US3514152A - Truck bed box cover - Google Patents

Description

L. V. HERMON TRUCK BED BOX COVER May 26, 1970 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 11, 1968 l :1 m w m w W t x h um m m w w m May 26, 1970 1.. v. HERMON TRUCK BED BOX COVER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 11,- 1968 INVENTOR LOWELL VANCE HEB/WON ATTORNEY May 26, 1970 L. v. HERMON TRUCK BED BOX COVER 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 11, 1968 INVENTOR LOWELL VANCE HEB/WON ATTORNEY United States Patent M U.S. Cl. 296137 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cover for pick-up truck boxes or beds wherein there is provided a single beam as the support for two horizontal doors on the cover top, and wherein there is pro vided a locking means, and support mechanism.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The field of the invention pertains to the field of vehicles as defined in Class 296, subclasses 10, 24, 26, 51 through 55 and 100, and also Class 39.

Description of the prior art The prior art includes the following prior patents: 2,909,387, 2,997,330, 3,051,523, 3,069,199, 3,180,674, 3,202,455, 3,245,713.

Some of the differences or advantages that the present invention has over these prior patents is as follows:

There is provided in the present invention a unique mounting for a pair of hinged members, spreaders for use with the mechanism, and also the present invention includes means whereby the top can be removed from the truck when desired or required. Also, the top is fiat and ruggedly constructed and strong so that it will support a considerable amount of weight thereon. Further, the present invention includes a beam to which is attached two doors that are hinged in the center, and wherein the present invention makes it possible for either of the doors to lie over flat on the other half. Also, there is provided a single beam as the support for the two horizontal doors for pick-up truck beds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention there is provided a double hinged door cover and beam, and wherein there is provided turnbuckle rod supports as well as hangers. There is further provided a support leg which can be moved to a vertical or horizontal position as BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a portion of a pick-up truck with the present invention thereon.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view disassembled for clarity of illustration.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIG. 3.

Patented May 26, 1970 FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 66 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 88 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken on the line 99 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating a modified or alternative Weather stripping arrangement.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating a modification showing a dropped hinge arrangement.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a further modification showing a further type of beam or hinged arrangement.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Attention is directed to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1-10 of the drawings, wherein the numeral indicates a portion of a vehicle such as pick-up truck which includes a cab 21 and a conventional truck bed box or load-carrying box 22. The box 22 includes the usual horizontally disposed floor or bottom wall 23 as well as vertically disposed spaced parallel side walls 24, a front wall 25, and a hingedly mounted tailgate 26.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a cover 27 for the truck bed 22, and the cover 27 includes a pair of doors 28 which are hingedly mounted in the center as later described in this application. Plates 29 are arranged in opposed relation with respect to each other, and the plates 29 are affixed to the tail gate 26 and front wall as, for example, by means of securing elements 32 extending through holes 30 in the plates 29. Formed integral with the plates 29 or secured thereto are arcuate flanges 31 which have openings 33 therein. The numeral 34 indicates a hollow horizontally disposed beam which has its end adapted to receive the flanges 31, and the end portions of the beam 34 are provided with openings 35 which register with the openings 33, and pins or bolts 36 are adapted to extend through the registering openings 35 and 33 for maintaining the parts in their proper assembled position.

The upper surface of the beam 34 is provided with slots 37, and holes 38 and 39 are arranged in the top and bottom surfaces of the beam. Lugs 40 extend into the slots 37, and the lugs 40 have secured thereto upper portions of L-shaped anchor bolts 41, there being fasteners such as nuts 42 arranged in threaded engagement with the low ends of the anchor bolts 41, FIGS. 6 and 7.

The bolts 41 extend through the registering holes or openings 38 and 39 in the beam 34.

The numeral 43 indicates a hinge which includes leaves 44 that are secured to the doors 28 in any suitable manner as, for example, by means of securing elements 19, and the lugs 40 are suitably secured to the hinge 43.

There is further provided spreaders 45 which include rods 46 that have their inner ends connected to securing elements such as retainers 47 on the sides of the beam 34. The spreaders 45 further include intermediate turnbuckles 48 and outer adjustable rods 49, and the rods 49 have on their outer ends hook portions 50 which are arranged at substantial right angles to the main portion of the rods 49. The numeral 51 indicates generally U-shaped bracket members which are arranged in engagement with the upper edges of the side walls 24, and the brackets 51 may be secured in place by securing elements 55 which are provided as shown in the drawings. The brackets 51 include vertical inner portions 56 that each have a slot or recess 52 therein for receiving the end portion of a rod 49, and a cradle 57 is provided on the lower section of the wall portion 56. A hasp 53 is adapted to be provided 3 on the bracket 51 for selective engagement by a conventional padlock 54.

