Patent ID: 8287030

Claim:
A drag reducing apparatus for a vehicle rear end having adjacent rear doors, each said door including opposed pairs of parallel walls and a substantially flat upwardly extending rear surface intersecting said walls to provide opposed pairs of parallel edges therewith, said drag reducing apparatus comprising: a pair of inflatable lobes, each said lobe including opposing top and bottom surfaces, opposing side surfaces, a base surface mounted to the rear door, and a substantially planar aft-face surface distal to the rear door; each said lobe comprises a fully enclosed airtight bag having a deflated position and an inflated position relative to the rear end of the vehicle; each said lobe in said inflated position overlying said base surface therefrom between said opposed pairs of parallel edges; each said lobe in said inflated position provides an aerodynamic substantially planar contour extending rearwardly of the rear end of the vehicle wherein each of said opposing side surfaces having at least a first slope relative to each of one opposed pair of parallel edges, and each of said opposing top and bottom surfaces having at least a second slope relative to each of another opposed pair of parallel edges; wherein each of said lobes include a medial side, said medial side of said one lobe diverges from said medial side of said other lobe; and, a vacuum mechanism on said vehicle for deflating said lobes; said vacuum mechanism and said air tight bags upon deflation create a vacuum force within said lobes for retaining said lobes adjacent to, and substantially against, the rear end of the vehicle thereby preventing movement of said lobes in said deflated position.