Pick-up load body with lockable storage compartment

A load body for a pick-up truck which comprises: a pair of spaced inner vertically extending side walls affixed to lateral edges of a load bed; respective outer side wall assemblies connected to the respective said inner side walls, with each assembly including a top horizontally extending rail and a rear end wall portion, and being spaced from said associated inner side wall to form a space there between. A compartment is formed on the outer surface of at least one of said inner side walls by outwardly extending front and rear end walls and a bottom wall attached to the at least one outer surface. A hinge pivotally connects an inner edge of the top rail of the outer side wall assembly associated with the at least one inner side wall to an upper edge of the associated inner side wall so that the outer side wall assembly is pivotable between a lowered position, wherein said compartment is closed by the outer side wall assembly with said rear end wall of said outer side wall assembly covering the rear end wall of the compartment, and a raised position of the outer side wall assembly, wherein the compartment is open and accessible. A controllable device is provided for locking each pivotably connected outer side wall assembly when in the lowered position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to an improved load body for a pick-up truck. 
More particularly, the present invention relates to a load body for a 
pick-up truck with liftable fenders and an incorporated lockable storage 
compartment. 
Load bodies for pick-up trucks conventionally include a load bed provided 
with inner side walls at its lateral edges for retaining a load, and 
associated outer side walls, i.e., fenders or quarter panels, which are 
shaped to blend with the overall contour of the vehicle. The outer side 
walls are joined to the associated inner side walls by a generally 
horizontal top member or rail and a rear end member, which generally is 
provided with a tail light to close the space between the inner and outer 
side walls. In general, this space is a dead space which is not usable 
other than possibly for running of vehicles. 
However, it is known to utilize this space for storage purposes by 
providing a lower floor member between the inner and outer side walls and 
by providing the outer side wall with one or more hinged doors. It is also 
known to actually hinge a portion of the outer sidewall so that it swings 
downwardly to expose the compartment formed between the inner side wall 
and a portion of the outer side wall. Such storage compartments are shown 
for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,267,773 and 4,135,761. However, in each 
of these constructions, the actual appearance of the vehicle is changed as 
a result of the door openings formed within the outer side walls. This 
change in the appearance of the vehicle has the disadvantage of making it 
obvious to evan a casual observer of the vehicle that such a storage 
compartment exists. Thus, this makes the storage compartment more 
susceptible to breakage and theft, even if the doors are provided with 
locks. 
It is therefore the basic object of the present invention to provide a 
pick-up truck load body wherein the space between the inner and outer side 
walls of the load body is utilized for storage purposes without requiring 
or providing any openings in the outer sidewall, and which is lockable in 
a manner which is not readily apparent, except possibly upon close 
inspection. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The above object is generally achieved according to the present invention 
by a load body for a pick-up truck which comprises: a pair of spaced inner 
vertically extending side walls affixed to lateral edges of a load bed; 
respective outer side wall assemblies connected to the respective inner 
side walls, with each assembly including a top normally horizontally 
extending rail and a rear end wall portion, and being spaced from the 
associated inner side wall to form a space there between; a compartment 
formed on the outer surface of at least one of the inner side walls by 
outwardly extending front and rear end walls and a bottom wall attached to 
the at least one outer surface; a hinge pivotally connecting an inner edge 
of the top rail of the outer side wall assembly associated with the at 
least one inner side wall to an upper edge of the associated inner side 
wall so that the outer side wall assembly is pivotable between a lowered 
position, wherein the compartment is closed by the outer side wall 
assembly with the rear end wall of the outer side wall assembly covering 
another portion of an outer surface of the rear end wall of the 
compartment, and a raised position of the outer side wall assembly, 
wherein the compartment is open and accessible; and controllable means for 
locking each pivotably connected outer side wall assembly when in the 
lowered position. 