There is further provided cradle members 58 which are adapted to be secured in place as at 69, and the cradle members 58 have support portions or cradle portions 59 thereon.

The numeral 61 indicates locking rods which include a handle portion 62, a main straight portion 63, and a hook portion 64.

There is further provided a support leg 65 Which includes a cylinder 66 that is pivotally supported as at 67 to a bracket 68 that is aflixed to the lower portion of the beam 34. The numeral 69 indicates a spring clip which may be affixed to the beam 34 for selectively receiving and holding the leg 65 in its raised position. An adjustable bolt or screw member is connected to the end of the leg 65.

A clip assembly 71 may be provided for selectively receiving the rear spreaders 45 when the rear spreaders are not being used.

If desired, the doors 28 may be provided with weather stripping 72. In FIG. 10 there is shown an alternate weather strip arrangement wherein the weather strip 72 may be secured to the surface of the doors 28, and the weather stripping 72 is adapted to coact with the channel members or frame pieces 73 which may be secured as at 74 to the upper edges of the pick-up truck bed or body.

In FIG. 11 there is illustrated a modified arrangement which is indicated generally by the numeral 75 wherein there is provided a T-bar or beam 76 that has a horizontal portion 77 and a vertical portion 78. The numeral 79' indicates a hinge which includes leaves 80 that may be secured to the doors 28 as at 81, and the drop hinged leaf portion 82 can be welded or bolted or otherwise secured to the vertical member 78 of the T-bar 76.

Attention is directed to FIG. 12 of the drawings wherein the numeral 83 indicates a further modified construction which includes a square tubular bar or beam 84, and wherein the hinges 85 have portions 86 suitably affixed to the doors 28 and the hinges 85 further include drop hinged portions 87 that are fastened to the beam 84 as at 88.

In FIG. the numeral 89 indicates the pivot point for the tail gate 26.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that there has been provided a cover top for pick-up truck beds, and, in use with the parts arranged as shown in the drawings, it will be seen that the cover top 27 includes a pair of doors 28 that are mounted and arranged as previously described. An important aspect or feature of the present invention is the idea of using a single beam such as the beam 34 or the beam 76 or the beam 84 as the support for the two horizontal doors 28 on the cover top for pick-up truck beds 22. FIGS. 1-10 show one form of such a single beam support while FIGS. 11 and 12 show other variations of the hinge arrangements, and it is to be understood that other hinge arrangements or variations can be used if desired or required.

In FIG. 11 there is shown a continuous hinge 79 with some of the leaves dropped as at 82, and these dropped leaves may be attached to a bar beam 76. In FIG. 12 there is shown two continuous hinges 85 and the same can be used to accomplish the job on a different shaped bar, and the shape of the bar is not important since the important feature is the use of a single bar such as the bar 34 or the bar 76 or the bar 84 to be used as a support for the two doors 28. In the prior devices the bar or center support having the hinges attached thereto have been supported by other methods, whereas the center support itself was supported at each end, and whereas in the present invention the bar is supported by hinged rods and the folding leg 65 therebelow. While in the prior patents two hinges have been used, nevertheless, as shown in FIG. 11 for example, the centers and the two hinges are as close together as possible. Also, by using two hinges and using offset hinges the doors 28 may be made to lie down on top of each other as elficiently as in the previously described doors using the single hinge with the dropped leaf. In FIG. 11 the dropped hinge leaf 82 can be welded or bolted or otherwise secured to the vertical member 78 of the T-bar 68. In FIG. 12 there is a square tubular bar or beam 74 having dropped leaves attached thereto as at 88.

As shown in the drawings such as FIG. 2, by using a 90 degree hook 50 on the outer ends of the rods 49 the hook 50 van be very quickly disengaged from the side anchor 51 by simply unscrewing the turnbuckle 48 slightly. Also, by unscrewing the turnbuckle 48 slightly the rear hooked rods 49 can be disengaged quickly and snapped into a clip such as the clip 71. It is to be noted that the folded leg 65 is first put in down position before releasing the hanger rods as shown in FIG. 5 for example. The log 40 of the anchor bolt 41 is between the top of the round beam 34 and the bottom of the door 28 so that there is a space to prevent the doors from dropping down onto the beam.

It will therefore be seen that there has been provided a frame-like structure for installation in the bed of a /2- ton pick-up truck so that folding doors can be installed on the bed of the truck. Primarily, the present invention is directed to the concept of a new flat pick-up truck bed cover hinged in the center as shown in the drawings. In addition, there is provided a novel means for holding the hinge in position, and also there is provided a top that is very strong and a long lasting mechanism.

