Truck bed extension

A truck bed extension is provided for extending the useful length of a pickup truck bed. The truck bed extension includes a pair of transversely spaced sidewalls interconnected by a spacing member, with each sidewall coupled to a downwardly extending mount having an inwardly oriented pin, whereby the pins are substantially opposed and collinear. The pins are positioned for receipt into openings in the tailgate housing latches. When the truck bed extension is lowered, the pins are received into and releasably coupled with the latches. Brackets are preferably provided adjacent the forward margins of the sidewalls and oriented outwardly to receive inwardly extending posts extending inwardly from the bed walls.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention broadly concerns a truck bed extension which can be readily 
mounted and detached from a conventional pickup truck bed. More 
particularly, it is concerned with a truck bed extension which may be 
coupled to the truck bed and tailgate for increasing the effective length 
of the truck bed which attaches to the existing tailgate latching hardware 
without the need for modification. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Pickup trucks have become a common conveyance for many people in lieu of an 
automobile. They have the ability to carry cargo and in recent years, many 
trucks include added passenger seating. In many instances, pickup truck 
manufacturers wish to avoid increasing either the wheelbase or the overall 
length of the truck when further seating capacity is added. As a result, 
the manufacturer often shortens the truck bed of the pickup. 
Unfortunately, the result is a reduced cargo-carrying capacity. While 
traditional pickup truck beds have had a length of about 8 feet in order 
to carry standard dimensioned lumber and plywood of that length, many 
current pickup truck bed lengths are reduced to six feet or even four 
feet. As a consequence, many articles can no longer be successfully 
transported in the shortened bed. 
Several attempts have been made to develop a suitable truck bed extender, 
and are shown for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,658,033; 5,755,480; 
5,816,637 and 5,820,188. However, a problem common to the teaching of each 
of these designs is their inability to be mounted and readily detached 
from standard pickup truck beds having latching assemblies, and may 
require the truck bed to be modified from its existing structure. This 
detracts from the use of the truck in its manufactured state when no 
extension is desired. Furthermore, prior art designs lack the combination 
of secure attachment to both the bed and the tailgate with the need for 
one-person attachment without the use of tools. 
There has thus developed a need for a pickup truck bed extension which can 
be readily mounted and detached from the bed of a pickup having 
conventional latching mechanisms. There has further developed a need for a 
pickup truck bed extension which requires no modification of the truck bed 
itself, and thus can be used by a pickup truck owner who either lacks the 
desire or the skills necessary to alter the truck as provided by the 
manufacturer. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
These and other objects have been largely met by the truck bed extension of 
the present invention. That is to say, the truck bed extension hereof can 
be securely coupled to the existing latching mechanism of a pickup truck 
bed and tailgate, requires no additional tools, is relatively light in 
weight and easy to handle, and can be readily mounted and detached without 
altering the configuration provided by the manufacturer. 
The truck bed extension hereof is particularly designed to be mounted on a 
pickup truck bed having a deck and upright bed walls. The bed walls 
include upright end portions at the rear thereof, each end portion 
mounting opposed, inwardly extending generally horizontal posts. In 
addition, the tailgate is provided with releasable latches on each side 
thereof. Thus, in ordinary operation, the tailgate swings on a generally 
horizontal axis and when upright, the latch mechanisms at each side 
thereof receive the posts on the bed and hold the tailgate in an upright, 
closed position. By actuating a handle operatively coupled to the latching 
mechanisms in the tailgate, the tailgate is released and may be swung 
downwardly to a generally horizontal orientation, supported by a cable or 
linkage. 
By taking advantage of this relationship, the truck bed extender hereof 
accomplishes the purposes set forth above. The extender includes a pair of 
laterally spaced, generally upright sidewalls and a transverse spacing 
element coupled therebetween. The sidewalls include lower rails which are 
provided with pins which are positioned and configured for insertion into 
the latching mechanisms. The pins are positioned on the lower rails so 
that upright pillars on the sidewalls are adjacent the upright rear 
portions of the pickup truck bed. U-shaped brackets are positioned on the 
pillars to receive posts mounted on the standards by the manufacturer. The 
brackets and the pins effectively lock the truck bed extension in place 
and resist movement thereof in each of three orthogonal axes. The truck 
bed extension may be quickly removed simply by actuating the handle on the 
tailgate of the pickup to release the pins and then lifting the brackets 
off of the posts extending inwardly from the bed. The truck bed extension 
preferably hingeably mounts a rear gate, and the extension may have either 
solid upright walls or mesh walls, using the tailgate itself as the floor 
of the extension. 