As clearly can be appreciated from the above, since the entire outer side 
wall of the load body is being raised or moved to gain access to the 
compartment formed between the receptive inner and outer side walls, there 
is no disruption in the basic contour of the load body, so that it is not 
readily apparent that such a storage compartment even exists. Preferably, 
to provide greater security and sealing of the compartment, the pivotable 
outer side wall assembly additionally has a front end wall which covers at 
least a portion of the outer surface of the front end wall of the 
compartment when the outer side wall assembly is in a lowered closed 
position. Preferably, the pivotable outer side wall assembly is movable 
between its closed lower position and its raised upper position by a power 
drive arrangement which is disposed in a portion of the respective 
compartment and which likewise and simultaneously comprises the locking 
means for the outer side wall assembly, so that no separate key or 
apparent lock in the outer side wall assembly is required. For example, 
the drive unit may be a hydraulic cylinder, with an air cylinder or 
electric pressurized drive unit therefore which when deactivated in the 
lowered position will firmly lock the pivotable outer side wall assembly 
in the lowered position. Similar functions can be achieved by utilizing an 
electric motor with acceptable gearing connecting same to the inner 
surface of the outer side wall assembly. 
If desired, each of the outer side wall assemblies may be pivotably mounted 
and lockable in order to provide a storage compartment between each of the 
pairs of inner and outer side walls of the load body. In any case, the 
contours of the two outer side walls should be substantially identical and 
symmetrical in order not to change the symmetry of the load body of the 
truck or vehicle, due to, for example, an increase in the width of the 
space between the inner and outer side walls to provide greater depth for 
the compartment formed there between.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Turning now to the figures there is shown a pick-up truck having a cab 10 
with a load body, generally indicated by the reference numeral 12, at the 
rear thereof and attached to the truck frame (not shown) in a usual 
manner. The load body 12 has a load bed 14, generally at the level of the 
plane 16 shown in FIG. 3, with spaced opposed vertically extending inner 
side walls 16 and 18 connected to the lateral edges of the load bed 14. 
Connected to each of the inner walls 16 and 18 is a respective outer side 
wall assembly 20 and 22. In the normal or conventional position of the 
outer side wall assembly 20 and 22, as can be seen in FIG. 4, the outer 
side walls extend generally parallel to but spaced from the respective 
inner side walls 16 and 18 to provide respective spaces therebetween. 
According to the present invention, the spaces are to be utilized to form 
respective compartments 24 and 26 between the respective pairs of inner 
and outer side walls 16, 20 and 18, 22. 
In the illustrated pick-up truck, the spacing between the inner and outer 
side wall pairs has been extended in width in order to provide additional 
storage space. For this purpose, and in order to provide proper balance 
for the vehicle and no substantial lateral overhang of the wheels, the 
pick-up truck has been illustrated as containing dual rear wheels 28. 
Moreover, to further increase the available storage space in the vertical 
distance, the inner side walls 16 and 18 are extended in the downward 
direction so that they extend substantially below the plane 16 of the load 
bed 14 for substantially the same distance as the outer side wall 
assemblies 20 and 22 as in a conventional load body. 
In order to form the storage compartment 24, the outer surface 30 of the 
inner side wall 16 is provided with vertically extending front and rear 
end wall members 32 and 34 respectively, and with a bottom wall member 36 
in order to provide a compartment 24 which is essentially open only in a 
direction toward the inner surface of the respective outer side wall 
assembly 20. Moreover, this bottom wall member 36, is shaped so as to 
provide a closed surface above the conventional wheel well 38. To make the 
compartment 24 more functional, shelves 40 likewise are shown attached to 
the outer surface of the inner side wall 16. It should be noted that 
although the shelves 40 are indicated as being fixed horizontal shelves 
for the preferred purpose of utilizing same as a tool containing storage 
compartment, the shelves 40 may have different configurations and some of 
the shelves may be swingable or be pivotably mounted about vertical axes 
as so that they can be moved outwardly when the compartment is open. 
Moreover, the shelves or partitions for the compartment may be differently 
oriented depending on a different desired use. For example, instead of 
using the compartment or compartments for storage of tools, it can be used 
in the normal manner of a trunk for storing luggage or other items, in 
which case either no partitions or shelves need be provided or, for 
example, vertically extending partitions may be provided instead of the 
shelves 40. It should further be noted that the compartment 34 between the 
inner side wall 18 and the outer side wall assembly 22 may be similarly 
configured to that described for the compartment 24, or may be differently 
configured, for example, with no shelves or with vertical partitions, or 
even may not be utilized as a storage compartment at all. However in the 
later case, the contour of the outer side wall assembly 22 should be made 
the same as that of the pivotable outer side wall assembly 6 to maintain 
vehicle symmetry in which case the outer side wall assembly 22 need not be 
pivotally connected to the inner wall 18. 
