Easily Assembled Cargo Tray

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/833,222 filed Nov. 7, 2024, having the title “Easily Assembled Cargo Tray” by James A. Lachenberg, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0002] Pickup trucks are excellent for carrying large loads that do not fit easily, or at all, into most vehicles including SUVs. The large open space behind the enclosed seating area accommodates bulky and heavy loads, although getting such loads in and out of the vehicle bed can be quite a challenge. Typically, a truck owner needs to place the load into that part of the bed near the tailgate and then climb into the bed to move it forward so that more stuff can be loaded - a non-trivial task. This is then repeated in reverse when unloading the trunk bed. To deal with these concerns, many designs exist that provide a large flat platform (e.g. 4 ft×6 ft) that fits between the wheel wells of the truck and slides back and forth. In some cases, the platform includes wheels on its bottom side to facilitate sliding, while in other cases rails are installed in the trunk bed for the same purpose. While these solutions work well, they are quite expensive and cannot be easily shipped to, or assembled and installed by a pickup-truck owner and not require an automotive expert or company to install.

[0003] Accordingly, what is desired is an easily assembled cargo tray, sometimes called a truck-bed slider, for pickup trucks, SUVs or other vehicles, that can be conveniently shipped to and installed by the vehicle owner.

[0004] A cargo tray comprises a plurality of side-by-side interconnected planks that are clamped by front and rear transverse support members. In one embodiment, wire-rope or cylindrical metal rod tension members draw the support members together to place the planks in longitudinal compression. Alternatively, tension members can be avoided by rotating the cargo tray 90 degrees and interchanging the length and width dimensions of its planks. In another embodiment, flat bars connect the front and rear support members to clamp the planks. The transverse support members align the planks into a flat surface so that the planks can function as a sliding deck. At least one handle is attached to the front end of the tray for pulling or pushing it. The handle may be rotation-limited to improve pushing leverage while reducing pinching. Illustratively the planks are made from vinyl and are hollow with vertical ribs. Vinyl reduces the weight of the planks when compared with other materials used in known cargo tray designs and slides easily on most surfaces to avoid the need for rollers. Its hollow structure allows the tension members to pass through the planks without interfering with the top or bottom surfaces of the tray, while its vertical ribs increase the structural integrity of the tray when carrying heavy loads.

• • [0015] 1) Ease of assembly;
  • [0016] 2) Lightweight materials for shipping and moving in/out of a vehicle;
  • [0017] 3) Planks that easily slide on the bed of a pickup truck or other vehicle;
  • [0018] 4) Substantially hollow planks having sufficient strength to support heavy loads; and
  • [0019] 5) Handles that rotate to improve pushing and pulling.

[0020] FIG. 1 shows the cargo tray 200 of the present invention placed in the bed compartment of a typical pickup truck 100 between its wheel wells 101. The tailgate 102 of the pickup truck 100 is shown pulled down with the cargo tray 200 pulled out a bit. A pair of handles 205 are attached to the front end of the tray 200 to facilitate pushing or pulling it toward or away from the front of the truck bed. The “front” being the end near the tailgate when installed. The “rear” being the end near the passenger compartment of the truck. The bed compartment of a typical pickup truck was presumably designed to accommodate 4′×8′ sheets of plywood, which are fairly standard building materials. Accordingly, the typical distance between a pickup truck's wheel wells is around 4 feet, and this limits the ideal width W of the cargo tray to about 4 feet or less. Nevertheless, different sizes cargo trays can be easily created within the scope of the present invention by changing the number of planks, their individual widths, and/or their lengths.

[0021] FIG. 2 is a top view of cargo tray 200, which comprises a plurality of substantially identical planks 201 that are joined together and supported at their opposite ends by a pair of support members 202, 203 that align the planks 201 into a larger flat surface i.e., a deck. A pair of identical handles 205 are attached to the front member 202 to facilitate pushing or pulling the cargo tray in and out of a truck bed or any vehicle where it is installed. Multiple tension members 801 extend between, and are attached to, the support members 202, 203 in order to support the planks as a unit when the cargo tray is pushed, pulled or carried away from the vehicle. Tension members 801 are shown as dotted lines because they reside within the planks 201, which are substantially hollow. Cargo tray 200 has a width “W” and a length “L”. Typically, the width of the cargo tray is about 4 feet and its length is about 6 feet so that it will easily fit into the bed of a pickup truck or other vehicle.

[0022] In an alternate design, tension members 801 can be avoided for ease of assembly and cost reduction by rotating the cargo tray 90 degrees and interchanging the length L and width W dimensions of the tray. However, without tension members extending parallel to the direction of pushing and pulling, the cargo tray would not be able to push or pull heavy loads into or out of a vehicle. Moreover, the handles would now attach to the plank nearest the front end of the tray, which would further weaken the ability of the tray to be pushed or pulled. Nevertheless, it might still be useful for customers who only use it for very light loads.

[0023] FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of one design of plank 201 with standard tongue and groove construction. Plank 201 includes a tongue 212 and a groove 211 that interconnect with adjacent planks when pushed together. Plank 201 is a hollow structure, which substantially reduces its weight and shipping cost. Vertical ribs 213 extend along the length of the plank to strengthen it and keep it from compressing when carrying cargo. Illustratively, plank 201 is made from vinyl, which further reduces its weight when compared with other materials used in known cargo tray designs. The thickness of the vinyl material used in plank 201 and its ribs 213 is about 0.050 inches and the depth of plank 201 is 0.875 inches. Dimensions are illustrative and may vary ±30% unless otherwise stated. Each plank 201 is about 6 feet long and about 7 inches wide. And because vinyl slides easily on most surfaces, including truck beds, this cargo tray does not need rollers.

