Patent ID: 7717663

Claim:
In combination: a vehicle having a cargo area with a rear opening having a sill and a closure and a vertically oriented side body structure adjacent the opening but in the cargo area; a rigid mounting plate attached to said side body structure proximate the rear opening and rearwardly of the hinge point; a lift mechanism pivotally attached to the mounting plate and comprising a vertical mast structure connected to the mounting plate and a substantially L-shaped rigid boom of fixed length having a lower attachment end and an upper free end; means pivotally attaching the lower attachment end of the boom to the top of the mounting structure; means defining a series of attachment points along the boom substantially midway between the ends thereof; said boom being sized and shaped to swing over the sill and partly into the cargo area with the boom in a fully raised position and fully into the cargo area with the top hinged closure in the closed position in at least one angular orientation of the boom relative to the mounting plate which is below said fully raised position; said lift mechanism further comprising a powered linear actuator pivotally connected between the bottom of said mounting plate and one of said series of attachment points on said boom such that operating the powered linear actuator varies the angle of the boom relative to the mounting plate in the vehicle thereby to raise and lower the upper free end of the boom; and a receiver connected to and depending from the upper free end of the boom to receive a load whereby the boom may be lowered by operation of the linear actuator to pick up the load from a grounded position adjacent the rear of the vehicle, raised the load into the air and swing the load by pivotal motion of the boom into the cargo area.