Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02616782 2008-01-09
TITLE: UNIVERSAL CAB GUARD
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention pertains to guards for mounting behind truck cabs, and more
particularly, it pertains to adjustable cab guards for mounting to various
models of pickup trucks.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Loose objects carried in a pickup truck box can shift toward the front of the
truck box and be projected through the rear window of the truck cab when
the pickup truck comes to a sudden stop or decelerates quickly. It is
therefore desirable to protect the rear cab window, and the passengers of
a pickup truck, from such loose objects carried in the truck box A cab
guard is also advantageous for protecting the cab window from damage due
to careless handling of long objects in and out of the truck box.
Pickup trucks have different dimensions from one model to another and
from one year of manufacture to another in a same model. Therefore, most
cab guards used in the past were custom made by the truck owners to fit
their own trucks. Few manufacturers have introduced cab guards to be sold
as after-market accessories. However, these cab guards are also limited as
to the models of pickup trucks on which they can be mounted.
Examples of cab guards of the prior art being sold as after-market
accessories are described in the following documents:
US Patent 4,611,824 issued to Thomas K. McIntosh on Sept. 16, 1986;
US Patent 4,867,497 issued to Gilbert Jayne on Sept. 19, 1989.
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Although the prior art cab guards deserve undeniable merits, it is believed
that a need still exists for an universal cab guard that can be fitted to most
North American pickup trucks now in service, without modification to the
truck itself.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the present invention, there is provided a cab guard that is adjustable
widthwise to accommodate various sizes of pickup trucks, and in which a
brake light window is adjustable up and down to align with the courtesy
brake light behind the truck cab.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided
a cab guard for a pickup truck, comprising; a horizontal base member made
of square hollow structural material; an upright structure extending upward
from the horizontal base member, and two anchor brackets for attachment
to the sides of a pickup truck box. Each of the anchor brackets has a stem
made of square hollow structural material and an anchor plate extending at
right angle from the stem. Each stem is telescopically engaged in one end
of the horizontal base member. The cab guard also comprises a pair of J-
shaped hooks extending through the anchor plates and having means for
attachment to the stake pockets of a pickup truck box for retaining the
anchor plates to the sides of the pickup truck box. The universal cab guard
is mountable to the front stake pockets of a pickup truck box and is
adjustable to match the width between the stake pockets. It is believed that
the universal cab guard according to the present invention is mountable to
most North American pickup trucks now in use, without modification to the
truck.
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In another feature of the present invention, the upright structure has a
thickness that is smaller than the thickness of the horizontal base member.
The upright structure is affixed to the horizontal base member with the
front plane thereof being even with the front side of the horizontal base
member. The anchor plate in each anchor bracket extends at right angle
with the stem from one side of the stem. Each stem has a thickness which
is a same dimension as the thickness of the upright structure. Each stem is
telescopically engaged in one end of the horizontal base member, with the
anchor plate extending parallel with the upright structure along the rear side
of the upright structure.
The cab guard with the above-described mounting of the anchor brackets
constitutes a compact arrangement which is easily handled, packaged and
shipped to a buyer.
This brief summary has been provided so that the nature of the invention
may be understood quickly. A more complete understanding of the
invention can be obtained by reference to the following detailed description
of the preferred embodiments thereof in connection with the attached
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
One embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying
drawings, in which like numerals denote like parts throughout the several
views, and in which:
FIG. 1 is a rear view of the universal cab guard according to the preferred
embodiment;
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FIG. 2 is an end view of one of the anchor brackets in the universal cab
guard;
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the anchor bracket;
FIG. 4 is a partial perspective rear and side view of a truck box showing
the stake pocket in the front right side of the box;
FIG. 5 is a partial cross-section view of a truck box showing an anchor
bracket and a J-shaped hook extending into a stake pocket of the
truck box;
FIG. 6 is a partial side view of a pickup truck showing the preferred
universal cab guard mounted in a conventional manner on the
pickup truck box;
FIG. 7 is another partial side view of a pickup truck showing the preferred
universal cab guard mounted on the pickup truck box behind a roll-
over bar;
FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view of the brake light window in the
preferred universal cab guard;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an alternate structure for the anchor
bracket;
FIG. 10 is a rear view of the universal cab guard in a packaged mode;
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FIG. 11 is a cross-section view through the horizontal base member of the
universal cab guard as seen along line 11 in FIG. 10.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms,
there is shown in the drawings and will be described in details herein one
specific embodiment, with the understanding that the present disclosure is
to be considered as an example of the principles of the invention and is not
intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated and described.
The preferred universal cab guard 20 comprises a horizontal base member
22 made of square hollow structural steel 2" x 2" x 3/16" wall thickness. In
use, this horizontal base member 22 spans along the width of the truck box
over the front edge of the truck box, behind the cab.
An upright structure 24 extends from this base member 22 to cover most
of the rear side of the cab, and especially the rear window of the truck cab.
A pair of anchor brackets 26 are telescopically mounted into the ends of the
base member 22, and are adjustable sideways relative to the base member
22. Each anchor bracket 26 has a square stem 28 and a slotted anchor plate
30 extending at right angle from the stem 28, from the end of the stem.
Each anchor plate 30 is welded to the outside surface of the stem 28 such
that its longitudinal axis is offset and at right angle from the longitudinal
axis of the stem, as shown in FIG. 2.
A pair of J-shaped hooks 32 are inserted into the slots 34 of the anchor
plates 30 and into the holes 36 normally found in the stake pockets 38 of
a pickup truck, as shown in FIG. 4, to retain the anchor plates 28 and the
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entire cab guard 20 to the sides of the truck box, as shown in FIG. 5.
