This device relates to camper body attachments for vehicles, specifically pickup trucks and the like.
Prior art devices of this type have been developed to provide a variety of fixed removable and deployable bed cap configurations, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,277,098, 4,542,911, 5,016,935 and 6,749,252.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,098 is directed to a foldable truck cap assembly having a plurality of separate cap sections pivotally attached together for storage on top of the vehicle's cab in an accordion fashion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,911 claims a folding cap for pickup trucks equipped with a fifth wheel hitch to convert the truck bed into a camper body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,935 illustrates a collapsible cap for a pickup truck having hinged intermediate panel members to form a cap over the truck bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,252 discloses a fold out camper for a pickup truck having a frame with extending oppositely disposed camper bed and rear access panel.
A self-contained compact collapsible cap for a pickup truck having a bed engagement frame with a top cap panel from which foldably extends side panels and a cap access rear door panel assembly. Integrated fasteners secure the deployed panels to the bed engagement frame and to one another when in a foldable collapsed transport position in the bed of the truck and to the truck bed in an open position thereon.
Referring to
A cap attachment frame 17 is selectively secured to the truck bed rails 12A and 12B by a plurality of C clamps illustrated graphically and well known within the art.
The attachment frame 17 has a pair of spaced parallel elongated members 18 and 19 positioned on and secured to respective bed rails 12A and 12B as noted. Each of the frame members 18 and 19 are cross sectionally triangular defining angular side panel engagement surfaces 18A and 19A as will be described in detail hereinafter. The attachment frame 17 has an interconnecting upstanding end member 20 as best seen in
The side panels 14 and 15 each have a pivot retainment latch arm 22 on their ends 14A and 15A as best seen in
Each of the side panels 14 and 15 have elongated oppositely disposed parallel contoured upper and lower edges 14A and 14B and 15A and 15B with dual angular offset surfaces so as to define abutting upper surface with the corresponding respective right angles depending top panel side flange 13C and 13D. Correspondingly, the lower panel edges 15A and 15B for registration with abutting surfaces 18A and 19A of the triangular support frame members as seen in
The respective latch arms 22 each have an end hook portion 22A and when rotated so as to engage registerably extending retainment pin fittings 23 on the corresponding respective free ends 24 of the triangular frame members 18 and 19 thereby retaining the deployed side panels 14 and 15 in place.
Additionally, each side panel 14 and 15 has spring pin latches L positionally spaced along its lower inner angle flange as seen in
It will be evident from the foregoing description that the top storage panel 13 and the deployed side panels 14 and 15 are now self-supporting on the rails of the truck bed 12. Referring now to
Once the respective side panels 14 and 15 have been released by disengagement of their respective latch arms 22, they are secured to the mounting frame 17 as hereinbefore described. The access panel assembly 16 is then released via its spring pin latch 25A and hinged downwardly to a vertically deployed position as seen in
As noted, the respective oppositely disposed hinge infill panels 28 are thereby opened and secured by the spring latch pins 29 to respective deployment side panels 14 and 15. The utility cap 10 now forms a weather tight enclosure on the truck bed 12 as seen in
It will be evident that to release and fold up the utility cap 10 of the invention, a reverse panel orientation manipulation is required so that the now collapsed utility cap 10 so folded is laying flat within the truck bed 12 as seen in
It will thus be seen that a new and useful compact collapsible utility cap for a truck bed has been illustrated and described and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modification may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore I claim:
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/299,454, filed on Jan. 14, 2022
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
63299454 | Jan 2022 | US |