This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Trucks such as pickups having an open top cargo box can be a quite popular type of vehicle because the cargo box enables objects of various sizes to be placed therein and transported. Tonneau cover systems can be used to cover the top of cargo box in a closed or extended configuration to protect the contents against dirt, debris, and other environmental contaminants, and to improve the aesthetic quality thereof.
In some cases, the tonneau covers can be formed of a plurality of rectangular elements in the form of slats that are hingedly coupled together so they can be rolled-up into a tubular compact, storage, open or retracted storage configuration at the front of the cargo box to allow access to the cargo box. In some cases, the tonneau covers can be formed of a plurality of rectangular elements in the form of sections that are hingedly coupled together so they can be folded-up into a stacked compact, storage, open or retracted storage configuration at the front of the cargo box.
A front rectangular element is typically coupled to the sides of the cargo box in the closed or extended configuration to minimize the possibility that the front of the tonneau cover could be pulled upwardly away from the cargo box to allow unauthorized access to the front of the cargo box between the tonneau cover and sides of the cargo box. Similarly, a rear rectangular element typically includes a latch for latching or locking the tonneau cover to at least one side of the cargo box in the closed or extended configuration to minimize the possibility that the rear of the tonneau cover could be pulled upwardly away from the cargo box to allow unauthorized access to the cargo box between the tonneau cover and sides of the cargo box.
Additional protection against unauthorized access could potentially be provided by adding intermediate latches between the rear and front rectangular elements. Such additional intermediate latches, however, would make it unduly cumbersome to open the tonneau cover, since each latch would need to be manually unlatched during opening, and potentially manually latched during closing of the tonneau cover. The cumbersome nature of such an arrangement makes it unlikely that such latches would be consistently used.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds