Patent Publication Number: US-9889728-B2

Title: Integrated pickup truck cargo management system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/596,682 filed Jan. 14, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,352,641 issued May 31, 2016, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Ser. No. 61/927,144 filed Jan. 14, 2014, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference herein. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This application relates to a cargo management system for a box area or bed of a pickup truck. Pickup truck owners carry a wide range of material, equipment, and tools outside of the cab of their trucks. Some owners utilize a tool box mounted to the front of the truck bed to securely store any items outside of the cab of the truck. However, tool boxes have a limited amount of storage space and cannot secure larger items. Other owners utilize a bed cover extending over the entire bed area of the truck. Bed covers allow for larger items which are placed in the bed of the truck to be covered, but allows items stored this way to move around the truck bed during transport. Therefore, there is a need for an improved system which provides compartmentalization and encloses the pickup bed. 
     SUMMARY 
     A truck bed storage system includes a pair of mounting rails each having a channel, a front cover, and a rear cover. The front cover is supported by a pair of front cover hinges attached to the pair of mounting rails. The rear cover is supported by a pair of six-bar hinges attached to the pair of mounting rails. The pair of six-bar hinges each includes a pair of tabs that engage each of the channels. 
     A truck bed storage system includes a cargo compartment having a seal flange at least partially surrounding the cargo compartment, a front cover, and a rear cover. The front cover encloses the cargo compartment and includes a front perimeter seal for engaging at least a portion of the seal flange. The rear cover encloses a portion of the truck bed and includes a rear perimeter seal for engaging at least of portion of the seal flange. 
     These and other features of the disclosed examples can be understood from the following description and the accompanying drawings, which can be briefly described as follows. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a truck bed with an example truck bed storage system. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates an example rear cover and front cover. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates the rear cover in an open position and the front cover in a closed position. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a front cover swing path relative to the rear cover in the open position. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a perspective view of the rear cover in the open position. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates an example rear cover hinge for a first side. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an example rear cover hinge for a second side. 
         FIG. 8  illustrates an example reinforcement link. 
         FIG. 9  illustrates an example strut link. 
         FIG. 10  illustrates an example mounting link. 
         FIG. 11  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the hinge for the rear cover attached to an example mounting rail. 
         FIG. 12  illustrates an example cargo compartment. 
         FIG. 13  illustrates an example seal flange on the cargo compartment of  FIG. 12 . 
         FIG. 14  illustrates a bottom view of the cargo compartment of  FIG. 12 . 
         FIG. 15  illustrates a perspective view of a hinge for the front cover. 
         FIG. 16  illustrates a sectional view taken along line  16 - 16  of the cargo compartment of  FIG. 12 . 
         FIG. 17  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the front cover and the rear cover along the center line of the cargo compartment through a rear seal flange. 
         FIG. 18  illustrates an example pop-up spring reaction member. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a truck bed storage system  20  located in a truck bed  22  for storing and securing items in the truck bed  22 . The truck bed storage system  20  includes a front compartment  24  and a rear compartment  26 . The front compartment  24  includes a front cover  28  attached to a pair mounting rail  66  by a pair of hinges  30  adjacent to a cargo compartment  80 . The rear compartment  26  includes a rear cover  34  hingeably attached to the pair of mounting rails  66  on the truck bed  22  by a pair of hinges  36  to cover a rear portion of the truck bed  22 . Support struts  40  attach to the pair of hinges  30 ,  36  to maintain the front and the rear covers  28 ,  34 , respectively, in an open position. 
