Penda Corporation

Phillip L Emery

William L Dresen

William F Price

Harlan W Breezer

Karl A Niemi

Robert R Holmes

Timothy E Williams

Thomas J Anderson

David G Grunow

Kristin A Uttech

Jack L Thompson

A truck cargo bed liner having an anti-slip under layer to reduce rubbing between the liner and the cargo bed. The liner may further include an upper layer of anti-slip material to resist shifting of cargo during transport.

Bedliner with anti-slip under layer

Improved corner strength and water tightness are provided in a bedliner having a bottom wall that is foldable from an as-molded position to a use position along a junction line that is spaced inwardly from the side walls and the wheel well covers to avoid joints and gaps in the bedliner corners or the interface between the wheel well covers and the adjacent bedliner components. Cut-away sections in the front wall of the bedliner are spaced inward from the bedliner corners and are to be removed to convert the bedliner from the as-molded position to the use position. The resulting segments of the front wall can be connected by a joint connector to improve strength and water tightness of the front wall.

Foldable bottom wall bedliner

A thermoformed thermoplastic truck bedliner has a front wall which is integral with and upstanding from a bottom wall. Side walls extend on either side of the front wall and also extend upwardly from the bottom wall. Relieved upwardly extending slots are cut in the bedliner between portions of the side walls and the front wall, to allow the upper portions of the side walls to fold or bend outwardly away from the front wall, thereby permitting improved nestability in a stack of like bedliners. The slots may be cut down to about the level of the wheel well covers, and may be formed in the front wall alone, or in the side walls. Inwardly extending portions of the side walls may be molded with outwardly extending portions of the side walls, such that when the slot is cut, the two portions of the side wall may be folded toward one another to overlap the portions and fully shield the truck bed. Similar structure may be formed in the front wall, and the bedliners may be of the under the rail, or over the rail type. In addition, foldable corners may be molded between the front and side walls, portions of the corners overlapping when the bedliner is installed within a truck bed.

Nesting bedliner with relieved front wall

Truck bed tray

A thermoformed thermoplastic truck bedliner has a bottom wall with parallel front-to-back ribs which overlies the floor of a truck cargo bed. Two side walls extend upwardly on opposite sides of the bottom wall and are joined at a front wall. Ribs of a normal height define the load support surface of the bedliner bottom wall, while regions of parallel ribs which are lower in height than the normal ribs define cargo containment regions. The intersection of the reduced height ribs with the normal height ribs defines ridges which restrain escape of cargo in the front-to-back direction, while the bedliner side walls and elevated height protrusions on normal height ribs adjacent to the cargo containment regions restrain side-to-side displacement of the cargo.

Bedliner with depth variant ribs for load placement

A thermoformed thermoplastic bedliner has a ribbed bottom wall which overlies the floor of a truck cargo bed. Two side walls extend upwardly from the bottom wall. The ribs extend longitudinally along the bottom wall and terminate at a transverse flat portion. The bedliner can be modified to accommodate mounting of a fifth wheel hitch to the truck frame, either by bolting through the bedliner or by cutting away the transverse flat portion.

Liner for a truck bed having a fifth wheel mount

A thermoformed thermoplastic truck bedliner has at least one pair of under-cut load restraint pockets formed by portions of opposed bedliner sidewalls. The pockets are recessed from the sidewall so that a load restraining member such as a 2.times.4 beam or a cylindrical pipe may be pressed downwardly to be snapped into engagement with the pockets. The pockets support the boards in a horizontal orientation, with the wide dimension of the board extending from front to back within the liner to give greater board stiffness against loads shifting from front to back. The pockets may be formed in either under the rail bedliners or in over the rail bedliners.

Bedliner with load restraint pockets

A thermoplastic sheet is thermoformed to produce a bedliner with molded side walls which extend under the side rails of a pick-up truck. Each liner side wall has dished portions or recesses on each side of the truck box wheel well. The recesses extend beneath the truck box rail and provide access to truck box side wall structure such as board holders. Each recess is defined by a skirt which extends outwardly from the inner portions of the side wall to a generally vertical outward side wall panel which defines the outward portion of the recess. The skirt extends horizontally, for example in the plane of the board holder pocket, and extends upwardly on each side of the recess. An undercut stiffening flange is formed to extend inwardly from the outward side wall panel, and runs between the upwardly extending portions of the skirt. The undercut flange, together with the skirt and the outward side wall panel defines a rigidifying shell which contributes to the overall stiffness of the bedliner side wall. In addition, the undercut flange obscures and protects a greater portion of the truck bed sidewall sheet metal, thereby contributing to a more attractive bed lining.

Bedliner with stiffening inward flange

The invention provides a thermoplastic bed liner that is molded with side walls which are formed using large draft angles and which are hinged to the bottom wall along fold lines so that the side walls are pivotable from as molded positions to substantially more upright installed positions. To finish the molded bed liner, blank or cutout sections are removed from the front corners of the bed liner and from between wheelwell covers and the bottom wall of the bed liner. Removal of the cutout sections permits the side walls to be pivoted between their as molded positions and their installed positions.

