Boot rack assembly

The present boot rack assembly comprises a base member designed to extend along the bottom of a pickup truck bed, a boot receiving prong perpendicularly attached to the base member, a top member disposed parallel to the base member and designed to extend along the upper lip of a truck bed side wall, and a support member extending perpendicularly between and attached to the base member and the top member.

FIELD OF INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a boot rack assembly designed to securely 
fit into the flatbed of a pick-up truck. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Most workers in the construction, industrial, agricultural and various 
other industries use work boots on the job. Often, these work boots need 
to be stored, cleaned and/or transported on a daily basis. 
Unfortunately, workers currently have few options of what to do with their 
work boots when they are not in use. Workers can continue to wear their 
boots when work is finished, but the boots after a hard day's work can 
make a mess in the interior of cars and on carpets. Also, wearing the 
boots when they are not needed prevents them from properly ventilating and 
drying between uses. Some workers throw their boots in the back of their 
personal or work trucks, but the boots are not secured and can get bumped 
out of the truck or damaged because they are in harm's way of other items 
loaded into the truck bed. Furthermore, the boots can fly around in the 
back of the truck bed and dirt, debris or rain can get inside the boot. 
Instead of storing the boots in the truck bed, other workers stuff their 
boots in the space between the cab and the bed of the pick-up truck, but 
this can damage or deform the boots. Also, the boots are susceptible to 
flying out of the truck while driving. Other workers store their boots on 
site, but this is disadvantageous when the worker moves in between job 
sites. What is needed is a convenient method of storing and transporting 
work boots. 
SUMMARY 
The present invention is directed to an apparatus that satisfies the need 
to properly secure and store work boots in the flat bed of a pick-up 
truck. A boot rack having features of the present invention comprises a 
base member, a boot-receiving prong, a support member and a top member. 
The base member is designed to extend along the bottom of a truck bed. The 
boot-receiving prong is perpendicularly attached to the base member at the 
bottom end of the boot-receiving prong. The support member is attached to 
and perpendicularly extends between the base member and the top member. 
The top member and the base member are disposed parallel to each other. 
The top member is designed to extend along the upper lip of the truck bed 
sidewall. 
Other embodiments having features of the present invention include a boot 
rack comprising a plurality of boot-receiving prongs, a boot-receiving 
prong with a top end design to curve away from the truck bed sidewall, the 
support members have a means for adjusting the height of the support 
member, and/or a plurality of support members. 
Another embodiment of the boot rack having features of the present 
invention comprises a U-shaped boot-receiving prong where the prong 
comprises two vertical members disposed generally parallel to each other 
and attached perpendicularly to the base member, and a top member of the 
boot-receiving prong disposed parallel to the base member and 
perpendicular to the two vertical members and integrally attached to the 
two vertical members. 
Another embodiment of the present invention uses shoe-receiving prongs 
instead of boot-receiving prongs. 
An object of the present invention is to provide a place to securely and 
conveniently store work boots and work shoes in the bed of a pick-up 
truck. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a place to store work boots 
and work shoes so that rain, dirt and debris does not get into the 
interior of the work boots or work shoes. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a convenient place 
for the interior of work boots to ventilate and maintain the shape of the 
work boot between uses. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a convenient place to 
clean and dry work boots and work shoes. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a boot rack that will 
quickly and easily fit into the bed of any pick-up truck. 
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention 
will become better understood with reference to the following description 
and appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention endeavors satisfy a need of many of the workers who 
use work boots on the job. Generally, an embodiment of the invention has 
features including a frame which easily attaches to the side walls of a 
pick-up truck bed so that shoe-receiving prongs extend from a base member 
placed on the bottom of the truck bed along the sidewall of the truck bed. 
This configuration allows for work boots to be stored upside down by 
inserting the interior of the boot onto the boot-receiving prong. 
FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention. The general 
support frame securing boot-receiving prongs 26 and shoe-receiving prongs 
28 in place comprises left support member 15, right support member 16, 
base member 12 and top member 14. The bottom portions of boot-receiving 
prongs 26 and shoe-receiving prongs 28 are attached to base member 12 in 
any fashion known to the art, including welding or screws. Left support 
member 15 and right support member 16 are also connected to base member 12 
by any method known to the art. Left support 15 and right support member 
16 are attached at the ends opposite the ends attached to the base member 
12 to top member 14. Top member 14 is designed to fit under the lip of the 
sidewall of a pick-up truck bed. 
