Patent Publication Number: US-10308156-B2

Title: Movable vehicle cargo tray

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to and hereby incorporates by reference in its entirety U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/358,454 entitled “MOVABLE VEHICLE CARGO TRAY” filed on Jul. 5, 2016. 
    
    
     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the reproduction of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING OR COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIX 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to systems for loading and unloading materials from a cargo area of a vehicle. More particularly, this invention pertains to systems for sliding loads into and/or out of cargo areas of vehicles. 
     Pickup truck beds are difficult to get items, particularly large items, into and out of. Items that do not remain close to the rear of pickup truck bed (i.e., near the tailgate), or items that are heavy and have to be lifted over the sides of the bed are particularly difficult to load and unload. Utility style beds with high sides used as storage cabinets are particularly difficult to load and unload. 
     Cargo loading and unloading trays are fitted to a vehicle&#39;s cargo area to provide a new floor for the vehicle&#39;s cargo area above the stock floor. Cargo is placed on the tray, the tray is slid into the cargo area, the vehicle transports the cargo to a new location, and the tray is slid out of the cargo area to allow easy access to the transported cargo. Cargo trays are basically not useable unless the vehicle is on level ground. If there is cargo in the tray, the weight makes it difficult or impossible to release the latch mechanism. If and when the latch mechanism is released, the cargo will slide in the direction gravity pulls it. If the truck (or van) is facing downhill, the tray cannot be pulled out of the bed manually. If the truck is facing uphill and a user manages to release the latch, the cargo and tray will slide freely out of the bed, typically knocking the user to the ground, and sometimes dumping the cargo on the tray off the back of the tray (potentially onto the user). Some manufactures have integrated electric motors and gear boxes or hydraulic rams to extend and retract the tray, but they are costly and when they malfunction, the tray is stuck in its current position which is typically in the closed or retracted position, making servicing the system very difficult (because the motors and/or hydraulics are covered by the tray). This makes the cargo area unusable, and if the tray is tuck in the extended position, the vehicle may not be safe to drive due to its additional length and the distribution of weight. A cargo tray typically has a number of locking positions between fully extended and fully retracted. These intermediary locking positions are typically spaced several inches apart such that the tray has a finite number of positions when in use. Cargo trays can also be stolen by extending the tray and removing bolts securing the tray to the cargo area. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Aspects of the present invention provide a cargo system including a screw drive and lock system that allows the user to extend or retract a loaded tray with ease on un-level ground without the use of a power source. The lock prawl system allows for locking positions at very short intervals which are helpful when a vehicle is backed up close to objects or buildings. The screw drive lock prawl system is actuated by a locking handle. Therefore, if the locking handle is locked in place, the tray cannot be extended from the bed, and the tray itself or any toolboxes or items bolted to the tray cannot be stolen from the vehicle. 
     In one aspect, a movable vehicle cargo tray system includes a frame, a tray, a screw drive, and a thread engagement device. The frame is configured to secure to a cargo area of a vehicle. The tray is attached to the frame in a sliding engagement such as via a series of roller bearings or ball bearings. The screw drive is attached to the tray at opposing ends of the screw drive such that the screw drive is free to rotate about a longitudinal axis of the screw drive. The thread engagement device is affixed to the frame and configured to contact at least one thread of the screw drive such that the tray and screw drive are moved longitudinally relative to the frame and the longitudinal axis of the screw drive as the screw drive is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the screw drive. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a rear elevated perspective view of a movable cargo tray in a fully retracted position. 
         FIG. 2  is a rear elevated perspective view of a movable cargo tray in a fully extended position. 
         FIG. 3  is a rear elevated perspective view of a locking handle, crank handle, and lock of a movable cargo tray. 
         FIG. 4  is a front elevated perspective view of a movable cargo tray in a fully extended position. 
         FIG. 5  is a top perspective view of a movable cargo tray in a fully extended position. 
         FIG. 6  is a bottom perspective view of a screw drive of a movable cargo tray. 
         FIG. 7  is a bottom perspective view of a locking ring and lock prawl of a movable cargo tray. 
     
