×

Pickup truck tailgate mounted aerostabilizer

  • US 5,871,254 A
  • Filed: 09/19/1997
  • Issued: 02/16/1999
  • Est. Priority Date: 04/25/1996
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
Patent Images

1. In an improved pickup truck including a cargo bed and an opening tailgate positioned proximal an aft end of said cargo bed, the improvement comprising:

  • an aerostabilizer wing in mechanical communication with said tailgate such that said aerostabilizer wing moves with the tailgate during opening and closing of said tailgate, said aerostabilizer wing positioned, at least in its majority, above and proximal to said tailgate, as seen with the tailgate in its closed or vertical orientation, and also, at least in its majority, aft of a forward portion of said tailgate, as seen with the tailgate in its closed or vertical orientation, whereby there is an air gap between an underside of said aerostabilizer wing and said tailgate over at least a majority of a spanwise width of said aerostabilizer wing, and whereby air from a forward portion of said tailgate, when said tailgate is closed in its vertical position and the pickup truck is moving forward, passes freely through said air gap thereby relieving air pressure from a forward portion of the tailgate, wherein said air gap averages, over the spanwise width of said aerostabilizer wing, at least one half inch, and where at least a part of the mechanical communication of the aerostabilizer wing and the tailgate is accomplished by a stanchion wherein said stanchion is at least in part curvilinear in shape as seen in a cross section taken horizontally through said stanchion when the tailgate is vertical or closed.

View all claims
  • 1 Assignment
Timeline View
Assignment View
    ×
    ×