Flexible or portable closure – partition – or panel – With hood – canopy – shield storage chamber – or outrigged... – For plural strip – slat – or panel and/or pleating type
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-23
2001-11-27
Purol, David M. (Department: 3634)
Flexible or portable closure, partition, or panel
With hood, canopy, shield storage chamber, or outrigged...
For plural strip, slat, or panel and/or pleating type
C160S036000, C296S100090
Reexamination Certificate
active
06321819
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to pickup truck box covers and more specifically it relates to a retractable cover system for a pickup truck box that folds into a compact storage position which can also be easily removed from the pickup truck box.
Individuals that own pickup trucks often times desire to enclose the box portion for increasing the appearance and increasing fuel mileage of the vehicle. Owners of pickup trucks also have items within the box of their vehicle that they desire to have covered so that others cannot easily see the items. Many owners of pickup trucks purchase covers that enclose the box of the pickup truck. However, many of these covers are inconvenient to utilize and do not provide the safety required for the items within the box of the pickup truck. Hence, there is a need for a cover for the box of a pickup truck that is convenient to utilize that also securely protects the contents of the pickup truck box.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pickup truck box covers have been in use for years. Typically, a conventional cover for a pickup box is comprised of a tarp-like structure that is securable about the upper perimeter of the pickup truck box. Some covers utilize a hook and loop fastener system for securing the tarp-like structure about pickup box cover. Other conventional covers utilize other securing devices such as button snaps.
The main problem with conventional covers for pickup trucks is that they are difficult to partially remove for accessing objects stored within the pickup truck box. Another problem is that conventional covers do not provide a rigid surface capable of supporting heavy objects. Another problem with conventional covers is that they are easily broken into by criminals thereby allowing theft of items within the pickup truck box. A further problem with conventional covers is that they are difficult to remove and place into a compact storage position.
Examples of patented cover devices include U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,441 to Apolzer et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,835 to Ohle; U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,217 to Steffens et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,531 to Kooiker; U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,744 to Kooiker; U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,491 to Steffens et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,093 to Repetti; U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,361 to Marvin et al. which are all illustrative of such prior art.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for folding into a compact storage position which can also be easily removed from the pickup truck box. Conventional pickup truck box covers do not allow easy and compact storage of the covers as taught by the present invention.
In these respects, the retractable cover system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of folding into a compact storage position which can also be easily removed from the pickup truck box.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of pickup truck covers now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new retractable cover system construction wherein the same can be utilized for folding into a compact storage position which can also be easily removed from the pickup truck box.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new retractable cover system that has many of the advantages of the pickup truck covers mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new retractable cover system which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art pickup truck covers, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a pair of opposing rails attachable to the upper portions of a box of a pickup truck, a front member extending between the pair of rails, a mounting bracket attached to each of the rails for securing the rails within the box, and a cover structure movably positioned between the rails. The cover structure is comprised of a plurality of panels pivotally attached to one another having a set of first rollers and a set of second rollers on opposing sides of the panels that rotatably travel within the rails. A pair of opposing ramp structures are attached to the opposing rails for allowing the set of first rollers to travel downwardly from the rails. The first rollers and the second rollers are preferably staggered with respect to one another upon each side of the panels thereby allowing the second rollers to remain upon the rails while the first rollers travel downwardly and upwardly upon the ramp structures.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and that will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of the description and should not be regarded as limiting.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a retractable cover system that will overcome the shortcomings of the prior art devices.
A second object is to provide a retractable cover system for folding into a compact storage position which can also be easily removed from the pickup truck box.
Another object is to provide a retractable cover system that securely protects items within a box of a pickup truck.
An additional object is to provide a retractable cover system that folds into a compact storage position while retained within the box of the pickup truck.
A further object is to provide a retractable cover system that may be utilized upon various types of pickup truck boxes.
Another object is to provide a retractable cover system that provides a rigid protective covering for a pickup truck box.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious to the reader and it is intended that these objects and advantages are within the scope of the present invention.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4210361 (1980-07-01), Marvin et al.
patent: 4550945 (1985-11-01), Englehardt
patent: 4867220 (1989-09-01), Matsumoto et al.
patent: 5344159 (1994-09-01), Powell
patent: 5823605 (1998-10-01), Seargeant
Copp Heath R.
Johnson Matthew A.
Neustel Michael S.
Purol David M.
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