    
    
     Reference will now be made in detail to optional embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in accompanying drawings. Whenever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawing and in the description referring to the same or like parts. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     While the making and using of various embodiments of the present invention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not delimit the scope of the invention. 
     To facilitate the understanding of the embodiments described herein, a number of terms are defined below. The terms defined herein have meanings as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the areas relevant to the present invention. Terms such as “a,” “an,” and “the” are not intended to refer to only a singular entity, but rather include the general class of which a specific example may be used for illustration. The terminology herein is used to describe specific embodiments of the invention, but their usage does not delimit the invention, except as set forth in the claims. 
     As described herein, an upright position is considered to be the position of apparatus components while in proper operation or in a natural resting position as described herein. Vertical, horizontal, above, below, side, top, bottom and other orientation terms are described with respect to this upright position during operation unless otherwise specified. The term “when” is used to specify orientation for relative positions of components, not as a temporal limitation of the claims or apparatus described and claimed herein unless otherwise specified. The terms “above”, “below”, “over”, and “under” mean “having an elevation or vertical height greater or lesser than” and are not intended to imply that one object or component is directly over or under another object or component. 
     The phrase “in one embodiment,” as used herein does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, although it may. Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “might,” “may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or states. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or states are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or states are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-7 , in one embodiment, a movable vehicle cargo tray system  100  includes a frame  102 , the tray  104 , the screw drive  106 , and a thread engagement device  108 . The frame  102  is configured to secure to a cargo area  200  of a vehicle  202 . In one embodiment, the frame  102  is bolted to a floor of the cargo area  200  of the vehicle  202 . The tray  104  is attached to a sliding engagement to the frame  102 . In one embodiment, the tray  104  is attached to the frame  102  by at least two drawer ball bearing slides. In another embodiment, the tray  104  contacts the frame  102  via at least 4 roller bearings. 
     The screw drive  106  is attached to the tray  104  at opposing ends of the screw drive  106 . The screw drive  106  is free to rotate about the longitudinal axis  110  of the screw drive  106 . In one embodiment, opposing ends of the screw drive  106  are attached to the tray  104  via bearings  702  such that the screw drive  106  is able to freely rotate about the longitudinal axis  110  of the screw drive  106  when not in a locked position. In one embodiment, the screw drive  106  is an auger having threads at least 1 inch in depth and on at least a 1 inch pitch. This enables a user to quickly extend or retract the tray  104  by manually rotating the screw drive  106  while also providing enough mechanical advantage to make manually rotating the screw drive  106  safe and easy. 
     The thread engagement device  108  is affixed to the frame  102  and configured to contact at least one thread  302  of the screw drive  106  such that the tray  104  and screw drive  106  are moved longitudinally relative to the frame  102  and the longitudinal axis  110  of the screw drive  106  is the screw drive  106  is rotated about the longitudinal axis  110  of the screw drive  106 . In one embodiment, the thread engagement device  108  is a bearing configured to rotate about an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis  110  of the screw drive  106 . In one embodiment, an outer surface  502  of the bearing  108  is positioned and sized to simultaneously engage two adjacent threads  302  of the screw drive  106 . 
     In one embodiment, the movable vehicle cargo tray system  100  further includes a crank handle  704  extending from an end of the screw drive  106 . The crank handle  704  is configured to engage the screw drive  106  such that the user can rotate the crank handle  704  about the longitudinal axis  110  of the screw drive  106  and rotate the screw drive  106  about the longitudinal axis  110  of the screw drive  106 . Depending on the direction of rotation, the interaction between the threads  302  of the screw drive  106  and the thread engagement device  108  cause the tray  104  to move forward or rearward with respect to the frame  102  and vehicle  202 . 
     In one embodiment, the movable vehicle cargo tray system  100  further includes a locking ring  604  a lock prawl  606  and a lock handle  608 . The locking ring  604  is attached to the screw drive  106  at a rear end of the screw drive  106 . The locking ring  604  has a plurality of notches  610  extending radially inward from an outer surface of the locking ring  604 . In one embodiment, the notches  610  are spaced less than 1 inch from one another (about the circumference of the locking ring) such that the tray  104  has at least 20 latch or locking positions within the available travel distance of the tray  104 . The lock prawl  606  is configured to engage a notch  610  of the plurality of notches  610  in the locking ring  604  such that the screw drive  106  is prevented from rotating about the longitudinal axis  110  of the screw drive  106  when the lock is engaging the notch  610  of the plurality of notches  610  in the locking ring  604 . The lock handle  608  is configured to actuate the lock between a first position engaging the notch  610  in the locking ring  604  and a second position preventing engagement of the lock prawl  606  with any of the notches  610  of the plurality of notches  610  in the locking ring  604 . The lock prawl  606  is configured to engage any notch  610  of the plurality of notches  610  in the locking ring  604 . The lock handle  608  is biased (e.g., by a spring) to hold the lock prawl  606  and the first position. In order to move the tray  104  relative to the frame  102 , the lock handle  608  must be held such that the lock prawl  606  is actuated to the second position while rotating the crank handle  704  of the movable vehicle cargo tray system  100 . In one embodiment, the lock handle  608  is connected to the lock prawl  606  via a connecting rod  630 . In one embodiment, the movable vehicle cargo tray system  100  further includes a lock  620  configured to prevent movement of the lock handle  608  such that the lock handle  608  cannot actuate the lock prawl  606  into the second position. 