In order to be able to cover and/or gain access to the compartment 24, the 
outer side wall assembly 20 (or 22) is pivotably mounted on and connected 
to the associated inner side wall 16 (or 18). For this purpose, the upper 
end of the outer side wall assembly 20 includes a normally generally 
horizontally extending upper plate or rail member 42, whose width depends 
on the width of the associated compartment 24, and whose outer free end is 
connected via a hinge 46 to the upper end of the inner wall 16. The outer 
side wall assembly 20 additionally has a rear end wall 48, containing, for 
example, a tail light 50 as shown, which extends over and covers at least 
a portion of the rearward facing surface of the rear end wall member 34 of 
the compartment, as is conventional in such load bodies. This tends to 
seal the compartment 24 in the rearward direction, so that access to the 
contents are not accessible from the outside, even when the tail gate 52 
is not raised. Preferably, the outer side wall assembly 20 additionally 
has a front end wall 54 which extends adjacent the outer surface of the 
rear end wall member 32 for the compartment in the lower position of the 
outer side wall assembly 20 in order to provide a more complete sealed and 
secured arrangement. It should be noted, however, that it is possible for 
the outer side wall assembly 20 to simply sealingly engage the outer edge 
surface of the rear end wall member 32 to provide a seal against the 
elements. However, such would of course not provide as secure an 
arrangement. Preferably, the interior of the outer side wall assembly 20 
is provided with an interior lid 56 (best shown in FIG. 2) which 
essentially closes off the shelves 40 when the assembly 20 is in the 
lowered position to prevent articles on the shelves 40 from moving around 
and striking the actual interior surface of the compartment. 
Although it is possible, particularly with a small pick-up, to manually 
raise and lower the outer side wall assemblies 20 and 22, and to maintain 
same in a raised position by providing either a spring loaded hinge, 
similar to a trunk hinge, or a manual support strut for maintaining the 
outer wall assembly 20 in a raised position, preferably, as shown most 
clearly in FIGS. 1 and 2, a hydraulic arrangement for raising and lowering 
the outer wall assembly 20, and for maintaining it in the raised opened 
position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 or the closed position as shown in 
FIGS. 3 and 4, is provided. In the preferred embodiment, this hydraulic 
arrangement includes a hydraulic cylinder and piston arrangement 58 and a 
pressure supply 60, with one end of the cylinder being articulated to the 
bottom wall member 36, and with the free end of the piston being 
articulated to the inner surface of the outer wall assembly 20. The power 
for the pressure supply 60 may be provided via the truck engine or via an 
external source connectable via a pressure hose or cable provided on a 
swingable or removable rack or reel which preferably is mounted adjacent 
the piston 58. Upon actuation of this pressure supply source 60, for 
example, via a switch in the cab 10, the cylinder and piston will tend to 
pivot the outer wall assembly 20 about the hinge 46 to raise it to the 
open raised position as shown in FIG. 1 and 2 and maintain same in this 
open position. Conversely, upon reversing the piston movement, the outer 
wall assembly 20 will be lowered to the closed position shown in FIGS. 3 
and 4. Note that with this arrangement, when the cylinder and piston 
arrangement 58 has moved the outer wall assembly 20 to the lowered 
position, the outer wall assembly is locked in the closed position so that 
no further key arrangement is required. It should be noted, however, that 
a separate key arrangement may be provided if desired in a conventional 
manner. 
As with the other features described above, a further drive unit may be 
provided for the outer wall assembly 22 if such a pivotable assembly is 
provided as shown. 
As can easily be appreciated, with the arrangement according to the 
invention, the load body is provided with additional storage space which 
is not immediately noticeable by observers since no apparent doors or 
covers for such a storage compartment can be seen. Consequently, the 
aesthetic appearance of the vehicle contour is not essentially change 
except for a possible widening of the vehicle load body, which would not 
in and of itself alert someone to the presence of a storage compartment in 
any case. In general, the outer appearance of the truck body is unchanged 
by the modification thereof according to the invention. Moreover, with the 
preferred features, a highly secured compartment for storage of tools, 
luggage and the like, being provided in a conventional pick-up truck load 
body. 
The invention now being fully described, it will be apparent to one of 
ordinary skill in the art that many changes and modifications can be made 
thereto without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as set 
forth herein.