[0024] FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of an alternate design of plank 201 having interlocking tongue and groove construction, hollow structure, and vertical ribs. This plank 201 includes a tongue 412 and a groove 411 that interlock with adjacent planks when pushed together. Plank 201 is also a hollow structure that substantially reduces its weight, which reduces shipping cost and facilitates handling by the ultimate user of the cargo tray. This plank 201 also includes several vertical ribs 213 that extend along its length to strengthen it and keep it from compressing when carrying cargo.

[0025] This plank 201 is also made from vinyl, which further reduces its weight when compared with other materials used in known cargo tray designs. The thickness of the vinyl material used in plank 201 and its ribs 213 is about 0.050 inches and the depth of plank 201 is 0.875 inches. Dimensions are illustrative and may vary ±30% unless otherwise stated. This plank is substantially identical to the plank 201 shown in FIG. 3 except for its interlocking tongue and groove.

[0026] FIG. 5 is an end view of a plurality of fully connected planks 201 that are pre-joined as a unit by an integral web and can be folded into a bundle 500, which has the dimensions of the flattened cargo tray when unfolded. It demonstrates that the planks 201 do not have to be separate from each other but can be permanently joined at their junctions 511 by the same material used in forming the planks—illustratively vinyl. Such a design allows the cargo tray manufacturer to purchase a large bundle of fully connected planks and then cut them into smaller bundles for shipping to the customer. Shipping a flat 4×6 ft cargo tray is no easy matter. This design facilitates assembly into a flat cargo tray by the customer who no longer has to interconnect the planks individually. The individual planks are substantially identical to the planks shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 except for the way that they are interconnected.

[0027] FIG. 6 is a front-side perspective view of the front and rear support members 202 and 203 that comprise extrusions-illustrative aluminum-for supporting the planks (not shown) and holding them together as a flat unit.

[0028] Tension members 801 that hold the front and rear members together are partially shown. Rear member 203 has a “T” shape, whose top side has a depth d₁ (about 3 inches). It is an upright flange that is designed to keep cargo in the tray when the tray is being pulled from the vehicle bed. The bottom side of the rear member 203 has a depth d₂ (about 0.875 inches) that corresponds to the depth of the planks. Openings 601 in the rear member 203 are used to receive a bungee cord or the like that may be connected to the back of a pickup truck to keep the cargo tray from being pulled out too far. Another pair of openings (not shown) is located at the other side of support member 203 for the same purpose.

[0029] FIG. 7 is a front-side perspective view of the cargo tray 200 where Detail A shows the shape of the front member 202 that supports planks 201. One of the handles 205 is shown attached to the left end of front member 202. The other handle that attaches to the right end of front support member 202 is not shown.

[0030] Handle 205 is attached to the front member via handle frame 206 for pushing or pulling the cargo tray toward the front or back end of the vehicle and is shown rotated into an upward position. Handle frame 206 holds handle 205 and provides a mechanical stop surface that arrests handle rotation at an angle >90° relative to the tray. Having a rotation-limited handle positioned in this way gives the user more leverage when pushing the tray, and it also prevents hand placement between the handle and the tray during pushing—thereby avoiding “finger pinching”.

[0031] Finally, handle frame 206 includes two through holes that allow tension members 801 to travel through the frame. Tension members 801 are fed through openings in the panels 201, and then attached to the rear support member 203 via lock nuts or other means.

[0032] FIG. 8 shows the design of two different tension members 801, 802 that are about 6 feet in length and extend between the front and rear support members 202, 203 as shown in FIG. 6 to align the planks as a large flat surface.

[0033] Tension member 801 comprises a wire rope 812 that is connected between wire holders 811 and 813. The end section of holder 813 is coupled to a threaded rod 814, which is sized to fit through openings in the rear member 203 (see FIG. 6) and attach to lock nuts 815.

[0034] Tension member 802 is substantially identical to tension member 801 except that a cylindrical metal rod 822 replaces wire rope 812 of tension member 801, and the cylindrical metal rod 822 is threaded at both ends.

[0035] Also shown in FIG. 8 is a flat bar 802 whose length L is about 6 feet, and whose width W is about 2 inches. One or more bars can be used to replace or be used in conjunction with the tension members 801 or 802, and are attached to the front and rear support members 202, 203 as shown in FIG. 9 to align the planks into a large flat surface. And while only one hole 822, 823 is shown at each end of the metal bar, more holes may be used. Illustratively, each flat bar is an aluminum extrusion.

[0036] FIG. 9 is a front-side perspective view of front and rear support members 202 and 203 for supporting planks and holding them together as a flat unit. It shows an alternative way to hold the support members together by using several flat metal bars 803 (only one is shown) to replace the tension members 801 or 802 shown in FIG. 8. Screws 824 pass through holes 822, 823 in the metal bar and through holes in the support members in order to screw into the planks (not shown) and secure each metal bar in place.

[0037] Rear member 203 has a “T” shape, whose top side has a depth d₁ (about 3 inches). It is a backstop that is sized to keep cargo in the tray when the tray is being pulled from the vehicle bed. The bottom side of the rear member 203 has a depth d₂ (about 0.875 inches) that corresponds to the depth of the planks.

[0038] Finally, openings 601 in rear member 203 are used to receive a bungee cord or the like that can be connected to the back of a pickup truck to keep the cargo tray from being pulled out too far. Another pair of openings (not shown) is located at the other side of support member 203 for the same purpose.