Abstract:
A tiedown rail system including a plurality of tie anchors secures cargo on a pickup truck bed. The invention includes an elongated tubular four-sided rail that is mounted on the rim of a pickup truck cargo bed front wall. A three-sided channel could also be used, having openings that face the truck cab. The rail system includes repositionable anchor assemblies for attaching an end of a cargo strap to secure transported cargo in the truck bed.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Pick-up trucks are used for carrying a load, which must be anchored in position on the bed of the cargo box. Manufacturers, until recently, provided stake holes in the cargo box sidewalls for mounting various anchoring devices that receive a cable attached to the load. 
     However, such stake holes have been eliminated thereby creating a problem for anchoring a load, such as a motorcycle in an upright position. An undesirable solution is to either form a hole in the cargo box for receiving an anchoring device, or welding an anchoring device to the cargo box. This detracts from the vehicle appearance, and reduces the value of the vehicle. 
     Examples of prior art anchoring devices that may be connected to a cargo box may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,739 issued Jul. 20, 1993, for “Truck Cap Clamp” to Dale Love; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,521 issued Dec. 17, 1996 for “Vehicle Modular Rail System” to Richard C. Hathaway et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,820 issued Sep. 4, 1990 for “Lamp with Retaining Ring” to Ronald L. Yoder employs a clamp mounted on a wall of a cargo box. The location of the clamp is limited to the location of an opening in the cargo box wall. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,497 issued Sep. 19, 1989 for “Load Supporting Rack for Attachment to Pick-up Truck Box” to Gilbert Jayne. A pair of brackets locates a lower truss on the top edge of the front panel. The brackets cooperate with a pair of legs for supporting the load. 
     Merely placing a mounting bracket on the top edge of the cargo box front wall is usually insufficient for maintaining a load without a supplemental means cooperating with the bracket. One reason is that the top edge (rim) of some vehicles is bent from a relatively thin metal. Applying a load on a bracket that straddles the rim of the front wall will bend the wall. 
     The broad purpose of the present invention is to provide an improved mounting apparatus that can be mounted on the front wall of a cargo box for anchoring a cable or the like, preferably, without drilling supplemental holes into or welding an anchoring device on the cargo box. 
     The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises an elongated tubular four-sided rail that is mounted on the rim of the cargo box front wall. A three-sided channel could also be used, having openings that face the cab. 
     The manufacturers of certain modern pick-up trucks provide openings along the rim facing the cab. The preferred rail has openings disposed immediately above the openings in the cargo box rim. A clamp is mounted between the cargo box and the cab, adjacent the opening in the rim and the corresponding opening in the rail. Each clamp has an upper horizontal arm that is disposed in the opening of the rail, and a lower arm disposed in the opening in the cargo box. A toe on the lower arm extends toward the upper arm and abuts the inside horizontal surface of the rim. The rail has a vertical opening for inserting a screw into a tapped hole into the upper arm that is aligned with the toe on the lower arm. The rail and the rim are clamped between the toe and the screw. This provides a means for connecting the rail to the cargo box in which the clamp is basically hidden and does not require drilling holes or welding eyes to the cargo box. 
     A pair of eyes for receiving a clamp is welded to the rail. In addition, a U-shaped channel is mounted on the rail with an eye for receiving a cable hook. The channel straddles the rail and can be adjusted to a selected position along the length of the rail. 
     In some vehicles, the rim of the cargo box is made of a relatively thin metal, which tends to bend under a load. For these applications, a horizontal wing is welded to each end of the rail. Each wing is seated on a cargo box sidewall, preventing the rail from pivoting around its longitudinal axis, by reinforcing the cargo box front wall. The wings also have anchoring holes for attaching an anchoring cable. 
     Still further objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains upon reference to the following detailed description. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The description refers to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views, and in which: 
     FIG. 1 illustrates an anchoring rail mounted on the top rim of the forward wall of a cargo box; 
     FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a typical mounting clamp; 
     FIG. 4 illustrates a mounting clamp connecting the mounting rail to the cargo box rim; 
     FIG. 5 illustrates a wing mounted on the end of the rail; 
     FIG. 6 is another view showing the wing and the rail; 
     FIG. 7 is still another view showing the manner in which the rail is attached to the wing; 
     FIG. 8 is a view of a mounting bracket; 
     FIG. 9 is a view of another embodiment of the invention looking at the openings in the rail and the rim to show the rail screwed to the cargo box using a threaded fastener; 
     FIG. 10 illustrates the preferred rail showing the openings; 
     FIG. 11 shows another rail having a channel-shaped configuration forming a continuous opening along the length of the rail; and 
     FIGS. 12-14 show other types of structure for connecting the rail to the cargo box. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional pick-up truck, generally indicated at  10 , having a cab with a rear wall  12  containing a window, and a rearward cargo box  14 . Cargo box  14  has a bed  16 , a sidewall  18 , and a second sidewall  20 , parallel to sidewall  18 . Both sidewalls are attached in the conventional manner to opposite ends of a sheet metal front wall  19 . Front wall  19 , as shown in FIG. 4, has a top rim  22  with a generally horizontal ledge. 
     Rim  21  extends the full width of the front wall and has a plurality of spaced openings  24  facing the cab. The openings are immediately below the horizontal ledge. 
