Patent ID: 6474654
Filing Date: 2002-11-05
Classification: B60J,Y10S

Abstract:
A sealing gasket for sealing gaps adjacent to a pickup truck tailgate, the pickup truck having a cargo box including a truck bed, a pair of side panels and a tailgate, the tailgate having an open and a closed position with respect to a truck bed and the respective side panels, gaps ordinarily existing between the tailgate and the end of the truck bed, and the tailgate and the respective side panels; the sealing gasket comprising:an elongated member made of a deformable and at least somewhat resilient polymeric material, the polymeric material being a closed cell sponge material; the elongated member defining a first lumen passing through at least a first length of the elongated member; the elongated member having a first undeformed configuration in which a first cross-section of the elongated member, perpendicular to the first length, has two portions, a first triangular portion shaped generally like a triangle having two converging sides of generally equal length and a second semi-circular portion shaped generally like a semi-circle, which combine to form a generally teardrop-shaped cross-sectional shape; the elongated member having a plurality of outer surfaces, the first outer surface being a generally curved surface located at a first end of the first cross-section proximate the generally semi-circular-shaped second portion, and the second and third outer surfaces being generally flat surfaces which extend away from the first end along the converging sides of the generally triangularly-shaped first portion towards a second end of the first cross-section where the converging sides meet, the first outer surface being curved toward the second and third outer surfaces at opposite ends of the first surface, and the second and third outer surfaces generally converging toward one another as they extend away from the first outer surface such that they come closer together so that the first cross-section is smaller in width at the second end than at a junction between the first outer surface and the second and third outer surfaces; the elongated member further defining a second lumen passing through at least the first length of the elongated member; wherein the second lumen is defined by three inner surfaces, a generally arcuate inner surface and two generally flat inner surfaces which converge together as each flat inner surface extends away from the generally arcuate inner surface.