Hybrid tonneau cover
AssigneeGM Global Technology Operations LLC
InventorsWonhee M. Kim, Paul W. Alexander, Julien P. Mourou
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A tonneau cover for a cargo bed of a truck includes a rail system, and a panel secured to the rail system. At least a portion of the rail system or the panel is a layer jamming member having a layer jamming material operable to exhibit a first stiffness in response to a first confining pressure and a second stiffness in response to a second confining pressure. The layer jamming member may include all or a portion of the panel to provide specific regions of the cover, and/or may include portions of the rail system.
Claims20
A vehicle comprising:
- a body having a plurality of side walls and a bottom wall forming a cargo storage space;
- and
- a cover removably attached to the side walls for covering the cargo storage space, the cover including:
- at least one layer jamming member having a layer jamming material operable to exhibit a first stiffness in response to a first confining pressure and a second stiffness in response to a second confining pressure.
A tonneau cover for a cargo bed of a truck, the tonneau cover comprising:
- a rail system configured for attachment to the cargo bed of the truck;
- a panel secured to the rail system for covering the cargo bed;
- and
- at least one layer jamming member having a layer jamming material operable to exhibit a first stiffness in response to a first confining pressure and a second stiffness in response to a second confining pressure;
- wherein the at least one layer jamming member includes at least a portion of one of the rail system or the panel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.