The embodiment of FIG. 1 is designed to fit into the bed of a pick-up 
truck. The bed of a pick-up truck generally comprises of a flat bottom, 
two sidewalls extending upwardly from the bottom of the truck bed along 
the side of the pick-up truck, a front cab wall extending upwardly from 
the bottom of the truck bed at the front of the trunk bed next to the cab 
portion of the truck, and a rear tailgate extending upwardly from the 
bottom of the truck bed in the rear of the pick-up truck. The sidewalls of 
the truck bed typically have a lip at the top of the sidewall which 
extends inwardly towards the center of the truck bed. The sidewalls of the 
truck bed will also typically have a wheel well in between the front cab 
wall and the rear tailgate. 
The positioning of boot rack assembly against the sidewall of a truck bed 
has several advantages. First, it is easy to place work boots on the 
boot-receiving prongs 26 from outside of the truck bed. Second, the 
sidewall of the truck bed helps keep the boot in place on boot-receiving 
prong 26 by forcing the length of the boot between boot-receiving prongs 
26 and the sidewall of the truck bed. Third, by placing boot rack assembly 
10 along the side of the truck bed, the boots are stored out of the way of 
the interior truck bed which can be used for storage of other items. 
The embodiment of FIG. 1 may be placed so that the top member 14 and the 
base member 12 run parallel to sidewall of a truck bed. Base member 12 is 
placed on the bottom of the truck bed near the sidewall. Top member 14 is 
placed up under the lip of the sidewall. Left support member 15 and right 
support member 16 are adjusted in height so that base member 12 exerts a 
force against the bottom of the truck bed and top member 14 exerts a force 
against the lip of the sidewall so that boot rack assembly 10 is firmly 
fixed in place in the truck bed. For example, boot rack assembly 10 may be 
placed along the sidewall of a truck bed between the front cab wall and 
the wheel well in the truck bed. 
Left support member 15 and right support member 16 are adjustable in length 
so that boot rack assembly can be fixed in place along the sidewall of the 
truck bed. In FIG. 1, each of the support members consist of a top support 
member 18 with threaded end 19 and a bottom support member 20 with 
threaded end 21. Top support member 18 is connected to bottom support 
member 20 with threaded coupling 22. Threaded coupling 22 screws onto 
threaded ends 19 and 21. The height of left support member 15 and right 
support member 16 are adjusted by turning threaded coupling 22 so that top 
support member 18 moves in relation to bottom support member 20. A skilled 
artisan will recognize that any number of methods to adjust the height of 
left support member 15 and right support member 16, both manual and 
automatic, may be used and still fall within the scope of the invention. 
For example, the height could be varied with springs, levers or pins 
inserted through holes in the concentric tube support members. FIG. 3 
shows an embodiment of the present invention utilizing springs to adjust 
the height of the support members with springs 24 and spring retaining 
rods 25. 
FIG. 1 shows both boot-receiving prongs 26 and shoe-receiving prongs 28. 
The primary difference between the two is that boot-receiving prongs 26 
are longer to accommodate the longer dimension of a boot. The scope of the 
invention includes prongs for any type of footwear. 
Boot-receiving prongs 26 of FIG. 1 generally have an upside down U shape. 
The U shape allows the boot to slide snugly onto the boot-receiving prong 
26 so that first vertical member of 30 and second vertical member 31 of 
the boot-receiving prongs 26 press against the side of the boot to help 
keep it in place. The U-shape also helps the work boot maintain its shape 
during storage, much like a shoe tree. The U-shape also helps the interior 
of the boot to dry between uses by stretching the boot open and ensuring 
proper ventilation. 
In an embodiment of the present invention, top portion 32 of boot-receiving 
prong 26 is bent as shown in FIG. 2. The curvature of top portion 32 
allows boot-recieving prong 26 to more accurately replicate the interior 
of boot 34 so that boot 34 fits more snugly onto boot-receiving prong 26. 
The curved top portion 32 also makes it more difficult for the boot to 
accidently slide off during transport. 
The boot-receiving prongs 26 of the embodiment of FIG. 1 have several 
advantages. The prongs allow the boots to be stored so that they are in an 
upside down position. When the boot is upside down, rain, water and debris 
cannot get into the interior of the work boot. Being upside down, the 
boots can also be cleaned with a hose without the concern of water getting 
into the interior of the boot. The positioning of the boot-receiving 
prongs 26 allow for easy storage and retrieval of the boots while standing 
on the ground outside of the pick-up truck. 
Boot rack assembly 10 can have as many boot-receiving prongs 26 and 
shoe-receiving prongs 28 as needed. Typically, the prongs will come in 
pairs, one prong for each boot or shoe in a pair. 
The description and diagrams of embodiments of the present invention are 
intended to promote an understanding of the invention and are not intended 
to limit the scope of the claimed invention. Further modifications, 
alterations or applications of the illustrated apparatus may fall within 
the scope of the invention.