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AssigneeMeritor Light Vehicle Systems, Inc.
InventorsRainer Grimm, Holly Giangrande, Roch Tolinski, Carmelo Mondello, Steven Foster, Charlie Hopson, Laurent Arquevaux, Nick Kalageros
Estimating the term…
A vehicle pick-up bed with fenders is disclosed that can be folded into shape by hand. The component includes a generally flat sheet of colored material and a generally flat sheet of reinforced polymeric material. Preferably, the sheet of colored material is placed in the mold and the reinforced polymeric material is injected into the mold, onto the back of the sheet of colored material. During the molding process, the reinforced polymeric material and the colored material are molded into a single, generally flat, solid component. The sheet of colored material adheres to the reinforced polymeric material. Once molded, the sides of the pick-up bed and fenders are folded into shape along hinge edges. The side walls are connected to stay in place. Hinge edges could be formed by locating few or no reinforcing fibers in the reinforced polymeric material in the desired location of the hinge edges. The colored material is preferably a paintless polymer film. Alternatively, the colored material is pre-painted aluminum. As a result of using either of these two options, there is great flexibility in adding color to the vehicle. Due to the injection molding process, additional features can be directly molded into the component. For instance, a drainage system, brake light attachments, brake light covers, wiring conduit or a cargo cover can be directly molded into the component.
A vehicle pick-up bed, comprising:
A vehicle pick-up bed, comprising:
The combined pick-up bed/fender section for a vehicle, comprising:
A method of forming a vehicle pick-up bed, comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.