Interlocking arrangement of storage boxes for a sport utility vehicle

An interlocking arrangement for storage boxes, said interlocking arrangement including a passenger vehicle having a rear tailgate mounted for movement between open and closed positions and further having a rear section with first and second side walls spaced from each other with a floor extending substantially therebetween to define a central storage area forward of said tailgate when said tailgate is in said closed position, said storage area being upwardly open from said floor to expose said floor from above and to provide a passenger of said vehicle with access from above to said storage area and to said exposed floor,

• said interlocking arrangement for said storage boxes further including at least first, second, and third distinct storage boxes, means for securing said first storage box to the first side wall of said vehicle and means for securing said second storage box to the second side wall of the vehicle in a position spaced from the first storage box across said floor, said third storage box being manually movable between a remote position removed from the vehicle and in interior position in said upwardly open storage area above the floor inside the rear section of the vehicle between said first and second storage boxes, said third storage box having a top exposed from above and accessible from above to said passenger of said vehicle when said third storage box is in said interior position, said interlocking arrangement further including locking means for selectively locking said third storage box in said interior position in said storage area above the floor between said first and second storage boxes,
• said locking means including means for slidably receiving said third storage box in said interior position between said first and second storage boxes, said slidably receiving means including means on said third storage box for respectively engaging said first and second storage boxes to prevent movement of said third storage box from said interior position upwardly between said first and second storage boxes while still providing said passenger with access to the exposed top of said third storage box, said locking means further including means for preventing said third storage box from being moved forwardly beyond said engagement with said first and second storage boxes and means for selectively preventing said third storage box from being moved rearwardly beyond said engagement with said first and second storage boxes, said means for selectively preventing said third storage box from being moved rearwardly beyond said engagement with said first and second storage boxes including said tailgate wherein said third storage box is prevented by said tailgate in said closed position from being moved rearwardly beyond said engagement with said first and second storage boxes and wherein said third storage box can be moved beyond said engagement with said first and second storage boxes to said remote position removed from said vehicle when said tailgate is in said open position.