Abstract:
An MUV having a utility bed including a bed floor having at least one panel. The bed floor panel is convertible between a planar storage surface and at least one passenger seat back by displacement of a lever. The bed floor being devoid of a latch handle.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present exemplary embodiment relates to a vehicle having a utility bed containing a retractable seat. It finds particular application in conjunction with a vehicle having a utility bed seat actuated by a seat release lever remote from a cargo storage surface. 
     A MUV (Multi Utility Vehicle) is commonly known as a seat type vehicle capable of driving over rough terrain or the like. A vehicle of this type is equipped with a body cover. The body cover includes a front portion having left and right tire housings, a center portion extending rearward from a lower front region, and a rear portion constituting a cabin. The rear portion includes a floor panel portion on which the feet of a seated occupant can be placed. 
     A utility bed can be provided rearward of the vehicle cabin as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,075,040. This patent describes several features of an MUV common with the present disclosure and is therefore herein incorporated by reference. 
     In the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the MUV utility bed  14  is shown to comprise a bed floor  22 . The utility bed  14  further includes a left side wall  24  and a right side wall  26  extending generally perpendicular from the bed floor  22 . The utility bed  14  also includes front wall  28  and a tailgate  30 . The tailgate  30  can be pivotally coupled with respect to the bed floor  22 . When the utility bed  14  is in a hauling position, the left side wall  24 , the right side wall  26 , the front wall  28 , and the tailgate  30  can cooperate with the bed floor  22  to retain cargo within the utility bed  14 . The tailgate  30  can be selectively opened to facilitate loading/unloading of the utility bed  14  and/or to allow cargo (e.g., dirt) to pour from the utility bed  14  if the vehicle is outfitted with a dumping mechanism. 
     In another embodiment, it will be appreciated that a rear wall can be provided in lieu of a tailgate with the rear wall being rigidly affixed with respect to a bed floor such that it might not be capable of being selectively opened. In yet another alternative embodiment, it will be appreciated that one or more side walls of the utility bed might be capable of being selectively opened. In still another alternative embodiment, it will be appreciated that a utility bed might not include any tailgate and/or side walls and might, for example, comprise a flat-bed type configuration. 
     The MUV can include a frame  32  configured to provide underlying and structural support for certain components of the utility bed  14 , specifically, and/or, the MUV, generally. The frame can comprise a tubular frame structure that extends along a perimeter and underneath the bed floor  22  and provides underlying support for the bed floor  22 , the left and right side walls  24 ,  26 , and/or the front wall  28 . It will be appreciated however that a frame can be provided in any of a variety of suitable alternative arrangements. 
     The front floor  34  of the utility bed  14  can define a front cargo support surface  38  and the rear floor  36  can define a rear cargo support surface  40 . When the front floor  34  is in the cargo support condition, the front cargo support surface  38  and the rear cargo support surface  40  can cooperate to define a substantially coplanar support surface that is configured to directly contact and provide underlying support for cargo (not shown) disposed within the utility bed  14 . 
     The front floor  34  is shown to rest upon the frame  32  when the front floor  34  is in a floor closed condition. The front floor  34  is also shown to include a latch  35  that facilitates selective securement of the front floor  34  to the frame  32 . 
     Activating latch  35  allows the front floor  34  to be moved to an upright position to reveal the left seat back  54  and the right seat back  56 . The front wall  28  can be pivoted to move the left and right seat bottoms  64 ,  66  into a substantially horizontal position. In such an arrangement, the left and right seat backs  54 ,  56  can respectively cooperate with the left and right seat bottoms  64 ,  66  to define a left rear seat and a right rear seat. Additionally, left and right openings in side walls  24 ,  26  are closed by the left and right doors  46 ,  48  and can facilitate the ingress/egress of a passenger to/from the left and right rear seats. When the front floor  34  is in the cargo support condition with the front wall  28  in the erected position, the left and right seat backs  54 ,  56  are concealed beneath the utility bed and the left and right seat bottoms  64 ,  66  stowed behind the left and right front seats  11 ,  13 . 
     One shortcoming with this design is that when utility bed  14  is used for cargo such as dirt or sand, the latch  35  becomes filled therewith and proves difficult to operate. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION 
     According to one embodiment, a vehicle having a utility bed including a bed floor is provided. The bed floor is constructed of a cover panel, a seat back panel and a seat bottom panel. The cover panel and the seat back panel each include a cam element. A slidable lever including at least two cam engaging members is also provided. Activation of the slidable lever causes the cam engaging members to engage the cam elements and raise an edge of the cover panel adjacent the seat back panel and an edge of the seat back panel adjacent the seat bottom panel. The raised edge of the seat back panel can be rotated to a position where the seat back panel has an at least generally vertical orientation. The seat bottom panel can be moved into a seat forming orientation with the seat back panel. 
