Side-Mounted Tailgate Step with Lockout Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current retractable tailgate steps for vehicles pose safety hazards due to obstruction of the deployed step when closing the tailgate and interfere with other tailgate features, limiting access to cargo beds, especially when loading or unloading large or wide objects.
Innovation Solution
A side-mounted retractable tailgate step assist mechanism that extends from the tailgate to provide a safe and accessible step for ingress and egress, featuring a lockout device to prevent inadvertent tailgate closure and compact stowage within the tailgate, utilizing a combination of pivoting hinges and slides for deployment and retraction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the tailgate step is deployed from the side of the tailgate, then access to the cargo bed is facilitated, but the horizontal tailgate obstructs the view of the deployed step creating a safety hazard
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves the step deployment location from the side of the tailgate to the top surface of the tailgate. This dimensional change allows the step to deploy upward from the tailgate surface rather than extending horizontally from the side, eliminating the obstruction problem while maintaining cargo bed access functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of extending the step outward from the tailgate side as in conventional designs, the patent inverts the deployment direction by having the step rise upward from the tailgate top surface. This inversion resolves the visibility hazard while achieving the same access facilitation goal.
2Ease of operation
If the tailgate step is deployed from the interior of the tailgate, then the step is accessible, but the step consumes a majority of the length of the internal tailgate cavity limiting packaging space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the step mechanism from the interior cavity of the tailgate and relocates it to the top surface. This extraction allows the step to be accessible while preserving the internal cavity volume for other components such as latches, storage containers, and deployable ramps.
3Reliability
If the tailgate step is disposed along the trailing edge of the tailgate, then inadvertent tailgate closing is prevented, but access to and from the cargo bed is obstructed when loading wide objects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the step deployment plane from the trailing edge (horizontal plane) to the top surface (vertical plane). This allows the step to provide ingress/egress access without blocking the cargo bed opening, while the lockout device separately handles the prevention of inadvertent closing.
4Reliability
If a lockout device is added to prevent inadvertent tailgate closure, then safety is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the lockout device with the step assembly, integrating the safety function into the existing step mechanism rather than adding a completely separate system. This merging approach provides tailgate closure prevention while minimizing additional complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle tailgate side mounted step assist mechanism attachable to a vehicle including a vehicle bed coupled to a pillar and a tailgate pivotally attached to the vehicle bed for providing access to the vehicle bed in a tailgate open position and securing contents of the vehicle bed in a tailgate closed position. The mechanism may include generally parallel supports rotatably mountable to a side of the tailgate, the supports capable of being deployed when the tailgate is in the tailgate open position and stowed when the tailgate is in the tailgate closed position. A tailgate step is disposable between the supports at a predetermined distance from the side of the tailgate, and a lockout device prevents the tailgate from returning to the tailgate closed position when the tailgate step is deployed.