Truck Bumper Step

This invention relates generally to pickup trucks, commercial trucks, and other high clearance vehicles and more specifically to a removable bumper step for quick attachment to such vehicles to permit easy access to the engine compartments thereof. Operators of pickups and larger trucks, as well as mechanics, have, in the past, experienced difficulty accessing the engine compartments of such vehicles because of their height off the ground. That access is necessary to perform such routine maintenance as checking lubrication levels on dip sticks as well as maintenance that requires access for extended periods of time, often to the farthest reaches of the engine compartment. In the past, persons requiring access to the engine compartments of such vehicles have generally had to stretch over the fender of such a vehicle, stand on the front bumper, or employ objects such as boxes, ladders, saw horses, milk crates and the like. These methods of access are all disadvantageous for one reason or another. For example, it has been found difficult, if not imposssible to gain access to the rear areas of the engine compartment of such a vehicle by reaching over the fender. Scratching of the fender paint in such instances is almost assured, and injury is very likely to occur as the result of slippage on the typical chrome bumper. Objects such as ladders, milk crates, etc. employed to gain a height advantage also present a serious safety problem for the user.

It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a portable bumper step that may be quickly and easily connected to and removed from any desired position along the front bumper of a truck to permit safe and ready access to all areas of the engine compartment. This object, as well as other incidental objects, is accomplished in accordance with the illustrated preferred embodiments of the present invention by employing a piece of steel plate that has been formed to provide a lip portion, adapted to hook over the truck bumper, and a horizontal step portion upon which the user can safely and comfortably stand for extended periods of time. The bumper step is preferably coated with a rubberized substance to increase its safety characteristics. Once the user has completed the particular maintenance task at hand requiring use of the bumper step, it may be quickly removed from the bumper and stored in the passenger compartment of the vehicle for future use.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a bumper step constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a pictorial illustration of the way in which the bumper step of FIG. 1 is attached to the front bumper of a typical pickup truck.

FIG. 3 is a detailed illustration of a universal adjustable bumper step constructed in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a pictorial illustration of the way in which the bumper step of FIG. 3 is attached to the typical front bumper of a larger truck.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a bumper step 10 that may be constructed of steel, aluminum or any other material found to provide the necessary strength to enable the user to stand thereon without thereby causing the step to become deformed. It has been found that steel plate 3/16 inch in thickness provides the necessary strength yet may be readily formed to the desired shape using shop tools that are commercially available. Bumper step 10 is thus formed, as illustrated, to include a forwardly sloping top portion 12, the slope of which is approximately the same as the slope of the top surface 14 of the typical front bumper 16 of a pickup truck, as shown in FIG. 2. Bumper step 10 also includes a forwardly turned under lip portion 18 adapted to be hooked over the top surface 14 of bumper 16. Bumper step 10 further includes a downwardly and slightly inwardly sloping vertical portion 20 and a foot rest portion 22 that is formed to be horizontal when the bumper step 10 is hooked into place over bumper 14. Vertical portion 20 may be formed to any length to achieve a desired height above ground of foot rest portion 22. A convenient width for step bumper 10 has been found to be in the neighborhood of four inches in the case of a single foot bumper step. If it is desired to provide space for the user to stand with both feet on bumper step 10, an overall width of approximately eight inches is suggested. Foot rest portion 22 terminates in a retaining lip 24 that is formed by a right angle bend upward from foot rest portion 22. After being formed to the desired dimensions, bumper step 10 is preferable dipped in a rubber bath according to conventional rubberizing processes to coat the bumper step 10 with a rubberizing material for the purposes of minimizing any tendency toward slippage of the user's foot during use and also to protect the vehicle bumper surfaces against scratching. In use, bumper step 10 is simply hooked over the top surface 14 of bumper 16 at any desired position therealong, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Since permanent attachment to the bumper 16 is undesirable and unnecessary, bumper step 10 may quickly and easily removed following completion of a particular maintenance task and stored for future use in the passenger compartment of the vehicle, if desired.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, there is shown an alternative bumper step 60 that is adapted for use on heavy duty trucks that typically include a front bumper 70 having a substantially vertical front surface 62. Bumper step 60 includes a generally flat clip member 64 that, in turn, includes a forwardly turned under lip portion 66 adapted to be hooked over the top surface 68 of bumper 70. Clip member 64 includes three slots 72 through which a strap 74 may be laced. Bumper step 60 further includes a step member 76 that is formed to include a vertical portion 78 and a foot rest portion 80 that is formed by a right angle bend outward from vertical portion 78. Vertical portion 78 includes a slot 84 for receiving strap 74. Horizontal portion 80 terminates in a retaining lip 82 that is formed by a right angle bend upward from foot rest portion 80. One end of strap 74, which may comprise any of a number of commercially available types of nylon webbing, for example, is placed through slot 84 and then fixedly attached to itself by means of stitching 86. The free end 88 of strap 74 is laced through the slots 72 in clip member 64 in any of several conventional ways to provide against slippage, while at the same time permitting adjustment of the length of the strap 74 extending between clip member 64 and step member 76. In use, lip portion 66 of clip member 64 is hooked over top surface 68 of bumper 70. Strap 74 is adjusted to position step member 76 of bumper step 60 at a desired height above ground. The construction considerations relative to the width of bumper step 60 and the application thereto of a rubberized coating are the same as outlined above in connection with the detailed description of bumper step 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.