Back to results
US 4,732,420 AGranted
Combined headache rack and storage compartment for trucks
OwnerLorraine B. O'Neil, Jeffery M. Millerinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
OwnerLorraine B. O'Neil, Jeffery M. Millerinventors
Estimating the term…
An attachment for trucks, particularly tractor units associated with a flat bed trailer having removable side boards, headboard and tailgate with the attachment being in the form of a headache rack attached to the frame of the truck forwardly of the trailer and being constructed in part from the side boards, headboard and tailgate of the trailer when the trailer is converted to a flat bed arrangement. The rack includes supporting stands attached to the frame rails of the truck frame which support a bottom pan with sockets receiving the stakes of the trailer headboard and tailgate enclosing a space receiving the side boards and stakes together with a top cap removably securing these components in place. This structure enables a flat bed trailer with a side kit to be utilized with the side kit in place thereon or converted to flat bed use in which the side kit forms part of the headache rack and a storage compartment for conveniently storing some components of the side kit and providing an arrangement which complies with regulations which require a headache rack when the front bulkhead has been removed from a trailer or when a flat bed trailer is not provided with a front bulkhead to protect the truck operator from a forwardly shifting load.
A combined trailer headache rack and side kit component storage compartment adapted to be mounted rearwardly of a truck cab and forwardly of a trailer connected with the truck for towing comprising a pair of supporting stands adapted to be rigidly attached to the truck frame rails rearwardly of the cab and extending upwardly therefrom, a bottom pan supported rigidly between the upper ends of said stands, said bottom pan including spaced stake sockets along the front and rear edge thereof for receiving the stakes on a front headboard and tailgate removed from a flat bed trailer for storing the front headboard and tailgate on the bottom pan in spaced relation to form a space for receiving the side boards and stakes removed from a flat bed trailer when converting the side kit trailer to flat bed use and means rigidly securing the removed flat bed components to the bottom pan to form a headache rack to protect the driver of the truck from forwardly shifting loads when the flat bed trailer does not include a headboard mounted thereon and providing a convenient storage area for the side kit components to enable them to be more easily stored and more easily assembled onto the flat bed trailer.
In combination with a towing vehicle and a towed trailer in which the trailer is a flat bed trailer having removable side kit components attached thereto to enable the trailer to be converted between a flat bed trailer and a trailer with upstanding side boards, headboard and tailgate secured removably to the flat bed trailer by stakes received in stake pockets peripherally of the flat bed trailer, said towing vehicle including a cab and longitudinally extending frame rails projecting rearwardly therefrom to which the trailer is connected, a headache rack and side kit storage compartment combination comprising a transversely extending bottom support adapted to be supported rigidly from the towing vehicle frame rails and including duplicative stake sockets for receiving the stakes supporting the headboard and tailgate from the flat bed trailer with the duplicative sockets being spaced to provide a storage space between the headboard and tailgate for the side boards and stakes to support the side kit components from the transverse support member and forming a headache rack in the form of a structural barrier oriented vertically behind the cab of the towing vehicle for protecting the operator of the towing vehicle from forwardly shifting loads.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.