Abstract:
An extended cab pickup truck ( 10 ) has split rear seats ( 32, 34 ) and a load receiving container ( 40 ) is positioned between the rear seats. The rear wall ( 20 ) of the cab defines a rear opening ( 52 ) below the rear window ( 18 ) and a rearwardly facing opening ( 50 ) of the container registers with the rear opening of the cab at the level of the load bed of the truck. An external door ( 54 ) selectively closes the rear opening. The container has an internal opening ( 62 ) that is in communication with the cab for access to the load receiving container.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE  
       [0001]    Applicant claims the benefit of and priority with respect to Provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/225,241, filed Aug. 15, 2000. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    This invention involves a pickup truck with additional storage and hauling space located in the passenger cab of the truck and opening into the bed of the truck.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Pickup trucks are now made with elongated or “extended” cabs with back seats. This provides the vehicle with more passenger space, so that the vehicle can function not only as a work vehicle for hauling items in the rear “bed” of the truck, but also as a passenger vehicle, particularly for families with small to intermediate sized children.  
           [0004]    In order to keep the overall length of the extended cab pickup truck from becoming too large, the bed of the truck is shortened somewhat. This tends to limit the length of the articles that can be carried by the extended cab pickup truck without opening the tailgate of the truck. For example, long boards, ladders, pipes and other elongated objects might not fit in the foreshortened bed of a pickup truck with an extended cab.  
           [0005]    Therefore, there is a need to provide an extended cab pickup truck with a hauling capacity that is of sufficient length to haul elongated objects that would otherwise not fit into the conventional sized extended cab pickup truck.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    Briefly described, the present invention relates to a pickup truck that has the extended cab configuration, which includes not only the conventional front seats, but the rear seats that are positioned behind the front seats and adjacent the rear wall of an extended cab. The rear wall of the passenger cab defines a rear wall opening that registers with the space above the load bed of the vehicle. The rear seats of the vehicle are spaced apart so as to straddle the rear opening in the rear wall of the cab, leaving a load space between the rear seats that is available for receiving the ends of elongated objects from the load bed behind the cab.  
           [0007]    In a preferred embodiment, a load receiving container is centrally positioned at the floor in the rear portion of the passenger cab, between the rear seats and behind the front seats. The load receiving container defines a rearwardly facing load receiving opening that registers with the rear wall opening of the passenger cab so as to be in free communication with the space above the load bed of the truck. The load receiving container tends to confine the forward end of the elongated load placed therein, so that the end of the load received in the container cannot shift forwardly or laterally during normal operation of the vehicle.  
           [0008]    Preferably, the load receiving container is located on the centerline of the truck so that the weight of the end of the load placed in the container is confined to the centerline of the truck.  
           [0009]    If desired, the load receiving container can also include an upwardly facing internal opening that communicates inside the cab with a door or hatch that selectively opens and closes the internal opening. This provides the occupants of the cab access to the internal space of the load receiving container.  
           [0010]    Likewise, a rear door or hatch can be hingedly mounted or otherwise mounted about the rear opening of the load receiving container so as to close the container to the outside atmosphere when a load does not project from the load bed of the truck into the cab. This permits the load receiving container to receive smaller articles without the hazard that the articles would inadvertently move through the rear wall opening of the passenger cab.  
           [0011]    Another embodiment of the invention includes the extended cab vehicle with space behind the front seats but no rear seats. This allows the owner of the vehicle to purchase the vehicle without the rear seats but the vehicle has the capacity to receive the load receiving container, and also includes load receiving space straddling the container to increase the over all carrying capacity of the vehicle.  
           [0012]    Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide an extended cab pickup truck with improved load carrying capacity.  
           [0013]    Another object of this invention is to provide an extended cab pickup truck with a load receiving container positioned in the cab for receiving loads protruding from the load bed behind the cab.  
           [0014]    Another object of this invention is to provide a convenient load receiving container inside the cab of an extended cab pickup truck which is accessible both from within the cab and from the load bed.  
           [0015]    Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specifications, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of an extended cab pickup truck, showing the rear upper surfaces of the truck, showing part of the interior of the load receiving container, its rear opening, and with the external door removed for clarity.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 is a perspective illustration of the front and rear seats of the extended cab pickup truck, showing the load receiving container positioned between the rear seats of the vehicle, and with the rear door or hatch shown displaced from its normal position for illustration purposes. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0018]    Referring now in more detail to the drawings, in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout both views, FIG. 1 discloses an extended cab pickup truck  10  that includes a cab  12  having both front  14  and rear  16  doors on each side, with a rear window  18  positioned in the rear wall  20  of the cab.  
