Abstract:
A pick-up truck having a bed with a front wall, two side walls, and a tailgate, has a tonneau cover installed over the bed. The tonneau cover comprises a set of interconnected rail members, a pair of cross members, and a flexible cover. The cover has a pocket attached to the underside for storage of items that are small, fragile or valuable. The pocket may be partitioned into smaller compartments for selective isolation of items from other items. The pocket is attached to the tonneau cover by stitches that are used along a perimeter of the cover.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a device for enclosing the cargo area of a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cover for the cargo area of a truck having a storage compartment included therein. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Vehicles such as pick-up trucks having an open cargo area are useful for transporting a wide variety of cargo. However, cargo transported in these types of vehicles is susceptible to environmental exposure. Therefore, various tops, caps, and tonneau covers have been designed to cover the cargo area and limit the ingress of rain, sleet, snow and the like. 
     One cover design which has dramatically increased in popularity is the flexible or soft tonneau cover. This tonneau cover offers relatively low cost, ease of installation and reduced storage space when not in use. A soft tonneau typically includes a flexible cover releasably attached to interconnected frame members mounted on the top edge of a truck bed. 
     While soft tonneau covers limit the environmental exposure to the cargo area, other features remain desirable. In a typical tonneau cover, the enclosed cargo area forms one large compartment. This large compartment is useful for storage of large items and bulk materials. However, the large compartment is not well suited for storing small goods, fragile items, or valuable possessions. Therefore, it remains desirable to provide a soft tonneau cover which includes a compartment for the storage of small, fragile or valuable items. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a general object of the present invention to provide a soft tonneau cover for a truck cargo area, the tonneau cover including a storage compartment located on the underside of the cover for selectively retaining items. 
     In one form, the present invention includes a flexible tonneau cover including a first flexible sheet having a perimeter substantially corresponding to the perimeter of a cargo area, a plurality of fasteners attached around the perimeter of the flexible cover for attaching the cover to the cargo area, and a pocket formed on the underside of the flexible sheet for selectively retaining objects. 
    
    
     Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates from a reading of the subsequent description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary vehicle including the apparatus of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cargo area of the exemplary vehicle of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the underside of the apparatus of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the present invention showing the construction of the pocket portion. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The following description of the preferred embodiment is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the present invention, its application, or uses. 
     With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, an exemplary motor vehicle  10  is shown equipped with the pocket tonneau cover  12  of the present invention extending over the cargo area  14 . Cargo area  14  is located directly behind the passenger compartment  16  of motor vehicle  10  providing storage for goods and materials. Cargo area  14  of motor vehicle  10  is constructed in a box shape having a base  17  connected to four upwardly extending interconnected wall segments  18 A,  18 B,  18 C and  18 D. Motor vehicle  10  also includes a hinge  20  and a lock mechanism  22  connecting base  17  to wall segment  18 A to form a liftgate assembly  24  which simplifies ingress to and egress from the cargo area  14 . Wall segment  18 A has been rotated to its lowered position in the illustration. 
     As is well known, cargo area  14  is often covered by a tarpaulin or other protective cover to limit the environmental exposure and prevent egress of the items in cargo area  14 . As such, it is well known to provide a removable device that functions to enclose cargo area  14 . This device, often embodied as a tonneau cover assembly, includes a set of rail segments  32 A,  32 B,  32 C and  32 D which interconnect to form a shape similar to the shape of cargo area  14 . In the preferred embodiment, rail segments  32 A and  32 C are associated with shorter wall segments  18 A and  18 C, and segments  32 B and  32 D are associated with longer wall segments  18 B and  18 D. Additionally, the tonneau cover assembly includes cross members  34  which extend over cargo area  14  and connect longer rail segments  32 B and  32 D together. Third, the tonneau cover assembly includes a flexible cover  36  having releasable fasteners, (such as snaps  38  shown in FIG.  3 ), sewn around the perimeter to connect flexible cover  36  to rail segments  32 A- 32 D to form an enclosure over cargo area  14 . 
     With reference to FIG. 3, the underside of the pocket tonneau cover  12  is shown in greater detail. Pocket tonneau cover  12  is generally rectangular in shape. However, it is understood that pocket tonneau cover  12  may embody many different shapes depending on the shape of the area sought to be enclosed. 
     Pocket tonneau cover  12  is releasably attachable to rail segments  32 A- 32 D (FIG. 2) through the use of snaps  38 . However, it is understood that other methods of releasable attachment, such as buttons, hook and loop fasteners and zippers may be used to secure the pocket tonneau cover  12  to rail segments  32 A- 32 D. The edge of flexible cover  36  is folded over onto itself and secured by stitching  39 . However, it is conceivable that other types of fastening devices such as adhesive or sonic weldment may be use in place of the stitching  39  to secure the edge of flexible cover  36 . Snaps  38  are disposed through this doubled-over edge portion. Stitching  39  secures the two portions of the folded over material to provide additional material for the snaps  38  to be secured through. 
     In the present invention, a pocket  40  is attached to the underside of pocket tonneau cover  12 . Pocket  40  is preferably constructed of two parts, backing portion  42  and cover portion  44 . Cover portion  44  is attached to backing portion  42  to form pocket  40  and an aperture  46 . Backing portion  42  and cover portion  44  may be formed from a continuous sheet of material folded onto itself or from two discrete pieces secured along mating edges. 
