Rotatable bed for a pickup truck
AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorTarakorn Soonthornwinate
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pickup truck can include a bed that is configured to be rotatable. The bed can be defined in part by a first side wall, a second side wall, a front wall, a back wall, and a floor. The bed can include a standard position in which the first and second side walls of the bed can be substantially parallel to a longitudinal direction of the pickup truck. The bed can be selectively rotatable about an axis of rotation into one or more rotated positions. In a rotated position, the first and second side walls can be angled relative to the longitudinal direction. The bed can also be raised in an elevational direction such that a lowermost point of the bed is located above a chassis frame of the pickup truck. A rotatable bed can expand its uses and allow for convenient access to the bed from a desired position.
Claims18
A bed manipulation system for a pickup truck, the system comprising:
- a bed, the bed being defined in part by a first side wall, a second side wall, a front wall, a back wall, and a floor,
- the bed including a standard position, the bed being selectively rotatable about an axis of rotation into one or more rotated positions,
- when the bed is in the standard position, the first side wall and the second side wall being substantially parallel to a longitudinal direction of the pickup truck, and a lowermost point of the bed being located below a chassis frame of the pickup truck when in the standard position,
- when the bed is in one of the one or more rotated positions, the first side wall and the second side wall being angled relative to the longitudinal direction and the bed is raised in an elevational direction such that the lowermost point of the bed is located above the chassis frame of the pickup truck, the floor of the bed being substantially horizontal in the one or more rotated positions and when being rotated about the axis of rotation,
- when moving from the standard position to one of the one or more rotated positions, the bed moves rearward in the longitudinal direction, and
- the pickup truck including a cabin, the cabin being fixed, whereby the cabin does not change position between the standard position and the one or more rotated positions of the bed.
A bed manipulation method for a pickup truck, the pickup truck including a bed, the bed being defined in part by a first side wall, a second side wall, a front wall, a back wall, and a floor, the bed including a standard position in which the first side wall and the second side wall are substantially parallel to a longitudinal direction of the pickup truck, a lowermost point of the bed being located below a chassis frame of the pickup truck when in the standard position, and the bed being selectively rotatable about an axis of rotation into one or more rotated positions, the method including:
- responsive to a user input to rotate the bed, causing the bed to move from the standard position to one of the one or more rotated positions,
- when the bed is in the one or more rotated positions, the first side wall and the second side wall are angled relative to the longitudinal direction and the bed is raised in an elevational direction such that the lowermost point of the bed is located above the chassis frame of the pickup truck, the floor of the bed being substantially horizontal in the one or more rotated positions and when being rotated about the axis of rotation,
- when moving from the standard position to one of the one or more rotated positions, the bed moves rearward in the longitudinal direction, and
- the pickup truck including a cabin, the cabin being fixed, whereby the cabin does not change position between the standard position and the one or more rotated positions of the bed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.