Bed liner with foldable side walls

A thermoformed thermoplastic bed liner has a bottom wall which overlies the floor of a truck cargo bed and two side walls which extend upwardly and outwardly from the bottom wall on opposite sides. A vertically extending channel is formed in each liner side wall which extends exterior to the side wall and which engages with a board member to restrict movement of cargo with the truck bed. The channel extends into an intermediate volume defined between a truck bed side wall and the liner side wall. Each channel has an exterior wall and two side walls. The exterior wall extends generally perpendicular to the liner bottom wall at an angle less than the angle of the side walls. Channels may be provided which are spaced above the bottom wall for supporting elevated load restricting boards. A board pocket is formed in each side wall above a channel such that the channel intersects the base of the board pocket and the structure of the channel reinforces and rigidities the board pocket to assist in supporting the loads of elevated boards and cargo.

Bed liner with side wall load restraining and support structure

A thermoformed thermoplastic bed liner has a bottom wall which overlies the floor of a truck cargo bed and two side walls which extend upwardly and outwardly from the bottom wall on opposite sides. A rolled lip extends downwardly from the liner bottom wall into a hole in the bed floor and allows access to a tie down pin. An alternative bed liner has a raised lip which extends above the truck bed floor to prevent the entrance of liquids into the hole. Another alternative bedliner has a routed opening around the bed hole which is fitted with a robber cap with a rolled lip or with a rubber cap with a barbed edge which engages beneath the bed floor opening.

Bedliner with floor hole engagement

A bed liner has a bottom panel with two upwardly extending side panels and a front panel extending upwardly between the side panels. A front rail extends frontwardly from the front panel and has a lip which extends downwardly. The front rail is adapted to overlie the front rail of a vehicle truck box. The bed liner is thermoformed such that two undercut tabs extend rearwardly from the front rail lip beneath a truck box front rail. The tabs engage within a cavity formed in the front rail and snap in place to hold the liner fixed with respect to the truck box. Portions of the liner front panel are undercut to extend horizontally beneath the liner front rail towards the undercut tabs.

Snap-on thermoformed truck bed liner

A structural reinforced injection-molded fiberglass visor shell has a laterally extending upper member which extends frontwardly above and provides shade to a vehicle windshield. Three attachment pods extend downwardly from the upper member and have pod floors which conform to the geometry of a vehicle cab upper surface. Side walls extend upwardly from the pod floors and are connected to the upper member. Access holes are provided in the upper member for the insertion of fasteners through the pod floors into the vehicle cab surface. Alternatively, the pod floors may be adhesively attached to the cab by means of structural adhesive tape or bolt-retaining strips adhesively taped the cab surface. The same visor shell may be economically manufactured for a wide variety of vehicles by substituting different pods configured for a particular make of vehicle.

Motor vehicle windshield visor

A fastener (10) is disclosed for fastening a truck bed liner (58) to the side walls (50) of a truck bed. The side walls (50) are bounded at the top edge by a top rail (52) extending inwardly from each side wall (50) and a side rail extending downwardly from the inner margin (56) of the top rail (52). The fastener (10) is designed to be used for a truck bed liner (58) having a flange (62) that fits over the top of the top rail (52). The fastener (10) has a body (12), clip (18), screw (14), and washer (16). In the use of the fastener (10), the truck bed liner (58) is loosely positioned against the side wall (50). The screw (14) is inserted through a hole (63) in the liner (58), with the washer (16) being behind the head (64) of the screw (14). The clip (18) slides over a hole (30) of the body (12), and the screw (14) is threaded through the body (12) and clip (18). The body (12) fits behind the side rail (54) of the side wall (50) and the truck bed liner (58) is drawn toward the wall as the screw (14) is tightened. Upon rotation of the head of the screw (14), the body (12) rotates until a finger (68) of the body (12) abuts against the inner margin (56) of the top rail (52), thereby holding the body (12) in place as the screw (14) is tightened. The hole (30) of the body (12) is angled so that the front surface (26) of the body (12) initially contacts the side rail (54) of the side wall (50) at an acute angle. As the screw (14) is tightened, the angle closes, which causes a rotational force against the length of the screw (14), and which is transferred to the flange (62), causing the flange (62) to be engaged against the top rail (52).

Non-invasive fastener for a truck bed liner

A pickup truck cargo bed liner is disclosed which is vacuum formed of unitary plastic and adapted to fit within and protect the contours of a pickup truck cargo bed. The liner has a bottom wall, wheel wells, and a front wall and side walls connected to and extending upwardly from the bottom wall, the front wall being connected to the side walls. An elastomer material having an effectively high co-efficient of friction is co-formed with and integrally adhered to the plastic forming the liner to provide an anti-slip surface thereon for restraining movement of cargo on the liner.

Growing community of inventors

Portage, WI, United States of America

Phillip L Emery