Vehicle bed liners

Details Vehicle bed liners Vehicle bed liners

1997-10-15

2001-05-29

Dayoan, D. Glenn (Department: 3612)

Land vehicles: bodies and tops

Bodies

Lining

Reexamination Certificate

active

06237980

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to the field of liners for a cargo bed of a vehicle, and, more particularly, to the field of liners having wear inhibiting portions or surface coating applied thereto for use with a truck cargo bed.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Liners for vehicle cargo beds are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,507 to Dresen et al. suggests a cargo bed liner for a pickup truck which is vacuum formed of unitary plastic. An elastomer material having an effectively high coefficient of friction is co-formed with and integrally adhered to the plastic forming the liner to purportedly provide an anti-slip surface for restraining movement of cargo on the top surface of the liner.
Another bed liner is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,883 in the form of a liner for a front and side walls of a pickup truck bed, wherein a portion of the liner is purportedly reversible to allow a choice between which surface will contact the pickup truck bed. The liner comprises an outer panel removably attached to an inner panel along a common edge using hook and loop material. The inner panel is made of two pieces of material, one being soft, such as felt or artificial fleece, and the other being tougher and more durable. Having two different surfaces purportedly allows the user of the device to select which surface will contact the inner wall of the truck bed and which surface will contact a load located in the cargo bed, with the softer first side normally expected to contact the inner wall of the truck bed to prevent damage to the truck's paint.
While these and other prior cargo bed liners may have been suitable for their intended purpose, it has been found that some prior cargo bed liners can prematurely wear or otherwise remove paint from a truck cargo bed during use. Accordingly, there exists a continuing need to provide cargo bed liners having wear inhibiting characteristics, such as a surface applied thereto, which can prevent damage to the cargo bed's paint during use. More particularly, there is a continuing need to provide cargo bed liners having a wear inhibiting surface or portions of a surface applied thereto which can prevent abrasive wear of the cargo bed's paint during use. In addition, there is a continuing need to provide such wear inhibiting characteristics in a form which can be easily manufactured with the cargo bed liner. The present invention provides structures which can accommodate these benefits.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to obviate the above-described problems and shortcomings of vehicle bed liners.
It is another object of the present invention to provide improved vehicle bed liners featuring a structure adapted to prevent wear of the paint of a vehicle cargo bed.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide improved vehicle bed liners having a wear inhibiting surface or coating which can be incorporated in varying types of vehicle bed liners.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a bed liner for use with a vehicle cargo bed is provided, wherein the vehicle cargo bed has a bottom wall, a front wall and side walls. The cargo bed liner has a relatively rigid body with an inner surface and an outer surface and one or more areas which engage the cargo bed in use. The body comprises a bottom wall member for engaging the bottom wall of the vehicle cargo bed along at least a portion of the outer surface, two side wall members connected to the bottom wall member and extending upwardly therefrom, and a front wall member connected to the bottom wall member also extending upwardly therefrom. The side and front wall members are adapted to closely follow the walls of the vehicle cargo bed. A wear inhibiting surface is provided which covers at least selected portions of the outer surface. The wear inhibiting surface has a relatively high coefficient of friction and is relatively soft in comparison to the relatively rigid body.
In a preferred embodiment, the wall members of the cargo bed liner are integrally connected and have a thickness of between about 0.04 inches and about 0.18 inches , and the wear inhibiting surface is formed from a blend of low density polyethylene and a polyolefin elastomer. The wear inhibiting surface preferably has a thickness of between about 0.01 inches and about 0.05 inches, and covers substantially all of the outer surface of one or more wall members or only selected portions thereof.


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