Patent ID: 8641355

Claim:
An apparatus for removing a truck cap from a bed of a truck and installing the truck cap over the bed of the truck, said apparatus comprising: a lifting means for raising the truck cap off the bed of the truck or lowering the truck cap onto the bed of the truck, wherein said lifting means comprises: a box member having a hitch end, a mast end, an opening, a stop and a cavity for receiving an actuator, wherein said box member is configured to be adapted to a hitch at said hitch end and said opening of said box member is disposed at said mast end and said stop is disposed about the periphery of said opening of said box member; a sleeve having a lower end, an upper end and a cavity, wherein said lower end of said sleeve is securely attached to said mast end of said box member such that said sleeve is coaxially aligned with said opening of said box member; a mast having a lower end and an upper end, wherein said lower end of said mast comes in contacting engagement with said actuator such that when said actuator is extended through said opening of said box member, said mast is raised and when said actuator is retracted from said opening of said box member, said lower end of said mast rests on said stop and said mast is configured to be rotatable about the central axis of said sleeve and slideable along the lengthwise direction of said mast within said cavity of said sleeve; a boom having a first end, a second end and a cavity, wherein said first end is fixedly connected to said upper end of said mast at a substantially right angle to said mast; a first slideable member having a free end and a slideable end, said first slideable member is configured to be slideably attached at said slideable end within said cavity of said boom substantially along the lengthwise direction of said boom and securable to said boom; and an elongated spread arm disposed at a substantially right angle to and at said free end of said first slideable member and at least three upwardly facing bumpers, each disposed at each end of said elongated spread arm and on said boom such that said at least three upwardly facing bumpers are substantially coplanarly disposed, wherein said actuator is configured to raise or lower the truck cap by raising or lowering said at least three upwardly facing bumpers to support a ceiling of the truck cap; a lateral shifting means for moving said truck cap in a plane substantially coplanar to the bed of the truck while the truck cap is supported on said apparatus; and a rotating means for rotating said truck cap about an axis substantially normal to the bed of the truck.