of the user in installing the rods and once the rod has been cut to fit one window it may not be possible to transfer it to another window or to a subsequent vehicle.Further drawbacks with this known arrangement are that it is not adaptable for mounting on for example a parcel shelf and that the assembly is made up from a relatively large number of separate components which inevitably makes the assembly expensive to manufacture.

According to the present invention we provide a bracket for mounting an accessory on or adjacent a bordered surface such as a vehicle window light, said bracket comprising a base which can be arranged in face to face relation with said surface, at least one projection extending from the base for engagement with the border, means for adhering the base to said surface and an arm extending laterally from the base for mounting an accessory.

Typically in the case of a motor vehicle window light, the border will be constituted by the conventional elastomeric channel section seal used to secure the window panel in the window opening. Thus, the projection or projections of the bracket are conveniently adapted to enter the channel in the seal, i.e.

between the window panel edge and the adjacent channel side. However it is conceivable that the or each projection may be capable of penetrating the material of the seal so as to actually embed into the seal rather than merely enter the channel.

In practice, each bracket will be attached to for example the rear window of a vehicle with the aid of one of the vertically extending side portions of the seal and the bracket may be adjusted to the desired vertical setting before the adhering means is made effective. Thus, vertical adjustment is possible without employing a slide rod or the like as in the known construction previously referred to.

The means for adhering the base to the surface conveniently comprises a pad of for example plastics material having a pressure sensitive adhesive coating on opposite faces, one face being adhered to the base and the opposite face being adhered, in use, to the surface. The bracket may be supplied with the pad already secured to its base but with the opposite face of the pad covered with a protective layer of material, e.g. silicone paper, which may be readily removed to expose the adhesive coating during the course of installation. Alternatively, the bracket may be supplied with the pad as a separate item in which event both faces of the pad may be covered with a removable protective layer of material.

As a further alternative, the bracket may be supplied with a tube of adhesive or the like or, indeed, the bracket may be supplied without adhesive leaving the user to provide the adhesive himself.

Instead of adhesive, the adhering means may be in the form of a suction device such as a suction cup; however an adhesive pad as described above is considered preferable. Nevertheless a suction cup may be practicable because, with the bracket according to the invention, the suction cup is not required to absorb all of the vibration forces present, as in the prior proposal discussed above, because the forces will be absorbed to some extent by the connection between the bracket and the border and not solely by the suction cup.

Preferably the base, the projection or pro sections and the arm of the bracket are all integral with each other. In one convenient embodiment, the bracket is formed from a flat blank of sheet metal by slitting the blank inwardly of its edges to form a generally U or V-shaped slit and bending the blank about a line joining the ends of the slit to bring the portion of the blank lying inwardly of the slit into angular relation with that portion lying outwardly of the slit, the bracket base being constituted by the former portion together with the remaining blank portion beyond the bend and the arm of the bracket being constituted by that portion of the blank lying outwardly of the slit. Said remaining blank portion may constitute said projection or it may be provided with one or more projections in the form of for example V-shaped formations.

The bending operation may be performed through an angle of greater than 90 so that the arm is inclined towards the border when the bracket is assembled to said surface.

Preferably the bracket is provided with a universal coupling assembly for connecting an accessory to the arm so that the accessory can be pivoted to a wide range of orientations relative to the bracket. For example, where the accessory comprises a stop lamp, the universal coupling may allow the stop lamp to be pivoted from positions in which its lens is presented generally towards the base of the bracket (as required when the assembly of bracket and stop lamp is to be attached to a vehicle rear window with the stop lamp lens facing the window) and positions in which the lens face is generally perpendicular to the bracket base so that, in this configuration, the bracket base may be attached to a parcel shelf or the like adjacent the vehicle rear window with the lens facing the window.The universal coupling also allows the bracket/stop lamp assembly to be used at either side of the vehicle rear window. The bracket base may be adapted, e.g. by way of one or more apertures, for connection to a parcel shelf by means of screwthreaded fasteners or the like.

The accessory is, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, in the form of a combined tail and stop lamp and for this purpose may employ a double filament bulb having different light outputs.

Where the brackets are used for mounting stop lamps, two such brackets/stop lamp assemblies will be provided one at each side of the vehicle rear window. If desired, the two brackets may be used to support a cross bar and, in this event, the stop lamps or other accessories may be mounted on the cross bar and may be slidable thereon to allow their spacing to be adjusted as desired.

To promote further understanding of the invention one example will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bracket in accordance with the invention with the stop lamp shown in an orientation suitable for mounting on a parcel shelf in a vehicle; Figure 2 is a side view of the bracket and stop lamp assembly shown mounted on a parcel shelf adjacent the rear window of a vehicle; and Figure 3 is a plan view of the bracket and stop lamp assembly, the bracket being shown attached to the rear window of a motor vehicle.

Referring now to the drawings, the bracket 10 is in the form of a sheet metal pressing and comprises a base 1 2 and an upstanding arm 14. The edges of the arm 1 4 are flanged over and are protected by a strip 1 5 of material such as rubber or plastics which has i a groove for receiving the flanged edges. The base 1 2 comprises two substantially coplanar sections 16, 1 8 extending in opposite directions from the junction with the arm 1 4. The section 1 6 includes a pair of V-shaped projections 20 and the section 1 8 has a pad 22 of adhesive coated spongy material attached to the face presented away from the arm 14.