         [0019]    Horizontal load bed  22  is positioned behind the extended cab  12 , and the vertical side walls  24  and  26  are parallel to one another and extend upwardly from the sides of the load bed  22 , in the conventional manner. Typically, a tailgate is hingedly connected to the rear edge of the load bed  22 .  
         [0020]    As illustrated in FIG. 2, front seats  30  and rear seats  32  and  34  are located in the cab. The front seats can be a “bench” seat or can be in the form of separate “bucket” seats which are spaced apart from one another. The front seats  30  are spaced from the rear wall  20  of the cab.  
         [0021]    The rear seats  32  and  34  are spaced apart from each other and are located adjacent the rear wall  20  (FIG. 1) of the cab. Therefore, the rear seats  32  and  34  and the front seats  30  define between them a load receiving space that is generally indicated at  36 . A load receiving container  40  is positioned in the load receiving space  36 , between the rear seats  32  and  34 , so that the rear seats  32  and  34  straddle the load receiving container. The load receiving container is approximately rectangular, including opposed vertical side walls  42  and  44 , opposed bottom wall  46  and top wall  48 , and a front wall (not illustrated) positioned adjacent the front seats  30 . The rear portion of the load receiving container defines a rearwardly facing opening  50 . Rear wall  20  (FIG. 1) of the cab also includes a rear wall opening  52 , with the rear wall opening  52  in registration with the load receiving container  40 . Preferably, the load receiving container will be slightly smaller in height and breadth than the rear wall opening  52  in the cab so as to be telescopically inserted through the rear wall opening  52  of the cab. The load receiving container can be removed from within said cab by moving it rearwardly, telescopically through the rear wall opening of the cab. However, the load receiving container can be larger in height and width than the rear wall opening and installed without movement through the rear wall opening. Typically, the load receiving container will be firmly attached to the pickup truck by bolts (not shown) that can be removed for repair or replacement of the container. In some instances it might be desirable to remove the load receiving container from the cab and allow use of the space behind the front seats without the container.  
         [0022]    External door  54  is hingedly mounted at the rear wall opening  52  of the rear wall of the cab  12  and functions to close the rearwardly facing opening  50  of the load receiving container. The external door  54  preferably is mounted to the rear wall  20  of the cab by the hinges  56 . Preferably, the hinge structure  56  is located at the upper edge of the rear opening of the cab so that the external door can tilt upwardly and open the load receiving container to the load bed  22  of the vehicle and move to a closed position by gravity. Also, a latch  58  can be installed on the external door so as to register with the keeper  60  mounted to the cab or to the load receiving container, allowing the rear door  54  to be locked in its closed position. Alternatively, the external door  54  can be mounted to the internal load receiving container, at the upper edge of load receiving container  40  by means of a conventional hinge structure.  
         [0023]    Although the external door  54  is disclosed in the preferred embodiment as being a bottom opening door with the hinge positioned on top, other types of doors and door connections can be used for attaching the external door in closed relationship about the rear wall opening  52  and the rearwardly facing opening  50  of the load receiving container  40 , such as a side opening door with a hinge structure at a side edge of the door, or a releasable hatch, or a sliding door, or any door configuration that assures closure to the outside elements and safe operation of the vehicle.  
         [0024]    Preferably, load receiving container  40  will include an internal opening such as the upwardly facing opening  62  in top wall  48 , and an internal door such as hatch  64  is hingedly mounted to one edge of the internal opening  62  for selective opening and closing of the load receiving container  40  from inside the cab of the vehicle. This provides the passengers in the cab access to the load receiving container. The internal door can be mounted on a wall other than the top wall  48 , if desired. However, the placement of the internal door  64  should not be positioned so as to be subject to being forced open by the load carried in the internal compartment of the load receiving container  40  due to abrupt movements of the pickup truck.  
         [0025]    Another embodiment of the invention is the extended cab pickup truck as described but without rear seats. When in this configuration, the load receiving container will be straddled with extra space for receiving a larger load.  
         [0026]    While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described herein, those skilled in the art will understand that variations and modifications of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and concept of the invention, as limited by the following claims.