Pickup truck hoist attachment

Abstract

A scissor hoist attachment for pickup truck beds to convert a fixed bed truck with a passenger cab and hauling bed supported on a frame to a tilting bed truck. The hoist upon installation allows the truck bed to be rotated from a horizontal to a tilt position so that the truck cab and bed are in the same relative relationship in the horizontal position as before the installation of the hoist, i.e. the hoist does not alter the original body lines of the truck. The hoist is a four bar linkage. The yoke utilizes one cylinder to operate a scissors of wide pivotal area but narrow at its mountings. The wide pivotal area permits use of the space around the truck differential since the scissors side plates and spreader plate straddle the truck differential and permit a heavier payload to be lifted. The wide pivotal area enables the hoist to be used with essentially all standard pickup trucks and makes the hoist effectively universal. The hoist is a total bolt on unit requiring no welding and facilitating installation and removal for installation on other trucks. The hoist is designed to be extremely rigid and resistant to twisting forces resulting from unbalanced loading of the tilting bed.