The exposed adhesive coated face of the pad 22 is conveniently covered with a layer of protective material such as silicone paper. The section 1 8 is also formed with a pair of apertures for reception of screwthreaded fasteners 23 or the like (see Fig. 2). The bracket 10 is as mentioned above conveniently formed as a sheet metal pressing from a blank which is slit to define the section 18 and bent about the line 50 (see Fig. 1) to fold the arm 14 out of the plane of section 1 6 and 1 8.

To secure the bracket to a vehicle window light, the base 1 2 of the bracket is brought into face to face relation with the window 30 (see Fig. 3) and is displaced sideways so that its projections 20 embed into the channel section elastomeric seal 32 bordering the window. The section 1 8 is then pressed against the window (after first removing the protective layer) to secure the base 1 2 to the window at this point. In this way, the bracket 10 is attached securely to the window by virtue of the adhesive pad and the additional anchorage provided by engagement of the projections 20 with the seal 32.It will be understood that the position of attachment is dic-' tated only by the availability of a section of seal for penetration by the projections and consequently the bracket can be attached to the window at virtually any position around its periphery.

As shown in the drawings, the accessory used with the bracket is in the form of a combined tail/stop lamp 36. The lamp hous- ing is connected to the bracket arm 14 by a " universal coupling comprising a first pivot 38 in the form of a bolt extending through an aperture in the apex portion of the arm 14 and a second pivot 40 in the form of a bolt mounted so as to extend between the arms of a stirrup like bracket 42 attached to the bracket arm 14 by means of the bolt 38. The lamp housing 36 is carried by an arm 44 formed with a knuckle 46 which encircles the bolt 38.Thus, the lamp housing may be swivelled about the axes of pivot 38 and 40 which are disposed at right angles to each other and, in particular, the universal coupling allows the lamp 30 to be swivelled from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that of Fig. 1. The Fig. 1 position is appropriate when the lamp is to be mounted on a parcel shelf 52 adjacent the window and in this case the bracket may be secured to the shelf by the adhesive pad and/or fasteners 23. The fasteners 23 are not, of course, used when the base of the bracket is secured to the window as in Fig. 3.

Although, in the illustrated embodiments, the base 1 2 is provided with the projections 20, it is to be understood that these projections could be omitted and the section 1 6 (or at least part thereof) may be regarded as a projection for engagement with the seal 32.

Also it will be appreciated that the bracket 10 may be used for mounting other accessories and, as mentioned previously, two such brackets 10 could be used, one at each side of the window, to mount a cross bar in generally horizontal disposition, the cross bar then being available for mounting accessories for horizontal adjustment across the width of the screen. In the illustrated embodiment, the border around the window is in the form of an elastomeric seal; however in a modification the border may be constituted by other materials, e.g. a length of metal trim as used on some makes of vehicle to conceal an adhesive bond between the marginal edges of the window and an overlapping marginal edge of the window opening.

Claims (11)

1. A bracket for mounting an accessory on or adjacent a bordered surface such as a vehicle window light, said bracket comprising a base which can be arranged on face to face relation with said surface, at least one projection extending from the base for engagement with the border, means for adhering the base to said surface and an arm extending laterally from the base for mounting an accessory.

2. A bracket as claimed in Claim 1 in which said adhering means comprises a pad of for example plastics material having a pressure sensitive adhesive coating on opposite faces, one face being adhered to the base and the opposite face being adhered, in use, to the surface.

3. A bracket as claimed in Claim 2 in which the opposite face of the pad is covered with a removable layer of protective material.

4. A bracket as claimed in any one of Claims 1-3 in which the base, the projection or projections and the arm of the bracket are all integral with each other.

5. A bracket as claimed in Claim 4 in which the bracket is formed from a flat blank of sheet metal by slitting the blank inwardly of its edges to form a generally U or V-shaped slit and bending the blank about a line joining the ends of the slit to bring the portion of the blank lying inwardly of the slit into angular relation with that portion lying outwardly of the slit, the bracket base being constituted by the former portion together with the remaining blank portion beyond the bend and the arm of the bracket being constituted by that portion of the blank lying outwardly of the slit.

6. A bracket as claimed in Claim 5 in which said remaining blank portion constitutes said projection or one or more projections.

7. A bracket as claimed in any one of Claims 1-6 in which the or each projection comprises a V-shaped formation.

8. A bracket as claimed in any one of Claims 1-7 in which said arm is inclined at an obtuse angle to the base.

9. A bracket as claimed in any one of Claims 1-8 in which the bracket is provided with a universal coupling assembly for connecting an accessory to the arm so that the accessory can be pivoted to a wide range of orientations relative to the bracket.

10. A bracket as claimed in any one of Claims 1-8 in which the accessory comprises a lamp and in which the lamp is mounted for pivoting from positions in which its lens is presented generally towards the base of the bracket and positions in which the lens face is generally perpendicular to the bracket base.

11. A bracket as claimed in any one of Claims 1-10 in which the base is provided with one or more apertures for reception of screwthreaded fasteners.

1 2. A bordered surface having at least one bracket as claimed in any one of Claims 1-11 attached thereto by adhesion of its base to said surface and engagement of said projection with the border.

1 3. A bordered surface as claimed in Claim 1 2 wherein two of said brackets are provided adjacent opposite edges of said surface and wherein said brackets jointly mount a support for supporting one or more accessories adjacent said surface.

1 4. A bracket substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

1 5. A bracket and lamp assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.