Future Ford Vehicles Could Get Light Assembly On Pillar

September 1, 2023 1:25 pm

Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for a pillar light assembly that could be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.

The patent was filed on June 21^st, 2022, published on August 29^th, 2023, and assigned serial number 11739905.

The Ford Authority Take

Ford has filed quite a few patents revolving around various lighting assemblies that could find their way into future vehicles, including one for adaptive puddle lights, a detachable lighting assembly, an off-road lighting control system, an automatic drive model lighting system, and dimmable external vehicle lighting. Now, this newly filed patent keeps that trend going by introducing an idea for a pillar light assembly that could be used in future Ford vehicles, too.

Over the years, automakers have added more and more lighting elements to vehicles, which is quite convenient for those that tend to be out and about during darker hours. Much of this pertains to off-roading and the many types of pods and bars that we can buy from the aftermarket – as well as directly from automakers like Ford – and in the case of this patent filing, that could certainly be the case once again.

However, incorporating a lighting element directly into a vehicle’s pillar could serve more purposes than just lighting up the trails at night. There are many times when the headlights may not be enough, or perhaps a user may want to utilize something that isn’t quite as bright. Plus, as Ford mentions in this patent, the pillar light could also be equipped with a sensor that detects when a user or another vehicle is nearby, and then either activate or deactivate it as needed.

Either way, a lighting element in a vehicle’s pillar seems like a pretty good way to neatly integrate such a feature into a vehicle without having some large bar or cube mounted on the outside, which could be preferable for some.

We’ll have more on this and all Ford patents soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford patent news, Ford business news, and continuous Ford news coverage.

By Brett Foote

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.