       FIGS. 2 and 3  illustrate the rear cover  34  in an open position and the front cover  28  in a closed position. The hinges  36  allow the rear cover  34  to lift directly away from a seal flange  82  and prevent the rear cover  34  from interfering with the closed front cover  28  as the rear cover  34  is moved between an open and closed position. The hinges  36  also protect a lip  108  located on a panel perimeter seal  104  ( FIG. 17 ) by preventing the rear cover  34  from scuffing the lip  108  causing premature wear by lifting the rear cover  34  vertically upward. In the illustrated example, the rear cover  34  opens to an opening angle α of approximately 40 degrees. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a swing path  44   a  for the front cover  28  and  FIG. 2  illustrates a swing path  44   b  for the rear cover  34 . The swing paths  44   a ,  44   b  allow the front cover  28  and the rear cover  34  to be opened simultaneously without interference. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the support strut  40  is attached directly to a strut link  58  on the hinge  36 . By attaching the support strut  40  to the strut link  58 , a lifting/support mechanism located along the side of the truck box is eliminated which would otherwise obstruct access particularly to the forward area of the truck bed  22 . Attaching the support strut  40  to the hinge  36  significantly increases the loads carried by the hinge  36  requiring additional strengthening provisions both in configuration of the links and the material used in the hinges  36 . 
     The hinges  36  shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7  pivotably attach opposing sides of the rear cover  34  to each of the pair of mounting rails  66 , which is attached to the truck bed  22 . In the illustrate example, the hinges  36  shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7  are mirror images of each other, but are otherwise identical. Each of the hinges  36  is a six-bar hinge and includes a first link  50 , a second link  52 , a cover link  54 , a mounting link  56 , the strut link  58 , and a reinforced link  60 . 
     The strut link  58  and the reinforced link  60  are pivotably attached to the mounting link  56 . The first link  50 , the second link  52 , and the mounting link  56  are pivotably attached to the strut link  58 . The cover link  54 , the strut link  58 , and the reinforced link  60  are pivotably attached to second link  52 . The second link  52  and the first link  50  are pivotably attached to the cover link  54 . The cover link  54  and the strut link  58  are pivotably attached to the first link  50 . The second link  52  and the mounting link  56  are pivotably attached to the reinforced link  60 . 
     The mounting link  56  includes mounting tabs  62  that extend generally perpendicularly from the mounting link  56  for engaging a channel  64  in the mounting rail  66  ( FIGS. 5 and 11 ). The mounting tabs  62  at least partially secure the hinge  36  to the mounting rail  66  during installation to allow the hinge  36  to slide in the channel  64  along the mounting rail  66  without secondary fasteners during installation. The mounting tabs  62  also aid in resisting torsional forces applied to the hinge  36  and allow the hinge  36  to support the rear cover  34  without the need for a secondary support/fastener while the hinge  36  is being securely attached to the mounting rail  66  with fasteners  57  ( FIG. 11 ). The mounting link  56  also includes a rail flange  65  that includes an adjustment member  67 , such as a bolt, that engages a portion of the mounting rail  66  to ensure that the mounting tabs  62  slide through the channel  64  in the mounting rail  66  during installation. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 9 , the strut link  58  includes a curved mid-portion  68  to provide a fastener path to fastener holes  70  in the mounting link  56 . The curved mid-portion  68  allows the mounting link  56  to be compact while still providing easy accessibility to the fastener holes  70  in the mounting link  56 . A strut opening  74  extends through a distal end of the strut link  58  to pivotably attach the support strut  40  to the strut link  58 . 
     The reinforced link  60  includes an elongated rib  72  that provides additional rigidity to the reinforced link  60  so that the hinge  36  can withstand the forces generated by the support strut  40  and the rear cover  34 . The elongated rib  72  generally follows a curved contour of the reinforced link  60  and extends longitudinally along the reinforced link  60 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 12-14 , the front compartment  24  includes the cargo compartment  80  having walls and a floor made of a composite polymer material. The seal flange  82  surrounds an upper perimeter of the cargo compartment  80  and includes a transition portion  86  along rear outer edges to accept the rear cover  34 . An underside seal track  88  extends along a bottom edge portion of the front and sides of the seal flange  82  for sealing the cargo compartment  80  to the truck bed  22 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 12 and 15 , the cargo compartment  80  includes mounting portions  90  on opposing sides along upper edges of the front of the cargo compartment  80  for mounting the pair of hinges  30  to the mounting rail  66  ( FIG. 1 ) through the cargo compartment  80 . 
