Mascotech, Inc.

Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Advanced Accessory Systems, LLC

Masotech, Inc.

Msx International Engineering Services, Inc.

Gregory L Eilers

Craig R Prasatek

Craig A Stapleton

Douglas Lee Wickham

Junji Tanabe

William D Batterson

James A Lee, Jr

John S MacKay

David Esparza

Gary E Fulkerson

Sven A Christopherson

A selectively extendable tailgate section for a cargo bed of a pick-up truck. The tailgate section may be telescopically extended from the main body of the cargo bed to expand the cargo area as necessary. The telescoping tailgate section carries the flip-down gate and the tail lights of the vehicle keeping these features in tact regardless of the expanded position of the tailgate section. The telescoping tailgate section includes side walls and a bottom which are telescopically received within the fixed sides and bottom of the cargo bed. Rails support the expanded bed and are supported by a plurality of rollers for easy movement of the tailgate section. Additional structure support may be added to the tailgate section for improved structural capacity.

Extendable rear gate for vehicle cargo bed

Vehicle luggage carrier siderail

Vehicle top with luggage carrier siderails

Vehicle luggage carrier crossrail

An article carrier includes spaced longitudinal rails, at least one of the rails having an upper arm coupled by a hinge to a lower arm. A crossbar having an end portion adapted to be entrained between the upper and lower arm portions includes a conformingly shaped mating surface to one of the members of the longitudinal rail. Preferably, both ends of each crossbar include conforming surfaces that mate with corresponding configurations on the rail to fixedly position the crossbar along the longitudinal rail. The position of the crossbar is easily adjusted by opening the upper member of the longitudinal rail by displacement about the hinge, and the hinge axis may be transversely, longitudinally or vertically aligned as desired. Preferably, two upper arms are provided on a longitudinal rail, hinged at opposite ends of the longitudinal rails, and include overlapping portions retained by a single latch mechanism. In addition, the crossbar preferably includes a retainer that engages a lip in the lower arm of the rail so that the lower arm resists lifting of the crossbar from the rail.

Hinged rail article carrier

An article carrier includes spaced longitudinal rails, at least one of the rails having an upper arm coupled by a hinge to a lower arm. A crossbar having an end portion adapted to be entrained between the upper and lower arm portions includes a conformingly shaped mating surface to one of the members of the longitudinal rail. Preferably, both ends of each crossbar include conforming surfaces that mate with corresponding configurations on the rail to fixedly position the crossbar along the longitudinal rail. The position of the crossbar is easily adjusted by opening the upper member of the longitudinal rail by displacement about the hinge, and the hinge axis may be transversely, longitudinally or vertically aligned as desired. Preferably, two upper arms are provided on a longitudinal rail and supported by hinges located at opposite ends of the longitudinal rail. The opposite ends of the two upper arms include overlapping portions which can be retained by a single latch mechanism. The upper arms are closed to a spaced apart position from the lower member of the longitudinal rail. The fixed positioning of the crossbars permits additional accessories such as a locking grid to be movably entrained between the longitudinal rails. In addition, the article carrier may include a retainer arm which locks to the grid and between the upper arm and lower arm of a longitudinal rail.

Article carrier

Growing community of inventors

Royal Oak, MI, United States of America

Gregory L Eilers