Abstract:
A diverter for diverting rain water and inhibiting it from leaking into a cargo box of an automotive vehicles, such as a pick-up truck. The diverter is positioned below a front rail of a tonneau cover frame and includes a horizontal portion extending along the length of the front rail of the tonneau cover frame. A plurality of ribs in a top of the horizontal portion define channels for diverting rain water. The diverter includes a vertical portion coupled to the horizontal portion and adapted to be positioned adjacent to a storage container. Preferably, a width of the horizontal portion is such to accommodate a range of different sized storage containers.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to systems for enclosing vehicle cargo areas, and in particular to rain diverting devices for use with tonneau covers. 
     2. Discussion 
     Tonneau covers are frequently used to cover the cargo area of a vehicle such as the cargo box of a pick-up truck. A typical tonneau cover includes a sheet of fabric or other flexible, and preferably waterproof material, and a frame which extends along the perimeter of the top of the cargo box. The material is attached to the frame, and can be removed to allow access to the cargo area by snaps as is conventional. The frame includes a set of rails attached to the top of the side walls and front and back walls of the cargo box by conventional clamps, bolts, adhesives, or other fastening means. The rails are joined together by corner members. Generally, a movable tailgate is located at the rear wall of the cargo box and the rail is attached to the side walls but it is not joined to the rear wall. 
     Often a storage container is mounted in the front of the cargo box of the truck so as to extend across the width of the cargo box. The container provides an enclosed area for tools and other smaller objects. Tonneau cover systems have been adapted to cover the portion of the cargo box not used by the storage container. However, in these known cover systems, the front rail of the tonneau cover frame extends across the cargo box and does not rest on the top of the front wall of the cargo box. The front rail of the frame rests flush with the rear edge of the storage container. Generally, it is difficult to fasten the front rail of the frame tightly against the storage container to form a water tight seal, thus, rainwater may seep into the cargo box. 
     One proposed solution to this problem has been to use an angled bracket between the storage container and the front rail of the frame, such that the front rail overlaps the horizontal portion of the bracket. However, water can still seep into the gap between the bracket and the rail and thus rainwater can collect in the interior of the cargo box. 
     Another proposed solution to this problem is to mount the tonneau cover system directly to the toolbox, thus sealing the gap between the two. This, however, requires a unique sized frame and sheet for each toolbox in order to match the perimeter of the portion of the cargo area not used by storage area, since the size of storage containers is not standard. Furthermore, it is difficult to seal cover materials such as flexible vinyl to a rigid structure such as a storage container. 
     Therefore, there is a need to provide a device for preventing rain water from seeping into the cargo area of a vehicle when a tonneau cover system is used and which can accommodate storage containers of varying sizes. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a tonneau cover systems adapted to prevent rain water from leaking into the cargo box of an automotive vehicle. The cargo box includes a storage container attached to the cargo box, a frame mounted on the top of the cargo box and a cover. The system includes a diverter member which may be attached to or immediately adjacent to the storage container. The diverter member has a vertical portion and a horizontal portion. The vertical portion is between the storage container and the frame. The horizontal portion is between the top of the cargo box and the frame. The horizontal portion prevents rain water from entering into the cargo box. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for preventing water from seeping into the cargo area of a vehicle when a tonneau cover system is used in conjunction with a storage container. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for diverting water for use with a tonneau cover and storage containers of various sizes. 
     These and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the description and especially taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention and the preferred embodiment. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The various advantages of the present invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art by reading the following specification and subjoined claims and by referencing the following drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the rear of a pick-up truck, showing a rain diverter used in conjunction with a storage container and a tonneau cover system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. A section of the tonneau cover material is cut away to show a tonneau cover frame. 
     FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the section in FIG. 1 denoted by the circle  2 , showing a close up view of the rain diverter and the tonneau cover frame; and 
     FIG. 3 is a partial side view of the rain diverter and tonneau cover system viewed from the rear of the cargo box. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a conventional pick-up truck  10  including a cargo box  12  defined by side walls  14 , a front wall (not shown), a movable tailgate  16  and a floor or bed  18 . A storage container  19  is mounted within the cargo box  12  adjacent to the front wall of the cargo box  12  and the top of the side walls  14  as is common in the art. The storage container  19  is generally used to store tools and other small objects. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the tonneau cover system according to the present invention is identified by the numeral  100 . The tonneau cover system  100  includes a frame  20 , a cover or sheet  30  and a diverter member  40 . The frame  20  includes side rails  26  attached to the tops of the side walls  14  and a front rail  28  attached to the side rails  26  through the use of corner members  21  connected by conventional means such as fasteners or soldering. The side rails  26  are attached to the tops of the side walls  14  using conventional means or clamps  24  which fit in cut-outs (not shown) in the side rails  26 . One skilled in the art will recognize that other clamping means, such as adhesives or bolts, are within the scope of the present invention. The tonneau cover frame  20  has a rear rail  34  which is not connected to the top of the tailgate  16 . 
