Patent Publication Number: US-2012024921-A1

Title: Cargo closure tie-down and method for tying-down a cargo closure of a vehicle

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a cargo closure tie-down and a method for tying-down a cargo closure of a vehicle. Cargo closures include trunk lids, tail gates and doors. Such devices are used to temporarily tie-down a trunk lid, tail gate, door or doors when objects are placed in a trunk or other cargo area that are too large to allow the closure to be locked in a closed position. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,370 discloses a self-locking trunk tie-down mechanism, but does not disclose how it is attached. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,194 discloses a trunk lid fastening device, but only states that it is attached at one end to a striker or tailgate lock. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,828 pertains to a trunk lid tie down between a hook 12 of a lid and a latch 14 of a trunk lock. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,381, U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,619 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,413 disclose a trunk tie-down connected between two parts of a trunk lock, within the trunk. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,061 teaches a trunk lid holder connected between a trunk lid and a trunk bed, within the trunk. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,122 shows a trunk tie-down in which a hook is hooked into one of a series of holes in a strand having one end fastened inside the rear wall of a trunk and another end wound inside a reel mounted inside the trunk lid. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 2,973,217 illustrates a trunk lid tie-down connected between a part of a lock on the trunk lid and a bumper. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 2,983,413 shows a cargo securing device for cargo on top of a trunk lid. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,637,077 B2 discloses an adjustable strap for boats, planes and motorcycles. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 65,891 shows a car coupling with a drawbar. 
     All of the cargo closures or trunk lid tie-down devices of the prior art are connected completely within the trunk or cargo area or from the trunk lid or closure to the bumper. For that reason, they are difficult to adjust and cannot be made very tight, so that the cargo closure will bounce open and closed when the vehicle moves. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a cargo closure tie-down and a method for tying-down a cargo closure of a vehicle, which overcome the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and which allow a lid, tail gate, door or doors to be held down without play by an adjustment from outside the lid, tail gate, door or doors when objects are placed in the trunk or cargo area that do not allow the lid, tail gate, door or doors to be completely closed and locked with a locking mechanism. 
     With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, method for tying-down a cargo closure hinged to a body of a vehicle and having a hinged edge and a locking edge. The method comprises attaching a first portion of a strap to the vehicle body, attaching a second portion of the strap to the hinged edge, and tightening the strap to hold down the cargo closure. 
     With the objects of the invention in view, there is also provided, in combination with a vehicle having a cargo closure being hinged to a body of the vehicle and having a hinge edge and a locking edge, a cargo closure tie-down comprising a strap having a first portion to be attached to the vehicle body and a second portion to be attached to the hinged edge of the cargo closure, and a device for tightening the strap to hold down the cargo closure. 
     Thus, the strap of the invention is attached between the hinged edge of the cargo closure and the vehicle body, so that it passes over the outside of the cargo closure and may be easily connected and tightened by a user of the device from outside of the cargo area and outside of the cargo closure. 
     In accordance with another feature of the invention, the first portion of the strap is attached to the vehicle body with an S-hook and the second portion of the strap is attached to the hinged edge of the cargo closure with a flat hook. The S-hook is attached to a locking mechanism of the vehicle or to a bumper of the vehicle or to an edge of a wheel well of the vehicle. 
     In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, the strap is tightened with a cam lock or a ratchet tightening mechanism or another device, such as a spring cam buckle, O-ring, D-ring, side-release buckle, loop, cord lock, snap lock, center release buckle or tongue buckle on the strap. 
     Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims. 
     Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a cargo closure tie-down and a method for tying-down a cargo closure of a vehicle, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims. 
