Patents Examined by Kevin P. Weldon
  • Patent number: 11865906
    Abstract: An integrated bed optimization system comprises a dynamic frame which is integrated into the front and sides of a pickup truck bed. The frame can be raised and lowered to expand the bed's usable volume and to optimize cargo storage options. The frame comprises T-Track beams which permit the user to customize the bed by allowing the user to secure one or more attachments to the frame. The attachments can include tiedown points, storage racks, tonneau covers, camper shells, and other modular accessories.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Inventor: Oliver Scammell
  • Patent number: 11865981
    Abstract: A recreational vehicle may comprise a vehicle body having a living space defined therein, a chassis supporting the vehicle body and having a crossmember disposed across the vehicle body, a wire loom, and a wire loom support. The wire loom support may comprise a body having a hook that fits over a first edge of the crossmember and a finger that folds over a second edge of the crossmember to support the wire loom between the wire loom support and the crossmember. A method of supporting such wire loom may comprise disposing a body of a wire loom support adjacent a crossmember, hooking a hook of the wire loom support to a first edge of the crossmember, placing a finger of a wire loom support over a second edge of the crossmember, and applying a force on the finger to bend the finger over the second edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: Thor Tech, Inc.
    Inventor: Gary Offill
  • Patent number: 11840132
    Abstract: A panel top assembly adapted for a vehicle including a pivotal portion that is rotatable between a closed position and open sunroof position, the pivotal portion is coupled to guide assemblies to selectively slide rearward to another top open position. There is provided a removable hard rear window, a rear hard drip rail; and a pair of removable hard rear side window assemblies on the side of the vehicle that wrap around to the back of the vehicle creating clear rear hard corners and that are also in sealing engagement to the rear window. The rear hard drip rail and pivotal portion selectively drop down at an angle into the rear cargo area of the vehicle when a fully open top experience is desired.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: Bestop, Inc.
    Inventors: David A. Smith, Charles C. Turney
  • Patent number: 11840180
    Abstract: A fastening device is provided for arranging a water-catching strip of a motor vehicle on an A-pillar of the motor vehicle. The fastening device can be secured in its position relative to the A-pillar by way of a bolt fastened to the A-pillar. The fastening device has a retaining region for retaining a fastening portion of the water-catching strip. The fastening device includes, in the retaining region, at least one tab, which protrudes from a main body of the fastening device and has a detent element, which detent element is designed to engage in one of a plurality of grooves. The grooves are formed in the fastening portion of the water-catching strip such that the grooves are arranged adjacent to each other in a direction of extension of the at least one tab. An arrangement of a water-catching strip of a motor vehicle on an A-pillar is carried out by a fastening device of this type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Lukas Held, Richard Sosnik
  • Patent number: 11840277
    Abstract: A cargo transport rear frame includes a pair of posts, an upper cross member, and a rear bolster. The posts are spaced in a width direction, and extend in a height direction. The upper cross member extends along the width between the posts. The rear bolster extends between lower ends of the posts such that the rear bolster is spaced below the upper cross member. The posts, the upper cross member, and the rear bolster bound the rear cargo opening. The rear bolster has a first side facing in a forward direction, and the rear bolster has a second side facing in a rearward direction to be exposed to a rear side of the cargo transport rear frame. The rear bolster comprises a sheet metal stamping including a base surface and a relief embossed in the rearward direction from the base surface to form a loading dock engagement feature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: STI Holdings, Inc.