When using the device of FIGS. 1-9 for example, when the pipe beam 34 is positioned forward onto the section or flange 31 that is arranged adjacent the front Wall 25, a horizontal bolt 36 is inserted through the registering openings 35 and 33 adjacent the front wall 25 to hold the pipe beam in place. The pipe beam is moved forward to anchor the same. The tailgate 26 has a correponding pipe section or flange 31 which is sitting in the opposite end of the pipe beam 34, and wherein an anchor bolt 36 is adapted to be inserted through the previously described registering openings to hold the U-shaped plates in their assembled position. The numeral 51 indicates U- shaped plates which are adapted to be secured to the upper edge of the side walls 34, and the plates or brackets 51 are fastened as by means of screws 55 to the top edges of the bed 22, and the entire double hinged door cover and pipe beam are held in position by the pair of turnbuckle supports or spreaders 45 at the front, as well as the pair of spreaders 45 at the rear, and these spreaders are fastened to the members 51 as previously described. The front and rear spreaders 45 and the leg anchor 65 are auxiliary supports. The rear anchors or legs may be moved to down position as shown in broken lines in FIG. 5. The members 51 anchor the spreaders 45 and are hold downs to the top edge of the pick-up box. The support leg 65 folds up into horizontal position when not needed as shown in FIG. 2.

The bolt 70 is adjustably connected to the end of the leg 65, and the bolt 70 is adapted to engage the floor 23 of the bed of the truck box. As shown in FIG. 10, a resilient weather strip 72 may be cemented or otherwise secured to the periphery of the doors 28, and metal weather strips 73 may be fastened to the top edges of the box for coaction with the strips 72. The hinged tops 28 will lie down on the top edge of the bed box, and the twodoor cover can provide a flush top fora pick-up truck bed box.

The locking rod 61 includes a lever or shaft 63 which is adapted to engage the latches 58 and 18. The locking member 61 includes the handle portion 62 which is adapted to be manually actuated or operated, and there is further provided on the rod 61 the hook portion 64 for engaging the latch 58 as shown in FIG. 4. The locking rod or lever 61 can slide back and forth as desired or required.

In FIG. 7 it will be noted that the dropped leaf or lug portion 40 is secured to the upper end of the anchor bolt 41 and the anchor bolt 41 extends through openings in the beam 34. The lug 40 prevents the hinge from dropping when both doors are raised. Slots 37 are cut or formed in the top surface of the beam 34 to receive the dropped leaf of the hinge as needed, and holes such as the holes 38 and 39 are drilled or formed in the beam to receive the anchor bolts.

With further reference to the locking rod 61, it is to be noted that this construction permits the cover top to be locked from the underside in four places, and this may be provided as an optional arrangement for the purchaser. With the present invention, the tailgate can be locked with a padlock whereby, with the optional locking device, the entire truck bed can be locked in one place.

The spreaders are attached by means of a hinge-like construction to the pipe beam to swing alongside of the pipe beam Without being completely disengaged from the top, thus preventing the spreaders 45 from getting lost or misplaced. The U-plates 51 have the cradle portions 57 to accommodate the rod locking devices and also make it possible for the ends of the spreaders to be very quick- 1y swung into the side of the U-plates when the user desires to disengage the spreaders from the U-plate. Spring clips such as the clips 71 can be provided alongside the pipe beam when not in use. The locking mechanism is a push and pull movement, and the top is held in position with either two or four spreaders which in turn are fastened to two or four U-plates which are in turn fastened down to the top edge of the sides of the pick-up bed with metal screws, bolts or the like. In addition to this anchoring means there is the front anchor which holds the front end of the pipe beam 34 to the inside of the front end of the truck bed, and a similar type of anchor is fastened to the center at the top of the rear tailgate so that When the tailgate is in the raised position the anchor engages the rear end of the pipe beam. When it is desired to remove the top from the truck it is only necessary to remove the bolt passing through the front end of the pipe beam and the front anchor, loosen the four spreaders, and the entire top lifts off. The anchors and U-plates remain on the bed of course, but they do not obstruct the use of the open bed if the cover top is removed.

An important advantage of the top of the present invention is that it is flat and very strong, and when in this position with the leg support 65 down, a great deal of weight can be carried on the top. If desired, a canvas tent on a folding frame can be used with the present invention so that, with the top flat, campers can travel with their tent either up or packed, tied down above the fiat top, and still have the entire underside for other camping gear.

