Light support assembly for tow trucks

Claim 1

A light mounting assembly for mounting safety lights on a towing vehicle having a cab and an upstanding frame spaced from the cab, said assembly comprising an attaching portion having a pair of attaching brackets adapted to be fastened at laterally spaced apart locations to said frame intermediate said frame and said cab, and a light carrying portion having a pair of end bracket members spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the spacing between said attaching brackets and having surfaces defining a substantially planar support for said lights, an arm secured to each of said end bracket members and extending in a direction substantially normal to said planar support, means for pivotably mounting each arm on its respective attaching bracket, whereby said planar support selectively may be moved from a substantially horizontal disposition with the lights in an elevated position to a substantially vertical disposition with the lights retracted intermediate said frame and said cab, each of said arms having a dog extending therefrom, a rod pivotably carried by and spanning said attaching brackets, a cam corresponding to each arm secured to said rod at locations adjacent its respective attaching bracket, each cam having a dog receiving notch for precluding rotation of said rod in one direction when said dog is engaged in said notch while permitting rotation of said rod in the opposite direction, said dogs being engaged in said notches when said planar support is in a substantially horizontal disposition, resilient means for urging said rod in said one direction to lock each dog into its respective notch, and crank means on said rod for manually turning said rod in said opposite direction to disengage said cams from said dogs and permit said light carrying portion to pivot to a position wherein said planar support is disposed in said substantially vertical disposition.