QUICKLY DETACHABLE HINGE FOR TRUCK BODY TAILGATE

• US 3,656,801 A
• Filed: 05/14/1970
• Issued: 04/18/1972
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/1970
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Oliver Doutt, Thomas D. Doutt
• Original Assignee: Oliver Doutt, Thomas D. Doutt
• Inventors: Doutt, Oliver, Doutt, Thomas D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hersh, Benjamin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Paperner, Leslie J.
• Application Number:
  US05/037,106
• Time in Patent Office: 705 Days
• Field of Search: 296/50,51,53,56,57,59 49/389,463,465 16/171 287/126
• US Class Current: 296/57.1
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 33/0273 Movable tailboards for vehicles comprising non-movable sideboards, e.g. pick-up trucks B62D33/037 takes precedence

Abstract

This is a replacement hinge for a truck body tailgate which is normally movable between an upright closed position and an approximately horizontal open position but can be released for further downward movement, said hinge comprising a socket part having a longitudinal slot in it and another part having a flat hinge stud, one of said parts being secured to an end of the tailgate and the other part to a side wall of the truck body, the hinge stud and the slot in the socket being dimensioned and positioned so the stud can pass sidewise through the slot when the tailgate is lowered below its normal horizontal position thus providing for quick and easy removal of and replacement of the tailgate.

Claims

1. The combination with the tailgate of a truck body which has side walls and a floor and in which the lower edge portion of the tailgate is pivoted adjacent the rear end of the truck body for swinging movement between an upright closed position and an approximately horizontal open position in which it is flush with the truck body floor and extends rearwardly therefrom and in which readily releasable means normally limits downward swinging movement of the tailgate to the substantially horizontal position;

of a cylindrical receptacle in each end of the tailgate near the lower edge thereof; and

a two part hinge pivotally connecting each end of said tailgate with a side wall of the truck body each hinge comprising a cylindrical bearing tube having in its wall a longitudinal slot extending from its outer end toward its inner end; and

a base member of larger over all diameter than the bearing tube rigid with the inner end portion of each bearing tube and serving as a base for the bearing tube, each base member being dimensioned so it fits tightly within and is retained within the cylindrical receptacle in an end of the tailgate; and

a hinge stud part comprising a mounting plate secured to the side wall of the truck body, and a flat hinge stud rigid with and extending perpendicularly from said mounting plate, said flat hinge stud being dimensioned so it can be passed transversely through said slot into and out of said bearing tube when it is in edgewise registration with said slot and is rotatively confined within said bearing tube when it is offset from a position of edgewise registration with said slot, said stud and the slot in said bearing tube being relatively positioned so the bearing stud is in edgewise registration with the slot when the tailgate is inclined downwardly at a substantial angle below its normal substantially horizontal position.

2. The tailgate and hinge as claimed in claim 1, in which the base member is cup shaped and its side walls are longitudinally corrugated and in which the outwardly extending parts of the corrugations in said base member fit tightly within the cylindrical receptacle in the end of the tailgate and the inwardly extending parts of said corrugations are welded to said bearing tube.

3. The tailgate and hiNge as claimed in claim 2, in which the receptacle in the tailgate has a bottom wall and in which a perforation is provided in the bottom of said cup shaped base member and in which a screw extends through said perforation in the bottom of said cup shaped base member and is threaded into the bottom wall of the receptacle in the tailgate.