Vehicle cargo bed extender

Abstract

A vehicle cargo bed extender adapted to be used in conjunction with a vehicle having a cargo bed. The present invention includes a pair of sidewalls spaced from one another, a center wall extending between the pair of sidewalls, the pair of sidewalls and the center wall cooperating to define a bed extender having an open end. Each of the pair of sidewalls of the bed extender include a pivot assembly disposed between the sidewall of the bed extender and a sidewall of the cargo bed and including a pivot axis defined by a post, and a slot adapted to slidingly accept the post. The post and the slot cooperate to facilitate both pivotal movement of the bed extender and rectilinear longitudinal movement of the bed extender relative to the cargo bed of the vehicle.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates, generally, to a vehicle cargo bed extender, and more specifically, to a bed extender that includes a sliding pivot joint having a post and a slot that facilitates rectilinear longitudinal movement of the bed extender relative to the cargo bed of the vehicle and pivotal movement of the bed extender between stowed and deployed positions. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] Pickup trucks are well known vehicles having rear cargo areas that are employed for utilitarian purposes. A representative example of this type of vehicle is generally indicated at 20 in FIG. 1. As is well known in the art, pickup trucks typically include a cab 22 in which the vehicle operator sits and a cargo area, generally indicated at 24. The cargo area 24 is typically disposed adjacent and to the rear of the cab 22. The cargo area 24 is typically defined by a bed 26 and pair of upstanding sidewalls 28 ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention relates to a vehicle cargo bed extender that can be used in pickup trucks and other vehicles with a cargo area. The extender includes a sliding pivot joint that allows for rectilinear movement in the bed and pivotal movement between a stowed and deployed position. The extender can be used in vehicles that have a shorted rear bed, such as crossover vehicles, which makes the use of conventional truck bed extenders difficult. The technical effect of the invention is to provide a cargo bed extender that can be easily used in a variety of vehicles with a cargo area and to increase the carrying capacity of these vehicles without sacrificing the cargo area.

Problems solved by technology

While such bed extenders known in the related art have generally worked for their intended purposes, disadvantages still remain regarding their use for certain vehicle applications.

However, the shorted rear bed 26 of the crossover vehicle 40 makes the use of conventional truck bed extenders highly problematic.

Furthermore, since the extender pivot points cannot generally be placed at the end of the bed due to interference with closing the tailgate, the bed extender must actually extend farther into the bed when stowed than it extends out over the tailgate when in use.

This is where the problem lies.

The shorter bed of a crossover vehicle simply does not have the room to accommodate both the bed extender and an additional accessory such as a toolbox or a tonneau cover without causing interference between them and thereby forcing a departure from the desired quick change features.

This adds the additional drawbacks of several extra time-consuming steps necessary to accomplish the change to the extended bed mode of operation.

This bed extender interference problem occurs regardless of the type of accessory that is employed in the crossover vehicle bed.

Additionally, this problem arises with standard pick-up truck cargo beds in any of a variety of scenarios in which the bed regularly carries or maintains large volume objects and only a small amount of space remains at the end of the bed.

In these circumstances it is often desirable to employ a bed extender to carry additional items yet the space to stow a pivotal bed extender is inadequate.

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