    Inventors: Gary L. Fenton, Jason Alan Drost
  • Patent number: 11833941
    Abstract: Mechanisms for raising at least a portion of a vehicle load floor in response to lowering of one adjacent seat, to allow for easier loading of vehicle cargo areas. Mechanisms may raise a portion of the load floor when any one or more adjacent seats are lowered, but only lower the load floor when all adjacent seats are raised. In this manner, mechanisms of embodiments of the disclosure raise the load floor to an inclined position so that the load floor gradually rises to the elevation of any adjacent folded seat backs, rather than having a step increase in height at the boundary between load floor and seats. This allows for easier sliding of cargo over the load floor and onto the seat backs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: Rivian IP Holdings, LLC
    Inventors: Jennifer Sterling, Marcus Merideth, John Behrendt, Peter McKean
  • Patent number: 11833936
    Abstract: A set of seats for an automotive vehicle, where the set of seats comprises a first seat and a second seat, where the first seat is provided with a first seatback and a first seat bottom, where the second seat is provided with a second seatback and a second seat bottom, the set of seats is configured in order to have: a road configuration in which the first seat bottom extends substantially horizontally and the first seatback extends substantially vertically; and a relaxed configuration in which the second seat is in a table position in which the second seatback extends substantially horizontally and the second seat bottom extends substantially vertically, where the second seatback and the second seat bottom delimit a knee space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: FAURECIA Sièges d'Automobile
    Inventor: Pierre-Henri Petiphar
  • Patent number: 11834005
    Abstract: Cargo systems for use in a vehicle cargo compartment that provide a range of selectable cargo carrying configurations. A cargo shelf system includes a first support wall, a second support wall, at least one set of removable shelves supported between one of the support walls and an interior side panel of the vehicle, and a set of retractable shelves supported between the first and second support walls. A cargo divider system includes a tray bin attached to a frame structure of the vehicle, a load floor supported upon the tray bin, a flip-wall divider supported upon the tray bin, and a plurality of laterally displaceable divider walls. Another cargo divider system includes a storage bin, an independently moveable seat-side load floor, and an independently moveable gate-side load floor, the seat-side load floor and the gate-side load floor collectively covering the storage bin to form a generally planar continuous load floor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: ABC TECHNOLOGIES INC.
    Inventors: Harman Gill, Avinash Jayakumar, Usman Dulatov
  • Patent number: 11820270
    Abstract: An assist grip structure is made for a vehicle, including an opening portion formed in a side surface of the vehicle and a sliding door configured to slide in a vehicle front-rear direction to open and close the opening portion. The assist grip structure is attached to a side edge defining the opening portion at a position closer to an inner end in a vehicle width direction of the side edge and overlapping in the vehicle width direction with the opened sliding door. The assist grip structure includes: a grip part extending in a vehicle up-down direction; an extending part extending from the grip part toward an opening direction of the sliding door; and a cup holder provided at a position ahead, in the opening direction of the sliding door, of the grip part and interior, in the vehicle width direction, to the extending part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yozo Takagi, John McDougall
  • Patent number: 11814107
    Abstract: A vehicle includes: a hood; a cowl top placed rearward of the hood; a body structure disposed below the hood and the cowl top; and a shock absorber that is disposed between the hood and the body structure and is fixed to the body structure. At least one of the hood and the cowl top has a support portion facing a side surface of the shock absorber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Akihiro Yanaka, Shinji Kurachi, Hidenori Iwayama
  • Patent number: 11814015
    Abstract: A truck body with an enclosure assembly that has a plurality of storage compartments with doors each movable between an open position that provides access to respective storage compartments and a closed position that prevents access to that storage compartment. The enclosure assembly includes at least one hidden hinge coupled with at least a portion of the doors to pivot the door between the open/closed positions. There are door flanges surrounding the openings of the storage compartments that, in some embodiments, include: (i) a longitudinally-extending channel dimensioned to receive a mounting portion of the at least one hidden hinge; and (ii) a rim configured to receive a seal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: The Shyft Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Bill Cleaves, Steve Mayo, James Rutter, Jordan Brown
  • Patent number: 11794657
    Abstract: A foldable vehicle cage system arranged for sectioning an interior vehicle luggage compartment, wherein the cage system includes a cage post, an elongated guide member, and a net structure, wherein the net structure is connected to the cage post, a first end of the cage post is slidingly and hingedly connected to the elongated guide member, and the elongated guide member is configured to be connected to a first vehicle interior structure, wherein the cage post and the net structure are movably arranged in relation to the elongated guide member between a storage position and an in-use position, wherein a second end of the cage post in the in-use position is configured to be attached to a second vehicle interior structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: Ningbo Geely Automobile Research & Development Co.
