Stake pocket anchor
OwnerJohnnie D. Cockrellinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A stake pocket anchor adapted to fill an upper area of a stake pocket hole conventionally found on pickup truck utility beds passing through horizontal portions of the pickup truck fender. An anchor plate is placed within the stake pocket hole of the pickup truck and a locator plate cooperates therewith to sandwich therebetween adjacent a downwardly depending lip integrally formed in the truck fender. A central portion of both the locator plate and anchor plate cooperate with various instrumentalities by threaded engagement therewith to serve multiple needs in a pickup truck environment. For example, an eyebolt can be passed through and threaded into the stake pocket anchor.
Claims21
A stack pocket anchor mounted at a stake pocket, comprising:
- a lower anchor plate placed within a hollow space of the stake pocket;
- an upper locator plate placed over the hollow space of the stake pocket, and having a lower portion extending into the hollow space;
- means for pinching said locator plate to said anchor plate to hold said locator plate and said anchor plate in a fixed relation with respect to the stake pocket, and
- means for operatively coupling said pocket anchor to other instrumentalities, said means for operatively coupling including, with said upper and lower plates in their respective assembled positions, a temporarily unoccupied hole, said hole removably receiving means extending from said anchor plate and projecting above said locator plate.
A stack pocket anchor comprising in combination:
- a lower anchor plate provided with a contour complemental to a bottom surface of a vehicle fender lower horizontal wall,
- a substantially rigid locator plate adapted to reside within an opening of a stake pocket on a top surface of the vehicle fender horizontal wall with means for interconnecting the locator plate and the anchor plate to preclude unwanted migration of the locator plate with respect to both the anchor plate and the vehicle fender, and
- means for attaching other instrumentalities to the anchor plate, said means for attaching including a temporarily unoccupied hole in the anchor plate configured to receive any complementally threaded instrumentality.
A method for securely connecting to a vehicle instrumentalities for holding down articles in vehicles, the steps including:
- interconnecting an anchor plate which is adapted to reside under a stake pocket opening to a locator plate which is adapted to reside on top of a stake pocket;
- configuring the locator plate to include a downwardly extending lip which resides adjacent walls of the stake pocket for preventing the locator plate from moving horizontally;
- maintaining clearance between the anchor plate and the locator plate such that the anchor plate and the locator plate can be oriented to slide relative to the stake pocket;
- drawing together the anchor plate to the locator plate to provide firm interconnection by pinching the anchor plate and locator plate together on opposite sides of a lip defining a periphery of pocket;
- and,
- attaching a fastener to one of the plates to coact with articles to be held down.
In a stake pocket associated with a cargo carrying area of a vehicle, the pocket including a peripheral edge with a lip extending downwardly therefrom, a stake pocket anchor comprising in combination:
- an anchor plate oriented to abut against the lip,
- a locator plate including a peripheral shelf resting on the peripheral edge, said locator plate including a lip depending from said shelf and extending into the pocket and preventing lateral migration of said locator plate relative to the pocket,
- means for pinching said anchor plate to said locator plate, and
- means for adhering structures above the stake pocket, said adhering means independent of said pinching means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.