These and other advantages will be readily apparent to those skilled in the 
art with reference to the drawings and the description which follows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawing, a truck bed extension 10 in accordance with 
the present invention broadly includes first and second generally upright 
sidewalls 12 and 14 which are spaced in parallel planes and connected by a 
bar 16 which transversely spaces the sidewalls 12 and 14 to lie in 
generally parallel planes extending rearwardly from a truck bed 18 of a 
pickup truck. The bar 16 also pivotally mounts a rear gate 20, the bar 16 
being positioned to lie preferably rearwardly of the tailgate 22 of the 
pickup so that the rear gate 20 is free to swing downwardly below the bar 
16 without interference from the tailgate 22. A fastening member 24 is 
provided on the rear gate 20 to releasably couple it to the sidewalls and 
hold it in a closed, upright position between the sidewalls 12 and 14. 
In greater detail, the sidewalls 12 and 14 each include a lower side rail 
26 defining a lower sidewall margin, an upright front pillar 28 defining a 
front sidewall margin, an upright rear pillar 30 defining a rear sidewall 
margin, an upper side rail 32 defining an upper sidewall margin, and side 
enclosure 34 to enclose the area within the pillars and the rails of each 
sidewall 12 and 14. The pillars 28 and 30 and the side rails 26 and 32 are 
preferably provided of tubular steel or aluminum for light weight, 
ruggedness of construction and the ability to interconnect by welding. 
Preferably, the pillars and rails will be welded together at their ends, 
with the enclosure welded thereon to provide a rigid sidewall. The 
enclosure 34 may be of expanded metal mesh 36, as shown, or alternatively 
of sheet metal. The sidewalls each have an outboard side 40. The lower 
side rail 26 includes a guide flange 38 extending downwardly from the 
outboard side 40 of each of the lower side rails 26 to engage the sides 42 
of the tailgate 22 and resist lateral movement of the truck bed extension 
10. Additionally, the lower side rails 26 each carry a downwardly 
extending L-shaped mount 44 which include an inwardly extending pin 46. 
Thus, the pin 46 of sidewall 12 will be opposite and extend toward the pin 
46 of sidewall 14, and the pin 46 of sidewall 14 will be opposite and 
extend toward the pin 46 of sidewall 12. The pins 46 of each sidewall 12 
and 14 thus are substantially co-linear and lie in a substantially 
horizontal plane when the truck bed extension is mounted, each pin 46 
including a terminal flange 48 to aid in preventing slippage of the pin 46 
when mounted to the tailgate 22. 
The front pillars 28 of each sidewall 12 and 14 include a U-shaped side 
bracket 50 on the outboard side 40 thereof. The brackets 50 thus present a 
slot 52 open at its lower end 54, with the brackets 50 on each sidewall 12 
and 14 being positioned to lie in the same, substantially horizontal 
plane. The brackets 50 thus include a front leg 56 and a rear leg 58 which 
inhibit front and rear movement of the truck bed extension 10 when 
mounted. 
The rear pillars 30 of each sidewall 12 and 14 include a hole 60 in the 
upper end 62 thereof. The fastening member 24 includes a pin-like bolt 64 
attached by a wire 66 to the rear gate 20, with the bolt 64 removably 
received in the hole 60 to hold the rear gate 20 in a closed position. A 
mounting bracket is attached to the rear gate 20 and provided with an 
aperture which is in registry with the hole 60 when the rear gate 20 is in 
an upright, closed position, whereby bolt 64 may secure the mounting 
bracket to the rear pillars of the respective sidewalls. 
The bar 16 is preferably a tubular steel cylinder having a circular outer 
surface with end caps 68 and 70 welded thereto. A gusset plate 72 is 
welded to each cap and its corresponding rear pillar 30 to provide 
additional reinforcement and rigidity and to maintain the sidewalls 12 and 
14 in an upright orientation. 
The rear gate 20 includes upper beam 74 and lower beam 76 positioned in 
spaced-apart, substantially parallel planes. The beams 74 and 76 are 
interconnected by side stanchions 78 and 80 respectively adjacent the side 
walls 12 and 14, and optional additional support is provided by 
intermediate braces 82 and 84. The beams 74 and 76 are welded to the side 
stanchions 78 and 80 and also to the braces 82 and 84, with a back 
enclosure 86 provided to inhibit material received in the truck bed from 
passing rearwardly therepast. To minimize air resistance when the truck is 
in motion, the back enclosure 86 may be of expanded metal mesh 36 as 
shown, but alternatively the back enclosure may be provided as a sheet 
metal panel. The rear gate 20 is preferably swingably mounted to the bar 
16 by circular bearings 90, 92 and 94 which are welded onto the lower beam 
76 at laterally spaced intervals. 