     The preferred mounting apparatus comprises an elongated rail  26 , as viewed in FIG. 4, having a wall  28 , a top wall  30  and a bottom wall  32 . Referring to FIG. 10, the rail preferably has four spaced openings  30   a,    30   b,    30   c  and  30   d,  each about  1 ″ square. The openings are formed in the rail so as to be located above openings  32   a,    32   b,    32   c  and  32   d  in the forward wall of the cargo box. 
     For illustrative purposes, the rail is made of steel and has an outside diameter of 1½″ and a length of about 60 inches. To protect the finish on the cargo box, a pair of foam adhesive protective pads  33   a  and  33   b,  about ¼″ thick, are mounted between the bottom of the rail ends and ledge  22 . 
     A plurality of identical steel clamps connects the rail to the rim of the cargo box. A typical clamp is illustrated at  34  in FIGS. 3 and 4. Clamp  34  has a vertical body  36 , 2¼″ high, an upper arm  38  and a lower arm  40 . The upper and lower arms are parallel to one another and extend from the rear of the body about 1⅝″. The upper arm has a tapped opening  42  formed along an axis parallel to body  36 . An integral toe  44  on the lower arm provides a clamping surface  45  parallel to arm  38  and aligned with tapped opening  42 . A hex head clamping screw  46  is threadably mounted in opening  42 , as illustrated in FIG.  4 . 
     The rail has a top access opening  48  for inserting the clamping screw into opening  42  and to permit a tool to engage the hex opening of the screw. The screw is tightened such that bottom wall  32  of the rail and rim  21  of the cargo box are clamped tightly together between the clamping screw and toe  44 . This permits the rail to be securely but releasably connected to the cargo box without forming additional holes in the cargo box. A plastic cap  49  is inserted into access opening  48  for appearance purposes. 
     For those vehicles having a relatively thin sheet metal cargo box front wall, the rail has a pair of triangularly-shaped metal wings  50  and  52  welded to the opposite ends of the rail. The two wings are seated on the top rims  54  and  56  of the sidewalls. The two wings are identical except for a right and left-hand relationship. 
     Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, wing  50  has an upright wall  58  and a base  60 . Base  60  is seated on rim  54 . The wing preferably comprises a metal panel is about {fraction (3/16)}″ thick and about 6″ long. The base is about 1¼″ wide and wall  58  is about 3¼″ high at its highest point. Wall  58  is bent as illustrated in FIG. 7 at an angle that generally corresponds to the curvature of side  62  of the truck cab for aesthetic purposes. Wall  58  has a relatively large anchor opening  64  and three smaller anchor openings  66   a,    66   b  and  66   c.  FIG. 5 also gives an idea of how clamp  34  is mounted between the cab and the cargo box to connect the rail to the cargo box. 
     In addition to anchor opening  64 , a pair of steel eyes  70  and  72  is welded to the top rail, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 6. In addition, a plurality of anchor brackets  74  are mounted on the rail. The rail has a series of spaced openings  76  in both of its spaced vertical walls. A typical anchoring bracket comprises a channel-shaped body  78 , as illustrated in FIG. 8, with a pair of parallel sidewalls  80  and  82  spaced a distance slightly wider than the rail so the sidewalls will straddle the rail. An eye  84  is welded to the top of the bracket with an anchor-opening  86  for attaching a cable or the like. A foam pad  88  is mounted on the under surface of the bracket to prevent rattling. 
     A fastener  90  or other suitable quick-release device may be inserted through a pair of aligned openings  92  and  94  and through a selected pair of aligned openings  76  in the rail. This permits the user to mount an anchoring bracket in a selected position along the length of the rail. 
     FIGS. 2 and 11 show another embodiment of the invention, which is identical to the embodiment of FIG. 1, except that rail  26 ′ is a channel-shaped member having a rear opening  100  that extends the full length of the rail to receive the upper arm of the clamps. This embodiment of the invention is employed where the forward wall of the cargo box is sufficiently sturdy so that wings  50  and  52 , illustrated in FIG. 1, are not required. A pair of caps  102  and  104  are welded to the ends of the rail. 
     FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment of the invention in which rail  26  is used where the clamps are not available. In this case, a bolt  110  is threaded through a suitable opening  112  in the bottom of the rail and a similar opening  114  in the rim ledge. A well nut  116  is attached to the fastener to rigidly connect the rail to the cargo box. 
     FIGS. 12-14 show other ways in which the rail can be mounted on the cargo box forward wall. Referring to FIG. 12, a rail  200  can have a series of U-shaped members  202  form to straddle the cargo box rim  204 . U-shaped member  202  is welded to the bottom of the rail and then fastened by fastener means  206  to the rim. 
     In FIG. 13 rail  200 ′ is welded to the top side of a short structural angle clip  202 ′ which in turn is fastened by fastener means  206 ′. 
     In FIG. 14, rail  200 ″ is welded to a vertical plate  202 ″ which in turn is connected by a fastener  206 ″ to the cargo box wall  204 ″. 
     Other structures are possible. 
     Either of the versions illustrated in FIGS. 12,  13  or  14  can be used in conjunction with the well nut connection illustrated in FIG.  9 .