     Backing portion  42 , constituting the main body of pocket  40 , is preferably attached to the Underside of the pocket tonneau cover  12  through the use of the same stitching  39  located around the perimeter of the cover to envelop snaps  38 . The use of stitching  39  allows pocket  40  to be undetectable when pocket tonneau cover  12  is installed over cargo area  14 . However, it is conceivable that other types of fastening devices such as adhesive or sonic weldment may be use in place of the stitching  39  to secure pocket  40  to the underside of pocket tonneau cover  12 . Also, it is conceivable that pocket  40  may be secured to pocket tonneau cover  12  at other locations. 
     It should be noted that the use the additional stitching or other external fasteners not associated with a typical tonneau cover assembly would raise suspicion of the presence of pocket  40 , thus eliminating the obscurity of the pocket. Further, additional stitching and/or fasteners may promote leaks. Nonetheless, it is conceivable that other methods of attachment may be used to attach pocket  40  to the underside of pocket tonneau cover  12 . For example, pocket  40  may be secured to cover  36  (FIG. 1) through the use of adhesives. However, the use of adhesives may lead to decreased durability of the cover assembly. 
     Pocket  40  of the present invention may be constructed to correspond to the size of the items that are desired to be stored. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, pocket  40  is constructed with a depth of approximately 1 foot and a width substantially similar to the width of cargo area  14 . The size of pocket  40  as shown is designed to hold small tools, paperwork and other similar size items. It is also contemplated that the depth of the pocket  40  may be increased if storage of larger items such as fishing poles or other elongated items are desired to be stored. 
     The location of pocket  40  and aperture  46  may also be constructed to correspond to the devices that are desired to be stored. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, pocket  40  is located in the rear of cargo area  14  and aperture  46  is located adjacent to liftgate assembly  24 . This orientation is preferred for storing items that are used often or used only in the rear portion of the vehicle, such as hand tools or towing ropes. It is conceivable that pocket  40  may be positioned adjacent to a side of the cargo area or adjacent to front of the cargo area for storage of goods that are not often utilized or used at a specific location on the vehicle, such as a wrench for removing lug nuts. 
     As stated above, a goal of the present invention is to disguise pocket  40 . Specifically, when an item is stored inside pocket  40 , the exterior of the tonneau should look unchanged. In constructing pocket  40 , it is desirable to have side  45  of pocket  40  opposite aperture  46  less taught than the side adjacent the aperture  46 . Desirably, when the pocket is in use, side  45  opposite of the aperture  46  angles down under the weight of the items stored therein instead of remaining adjacent pocket tonneau cover  12  which could alert onlookers to the presence of pocket  40  by observing an outline of articles stored therein. In order to promote this, cover portion  44  is preferably formed in the shape of a trapezoid (having two parallel sides of differing widths for increasing the slack of side  45  and two oppositely angled sides connecting them). In this configuration, side  45  will hang lower than the side containing aperture  46 . This configuration also promotes retention of items within pocket  40  through gravity. 
     In a second preferred embodiment, pocket  40  is subdivided by a series of releasable or permanent fasteners  48  that divide the pocket  40  into smaller pockets  43 A,  43 B,  43 C, etc. Releasable fasteners  48  are preferably oriented to extend from aperture  46  to side  45 . However, it is understood that releasable fasteners  48  may be oriented lengthwise or in other configurations to partition the pocket  40  into smaller differently oriented pockets. 
     Releasable fasteners  48  of the present invention are preferably of the hook and loop type, having one part of releasable fastener  48  connected to the backing portion  42  and the other portion of the releasable fastener  48  connected to the cover portion  44 . In the present embodiment, the hook and loop fasteners are of the strip variety and are sewn to the backing portion  42  and cover portion  44  (but not all the way through cover  36 ). It is understood that hook and loop fasteners may be secured using adhesive or other means of attachment. 
     In alternate embodiments of the present invention, it is foreseeable that many different types of releasable fasteners may be used to divide pocket  40  into smaller pockets  43 A,  43 B,  43 C, etc. and not depart from the scope of the invention. Some examples of other types of fasteners are stitches, zippers, buttons and snaps. 
     In a third embodiment of the present invention, pocket  40  has an aperture  46  capable of selectively closing pocket  40 . A mechanism  52  is therefore provided for closing the aperture  46  of pocket  40  of the present invention. The preferred mechanism  52  for closing aperture  46  of the present invention is hook and loop fasteners. The fasteners are disposed along the face of backing portion  42  and cover portion  44  which form aperture  46  of pocket  40 . It is also preferred that the hook and loop fasteners be sewn to the backing portion  42  and cover portion  44 . It is also contemplated that other types of releasable fasteners may be used to close pocket  40  of the present invention. Some types of releasable fasteners include, zippers, snaps, buttons and spring biased hinges. 
     The material of which the present invention is preferably constructed is a fabric backed vinyl material. This material is relatively inexpensive, flexible, resilient, water resistant and environmentally stable. It is conceivable that different types of materials may be used to construct the present invention and not depart from the scope of the invention. 
     The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.