     The construction of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic, rear-perspective view of the tie-down of the invention installed on a trunk lid of a sedan and attached to a locking mechanism of the automobile; 
         FIG. 2  is a rear-perspective view of the tie-down of the invention installed on a trunk lid of a sedan and attached to a bumper of the automobile; 
         FIG. 3  is a rear-elevational view of the tie-down of the invention installed on a tail gate of an SUV or minivan and attached to a bumper thereof; 
         FIG. 4  is a rear-perspective view of the tie-down of the invention installed on a rear door of a station wagon and attached at the wheel well thereof; 
         FIG. 5  is a rear-elevational view of the tie-down of the invention installed across two rear doors of an SUV and attached at the wheel well thereof; 
         FIG. 6  is a fragmentary, perspective view of the tie-down of the invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a fragmentary, perspective view of the tie-down of the invention having a ratchet tightening mechanism; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a flat hook of the tie-down of the invention; 
         FIG. 9  is an elevational view of an S-hook of the tie-down of the invention; and 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a cam lock of the tie-down of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first, particularly, to  FIG. 1  thereof, there is seen a sedan  1  having a body  2  with a bumper  3 , a cargo area in the form of a trunk having an opening  4  and a cargo closure in the form of a trunk lid  5 . The lid  5  is hinged to the body  2  by hinges  6  in a conventional manner near a front or hinged edge  7  of the lid and may be locked to the body at a rear or locking edge  9  of the lid through the use of a conventional locking or latching mechanism, only a loop or striker  11  of which is illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The loop  11  is normally fixed in the vicinity of an edge  4   a  of the opening  4  and is to be engaged by a hook on the lid  5 . The edges  7 ,  9  are disposed opposite one another along a longitudinal direction running from the front to the back of the vehicle  1  or from the hinged edge  7  to the locking edge  9 . The hinges  6  for the lid may be spring hinges which tend to keep the lid open when not locked. Whereas  FIG. 1  shows a cargo closure tie-down  20  of the invention engaging the rear or locking edge  9  of the lid  5 ,  FIG. 2  shows the cargo closure tie-down  20  engaging a bottom edge  12  of the bumper  3 , in a manner which will be explained in detail below. 
     The cargo closure tie-down  20  of the invention, as seen in  FIG. 6 , includes a strap having a first portion  21  and a second portion  22 . The strap is shown with two breaks in the drawing, illustrating that any suitable length of the strap may be chosen, depending on the size of the cargo closure to be tied down. The first portion  21  has a first end  21   a  and a second end  21   b . The first end  21   a  passes through an opening in an S-hook  24  and may be stitched together or otherwise fastened to the S-hook. Any hook may be used in place of an S-hook. The second portion  22  has a first end  22   a  and a second end  22   b . The first end  22   a  passes through an opening in a flat hook  25  and may be similarly stitched together or otherwise fastened to the flat hook. The second end  21   b  passes through non-illustrated slots in the bottom of a cam lock  27  and is stitched together or otherwise fastened to itself. The second end  22   b  passes through the cam lock  27  for adjusting the effective length of the tie-down  20  when in use by pulling the end  22   b  in the direction of the arrow  23  and folding down a cover  28 . Other length adjusting devices can be used for the tie-down  20  as well, such as a conventional spring cam buckle, O-ring, D-ring, side-release buckle, loop, cord lock, snap lock, center release buckle or tongue buckle. The flat hook  25 , the S-hook  24  and the cam lock  27  are respectively shown in greater detail in  FIGS. 8 ,  9  and  10 . A U-shaped clip  25   a  of the flat hook  25  is shown in  FIG. 8  and the above-mentioned stitching  29  is shown in  FIG. 10  as well. 
