Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – End gates
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-10
2003-02-04
Patel, Kiran (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
End gates
C296S037600, C292S289000, C224S042210
Reexamination Certificate
active
06513852
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a locking security apparatus for a vehicle that is equipped with a canopy or similar closeable cover or housing, in particular, such locking security apparatus for a pick-up vehicle, such as a pick-up truck, that is equipped with a canopy.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Open-deck vehicles such as pick-up trucks are often provided with a canopy. Such a canopy is used to protect cargo carried in the cargo box of a pick-up vehicle from rain, snow, dust and falling debris. Additionally, a canopy may offer some protection against and deter thefts from the back of the pick-up vehicle. A canopy is typically made from material of relatively rigid construction, most commonly fibreglass, and is secured to or installed upon the cargo box side walls. Many canopies are provided with a rear canopy window that is made from transparent or semi-transparent material such as glass or clear plastic, so as to enable the driver to see to the rear of the pick-up vehicle. This rear canopy window may optionally be in the form of a releasably securable window or hatch.
Pick-up vehicles are commonly used as work vehicles and used to transport large, and often expensive, items such as tools. Consequently, such vehicles are often targeted for thefts. For those vehicles equipped with canopies, the preferred route of access by thieves is through the back of the canopy-equipped pick-up vehicle, particularly when relatively long or bulky items are to be removed, since it is generally easier to slide these items through the back. Further, as already described, most canopies are provided with a rear canopy window typically made of glass or plastic, which canopy window is hence often easier to break compared with some of the other exposed portions of the canopy (which are typically made of fibreglass or aluminum). Thieves, especially when attempting to steal very bulky items, will break the rear canopy window or, if the rear canopy window is in the form of a hatch, will break or prise open the hatch. The items in the back of the vehicle can then be slid out through the back and removed via the broken or prised-open hatch or window. In many instances, breaking or prising open the rear canopy window will further allow the thieves to open the rear tailgate of the pick-up vehicle. Once the tailgate is opened, the bulky items can often be slid out through the back of the pick-up vehicle even more easily and quickly (items can be removed without having to lift them over the closed tailgate). Alternatively, thieves may choose to gain access by prising open the tailgate alone (without first breaking or prising open the rear window).
Various methods have been devised to address the theft problem. Pearson teaches a truck canopy and tailgate locking means in U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,461. Pearson discloses a locking device for securing the rear canopy door and tailgate of a canopy-equipped truck to the truck's rear bumper; this locking device comprises a bar, that can be secured to the handle apparatus of a truck canopy so as to extend vertically through a hole in the rear bumper and be secured in place by use of a padlock. This locking device necessitates the truck canopy having a protruding handle mechanism, and also requires holes to be drilled in a portion of the rear bumper. Further, this locking device has the drawback of not being very effective in deterring or hindering thieves from stealing items from the back of the truck by obtaining access through the rear canopy window. If the rear window is broken, all but the most bulky of items can still be removed through the rear window with relative ease.
Zock in U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,743 discloses a tailgate locking device for securing the tailgate and canopy of a truck, which device locks the handle of the tailgate and the handle of the canopy together. This device also suffers from the same drawback described for Pearson in that the locking device is ineffective in hindering or preventing thefts where access is gained by breaking or prising open the rear canopy window.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In this specification and in the claims, terms such as up and down, left and right, and horizontal and vertical are used to describe the invention and its embodiments. These terms are used for convenience as they relate to the orientation of the embodiments of the invention as typically installed on a pick-up vehicle. These terms are used solely to aid in describing the invention and the invention is not limited to embodiments conforming to the described orientations.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a security apparatus for releasably securing a rear canopy window (or rear canopy door) and tailgate of a canopy-equipped pick-up vehicle, so as to prevent, or at the very least hinder, thefts from the cargo box of such pick-up vehicle. It is a further object of the invention to provide a security apparatus for securing the rear window and tailgate of a canopy-equipped pick-up vehicle, which apparatus can be easily repeatedly locked and unlocked as desired to allow loading into, and unloading from, the cargo box. It is an object of an aspect of this invention to provide an apparatus for securing the rear window and tailgate of a pick-up vehicle equipped with a canopy, which apparatus can be easily installed onto existing canopy-equipped pick-up vehicles and easily uninstalled as required. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in light of the following description.
The invention in one embodiment is a releasably-lockable security apparatus comprising two mounts, for installing on a canopy-equipped pick-up vehicle, and a securing frame mountable on the mounts. When the mounts are installed on the pick-up vehicle the securing frame can be mounted on the mounts and locked in a closed position wherein the securing frame spans and closely overlies the tailgate and window so as to prevent the tailgate and window from swinging open. The securing frame is preferably a pair of gates whose distal ends can be locked together, each gate in one embodiment pivoting about a substantially vertical axis located at the outside of the cargo box in the vicinity of the back of the pick-up vehicle, with the mounts each preferably providing pivotal support for an associated gate. The securing frame is preferably sized and shaped such that when the securing frame is in the closed position, it impedes removal of objects from the cargo box through the window opening even if the window is forced open or broken. The securing frame can be moved, either by swinging the securing frame or removing the securing frame from the mounts, to an open position wherein the securing frame does not impede the opening of the window and tailgate, and thus allows items to be loaded into, and unloaded from, the cargo box.
Preferably the mounts can be installed on the sides of the pick-up vehicle such that when the securing frame is in the closed position the securing frame extends substantially horizontally across the rear of the pick-up vehicle. Alternatively, one mount can be installed below the tailgate, and the other mount can be installed above the window such that when the securing frame is in the closed position the securing frame extends between above the window and below the tailgate. In a preferred embodiment, the mounts are suitable for attaching to the sides of the pick-up vehicle such that the securing frame extends horizontally across the rear of the pick-up vehicle when in the closed position. The securing frame is preferably two-part, but the securing frame may in some embodiments be one-part. With a two-part securing frame, the securing frame comprises: two gates, each gate pivotally attached to a respective mount such that each gate can be independently swung through a substantially horizontal arc; and a means for releasably locking the gates, one to the other, in the closed position. With a one-part securing frame, the securing frame may be releasably lockable in that each end of the securing frame is releas
Krist Frederick
Noor Michael Kenneth
Barrigar Robert H.
Patel Kiran
LandOfFree
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