Patent ID: 7338107

Claim:
A tailgate and hinge assembly for use with a pickup truck having a truck body including a floor, front wall, side walls, a rear wall and an open rear end, said tailgate being of generally rectangular shaped configuration for opening and closing the open rear end of the truck body and including front and rear vertical walls, a top wall, a bottom wall and end plates, a pair of hinge cam pins each being secured to one of said end plates adjacent the lower portion thereof and projecting laterally outwardly therefrom, said hinge assembly including a pair of vertically disposed L-shaped hinge brackets, means for securing each hinge bracket to the rear wall of the truck body adjacent one of the side walls thereof, each hinge bracket including a tailgate engaging hinge plate projecting rearwardly from the truck body when the hinge brackets are secured to the truck body, each hinge plate having an inverted U-shaped opening defining a cam track, each cam track receiving one of the hinge cam pins therein, said cam track including a front vertical track portion, a horizontal track portion and a rear vertical track portion, the hinge cam pins being seated in the lower end of the front cam track when the tailgate is in a vertical closing position or when the tailgate is in an open horizontal position, the hinge cam pins being seated in the lower end of the rear vertical track when the tailgate is in a lower depending position, the tailgate being retained in the horizontal position by abutment to the truck body, and locking means on the tailgate and hinge assembly for locking the tailgate in the vertical closed position.