Truck with a retractable cover
OwnerThomas Scott Breidenbachinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A truck may include an apparatus behind a passenger cab. The apparatus may provide access to an interior of a truck box, when retracted, and/or a cover, when deployed. The apparatus may include a plurality of moveable portions. The moveable portions may be linked together, and adjacent moveable portions may be linked together by one or more hinge. The apparatus, when deployed, may slope and may keep airflow attached to at least an exterior of the apparatus. The apparatus, when deployed, may significantly reduce aerodynamic drag on the truck. The apparatus, when deployed, may significantly increase driving range of the truck. Deployment and retraction of the apparatus may be motorized and may further be done remotely and/or automatically.
Claims40
A truck comprising:
- a passenger cab having a rear portion and a roof;
- a panel adjacent to the rear portion of the passenger cab, wherein at least a portion of the panel is adjacent to the roof and slopes downwardly and rearwardly away from the roof of the passenger cab;
- a truck box including a pair of box sides;
- and
- a retractable cover configured to cover the truck box at least when the retractable cover is in a deployed configuration;
- wherein the retractable cover includes a plurality of cover portions;
- wherein the plurality of cover portions slopes downwardly and rearwardly away from at least the portion of the panel at least when the retractable cover is in the deployed configuration;
- and
- wherein the retractable cover includes at least one motor configured to move the plurality of cover portions between the deployed configuration and a retracted configuration of the retractable cover.
A truck comprising:
- a passenger cab having a roof;
- a truck box having a box interior between an interior of a first box side and an interior of a second box side;
- a panel mounted behind the passenger cab, the panel positioned adjacent to the first box side, the panel positioned adjacent to the second box side, and the panel positioned adjacent to the roof, wherein at least a portion of the panel slopes downwardly and rearwardly away from the roof of the passenger cab;
- and
- a box cover configured, at least when deployed, to cover at least a portion of the box interior and thereby restrict access to the box interior;
- wherein at least when the box cover is deployed:
- a first joint is defined between the box cover and the first box side;
- a second joint is defined between the box cover and the second box side;
- at least a portion of the box cover is positioned adjacent to the portion of the panel;
- and
- at least a sloping portion of the box cover slopes downwardly and rearwardly away from the portion of the panel.
A truck comprising:
- a passenger cab having a roof;
- a truck box having at least a portion located rearward of the passenger cab, the truck box having a box interior between box sides and between a front box wall and a rear box wall;
- and
- a drag-reducing cover moveable relative to the truck box between a deployed configuration and a retracted configuration, the drag-reducing cover including a plurality of cover portions configured to move relative to the truck box as the drag-reducing cover is moved between the deployed configuration and the retracted configuration, the drag-reducing cover including a drag-reducing sloped portion that inclines upwardly along a direction extending generally from an upper region of the rear box wall toward the roof of the passenger cab at least when the drag-reducing cover is in the deployed configuration, the cover portions each including an upper surface that inclines in the direction extending toward the roof at least when the drag-reducing cover is in the deployed configuration, and wherein the upper surfaces of the cover portions cooperate to define at least a portion of the drag-reducing sloped portion of the drag-reducing cover at least when the drag-reducing cover is in the deployed configuration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.