Patent ID: 8141929

Claim:
An extendable and retractable vehicle tailgate assembly comprising: a tailgate; a pair of elongate slide members mountable in lateral spaced apart relation on a vehicle; sliding pivot means interconnecting opposite ends of the tailgate with a respective one of said pair of elongate slide members, said pivot means being disposed proximate a lower marginal edge of the tailgate and slidable longitudinally along said elongate slide members; an extendible and retractable vehicle tailgate assembly having relatively movable respective first and second portions with the first portion anchorable to the vehicle and said second portion being hingedly connected to the tailgate proximate a lower marginal edge thereof for moving said tailgate to or from a tailgate retracted position; power means comprising an electrically driven screw drive unit connecting to said extendible and retractable vehicle tailgate assembly and operable selectively to extend and retract the same and thereby move said tailgate back and forth longitudinally along said elongate slide members from a tailgate retracted position to a tailgate extended position; and a control system capable of being used to control said power means.