Tonneau cover fastening system

A tonneau cover for covering an opening in a structure, the opening having a periphery, the structure having a front shelf, side rails, and an end gate, and the cover including a fastening system for securing a frame to a flexible fabric web, the improvement wherein the frame employs a plurality of h-shaped rail members and L-shaped rail members connected by fastening members, for assembling an unlimited sized flexible fabric web to the frame.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
present invention relates to an adjustable framed fastening tonneau system 
for providing a weatherproof covering over an opening in various 
structures, including open bed trucks. 
The development and utilization of tonneau covers has increased 
dramatically over the last 10 years. At first, snap-on assemblies provided 
a user with a quick shelter without great expense. Those assemblies 
generally included flexible covers which stretched around a frame or a 
truck wall. This type of arrangement was undesirable because it required 
the extensive use of tools to pull the cover and mate the snaps. 
Furthermore, once the snap receptacles were in place, they could not be 
removed without leaving the vehicle permanently disfigured. 
Other types of flexible tonneau covers include the use of VELCRO.TM. hook 
fasteners or some similar adhesive to affix to the top of the rail on the 
open bed. VELCRO.TM. rarely seals rain and water and adhesive seals fail 
during cold weather. 
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,183 discloses a covering system, wherein 
the flexible sheet is secured to a frame by means of continuous connectors 
which can include VELCRO.TM. materials, adhesive tapes, oppositely 
polarized magnets or a combination of magnets and steel plates. VELCRO.TM. 
or hook-and-loop fasteners are known to have a limited useful life after 
which the hook portions degrade the loop portions to a service level that 
is no longer satisfactory. Adhesive tapes have an even more limited useful 
life, while magnet systems cannot produce high holding force levels. 
A fastening system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,033 wherein the system 
uses a flexible sheet attached to a frame by means of extruded plastic 
fasteners. The fasteners are hard to work with under variable weather 
conditions which may cause the flexible sheet material to expand or 
contract. If the flexible sheet expands or contracts, the extruded 
fastener may detach from the frame. 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,262 discloses a tonneau cover system, wherein a 
flexible sheet is attached to a frame by means of connector parts, such as 
a plurality of plastic button members. 
Other patents which disclose fastening systems of background interest are: 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,627,311 to H. A. Kaufmann 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,981 to Stuppy 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,064 to Simme 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,255 to Mock 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,876 to Reed 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,033 to Wheatley et al. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,866 to Nett 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,179 to Stevens 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,605 to Milliken et al. 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,750 to Pirhonen 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,055 to Broadwater, Sr. 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,262 to Rushford 
Accordingly, a need exists for a tonneau cover assembly that secures a 
cover without the use of adhesives, stitches, or snaps. Furthermore, a 
need exists for a single, versatile system which is capable of 
accommodating a number of different cover assembly elements. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved adjustable 
framed fastening system for a tonneau cover which obviates or minimizes 
the drawbacks discussed above. 
A more specific object of the invention is to provide a system having an 
extruded frame in a basic shape of a small letter h lying on its face that 
is connected at four corners with overlapping corner joiners to form a 
rectangle. The h-extruded frame includes an inner channel. 
Another object of the invention are fastening strips used to securely 
attach a fabric to an extended framework for use as a tonneau cover, so as 
to avoid stitching or presizing of the fabric. 
A further object of the invention is to provide fastening strips, which can 
be L-shaped or Z-shaped. 
The above and other objects are achieved, according to the present 
invention by a fastening system for a tonneau cover utilized to cover an 
opening in a structure, the opening having a periphery, the structure 
having sidewalls surrounding the opening and extending along the periphery 
of the opening, and the system including means defining a h-shaped 
extrusion frame mountable on the sidewall, so as to surround the opening, 
a fabric for covering the opening and L-shaped or Z-shaped fastening 
strips for securing the fabric to the frame, the improvement wherein the 
said fastening means system includes the said h-shaped frame extrusion 
having an inner channel, whereas the said fabric is wrapped around the lip 
and back under the lip, stretching around an underside of the h-shaped 
extruded frame and the said fastening strip is attached to sandwich the 
fabric, wherein the fabric and the fastening strip are attached to the 
inner channel of the h-shaped extrusion frame by means of a screw, nut 
bolt, rivet, clip and the like, the fabric is wrapped around all the four 
sides of the extruded frame to complete the tonneau cover; and bars, bows, 
panels, or flat sheet material are inserted into the inner channel. The 
tonneau cover may then be screwed, bolted, clamped, or hinged mounted to 
the area it covers.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
With reference to FIG. 1 a typical pickup truck (1) is illustrated and 
presents a truck body (1a) having a bed (2) covered by a tonneau cover 
(3). The tonneau cover (3) is built by a cover fastening system used in 
combination with a sheet of flexible material or fabric. The truck body 
(1a) has sidewalls (4), a front shelf (5) and an end gate (6). The 
principal use contemplated for a system according to the present invention 
is as a cover for an open bed truck as illustrated in FIG. 1. However, one 
can imagine other advantageous uses such as for covering stationary 
structures, open areas, etc., and it is expected that those purchasing 
such a system may utilize it in a wide variety of imaginative ways. FIG. 2 
shows the tonneau cover as a planar member. 
