VEHICLE BED EXTENDER

• US 20130001973A1
• Filed: 10/31/2011
• Published: 01/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lund Motion Products Inc (Truck Hero, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: 89908 Incorporated
• Inventors: Smith, Anthony
• Granted Patent: US 8,727,415 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 296/26.03
• CPC Class Codes: B60P 3/40 for carrying long loads, e.g. with separate wheeled load supporting elements E04G21/14 takes precedence; signal devices to be attached to overhanging load B60Q7/02
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 33/023 Sideboard or tailgate structures vehicle side panels in general B62D25/02
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 33/0273 Movable tailboards for vehicles comprising non-movable sideboards, e.g. pick-up trucks B62D33/037 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 33/033 removable B62D33/0273 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49826 Assembling or joining

Abstract

A vehicle bed extender adapted for simultaneous adjustment of both length and width. The extender includes a first side wall, a second side wall, and a connecting wall. The first and second side walls can attach to the vehicle storage bed, while the connecting wall attaches to the side walls in a sliding configuration along a direction nonparallel to the length and width of the bed extender. The connecting wall can also be composed of multiple cross members with middle portions of varying length such that the middle portions of the cross members are not vertically oriented. The vehicle bed extender can also be supported by a mount at the front end of the vehicle bed that supports the connecting wall.

Claims

1. A vehicle bed extender for use with a vehicle having a storage bed having a front end, a rear end, a first upstanding side panel defining one side of said bed, a second upstanding side panel defining an opposite side of said bed, a bottom surface, and a tailgate at a rear end, said vehicle bed extender comprising:

a first side wall configured to be positioned adjacent the first side panel of the storage bed, the first side wall having a first end;

a second side wall configured to be positioned adjacent the second side panel of the storage bed, the second side wall having a second end;

a connecting wall which connects said first side wall and said second side wall;

a distance between the first and second ends defining a width; and

a length substantially perpendicular to said width, defined by a perpendicular distance between a distal-most portion of the connecting wall and a line connecting a distal surface of the first end and a distal surface of the second end;

wherein the first and second side walls are adjustably connected to the connecting wall such that the length and the width of the bed extender can be adjusted simultaneously.

2. The vehicle bed extender of claim 1, wherein said side walls comprise multiple beams and each beam comprises a single integral tube.

3. The vehicle bed extender of claim 1, wherein the first side wall is attached to the first side panel and the second side wall is attached to the second side panel.

4. The vehicle bed extender of claim 1, wherein the connecting wall and the first and second side walls are connected in a sliding configuration with the direction of sliding movement being nonparallel to both the length and width of the bed extender.

5. The vehicle bed extender of claim 4, further comprising detents that resist sliding of the connecting wall relative to the side walls.

6. The vehicle bed extender of claim 4, wherein at least one of the connecting wall and the side walls comprise a plurality of cross members and said cross members are slidingly receivable in the other of the connecting wall and the side walls.

7. A vehicle bed extender for use with a vehicle having a storage bed having a front end, a rear end, a first upstanding side panel defining one side of said bed, a second upstanding side panel defining an opposite side of said bed, a bottom surface, and a tailgate at a rear end, said vehicle bed extender comprising:

a plurality of walls including a first wall having a portion configured to attach to the storage bed, a second wall having a portion configured to attach to the storage bed, and a third wall attached to the first and second walls and spaced from a line connecting the portions of the first and second wall configured to attach to the storage bed; and

wherein at least two of the plurality of walls each have a slidably adjustable length that can extend or contract in a direction nonparallel to said line.

8. The vehicle bed extender of claim 7, wherein said side walls comprise multiple beams and each beam comprises a single integral tube.

9. The vehicle bed extender of claim 7, wherein the first side wall is attached to the first side panel and the second side wall is attached to the second side panel.

10. A vehicle bed extender for use with a vehicle having a storage bed having a front end, a rear end, a first upstanding side panel defining one side of said bed, a second upstanding side panel defining an opposite side of said bed, a bottom surface, and a tailgate at a rear end, said vehicle bed extender comprising:

a first side wall configured to be positioned adjacent the first side panel of the storage bed;

a second side wall configured to be positioned adjacent the first side panel of the storage bed; and

a connecting wall which connects said first side wall and said second side wall, the connecting wall comprising a plurality of cross members including at least a top cross member and a bottom cross member, each of the cross members comprising first and second end portions and a middle portion between the first and second end portions, the first and second end portions each forming an angle with the middle portion at a corner such that the first and second end portions are not collinear with the middle portion, the corners of the top cross member being located closer together than the corners of the bottom cross member such that a portion of the connecting wall formed by the middle portions of the cross members is non-vertically oriented while portions of the connecting wall formed by the first and second end portions of the cross members are generally vertically oriented.

11. The vehicle bed extender of claim 10, wherein said side walls comprise multiple beams and each beam comprises a single integral tube.

12. The vehicle bed extender of claim 10, wherein the first side wall is attached to the first side panel and the second side wall is attached to the second side panel.

13. The vehicle bed extender of claim 10, further comprising a plurality of struts, each strut defining a plurality of openings sized and shaped to receive one of said plurality of cross members, the plurality of struts being positioned along the first and second end portions of the connecting wall and being generally vertically oriented when the portions of the connecting wall formed by the first and second end portions of the cross members are generally vertically oriented.

14. A vehicle bed extender for use with a vehicle having a storage bed having a front end, a rear end, a first upstanding side panel defining one side of said bed, a second upstanding side panel defining an opposite side of said bed, a bottom surface, and a tailgate at a rear end, said vehicle bed extender comprising:

a plurality of walls including a first wall having a portion configured to attach to the storage bed, a second wall having a portion configured to attach to the storage bed, and a third wall attached to the first and second walls and spaced from a line connecting the portions of the first and second wall configured to attach to the storage bed, the third wall being non-vertically oriented when the extender is in a position resting on the tailgate; and

wherein at least two of the plurality of walls each have a length that can extend or contract in a direction nonparallel to said line and being generally vertically oriented when the extender is in a position resting on the tailgate.

15. The vehicle bed extender of claim 14, wherein said side walls comprise multiple beams and each beam comprises a single integral tube.

16. The vehicle bed extender of claim 14, wherein the first side wall is attached to the first side panel and the second side wall is attached to the second side panel.

17. A method of mounting a vehicle bed extender to a vehicle having a storage bed having a front end, a rear end, a first upstanding side panel defining one side of said bed, a second upstanding side panel defining an opposite side of said bed, a bottom surface, and a tailgate at a rear end, said method comprising:

providing a vehicle bed extender comprising;

a first side wall;

a second side wall; and

a connecting wall which connects said first side wall and said second side wall;

attaching at least one mount to a front end of the vehicle bed; and

supporting the connecting wall of the vehicle bed extender by the at least one mount with the first and second side walls of the vehicle bed extender extending rearwardly.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising retaining the connecting wall in the at least one mount.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising resting the first and second side walls of the bed extender on the bottom surface of the storage bed.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising resting the first and second side walls of the bed extender on wheel wells of the storage bed.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein said supporting further comprises supporting the connecting wall in a generally vertical orientation with the first and second side walls extending upwardly and rearwardly.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein said supporting further comprises supporting the connecting wall in an orientation generally parallel to the front end of the vehicle bed with the first and second side walls extending upwardly and rearwardly.