It is desired to emphasize the use of the beam to which is attached two doors hinged on the center. Also, there is a single hinge idea which makes it possible for either of the doors to lie over flat onto the other half and, in addition, there is the use of the spreaders whose length can be adjusted as provided by the turnbuckles 48, and these can be quickly swung into the U-plates 51 by means of the hooks 50 and slotted portions 52. The U-plates 51 are easily attached to the top of the bed with only small screw holes having to be drilled in the metal body so that the top can be easily moved from one bed to another Without damaging the value of the bed by unsightly attachments or the like.

The locking rod rests in the cradle such as the cradle 52. It is to be noted that with the present invention there has been provided a cover for a pick-up truck bed which is handy to raise, secure and reasonably weather resistant, and the top is in two pieces hinged together by a hinge running from the front to the rear of the bed box and in a plane horizontal at the top edge of the truck bed box. The hinge is located midway between the sides of the truck bed box, and this makes it possible for each half or leaf of the top to be raised at the same time and fastened together in a vertical position. To accomplish these advantages there is provided the support beam directly under the hinge and running parallel to the hinge from front to rear of the bed. There is also provided a means for fastening the hinge to the beam so that the hinge and doors are always securely held in proper relation to the supporting beam thereunder.

In order to make this beam stay in proper position regardless of the positions of the door leaves, there is provided a method for holding it in place, and this consists of four anchor -U-plates which have holes so that ordinary metal screws can hold the four U-plates down to the top edge of the pick-up truck with no unsightly holes having to be drilled into the sides of the truck which would be seen if the entire cover were removed from the truck. In addition, the four turnbuckle rods are made so that the front two always stay in place but either one or both of the rear rods can be removed quickly if bulky material is loaded into the truck bed. Due to the fact that the rear of the beam has no support if the rear support rods are removed there is provided a folding support leg 65 that can be lowered to rest on the bottom of the truck bed during the time no support is offered by the rear spreaders 45. To better maintain the position of the front end of the beam there is provided the small front anchor which helps hold down side sway and by inserting the front bolt 36, it is not possible to move the entire doors back and forth. By bolting one or more of these small anchors to the inside of the rear tailgate the anchor will hold the rear of the beam in place so that no center vibration can move the rear of the beam during travel pr0 vided the tailgate is in raised and locked position. Also, to gain further advantage of the door there is provided a sliding rod that engages a clip at the front of each door, and these locking devices are located beneath the doors and within the box itself so that if the tailgate is locked from the outside both covers are completely secured from within. Also, there are four hold down buckles attached to the plates 51 for positioning the doors for travel and to prevent vibration. As a further option weather stripping can be used to make the interior weather proof. It is desired to emphasize that an important aspect or feature of the present invention is the provision of the pipe beam which may have any suitable shape such as round, square or the like as long as the center is hollow. Or, as shown in the drawings, a T-shaped or channel-shaped pipe can be substituted for a pipe beam.

It is obvious that changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts, as shown and described herein, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is therefore not wished to limit the invention to the exact construction and arrangement hereinbefore described.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cover for a pick-up truck, a pair of doors, a single beam for providing a support for said doors, a continuous hinge anchoring said doors to said beam, locking means for said cover, supports for said beam, said supports including adjustable spreaders operatively connected to said beam at one end thereof and adapted to be connected at the other end thereof to fixed points of said truck, and an adjustable support leg connected to said beam said spreaders including adjustable means for creating tension therein.

2. A cover for a vehicle body comprising a pair of doors, opposed plates adapted to be affixed to a tailgate and front portions of the vehicle body, arcuate flanges afiixed to said plates, and said flanges having openings therein, a beam having its ends engaging said flanges, there being registering openings in the ends of the beam and said flanges, anchor pins extending through said registering openings, said beam having slots therein, there being aligned holes in the top and bottom of said beam adjacent said slots, lugs extending into said slots, anchor bolts affixed to said lugs engageable in said aligned holes, a continuous hinge including leaves aflixed to said doors, said lugs being connected to said doors .by way of said hinge, adjustable spreaders operatively connected to said beam and said spreaders including rods, U-shaped bracket members adapted to be afiixed to the upper edges of the sides of the vehicle body, and said last-named bracket members having slotted portions for receiving books on the outer ends of the rods and cradle members, a manually operable locking mechanism embodying a locking rod, said cradle members selectively receiving said locking rod; an adjustable support leg connected to said beam, and clip means connected to said beam for selective engagement by said leg.

Winterton 296-51 Guegold 220-29 Kunz 296-100 Kjolseth 296-100 Gunzelman 49-371 Renquist 296-100 Burtzloff 296-100 Reardon 296-100 BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner R. R. SONG, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

Images