Patent ID: 7320494

Claim:
Hardware to facilitate storing a pickup truck bed cover which has a plurality of sections that are hingedly interconnected and cover a substantially rectangular truck bed that has a front wall adjacent a cab and a rear wall defined by a tailgate, the pickup truck bed cover having an extended position and a folded position, said hardware comprising a) latch means to secure a front edge portion of the pickup truck bed cover in the extended position over a front portion of the pickup truck bed; b) pivoting means for facilitating rotation of the pickup truck bed cover in the folded position to a substantially vertical position, said pivoting means including gear means including a plurality of interengaged gear elements to lift and rotate the bed cover in the folded position to said substantially vertical position, said gear elements including a first gear engaging a toothed outer periphery of a semi-circular surface of a pivot arm and a motor driving said first gear in a first rotational direction to rotate said semi-circular surface in an opposite rotational direction to rotate said pivot arm and a first of the plurality of sections onto a second of the plurality of sections; c) securing means holding said pickup truck bed cover in said substantially vertical position against movement; d) cable means attached to a first end of the first of a plurality of sections and brake means to retard movement of the first of said plurality of sections as said first section is folded onto the second of the plurality of sections; whereby the pickup truck bed cover can be stored in said substantially vertical position to provide unimpeded access to substantially the entire area of the pickup truck bed.