       FIGS. 3 ,  4  and  5  show how the tie-down of the invention can be installed on vehicles with different body styles. More specifically,  FIG. 3  illustrates an SUV (sport utility vehicle) or minivan  31  having a body  32  with a bumper  33 , a cargo area and a cargo closure in the form of a tail gate  35  to be tied down. The tail gate  35  has an upper hinged edge  37  at which hinges  36  connect the tail gate to the body  32  and a lower locking edge  39  opposite the upper edge  37 . The flat hook  25  of the tie-down  20  of the invention engages the upper hinged edge  37  of the tail gate  35 , the S-hook  24  thereof engages the bumper  33  and the cam lock  27  is shown therebetween. Of course, the S-hook  24  could also be hooked on a loop of a locking mechanism at the lower locking edge  39  of the tail gate, as illustrated for the sedan in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 4  shows a station wagon  41  having a body  42 . The body includes a wheel well having an edge  33 . A cargo closure in the form of a rear door  45  covering a cargo area in the body has a hinged edge  47  at which hinges  46  are located and an opposite locking edge  39  at which a locking mechanism is located. The flat hook  25  of the tie-down  20  of the invention engages the hinged edge  47  of the tail gate  45 , the S-hook  24  thereof engages the edge  43  of the wheel well and the cam lock  27  is shown therebetween. Of course, the S-hook  24  could also be hooked on a loop of a locking mechanism at the locking edge  49  of the rear door  45 , as illustrated for the sedan in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an SUV  51  having a body  52  with a cargo area, two cargo closures in the form of rear doors  55  each having a hinged edge  57  at which hinges  56  are located and an opposite locking edge  59  at which a locking mechanism is located. The flat hook  25  of the tie-down  20  of the invention engages the hinged edge  57  of the tail gate  55  on the right, the S-hook  24  thereof engages an edge of a non-illustrated wheel well at the left as shown in  FIG. 4  and the cam lock  27  is seen therebetween. Of course, the S-hook  24  could also be hooked on a loop of a locking mechanism at the locking edge  59  of the rear door  55  on the right, as illustrated for the sedan in  FIG. 1 . Two tie-downs  20  could also be used, one on each door, with the flat hooks on the hinged edges and the S-hooks on the loops as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 7  shows a ratchet tightening mechanism  30  which may be used as an alternative to the cam lock  27 . The ratchet tightening mechanism  30  has a handle  31  which is rotated for tightening the strap  21 ,  22  after passing the second end  21   b  through the ratchet tightening mechanism  30 . The surface of the ratchet tightening mechanism  30  may be coated or covered with a coating such as Teflon® or a material such as a textile fabric, to prevent scratching the cargo closure. The S-hook  24  and the flat hook  25  are formed of plastic or metal and may be similarly coated or covered. 
     Returning to  FIGS. 1-5 , the cargo closure tie-down  20  of the invention is used by placing the U-shaped clip  25   a  of the flat hook  25  on the hinged edge  7 ,  37 ,  47 ,  57 . The S-hook  24  is then clipped to the loop  11  of the locking mechanism in the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , to the bumper in the embodiments of  FIGS. 2 and 3  or to the edge of the wheel well in the embodiments of  FIGS. 4 and 5 . Of course, the S-hook  24  may be secured before the flat hook  25 . It is also understood that the S-hook  24  may be attached to another portion of the vehicle body as well, such as to any fixture within the trunk or outside the trunk, in particular near a locking edge. The second end  22   b  of the second portion  22  of the strap  21 ,  22  is then pulled tightly away from the cam lock  27  in the direction of an arrow  23  to hold down the trunk lid, tail gate, door or doors shown in  FIGS. 1-5 . Alternatively, the handle  31  of the ratchet tightening mechanism  30  may be repeatedly rotated in the direction of an arrow  33  to hold down the trunk lid  5 . As mentioned above, a spring cam buckle, O-ring, D-ring, side-release buckle, loop, cord lock, snap lock, center release buckle, tongue buckle or the like may be used as well. 
     It is important to note that the strap is tightened from the outside of and on top of the lid, tail gate, door or doors, where it is easily accessible without reaching into the trunk. The lid, tail gate, door or doors are thus held down without play when goods are placed in the trunk or cargo compartment, which do not allow the lid, tail gate, door or doors to be completely closed and locked with the locking mechanism.