     According to a further embodiment, an MUV having a utility bed is provided. The utility bed comprises a bed floor including a panel that is convertible between a planar storage surface and at least one passenger seat back by displacement of a latch. The bed floor is devoid of a latch and lever handle. 
     According to an additional embodiment, an MUV having a utility bed including a bed floor comprised of at least one panel is provided. The panel has an at least substantially planar side and an opposed first cam element inclusive side. A slidable lever is disposed externally to the utility bed and adjacent the at least one panel. The lever includes a second cam element cooperative with the first cam element to displace an edge of the panel from alignment with the bed floor. The edge of the panel is rotatable to position the panel in an at least substantially vertical orientation. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a prior art MUV in a closed utility floor condition. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the MUV of  FIG. 1  with a rear seat deployed. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an MUV in accord with an embodiment of the present disclosure in a floor closed condition. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the MUV of  FIG. 3  in a rear seat deployed condition. 
         FIG. 5  is a front perspective view of the MUV of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is a plan view (partially in phantom) of the utility floor of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 7  is a plan view (partially in phantom) of the utility floor of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 8  is a cross section view taken along lines  8 - 8  of  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 9  is a side cross section view taken along lines  9 - 9  of  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 10  is a cross section view taken along lines  10 - 10  of  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 11  is a plan view taken from the handle end of the lever. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     It should be noted that in this disclosure up, down, front, rear, left and right sides or directions refer to the point of view of the driver when seated during normal operation of the vehicle. In addition, many aspects of the MUV described in  FIGS. 1 and 2  are supportive of the present embodiment and therefore form a portion of this description. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 3-5 , an MUV  100  is depicted. MUV  100  is a four-wheel vehicle capable of driving over rough terrain or the like and has two front wheels  102  and two rear wheels  103 . On the front portion of the vehicle  100 , there is provided a body cover  104  that covers a power plant, and forms a cabin  107 . Cabin  107  is surrounded by a roll bar  108 . 
     The cabin  107  is provided with two occupant seats  113  (which may be a bench seat as well) respectively arranged on the driver&#39;s side and on the passenger side. A steering wheel  116  is positioned in front of the driver&#39;s seat. An instrument panel  117  is located further forward with respect to the steering wheel  116 . 
     A utility bed  114  is provided in the rear portion of the vehicle  100 . Optionally, the front end portion of the utility bed  114  can be lifted upward about a rotary shaft to provide a lift type device. 
     The utility bed  114  includes a load-carrying platform  112  configured to directly contact and provide underlying support for cargo (not shown) disposed within the utility bed  114 . The utility bed  114  is also shown to include multiple side walls  123 ,  124 , and  125  extending generally perpendicularly from the load-carrying platform  112 . Walls  123  and  125  can be provided with passageways sealed by doors  127  and  129 , respectively, selectively opened and closed by handles  131 . 
     A tailgate  126  can also be pivotally coupled to the bed floor  112  (or optionally the side walls). When the utility bed is in a hauling position, it will be appreciated that the side walls  123 ,  124 , and  125  can cooperate with tailgate  126  and the load-carrying platform  112  to retain cargo within the utility bed  114 . It will be appreciated that the tailgate  126  can be selectively opened to facilitate loading/unloading of the utility bed  114 . 
     The load carrying platform  112  defines one or more apertures which can selectively facilitate access to one or more seat assemblies. The apertures in the load-carrying platform  112  are closed by a seat bottom panel  130 , a seat back panel  132 , and a cover panel  134 . 
     An actuation mechanism is provided for conversion of the seat bottom panel  130 , the seat back panel  132 , and the cover panel  134  into a passenger seat  135  in the utility bed  114 . Particularly, an elongated lever  200  is provided having a handle end  202  extending tangentially from the vehicle  100 . Elongated lever  200  can be retained on the vehicle side wall  123  (or attached to the vehicle frame), as appropriate, via guides, channels, brackets  204  or other mechanism known to the skilled artisan to allow a front to back sliding motion of the lever  200 . Of course, a back to front sliding mechanism, or even an outward sliding mechanism can also achieve the objective of the present invention with suitable orientation of the elements discussed below. 
     Referring now in addition to  FIGS. 6-11 , a body frame includes three longitudinally extending frame members  222  supporting the utility bed  114 . The frame members  222  can be fixed to other lower frame members and/or the front portion of the vehicle. For example, the upper frame members  222  can be located above lower frame members and supported by vertically extending side frames (such as brackets) to form a substantially lattice-like configuration (see the frame of  FIG. 2 ). 
