Patent ID: 7234618

Claim:
In combination: a pick-up truck or other vehicle having a vehicle body including a support bed, side walls and a tail gate mounted for movement relative to said support bed between a substantially vertical position and a substantially horizontal position, said tail gate when in said substantially horizontal position projecting outwardly from said support bed; a storage container selectively alternatively having a non-collapsed configuration wherein said storage container defines a storage container interior for storing tools, groceries or other objects and a collapsed configuration wherein said storage container is compact; connector structure connecting said storage container to said tail gate, said storage container when in said non-collapsed configuration and connected by said connector structure to said tail gate when said tail gate is in said substantially vertical position projecting forwardly from said tail gate and positioned on the support bed to define said storage container interior, said storage container including a storage container front wall component, a storage container rear wall component, a storage container bottom component, a storage container top component, and spaced storage container side wall components, said components being interconnected and relatively movable with respect to one another when said storage container moves between said non-collapsed configuration and said collapsed configuration; and a frame pivotally connected to said tail gate by said connector structure and cooperable with said components to selectively maintain said storage container in said non-collapsed configuration, said frame movable between a first position wherein said frame projects outwardly away from said tail gate and a second position wherein said frame is substantially parallel to said tail gate, said frame when in said first position and when said tail gate is in said substantially vertical position supporting said storage front wall component and said storage rear wall component with said storage container bottom wall component covering a portion of said support bed and positioned thereon, said storage container side wall components extending upwardly from said storage container bottom wall component alongside said side walls of said vehicle and releasably connected to said frame to maintain said frame in said first position, and said storage container top component being pivotally connected to said frame and operable to alternatively open or close said storage container interior when said storage container is in said non-collapsed configuration and to cover at least a portion of said tail gate when said storage container is in said collapsed configuration with said storage container front wall component, said storage container rear wall component and said storage container side wall components disposed between said tail gate and said storage container top component.