Pickup truck bed tonneau cover support structure and method

A method of manufacturing multiple versions of a pickup truck bed tonneau cover from universal components comprising:

• cutting universal cross-section outer frame rail stock to appropriate lengths to create all front, rear, and side frame rail members of the multiple versions of the tonneau cover;
• providing first and second universal corner bracket members that can be coupled together in a plurality of angular corner positions;
• adjusting pairs of the first and second universal corner bracket members relative to each other and coupling each pair of first and second universal corner bracket members together fixing the pair into one of the angular corner positions to create all corner brackets of the multiple versions of the tonneau cover;
• cutting universal cross-section intermediate rail stock to appropriate lengths to create all intermediate rails of the multiple versions of the tonneau cover;
• providing universal intermediate rail brackets that can be coupled to the intermediate rails at a plurality of angular bracket positions;
• coupling universal intermediate rail bracket to each side frame rail member to provide opposing pairs of the universal intermediate rail brackets for each intermediate rail of the multiple versions of the tonneau cover;
• adjusting each end of each intermediate rail into one of the plurality of angular bracket positions and coupling each end of each intermediate rail to a corresponding opposing pair of universal intermediate rail brackets to affix the intermediate rails into one of the angular bracket positions;
• and
• forming all universal intermediate rail brackets for the multiple versions of the tonneau cover by stamping.

A pickup truck bed tonneau cover manufactured from universal components comprising:

• an outer frame comprising a front rail, a rear rail and a plurality of side rails, and all of the front rail, the rear rail and the side rail members of the pickup bed tonneau cover having a same universal frame rail cross-section throughout their length;
• a front pair and a rear pair of corner brackets, each corner bracket comprising first and second universal corner bracket members configured to be coupled together in different fixed positions to form one of a plurality of potential angles, the potential angles including both greater than and less than 90 degrees;
• each of the front pair of corner brackets being coupled to the front rail and an adjacent one of the side rail members, and each of the rear pair of corner brackets being coupled to the rear rail and an adjacent one of the side rails;
• a plurality of intermediate rails spanning between the side rail members, and all intermediate rails of the pickup bed tonneau cover having a uniform intermediate rail cross-section throughout their length;
• a universal intermediate rail bracket coupled to each side rail and providing opposing pairs of the universal intermediate rail brackets, the universal intermediate rail brackets being configured to be coupled to opposing ends of each intermediate rail at any of a corresponding plurality of potential angles;
• and
• a universal latch assembly to each of four universal intermediate rail brackets to create all latches of the tonneau cover.

A pickup truck bed tonneau cover comprising:

• a plurality of outer rails each having a uniform cross-section throughout its length, the plurality of outer rails being joined together via hinges and corner brackets to form an outer frame of the pickup truck bed tonneau cover;
• the uniform cross-section of the outer rails defining, along the entire length of the outer rail, an elongated seal coupling channel and an elongated step adjacent to, and protruding downwardly beyond, the seal coupling channel;
• a compressible seal member coupled to the outer rails via the seal member coupling extending throughout the length of the outer rails;
• the compressible seal member having a non-compressed state in which the distal portion of the compressible seal member extends downwardly past the adjacent elongated step;
• wherein, when pickup truck bed tonneau cover is mounted over a perimeter of a corresponding pickup truck bed, the downwardly protruding elongated step member acts as a continuous elongated stop when it contacts against the perimeter to limit compression of the compressible seal member.