Foldable Truck Rack With Sliding-Pivot Collapse for Lower Drag
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing truck racks on pickup trucks are fixed in place, causing wind resistance and increased gas consumption during non-use, which is particularly noticeable in long-haul driving, and lack flexibility for space optimization.
Innovation Solution
A foldable truck rack design that allows for vertical sliding or pivoting mechanisms to collapse down, utilizing sliding channels, pivoting elbows, and locking pins for secure erection and collapse, minimizing volume and wind resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a fixed truck rack is installed on the pickup truck bed, then the load capacity and securing points are increased, but wind resistance is generated that increases gas consumption during non-use
Solution Approach 1:
The truck rack is designed with movable components that allow it to transition between an erected configuration (providing load capacity) and a folded configuration (reducing wind resistance). The rack includes upright bars that can slide within channels of the top horizontal bar, and side bars that can pivot at elbow pieces, enabling the structure to dynamically adapt its form based on usage requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The truck rack is divided into multiple independent segments including a top horizontal bar, two upright bars, two side bars, and elbow pieces. These segmented components can move relative to each other, allowing the rack to be folded into a compact configuration for storage or transport while maintaining structural integrity when erected.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a fixed truck rack is installed on the pickup truck bed, then more securing points are provided, but the cargo space flexibility is reduced when the rack is not in use
Solution Approach 1:
The rack's movable components allow it to be folded into a compact configuration that occupies minimal cargo space when not in use. The upright bars slide into the top horizontal bar's channels, and the side bars pivot at the elbow pieces, enabling the entire structure to be collapsed flat against the truck bed, maximizing available cargo volume.
3Loss of energy
If a foldable mechanism is added to the truck rack, then wind resistance is reduced when folded, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The folding mechanism utilizes simple mechanical movements: upright bars sliding within channels and side bars pivoting at elbow pieces. These dynamic elements allow the rack to transition between erected and folded states without requiring complex actuators or control systems, maintaining relatively simple construction while achieving the wind resistance reduction benefit.
Solution Approach 2:
When folded, the side bars nest within the space between the upright bars and the top horizontal bar, and the upright bars themselves can be positioned within the channels of the top bar. This nesting arrangement minimizes the overall volume occupied by the folded rack, reducing wind resistance effectively.
Data Source
AI summary
Present invention teaches a foldable truck rack that can be collapsed down when not in use, saving gas consumption and adding flexibility of space utilization of the bed portion of a pickup truck. One configuration allows the top horizontal bar to be lowered down with two upright bars sliding towards each other, until the top horizontal bar completely folded on top of the two upright bars, reducing the physical volume of the truck rack. A second configuration is made up of two half-bars to form a straight top horizontal bar, secured by a bracket with two lug nuts. When the two half-bars are folded down in a lateral axial direction to the corresponding upright bars, they are then pivoted down in a longitudinal direction towards base pieces, resulting in wide open space of a truck bed for more versatile use.