Turning to FIG. 3, the invention provides a tonneau cover (3) employing a 
frame (7) which may have the form shown in Figure 3 and is composed of 
h-shaped rails (8a) (8b) (8c) (8d), center support rails (9a) (9b) and 
corner joints (10a) (10b) (10c) (10d). In each corner of the frame, front 
rail (8b) and rear rail (8d) will be connected to side rails (8a) (8c) by 
suitable corner joints which will be assembled to rails (8a) (8b) (8c) 
(8d) in a manner that will be described below. 
Corner joints (10a-10d) are L-shaped and act as socket members for 
receiving ends (11) of each h-shaped rail. The frame (7) is assembled by 
inserting the h-shaped rails into the corner joints and simultaneously 
attaching the central support members. Any type of plastic panel member 
(22) may also be used within the frame to give further support. Panel side 
edges (23) are secured within the frame structure and may fit within a 
channel (12) formed by the h-shaped rails. Thereafter, the corner joints 
may be attached to the rails by any suitable means, such as rivets or 
mechanical fasteners. 
The tonneau cover according to the invention is intended to cover an 
opening in a structure and the above described frame is preferably secured 
to the sidewalls of such an opening by clamps which are well known in the 
prior art. The clamps enable them to clamp rails to a horizontal surface 
of a structure which is open toward the interior of the opening to be 
covered, as will be described in detail below. If the h-shaped rails are 
to be secured to other sidewall arrangements, such as vertical panels, 
other known clamp elements can be employed. In any event, the L-shaped 
rails could always be fastened to sidewalls of the structure to be covered 
by bolting or by means of sheet metal screws or other suitable fasteners. 
Otherwise, the cover may just rest on the truck body. 
The structure illustrated in FIG. 3 is completed by center support rails 
which may or may not be needed depending on the preference of the design. 
The center support rails (9a) (9b) have ends (13a) (13b) which slide into 
the channels (12) of the h-shaped rails. The center support rails are 
installed in such a manner as to be readily removable when they are not 
desired. 
Each of the h-shaped extruded rails has a series of apertures (14). Four 
L-shaped rails (15a) (15b) (15c) (15d) having apertures (16) which mate 
with those provided in the h-shaped rails are used to secure a fabric web 
(17) to the frame (7). 
As illustrated in FIG. 4, each L-shaped rail (15a) (15b) (15c) (15d) is 
secured to each h-shaped rail by an appropriate number of fastener means 
(18). A cross sectional view of the fastening system is illustrated in 
FIG. 4. The illustrated embodiment includes an h-shaped rail having an 
upper T-area (8e) showing a left side member (8f), a right side area (8h), 
an upright plank (8g), and a bottom plank (8i). Wrapped and secured around 
the h-shaped rail is a web of fabric (17) made of suitable weatherproof 
covering material. The fabric is secured to the h-shaped rail by an 
L-shaped rail (15) through the use of the fastening system and fastening 
members (18). Each fastener member fits through mating apertures provided 
in the bottom plank (8i) of the h-shaped rail and bottom surface of the 
L-shaped member. The fastener extends through the fabric at the desired 
location depending on the tightness desired on the fabric surface. After 
positioning the fastener through the fabric web and the apertures, the 
fastener is tightened to form a tight cover connection at each fastening 
point. By securely connecting each fastener to the appropriate rails and 
fabric web, a tight novel tonneau cover is formed. The components of the 
fastening system act together as a huge clamp to secure the web. The 
fabric web used to create the cover may then be trimmed to size. Use of 
any size piece of fabric web gives the present invention a unique 
manufacturing advantage over systems which require a predetermined size of 
fabric prior to manufacturing. Also shown is the panel member (22) secured 
in the channel of the h-shaped rail. 
Alternative embodiments are illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. Although the 
embodiment shown in FIG. 5 uses extruded h-shaped rails and a fabric 
cover, L-shaped rails are replaced by Z-shaped rails (19). The Z-shaped 
rail illustrated in FIG. 5 includes an added ledge (20) which rests on the 
inside surface of the truck bed panels for further support. In either 
embodiment, seals (21) may be provided for keeping moisture out of the bed 
area. 
FIG. 6 illustrates a cross sectional view of yet a further embodiment. 
Indentations (24) are provided to assist the h-shaped rails and the 
L-shaped rails in securing the fabric web.