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US 4,728,017 AGranted
Clamp-on storage container for pickup trucks
OwnerRandall J. Mullicaninventor
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OwnerRandall J. Mullicaninventor
Estimating the term…
An anti-theft, portable clamp-on storage container for mounting in the load bed of a pickup truck comprises relatively movable top and bottom container sections which close to form an enclosure for goods. A screw clamp having an inverted U-shaped fixed jaw and a screw actuated movable jaw cooperable therewith is mounted with the inverted U-shaped fixed jaw supported exteriorly of the container bottom section and with the screw actuator for the movable jaw extending inside of the container. The fixed jaw is positioned to slide down over one of the side or end panels of the pickup truck load bed when the container is lowered into the floor of the load bed from above. A handle for turning the screw actuator is provided on the end of the screw actuator which is inside of the container so that the screw actuator can only be turned when the container is open. A lock is provided to lock the container closed so that the screw clamp once clamped to the side or end panel of the load bed cannot be loosened without unlocking and opening the container.
A portable clamp-on storage container for mounting in the load bed of a conventional pickup truck without any structural or cosmetic alterations of the load bed and without the use of tools, the load bed conventionally having an elongated rectangular floor, a pair of upstanding side panels extending longitudinally along opposite sides of said floor, an upstanding front panel and a tailgate panel extending between said side panels at opposite ends of the load bed, said upstanding front and side panels each having an upstanding main wall portion and an inwardly projecting upper edge portion at the top of said upstanding wall portion, said storage container comprising mating top and bottom sections which form an enclosure for articles to be stored therein, said bottom section having a bottom and an upstanding perimeter wall, an opening in said perimeter wall, means connecting said top and bottom sections for relative movement thereof between an open and a closed position, lock means for locking said top and bottom sections in said closed position, and at least one clamping means secured to said bottom section for clamping said container to one of the upstanding panels of said load bed, said clamping means having fixed jaw means having a first portion and a bend portion extending upwardly and outwardly respectively from said bottom section for engaging over the inwardly projecting upper edge of said one of the upstanding panels and a depending jaw portion extending downwardly along an outside surface of the main upstanding wall portion of said one upstanding panel, and a cooperating movable jaw mounted on a threaded stem which extends inside of said container through said opening in said perimeter wall of said bottom section, said threaded stem having a handle at one end inside of said container for turning said stem, said stem being threadedly mounted in said first portion of said fixed jaw means for reciprocally moving said movable jaw relative to said depending jaw portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.