Because of the telescopic arrangement of the anchor brackets 26, the cab
guard is adjustable to fit most half-ton and quarter-ton North American
pickup trucks with stake pockets presently in service. It is believed that
only two sizes of cab guards, as described herein, are needed to fit all North
American pickup trucks with stake pockets presently in operation. For
conventional half-ton trucks, the preferred length 'A' of the horizontal base
member 22 is 36 inches, and the length 'IV of the stem member 28 is 22 to
24 inches. The preferred stem member 28 is made of hollow structural
steel 1-1/2 inches by 1-1/2 inches by 1/8 inch wall thickness.
Referring particularly to FIG. 5, each of the anchor plates 30 has a
preferred thickness of 3/8 inch and has a rubber pad 40 bonded to its
bottom side. These pads 40 have a preferred thickness of about 1/8 inch and
prevent a metal-to-metal contact between the cab guard 20 and the truck
box.
A pair of set screws 42 are used to lock the stem members 28 inside the
horizontal base member 22. These set screws 42 are mounted on the top
of the base member 22 whereby their tightening raises the base member 22
above a plane defined by the bottom surfaces of the anchor plates 30, such
that the cab guard 20 does not touch the front edge of the truck box, as
illustrated by gap 'C' in FIG. 5. When the horizontal base member is made
of a material having a 3/16 inch wall thickness, and the total thickness of
the anchor plate with its rubber pad is 1/2 inch, then the gap 'C' is about
5/16 inch. This gap 'C' also contributes to preventing a metal-to-metal
contact between the cab guard 20 and the truck box.
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The slotted anchor plates 30 are advantageous for providing adjustment in
the mounting of the cab guard 20 at a desired distance from the cab, as
shown in FIG. 6. The symmetrical arrangement of the anchor brackets 26
is also advantageous for allowing a reverse installation thereof in the base
member 22, for mounting the cab guard 20 backward, on a pickup truck
that has a roll-over protection bar 50 bolted to the frame of the truck for
example, as illustrated in FIG. 7.
The upper portion of the upright structure 24 comprises a brake light
window 60 which is mounted between two upright members 62. The brake
light window is made of a light metal frame 64 with two web plates 66
covering portions of the frame 64 on each end of the frame. A piece of
transparent plastic material 68 such as LEXAN TM is affixed to both web
plates 66 by screws 70 to cover the central portion of the brake light
window. The transparent piece 68 is removably mounted to the web plates
66 such that it can be replaced if required.
Preferably, the transparent piece 68, has a logo, a crest 72 or other
advertizing message printed, affixed or engraved thereon or cut out from
it, as illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 8.
The preferred brake light window 60 has a slotted angle 74 on each end.
These slotted angles 74 are used to adjustably retain the brake light window
60 to the upright members 62 by bolts 76 as illustrated in FIG. 1. The brake
light window 60 is thereby adjustable up and down to fit different truck
cabs having a courtesy brake light at different places relative to the front
end of the truck box.
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Another optional accessory consists of a louver panel 78 mounted below
the brake light window 60, as illustrated in FIG.!. This louver panel 78 is
also preferably adjustably mounted to the upright members 62 in a similar
manner as the brake light window 60.
Referring now to FIG. 9, the anchor plate 30 may be replaced by a channel
member 80 as illustrated, when the cab guard 20 is installed on a truck box
also having a tool box mounted to the edges of the truck box. The tool box
can be repositioned over the channel members 80 and fastened to the upper
flanges of the channel members.
Another optional feature on the universal cab guard 20 comprises metal
rings 82 affixed to the anchor brackets 26 as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3.
These metal rings 82 are useful for tying down a load in the truck box.
As mentioned, the stem 28 of each anchor bracket 26 is made of square
hollow structural steel 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 1/8" wall thickness. Also as
mentioned, the longitudinal axis of each anchor plate 30 is offset from the
longitudinal axis of its corresponding stem 28. These anchor brackets 26
can thereby be installed in various orientations in the horizontal base
member 22, and more particularly, they can be installed in a compact
packaged mode as illustrated in FIG. 10. The advantage of this orientation
is that the anchor plates 30 are oriented in a same plane as the upright
structure 24, and forms with the upright structure a compact arrangement.
In order to obtain this compact arrangement, the front plane of the upright
structure 24 is welded even with the front side of the base member 22, as
illustrated in FIG. 11. When the anchor plates 30 are in this orientation,
the total thickness of the cab guard 20 is only about 3/16 to 1/4 inch more
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than the thickness of the base member, as illustrated by dimension 'II' in
FIG. 11. This compact arrangement is advantageous for packaging the cab
guard in a cardboard box, for shipping the cab guard, for storing it in a
warehouse, or for displaying the cab guard in a store. The delivery of the
preferred cab guard to a customer is effected with the cab guard in the
compact arrangement as shown in FIG. 10, with a pouch 84 containing the
J-shaped hooks 32 and a mounting instruction leaflet, attached to any
convenient location along the upright structure 24.
The upright members 62 are preferably made of hollow structural steel 1-
1/2" x 1-1/2" x 1/8" wall thickness. The horizontal structural components
90 of the upright structure 24 are preferably made of steel flat bar 1-1/2
inch wide by 1/4 inch thick. The brake light window frame 64 is preferably
made of steel flat bar 1 inch wide by 1/8 inch thick. A cab guard made of
steel as described herein weights about 53 lbs.
As to other manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the
same should be apparent from the above description and accompanying
drawings, and accordingly further discussion relative to the manner of
usage and operation of the invention would be considered repetitious and
is not provided.
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