     In one embodiment, the crank handle  704  is able to slide into and out of the screw drive  106 . That is, the crank handle  704  may be extended longitudinally from the screw drive  106 . The tray  104  includes a tab  706  to retain the crank handle  704  against a rear wall of the tray  104  when the crank handle  704  is not in use. In one embodiment, the crank handle  704  and tab  706  operate as a secondary locking mechanism for the screw drive  106  by preventing rotation of the screw drive  106  in a first direction (e.g., the direction corresponding to rearward movement of the tray  104 ) when the crank handle  704  is retained by the tab  706 . 
     In one embodiment, a movable vehicle cargo tray system  100  includes a frame  102 , a tray  104 , main bearings (i.e., roller bearings or bearing slides attaching the tray  104  to the tray  102 ), an auger (i.e., screw drive  106 ), auger bearings  704  (i.e., screw drive bearings), a locking ring  604 , a lock prawl  606 , a release handle  608 , a pull handle, and a crank handle  704 . The frame  102  mounts to a cargo area  200  (e.g., a truck bed). The frame  102  has two main bearings at the rear (e.g., near the truck&#39;s tailgate) that ride in the frame rail of the top tray  104 . The tray  104  mounts into the bed frame  102  and has two main bearings that are mounted at the cab end (i.e., front end) that ride in a frame rail of the bed frame  102 . These main bearings support weight in the tray  104  and make the tray  104  easily movable relative to the frame  102  when. 
     Thrust bearings are mounted to the frame  102  at the rear of the frame  102  (i.e., tailgate end of the frame) and at the front end (i.e., cab end) of the tray  104  to keep the tray  104  from binding to the frame  102  from side loads. 
     The auger  106  is supported by auger bearings  704  affixed to the tray  104  at a front end and a rear end of the tray  104 . The auger  106  runs parallel to the frame rails of the tray  104  and frame  102 . A thread engagement device  108  (e.g., a bearing) is fixed to the frame  102  and configured to engage the threads  302  of the auger  106 . In one embodiment, the thread engagement device  108  is a bearing fitted around a shaft of the auger  106  and attached to the frame  102 . Thus, spinning the auger or screw drive  106  causes the tray  104  to move relative to the frame  102 , and the tray  104  cannot move relative to the frame  102  without the auger  106  spinning in or direction or the other about its longitudinal axis  110 . 
     The locking ring  604  is fixedly mounted to the auger  106  shaft near the rear of the shaft and is allowed to rotate only when the lock prawl  606  is pulled away from the locking ring  604  against spring pressure to remove the lock prawl  606  from one of a plurality of notches  610  in the locking ring  604 . The locking ring  604  has a larger diameter on one side of each notch which forms a tall notch wall in either direction of rotation. Thus, if the auger  106  is spinning at high rpms, the lock prawl  606  cannot skip or jump any notches  610  or seats when the lock handle  608  is released, biasing the lock prawl  606  back into contact with the locking ring  604 . The lock prawl  606  will hit the higher wall which will stop rotation and engage the lock prawl  606  deeper into the notch  610  or seat. The lock prawl  606  is actuated by the lock handle  608 . In one embodiment, the screw drive  106  is an auger with a relatively low thread pitch such that the tray  104  can be manually extended or retracted when the lock handle  608  is holding the lock prawl  606  in a second position (i.e., the lock prawl  606  is disengaged from the locking ring  604 ). 
     The pull handle is for pulling the tray out or pushing the tray in if the crank handle is not needed (i.e., if the tray  104  is not loaded or is lightly loaded). The crank handle  704  is used to turn the auger  106  while the lock handle  608  is being pulled so that the tray  104  will extend or retract as the auger  106  (i.e., screw drive) rotates. 
     This written description uses examples to disclose the invention and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims. 
     It will be understood that the particular embodiments described herein are shown by way of illustration and not as limitations of the invention. The principal features of this invention may be employed in various embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize numerous equivalents to the specific procedures described herein. Such equivalents are considered to be within the scope of this invention and are covered by the claims. 
     All of the compositions and/or methods disclosed and claimed herein may be made and/or executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure. While the compositions and methods of this invention have been described in terms of the embodiments included herein, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that variations may be applied to the compositions and/or methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the method described herein without departing from the concept, spirit, and scope of the invention. All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope, and concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 
     Thus, although there have been described particular embodiments of the present invention of a new and useful MOVABLE VEHICLE CARGO TRAY it is not intended that such references be construed as limitations upon the scope of this invention except as set forth in the following claims.