The present specification generally relates to trucks and, more specifically, to trucks with truck beds that include deck floors with reinforcing rib patterns.
Typical truck bed deck floors are formed of steel with cross members for structural support. Resin deck floors are also known, but can have reduced strength compared to metal deck floors, particularly in certain areas. As such, it is often the case that the resin deck floors are formed thick to provide added strength. Increased thickness adds to the weight of the deck floors.
What is needed are resin deck floors that have reduced thickness and increased strength for reduced weight on the truck.
In accordance with one embodiment, a truck includes a passenger cabin and a truck bed located rearward of the passenger cabin in a vehicle longitudinal direction. The truck bed includes a deck floor. The deck floor includes ridges that extend outward on an underside of the deck floor and extend lengthwise in a vehicle longitudinal direction. The deck floor further includes reinforcing ribs that extend outward from the ridges and along lengths of the ridges at the underside of the deck floor.
In another embodiment, a resin truck bed inner structure includes a deck floor including ridges that extend outward on an underside of the deck floor and extend lengthwise in a vehicle longitudinal direction. The deck floor further includes reinforcing ribs that extend outward from the ridges and along lengths of the ridges at the underside of the deck floor.
These and additional features provided by the embodiments described herein will be more fully understood in view of the following detailed description, in conjunction with the drawings.
The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative and exemplary in nature and not intended to limit the subject matter defined by the claims. The following description of the illustrative embodiments can be understood when read in conjunction with the following drawings, where like structure is indicated with like reference numerals and in which:
Trucks according to the present specification include a passenger cabin and a truck bed located rearward of the passenger cabin. The truck bed includes opposite sidewalls and a deck floor that extends between the sidewalls. The deck floor has ridges that extend outward on an underside of the deck floor also has corresponding recesses that extend inward from an exposed side of the deck floor and that extend lengthwise in the vehicle longitudinal direction. Reinforcing ribs are provided that extend outward from the ridges and along lengths of the ridges at the underside of the deck floor. In some embodiments, the reinforcing ribs intersect at a 4 or 5-way point of intersection.
As used herein, the term “vehicle longitudinal direction” refers to the forward-rearward direction of the pickup truck (i.e., in the +/−vehicle Y direction depicted in
Referring to
Referring to
The sidewalls 20, 22 extend parallel to the vehicle longitudinal direction. Each sidewall 20, 22 includes a front end 30 and an opposite rear end 31. The front wall 24 extends between the front ends 30 of the sidewalls 20, 22. The tailgate 26 extends between the rear ends 31 of the sidewalls 20, 22.
The tailgate 26 is pivotally connected to the sidewalls 20, 22 for movement between a closed position and an open position. In the closed position, the tailgate 26 extends parallel to the vehicle vertical direction. In the open position, the tailgate 26 extends parallel to the vehicle longitudinal direction as shown in
The deck floor 18 may be formed of a plastic resin and may include ridges 32 that form an undulating pattern of peaks and valleys that extend inward from an upper, exposed side 34 and outward from a lower, underside 36 (
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Referring also briefly to
Depending, at least in part, on the configurations of the deck floors, how they are supported and the types of loads applied, there may be areas of the deck floors that are prone to experience higher stress concentrations. These areas of the deck floors that are prone to experience higher stress concentrations can be determined using computer modeling and testing of the deck floors under various load configurations and magnitudes. Without wishing to be bound by theory, the deck floors described herein include reinforcing ribs in addition to the ridges extending alongside the ridges on the underside of the deck floors to provide additional material thickness at certain areas, which can reduce the stress experienced by the deck floors in those areas when a load is applied. The reinforcing ribs may be molded with deck floors as solid protrusions that extend outward from the undersides of the deck floors thereby providing the additional material thicknesses at the predetermined deck floor locations.
Referring again to
As can be seen, the ridge 32 has a maximum width W1 measured between the sides 56 and 59 that is greater than a maximum width W2 of the reinforcing rib 50a measured between sides 63 and 64. In some embodiments, the maximum width W2 of the reinforcing rib 50a may be no greater than 0.75W1, such as no greater than 0.5W1, such as no greater than 0.4W1, such as no greater than 0.3W1, such as no greater than 0.2W1. The ridge 32 has a maximum height H1 measured between the bottom 60 and the exposed side 34 of the deck floor 18 that is less than a maximum height H2 of the reinforcing rib 50a measured between the bottom 60 of the ridge 32 and a terminal edge 66 of the reinforcing rib 50a. In some embodiments, the maximum height H2 of the reinforcing rib 50a may be at least about equal to W1, such as at least about 1.5W1, such as at least about 2W1, such as at least about 2.5W1, such as at least about 3W1. The ridge 32 and reinforcing rib 50a may be formed together, such as by molding, 3D printing, etc. using a reinforced plastic material for example.
Referring to
Referring again to
Reinforcing ribs along with ridges may be used for deck floors of different sizes. The embodiment of
The above-described deck floors takes advantage of the benefits of resin deck floor structures including reduced mass and part count, but still allows the deck floors to meet strength and stress requirements of different deck lengths. The deck floors also can also have reduced overall deck material volume while having taller deck heights and wider frame spans that still provide the predetermined strength results.
While particular embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be understood that various other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed subject matter. Moreover, although various aspects of the claimed subject matter have been described herein, such aspects need not be utilized in combination. It is therefore intended that the appended claims cover all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of the claimed subject matter.