US 12,600,209 B1Granted

Adjustable length utility vehicle cargo bed cap and overhead rack

OwnerMark J. Truszinventor

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Abstract

A truck bed cap assembly for a truck bed having a plurality of rigid telescoping cap sections mounted on guide rails secured extending longitudinally on opposite side walls of the truck bed, the cap sections being movable along the guide rails between fully retracted and fully extended positions and being lockable at any position along the guide rails, and a tailgate assembly including an upper tailgate section and a lower tailgate section extendable downwardly from the upper tailgate section to enclose an area between the upper tailgate section and truck bed floor and including a main panel dimensioned to fit between the wheel wells of the truck bed, and selectively extendable upper and lower side panels one or more of which are extended laterally outwardly from the main panel when the cap assembly is not fully extended to enclose the area underneath the cap.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An extendable and retractable truck bed cap assembly comprising:

a truck cap adapted to be disposed over an open top of a truck bed, the truck cap including at least a front cap section and a rear cap section;
a pair of elongated base rails mountable to a side wall of the truck bed, each of the base rails including at least two longitudinally extending parallel tracks, wherein the front cap and rear cap sections of the truck cap are slidably mounted to the tracks of the base rails and are lockable against sliding on the base rails in any position between a fully extended position covering the entire truck bed and a fully retracted position with the rear cap section telescoped with the front cap section;
and
a tailgate assembly coupled to the rear cap section, said tailgate assembly including an upper tailgate assembly and a lower tailgate assembly, the lower tailgate assembly pivotably connected to the upper tailgate assembly and movable between a raised position and a lowered position extending between a lower edge of the upper tailgate assembly and floor of the truck bed, said lower tailgate assembly including a lower tailgate main panel dimensioned to fit closely between opposite wheel wells formed in the truck bed, and a plurality of slide-out panels connected to the lower tailgate main panel and selectively extendable laterally outwardly from the lower tailgate main panel as needed to fully enclose the area of the truck bed under the truck cap.

1 more element

A retractable cap assembly for selectively covering portions of a cargo bed of a utility vehicle, the cargo bed including a floor, a front end wall, opposite side walls, and a tailgate, the cap assembly comprising:

an elongated guide rail coupled to a top railing of one of the side walls of the cargo bed, and another elongated guide rail coupled to a top railing of the other side wall;
at least two substantially rigid nestable cap sections including a front cap section and a rear cap section, said nestable cap sections extending over the floor of the cargo bed and slidably connected to the guide rails;
a tailgate assembly connected to the rear cap section for enclosing a rearward facing side of the rear cap section, said tailgate assembly including an upper tailgate assembly and a lower tailgate main panel coupled to a bottom frame member of the upper tailgate assembly and being extendable downwardly from the upper tailgate assembly between wheel wells formed in the cargo bed to the floor of the cargo bed when the rear cap section is not in a fully extended position;
and
upper and lower slide-out panels mounted to the lower tailgate main panel which are selectively extendable laterally outwardly from the lower tailgate main panel to the cargo bed side walls as needed to enclose the portion of the cargo bed covered by the cap assembly when the rear cap section is not fully extended.

2 more elements

A telescoping cap assembly for selectively covering portions of a cargo bed of a utility vehicle, the cargo bed having a floor, a front end wall, opposite side walls, and a rear tailgate, comprising:

at least two substantially rigid nestable cap sections including a front cap section and a rear cap section;
a guide rail mounted to each opposite side wall of the cargo bed, the guide rail including a number of elongated channels at least equal to the number of cap sections, each of the elongated channels having an upwardly open slot;
the nestable cap sections each including a pair of base members which are slidably coupled to one of the channels of the guide rails by one or more locking members, the locking members each including an enlarged head portion positioned in one of the channels, a shaft portion extending through the upwardly open slot in the elongated channel and a through-aperture in the base members, and a locking handle connected to the shaft portion such that rotating the locking handle will clamp the base members to the guide rails and secure the cap sections against sliding on the guide rails at any longitudinal position on the guide rails, and
a tailgate assembly connected to the rear cap section for enclosing the rear cap section at any extended position on the guide rails.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.