     Lever  200  is provided with two cam engaging pins  206  and  208 . Pins  206  and  208  are positioned to engage seat back panel cam element  210  and cover panel cam element  212 . In addition, it is contemplated that the cam surfaces can be located on the lever and the pins located on the panels. Pin  208  can be positioned closer to the cam element  212  in a cargo supporting floor condition than pin  206  is positioned relative to cam element  210 . For example, if pin  208  is a distance “X” from cam element  212 , pin  206  can be a distance 3X from cam element  210  in a closed floor condition. A distance of 5X to 10X may also be advantageous. 
     In this manner, the rearward travel of lever  200  causes a first engagement of pin  208  with cam element  212  and a lifting of cover panel  134  forward edge  216  providing a space to facilitate subsequent rotation of seat back panel  132 . Cover panel  134  can be secured to the frame  222  at or near its rearward edge  217 . 
     Subsequent or simultaneously to initial raising of cover panel forward edge  216 , pin  206  engages cam element  210  causing the lifting of seat back panel  132  forward edge  218 , allowing the operator to grasp the forward edge  218  and complete the lifting and pivoting of seat back panel  132  about hinges  220  secured to vehicle frame  222  and into an at least generally vertical orientation to function as a seat back. Accordingly, it is desirable for handle  202  to be within arms length (e.g. 3 ft.) of panel  132 . As used herein, generally vertical orientation includes the typical backwards incline associated with seating structures. 
     Lever  208  is further provided with retaining projections  207  and  209 . Projections  207  and  209  are outwardly biased (such as via spring  211 ) or otherwise compressible. Retaining projection  207  is disposed within a recess  213  in seat bottom panel  130  in a bed floor closed condition (see  FIGS. 6 and 9 ). Retaining projection  209  is disposed within a recess  215  in seat back panel  132  in a bed floor closed condition. The retaining projections prevent floor panels  130  and  132  from easily shifting position in a floor closed condition. However, retaining projections  207  and  209  are designed such that applying a force to lever  200  can overcome the outward bias, causing retraction or compression of the projections and allowing rearward travel of the lever  200  and freeing of floor panels  130  and  132 . 
     After seat back panel  132  is at least generally vertically oriented, seat bottom panel  130  can be moved into a suitable position to cooperate with seat back panel  132  to form seat  135  (see  FIGS. 4 ,  5 ,  7  and  10 ). Seat bottom panel  130  can be, for example, rotated around a pivot formed between seat bottom panel  130  rearward edge  219  and frame  222  or retained in a channel on frame  222  suitable for sliding rearwardly into engagement with seat back panel  132 . Flipping of seat bottom panel  130  may provide the benefit of exposing a suitably contoured seating surface which is stored below the load-carrying platform  112  in a floor closed condition. Seat back panel  132  can have a similar ergonomic contoured surface opposed to its cargo support side. 
     Biased projection  207  can engage forward edge  231  of seat bottom panel  130  and biased projection  209  can engage rearward edge  230  of seat back panel  132 , providing a basis for retention of the seat orientation by locking lever  200  into place. 
     To provide advantageous sealing of cargo surface  112 , the rearward edge  230  of seat back panel  132  can underly the forward edge  216  of cover panel  134  in a floor closed condition. Similarly, the trailing rearward  232  of seat bottom panel  130  can underly forward edge  234  of seat back panel  132  in a floor closed condition. In this manner, no gaps are formed in the support surface  112  through which particulate such as dirt, sand, etc. is lost. One or more seal members and/or structures can also be provided to facilitate sealing of these junctions in a closed position, thereby further preventing dirt or debris from passing through the junctions when the cargo panels are closed. 
     It will be appreciated that the panels  130 ,  132  and  134  can be provided in any of a variety of suitable alternative arrangements. For example, panels  130  and  132  can be comprised of separate left and right sides to provide independent seats. In that regard, the activation mechanism (e.g. the lever and cam components) may be included on each of the left and right sides of the vehicle to independently operate rear left and right side seats. Furthermore, it is envisioned that the cover panel may be omitted from the design, or it could be repositioned to the front end of the utility bed relative to the seat bottom panel. Similarly, it will be appreciated that although the embodiment of  FIGS. 3-10  illustrates a forward facing rear seat which is disposed towards a central portion of the utility bed, a rear facing seat(s) could be provided in the alternative. Furthermore, the seat(s) can be located on the utility bed in a more forward or rearward position than is illustrated. Similarly, a front wall of the utility bed can include left and right seat bottoms pivotable between a vertical position and a horizontal position. Alternatively, the left and right side walls may include a seat bottom(s) pivotable into a horizontal position to cooperate with a seat back formed from the bed floor. In such arrangements, the panel used to close a seat bottom aperture can be eliminated or stored remotely. 
     The exemplary embodiment has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the exemplary embodiment be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.