       FIG. 16  illustrates a sectional view of the cargo compartment  80  taken along line  16 - 16  of  FIG. 12 . The cargo compartment  80  includes a polymer inner wall  80   a  that defines an inner surface of a base and sidewalls  81  of the cargo compartment  80  and a polymer outer wall  80   b  that defines an outer surface of the base and sidewalls  81  of the cargo compartment  80 . The polymer outer wall  80   b  includes a plurality of protrusions  100 , such as cones, that project upward from the outer wall  80   b  toward the inner wall  80   a  to reinforce the base of the cargo compartment  80 . The plurality of protrusions  100  is sandwiched by the inner wall  80   a  and the outer wall  80   b  to form a geometric composite structure. 
     The inner wall  80   a  and the outer walls  80   b  include a plurality of corresponding ribs  94 . The plurality of corresponding ribs  94  include a portion on the outer wall  80   b  that extends inward to engage a portion on the inner wall  80   a  that extends outward. An inner cavity  95  is formed between the inner wall  80   a  and the outer wall  80   b  to create a dual wall configuration. The plurality of corresponding ribs  94  increase the strength and rigidity of the cargo compartment  80  and may also accept dividers  92  to create compartments with adjustable sizes within the cargo compartment  80 . 
     The dual wall configuration also acts as an insulator which influences the ambient conditions within the cargo compartment  80 . This gives the consumer the opportunity to use the cargo compartment  80  as a cooler and also assists in the control of dew point moisture accumulation in hot humid conditions which is a common problem with aluminum tool boxes. 
     The cargo compartment  80  also includes at least one tray  96  that extends between opposing sidewalls  81  for storing smaller items so the smaller items do not fall to the bottom of the cargo compartment  80  and become difficult to retrieve. Multiple jack screws  98  are located along the bottom of the cargo compartment  80  for supporting and leveling the cargo compartment  80 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 17 , the front cover  28  includes a front panel  28   a  and a front panel rail  28   b  that surrounds the front panel  28   a  and the rear cover  34  includes a rear panel  34   a  and a rear panel rail  34   b  that surrounds the rear panel  34   a . The front panel rail  28   b  and the rear panel rail  34   b  include a generally curved double wall  76  that curves toward the seal flange  82  and is connected by multiple ribs  78  and. 
     A first snow seal  102  extends along a distal edge of the rear panel rail  34   b  along a front side of the rear cover  34  and a second snow seal  102  extends along a distal edge of the front panel rail  28   b  along a front of the front cover  28 . (Not shown). The front and rear panel rails  28   b ,  34   b  each include a first and a second tab  28   c ,  34   c , respectively, extending from a C-shaped support  83  for securing a perimeter seal  104 . The perimeter seal  104  includes multiple retention members  106 , such as flexible retention fingers, for securing the perimeter seal  104  to the first and second tabs  28   c ,  34   c , respectively. A lip  108  extends from a lower portion of the perimeter seal  104  and engages the seal flange  82  which extends around the perimeter of the cargo compartment  80 . 
     A front cover latch striker  110  for latching the front cover  28  is located adjacent the rear of the cargo compartment  80 . A pop-up spring reaction member  112  is placed adjacent the front cover latch striker  110  along an upper edge of the cargo compartment  80  ( FIGS. 17 and 18 ) to provide feedback to the user that the front cover latch striker  110  is engaged to secure the front cover  28  by providing a click. 
     A cross member  114  extends along an underside of the rear of the seal flange  82  between the opposing mounting rails  66  on the truck bed  22 . The cross member  114  provides rigidity to the seal flange  82  and locates the cargo compartment  80  relative to the truck bed  22 . 
     The preceding description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed examples may become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not necessarily depart from the essence of this disclosure. Any discussion of front and rear is relative to the truck bed  22  for the vehicle unless stated otherwise. The scope of legal protection given to this disclosure can only be determined by studying the following claims.