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US 11,685,448 B2Granted
Draw bar stowage
AssigneeGM Global Technology Operations LLC
InventorMichael D. Rock
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A draw bar stowage apparatus includes an opening through the bed floor of the cargo box of a pickup truck for receiving the insertion end of a draw bar. The stowage apparatus may include an additional bracket beneath the bed floor, bed protection, a plug and adjustable tether for securing a stowed draw bar.
Claims20
A draw bar stowage apparatus, comprising a bed floor in a cargo box of a pickup truck defining a first opening large enough to accept an insertion end of a draw bar but too small to pass a coupling end of the draw bar.
A draw bar stowage apparatus, comprising:
- a cargo box of a pickup truck including a bed floor, sidewalls and wheel wells, the bed floor of the cargo box comprising a main floor region laterally delimited by the wheel wells and floor regions forward and rearward of the wheel wells and delimited by the wheel wells, the sidewalls and the main floor region;
- one of the floor regions forward and rearward of the wheel wells defining a first opening through the bed floor large enough to accept an insertion end of a draw bar but too small to pass a coupling end of the draw bar;
- and
- a bracket beneath the bed floor and defining a second opening large enough to accept the insertion end of the draw bar.
1 more element
A draw bar stowage apparatus, comprising:
- a cargo box of a pickup truck including a bed floor, sidewalls and wheel wells, the bed floor of the cargo box comprising a main floor region laterally delimited by the wheel wells and a floor region rearward of a wheel well and delimited by the wheel well, a sidewall and the main floor region;
- a floor region rearward of a wheel well defining a first opening through the bed floor large enough to accept an insertion end of a draw bar but too small to pass a coupling end thereof;
- a bracket attached to the bed floor and positioned beneath the bed floor and defining a second opening large enough to accept the insertion end of the draw bar;
- a bed protector including a bed protection panel, an inner wall protection panel, and an escutcheon inserted into the first opening;
- a removable plug for insertion into the escutcheon and flexibly attached to the bed protection panel;
- and
- an adjustable tether coupled to the cargo box and configured for retaining the coupling end of a stowed draw bar.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.