Bed cover and extender unit for vehicles

In combination with an automotive vehicle having a flattened bed for vehicle cargo and an occupant cab immediately forward of the bed and a pair of laterally spaced side walls extending rearwardly from said cab on opposite sides of said bed and further having a pivotally mounted tailgate selectively and independently movable between fixed horizontal and upright positions relative to said side walls and said bed for respectively extending and gating the bed, a frame unit for covering said bed and for extending said bed when said tailgate is in said horizontal position, said frame unit comprising:

• a pair of laterally spaced sides and a forward end wall connecting the sides to one another adjacent to forward ends thereof, a generally firm and rectangular cover for the frame unit for covering said bed, forward pivot construction for pivotally mounting said cover to the frame unit adjacent to the forward ends of said sides for swinging movement on a transverse axis between a closed position overlying the sides of the unit so that said bed is roofed and an open position away from said sides so that the area between said sides and said bed is accessible from said tailgate, and a second pivot for pivotally mounting the frame unit to the side walls of the bed of the vehicle so that said frame unit can be turned on said second pivot to a bed extending position in which the cover is in a substantially horizontal position and directly contacts and overlies at least a portion of said bed and further directly contacts and extends beyond said tailgate when said tailgate is in said horizontal position to thereby extend the bed of the vehicle.

In combination, an automotive vehicle having a flattened cargo bed with an occupant cab immediately forward of the bed and having a pair of side walls extending rearwardly from said cab on opposite sides of the bed and further having a pivotally mounted tailgate selectively and independently movable between fixed substantially horizontal and upright positions relative to said side walls, a bed cover and bed extension unit for protectively covering and for the lengthwise extension of said bed, said unit having a pair of elongated sides having forward and trailing ends that extend along the side walls of said bed,

• an end gating wall connecting said sides to one another adjacent to the forward ends, pivot elements for pivotally connecting said end gating wall to said sides for movement between bed-gating upright and bed-extending horizontal positions relative to said side walls,
• a rigid cover for the unit providing an overhead covering for at least one portion of the bed,
• forward pivot construction defining a first transverse axis for pivotally mounting the cover to the sides adjacent to the forward ends thereof for swinging movement on the first transverse axis between a closed position overlying the sides of the unit and roofing said bed and an open position away from said sides whereby the area between the sides and said bed is accessible, and
• rearward pivot construction defining a second transverse axis for pivotally mounting the sides of the unit to the side walls of the bed of the vehicle so that said unit can be turned on the second transverse axis to a bed extending position in which the cover overlaps and directly contacts and is supported by the upper surface of said bed and by the upper surface of said tailgate when in said horizontal position thereby operationally extending said bed of the vehicle.