Patent Application
20180111565
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Sport bars generally mount on the top rails of the opposing side walls of a pickup bed, and allow for the use of tonneau covers which mount to the inside surface of the opposing side walls of the pickup bed. Tonneau covers are generally roll up covers. Roll up covers are generally mounted in a track along a top of the inside surface of the opposing side walls. Known sport bar configurations are not compatible with tonneau covers which mount on the top rails of the side walls of a pickup bed.
Therefore, there is not currently a sport bar which is universally compatible with all tonneau covers.
The present disclosure includes a sport bar mounting system which mounts a sport bar to the top rail of each of two opposing side walls of a pickup bed. To attach the sport bar, two mounting brackets, which are mirror images of one another, are used. Each mounting bracket is a generally C shaped elongate channel with the interior of the channel sized to receive a tonneau cover therein. To create the C shaped elongate channel, the mounting bracket includes a base plate, which attaches to a top rail of the pickup bed, a side wall which extends upward from the base plate, and a top plate cantilevers from the side wall over the base plate. The space between an interior surface of the top plate, and an interior surface of the base plate, and the side wall, defines an interior for mounting a top-mounted tonneau cover. The mounting bracket thus allows the sport bar mounting system to be used with top mount or inside mount tonneau covers.
The sport bar mounting system may further include removable end panels for each of the mounting brackets.
The sport bar mounting system mounting may be configured such that the side wall of the first mounting bracket is perpendicular to the top plate and base plate of the first mounting bracket, and the side wall of the second mounting bracket is perpendicular to the top plate and base plate of the second mounting bracket.
The sport bar mounting system mounting may be configured such that a joint between the side wall and the top plate of the first mounting bracket forms an obtuse angle and a joint between the side wall and base plate of the first mounting bracket forms an acute angle, and a joint between the side wall and the top plate of the second mounting bracket forms an obtuse angle and a joint between the base plate and the side wall of the second mounting bracket forms an acute angle.
The sport bar mounting system may further include a gasket under each of the base plates.
The sport bar mounting system may further include at least one spacer above each of the top plates.
The sport bar mounting system mounting may be configured such that a hole in each of the spacers and a slot in each of the top plates align to form a common bore.
The sport bar mounting system mounting may be configured such that a hardware hole in each of the gaskets and a hardware hole in each of the base plates align to form a common bore.
These and other features and advantages of the various embodiments disclosed herein will be better understood with respect to the following description and drawings, in which like numbers refer to like parts throughout, and in which:
The present disclosure includes a sport bar mounting system which mounts a sport bar to the top rail of each of two opposing side walls of a pickup bed. To attach the sport bar, two mounting brackets, which are mirror images of one another, are used. Each mounting bracket is a generally C shaped elongate channel with the interior of the channel sized to receive a tonneau cover therein. To create the C shaped elongate channel, the mounting bracket includes a base plate, which attaches to a top rail of the pickup bed, a side wall which extends upward from the base plate, and a top plate cantilevers from the side wall over the base plate. The space between an interior surface of the top plate, and an interior surface of the base plate, and the side wall, defines an interior for mounting a top-mounted tonneau cover. The mounting bracket thus allows the sport bar mounting system to be used with top mount or inside mount tonneau covers.
Referring to the drawings,
Referring now to
With reference to
The ends of the mounting brackets 18, 20 may be angled. That is, the top plate 42 rear edge 47 may be short of the base plate 48 rear edge 49 in a longitudinal direction. The rear edge 52 of the corresponding side wall 50 tapers from the rear edge 47 of the top plate 42 to the rear edge 49 of the base plate 48. Similarly, the front end of the mounting brackets 18, 20 may be angled. The rear end of the mounting bracket 18, 20 may be angled differently than the front end, or the two ends may be angled the same. A front end cap 54 may be integral to the mounting bracket 18, 20.
An end panel 56 may be attached to the mounting bracket by a mechanical fastener, for example a bolt 62. The end panel has an angled portion 68 and a horizontal portion 70. A washer 60 or lock washer 64 may be used to ensure that the bolt 62 stays tight. An aperture 58 in the horizontal portion 70 of the end panel 56 may align with the slot 44, the threaded aperture 39, and the opening 43, to form a common bore through which a threaded shank 66 of the bolt 62 may pass. The bolt 62 corresponds to a threaded surface 37 (
A plurality of attachment point holes 76 are drilled or otherwise made in the top rail 36 in each of the side walls 26, 30 of the pickup bed 28. A mounting base spacer or gasket 80 has a plurality of hardware holes 82 spaced such that at least two of the plurality of hardware holes 82 align with the plurality of attachment point holes 76 to form a common bore. The base plate 48 of the mounting bracket 18, 20 has a plurality of hardware holes 84 which correspond to the plurality of hardware holes 82 in the gasket 80. Together, the plurality of hardware holes 84 of the mounting bracket 18, 20, the plurality of hardware holes 82 of the mounting base spacer 80, and the attachment point holes 76 in the top rails 36 form a common bore for connecting with a mechanical fastener 86. The mechanical fastener 86, may be, for example, a nut and bolt combination 88. A washer 60 or lock washer 64 may optionally be used to ensure that the nut and bolt combination 88 remains tight after it is used to attach the sport bar 10 to the pickup bed 28.
With reference to
The head 63 of the bolt 62 extends in to an interior 102 of the mounting bracket 18, 20. Alternatively, in order to allow maximum space for a tonneau cover which mounts on the top rail 36 of the side wall 26, 30 of the pickup bed 28, the head 63 may be counter sunk so that a minimum or none of the head 63 extends in the interior of the mounting bracket 18, 20.
A head 93 of the bolt of the nut and bolt combination 88 is countersunk so that the nut and bolt combination 88 presents an even surface with the remainder of an interior surface 92 of the base plate 48 of the mounting bracket 18, 20. The gasket 80 may be placed between the base plate 48 of the mounting bracket 18, 20 and the top rail 36 of the side wall 26, 30 of the pickup bed 28, in order to form a waterproof barrier and prevent metal on metal contact.
The above description is given by way of example, and not limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art could devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed herein, including various ways of configuring the top plate, side wall, and base plate of the mounting brackets. Further, the various features of the embodiments disclosed herein can be used alone, or in varying combinations with each other and are not intended to be limited to the specific combination described herein. Thus, the scope of the claims is not to be limited by the illustrated embodiments.
