Patent ID: 10081235

Abstract:
Presented are expandable compartment cover assemblies for motor vehicles, methods for making and methods for using such cover assemblies, and motor vehicles with expandable tonneau cover assemblies. Presented, for example, is an expandable cover assembly for a motor vehicle with a cargo compartment. The expandable cover assembly includes a frame section that releasably attaches to the vehicle body, and extends across some or all of the cargo compartment. The frame section has a central aperture that extends therethrough. A canopy is seated within this central aperture and at least partially surrounded by the frame section. A flexible joint attaches the canopy to the frame section such that the canopy selectively transitions between a collapsed state, whereat the canopy is a first height from the compartment floor of the cargo compartment, and an expanded state, whereat the canopy is a second height, greater than the first height, from the compartment floor.