     A sheet  30  of fabric or other flexible, and preferably waterproof material, is removably attached to the frame  20  by snaps  32  or other means as is conventional. The sheet  30  encloses the cargo box  12  and prevents rainwater from entering into the cargo box  12 . The storage container  19 , such as a toolbox, can be used in conjunction with the tonneau cover system  100 . Typically, the storage container  19  is attached to the side walls  14  of the cargo box  12 . The front rail  28  of the tonneau cover frame  20  rests adjacent to the rear edge of the storage container  19  so as to enclose the portion of the cargo box  12  not occupied by the storage container  19 . 
     The rain diverter member  40  is placed between the storage container  19  and the front rail  28  of the tonneau cover frame  20 . The rain diverter  40  has a preferably generally L-shaped cross section. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the diverter  40  may be made of two members that are fastened together or made as a single member formed by extrusion or other method. The front rail  28  of the tonneau cover frame  20  rests on the top surface of a horizontal portion  42  of the diverter  40 . The diverter  40  extends along the width of the cargo box  12  and rests on the tops of the side walls  14  of the cargo box  12 . The diverter  40  is retained on top of the side walls  14  of the cargo box  12  by clamps  24  coupled through the side rails  26  and the corner members  21 . Clamps  24  may be “C” clamps or similar devices well known in the art. The diverter  40  also includes a vertical portion  44  which is coupled to the horizontal portion  42 . The vertical portion  44  rests against the rear surface of the storage container  19 . The vertical portion  44  of the diverter  40  may be attached to the storage container  19  with conventional fasteners such as screws or bolts. Optionally, a layer of rubber or other resilient member  46  may be placed between the vertical portion  44  of the diverter  40  and the storage container  19 . 
     As best shown in FIG. 2, the horizontal portion  42  of the diverter  40  includes at least one and preferably a plurality of ribs  50  which define channels  52  for diverting rainwater. The ribs  50  and channels  52  extend generally parallel along the entire length of the horizontal portion  42 . Those skilled in the art will recognize that other channel configurations other than the illustrated rectangles, are within the scope of the present invention. The horizontal portion  42  of the diverter  40  generally extends to a point along the tops of the sides walls  14  of the cargo box  12  which ensures that any rainwater that collects in the channels  52  runs along the channels  52  and is directed or diverted to flow over the side walls  14  of the cargo box  12 . Thus, the diverter  40 , with its ribs  50  and channels  52 , prevents water from flowing off of the cover  30  between the storage container  19  and the front rail  28  of the tonneau cover frame  20  and into the cargo box  12 . 
     Preferably, as shown in FIG. 2, the width of the horizontal portion  42  of the diverter  40 , represented by a dimension  42   a , is greater than the height of the vertical portion  44  of the diverter  40 , represented by a dimension  44   a . The width of the horizontal portion  42   a  accommodates storage containers  19  of various sizes while maintaining a tonneau cover frame  20  with side rails  26  of constant length. Thus, if a storage container  19  of shorter width (measured from the front of the cargo box  12  rearward) is used, the front rail  28  of the tonneau cover frame  20  does not extend as far over the width of the horizontal portion  42  of the diverter  40  as it would in the case where a storage container  19  of greater width is used. In the later case, the cargo box  12  would still be enclosed and rainwater would still be diverted from seeping into the cargo box  12 . The width of the horizontal portion  42   a  of the diverter  40  is preferably greater than three times the height of the vertical portion  44   a  of the diverter  40  but this should not be taken as a limitation of the invention since a width of the horizontal portion  42   a  that is between 1.0 to 10.0 times a height of the vertical portion  44   a  is also within the scope of the invention. Optionally, the horizontal portion  42  of the diverter  40  does not include ribs or channels, but rather other means for laterally directing water commonly known in the industry. 
     In operation, the tonneau cover system  100  is used in conjunction with the storage container  19  to prevent rainwater from seeping into the cargo box  12 . The cover  30  prevents rainwater from entering a majority of the cargo box  12 . The rainwater that flows forward off of the cover  30  is collected by the diverter  40  and channeled to and over the side walls  14  of the cargo box  12 , so as not to enter into the cargo box  12 . As described earlier, the tonneau cover system  100  may be adapted to accommodate various combinations of storage container and tonneau cover system sizes. 
     Those skilled in the art can now appreciate from the foregoing description that the broad teachings of the present invention can be implemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while this invention has been described in connection with particular examples thereof, the true scope of the invention should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings, specification and following claims.