The truck bed extension 10 hereof is especially designed to be mounted to a 
pickup truck bed 18 having a generally horizontal deck 96 and a pair of 
spaced apart bed walls 98 and 100. The bed 18 includes hinges which 
swingably mount the tailgate 22 for movement about a generally horizontal 
axis. At least one of the bed walls 98 and 100 are typically connected to 
the tailgate 22 by a retainer, such as a cable 102 or arm, which maintains 
the tailgate 22 in a generally horizontal position when opened as shown in 
FIG. 2. In this position, the interior wall 104 of the tailgate 22 is 
substantially co-planar with the deck 96 of the truck bed. 
The bed walls 98 and 100 each include, at a predetermined location on the 
rear portions thereof, opposed, inwardly extending posts 106, preferably 
with terminal flanges. The posts 106 are sized, configured and located to 
slide into openings 108 in respective sides of the tailgate 22, the 
openings 108 each having latches 110 positioned therein to receive the 
posts 106 when the tailgate 22 is closed by swinging it into a generally 
vertical position. The latches 110 are thus positioned at a predetermined 
position on the tailgate to cooperate with the posts 106. The tailgate 22 
is typically provided with a shiftable handle which is operatively coupled 
to the latches 110 by an arm, cable 1 12 or the like. Thus, the user lifts 
or otherwise shifts the handle to open the latches 110 which permits 
opening of the tailgate 22. 
The truck bed extension 10 hereof advantageously positions the brackets 50 
and the pins 46 to hold the extension onto the truck bed. The brackets 50 
are positioned on the front pillars 28 so that the lower side rails are 
proximate to or supported by the tailgate 22, the posts 106 received in 
the slots 52, and the pins 46 releasably coupled to the latches 110. In 
this position, the bar 16 is positioned just rearwardly and below the 
interior wall 104 of the tailgate 22. In this position, with the rear gate 
swung downwardly in an open position, cargo received on the deck 96 of the 
truck bed can slide rearwardly across the tailgate 22 without interference 
by the bar 16. Additionally, the sidewalls 12 and 14 extend rearwardly 
from the recessed rear portions of the truck bed 18 and in overlapping 
relationship, the front pillars 28 essentially occupying the space within 
the recessed rear portions of the truck bed where the tailgate 22 
originally connected to the bed walls 98 and 100. The attachment of the 
truck bed extension 10 is simplified by the fact that only vertical 
movement of the extension 10 onto the truck bed 18 is required. With the 
tailgate 22 open to serve as the floor of the extension 10, lowering of 
the brackets 50 onto the posts 106 while the pins 46 and lowered and 
locked onto the latches 110 completes the mounting operation. Removal of 
the extension 10 requires only that the handle on the tailgate 22 be 
pulled to cause the cable 112 or the like to trip the latch release lever 
and thereby permit the spring loaded receiver to pivot, thereby opening 
the latches to free the pins 46 and enable lifting of the extension in a 
vertical direction. This can be accomplished by one person when a hoist or 
pulley system is attached to the extension as an aid to raising and 
lowering. 
When mounted to the truck bed 18, the sidewalls 12 and 14 extend rearwardly 
and lie in substantially the same upright parallel planes as the bed walls 
98 and 100. Thus, without the necessity of additional fittings or hardware 
being permanently coupled to the truck bed 18, its length can be 
functionally extending for temporary periods, with the advantage that it 
can be quickly returned to its original condition without any holes or 
permanent modifications. 
Although preferred forms of the invention have been described above, it is 
to be recognized that such disclosure is by way of illustration only, and 
should not be utilized in a limiting sense in interpreting the scope of 
the present invention. Obvious modifications to the exemplary embodiments, 
as hereinabove set forth, could be readily made by those skilled in the 
art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For 
example, the rear gate could be mounted to swing horizontally instead of 
vertically, the fastening member could be a clasp or padlock, and the side 
walls and rear gate could be molded of synthetic resin, glass reinforced 
resin, carbon fiber or other lightweight and rigid materials. 
The inventors hereby states his intent to rely on the Doctrine of 
Equivalents to determine and assess the reasonably fair scope of his 
invention as pertains to any apparatus not materially departing from but 
outside the literal scope of the invention as set out in the following 
claims.