    Inventors: Jonathan Johansson, Albin Hagström
  • Patent number: 11794840
    Abstract: There is provided with a straddle type vehicle. A grip is gripped by a passenger. A sensing device detects an obstacle around the vehicle by using an ultrasonic wave. An electric harness is connected to the sensing device is arranged in the grip is connected to the sensing device through an interior of the grip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Kumasaka, Yoshiyuki Kuroba, Kiyoshi Katagiri, Hiroshi Maeda
  • Patent number: 11794658
    Abstract: A vehicle storage structure includes a vehicle interior member and a storage. The vehicle interior member has a design surface. The storage has an opening, a first article placement section, and a second article placement section. The opening is located on the design surface. The first article placement section is disposed outwardly from the second article placement section. The first article placement section has a coefficient of friction less than a coefficient of friction of the second article placement section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Wataru Minoyama
  • Patent number: 11788339
    Abstract: A two-stage open structure of a vehicle door includes a first-stage door configured to be rotated open with respect to a first hinge, a second-stage door configured to be rotated open together with the first-stage door with respect to a second hinge, a cross member, and a motor module positioned on the cross member and configured to apply a driving force to the first hinge and the second hinge individually.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation
    Inventors: Ki Hyun Cho, Jae Yun Lee
  • Patent number: 11772457
    Abstract: A cowl grille comprises a member portion which extends in a vehicle width direction below a front windshield so as to receive water dripping from the front windshield, a cover portion which is positioned in front of a member portion and covers over an auxiliary equipment, a partition portion which extends downwardly from the cover portion and partitions a space where an engine is arranged from another space where the auxiliary equipment is arranged, and a cowl seal which extends in the vehicle width direction and contacts a bonnet so as to seal between a vehicle outside space and an engine room. The cowl seal is positioned at a front part of the member portion, and the cover portion is made of a plate member and provided to perform heat insulating between a space positioned above the cover portion and another space positioned below the cover portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: MAZDA MOTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hosei Mogi, Atsushi Nakamura, Hidekazu Morikawa
  • Patent number: 11760286
    Abstract: A bumper crossmember for a vehicle, with a hollow profile body which has a vehicle frame-side proximal vertical wall and a distal vertical wall which are connected to one another by way of transverse walls and extend along a vertical direction. The transverse walls laterally delimit hollow chambers which are arranged in the hollow profile body. The center longitudinal direction of the hollow chambers are oriented in each case along the vertical direction, and the hollow chambers are open on the end side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Inventor: Tassilo Heilmann
  • Patent number: 11724763
    Abstract: A side cowl configured to cover a vehicle side portion of a saddle-ridden vehicle is provided. The side cowl includes a convex portion elongating in an upper-lower direction and protruding outward in a vehicle width direction with respect to a cowl outer surface. The convex portion is formed on the cowl outer surface at a downstream side of traveling wind that flows on the cowl outer surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: SUZUKI MOTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Fujimi Sawada, Yuki Mochizuki
  • Patent number: 11718236
    Abstract: Reconfigurable cargo screen assemblies for a vehicle are provided. The assembly includes a retracting component including a cassette member, a retractable screen, a first end beam, and a retraction mechanism. A first end of the retractable screen is connected to the first end beam, and a second end of the retractable screen is retractably connected within the cassette member by the retraction mechanism. The assembly further includes a middle cover component including a rod member, a middle screen, and a second end beam. A first end of the middle screen is connected to the rod member, and a second end of the middle screen is connected to the second end beam. Also included is a back component having a connection beam and a back screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation
    Inventors: Monica Sjöstedt, Peter Landqvist, Tony Nilsson
  • Patent number: 11708119
    Abstract: A cargo bed for a utility terrain vehicle (UTV) having a floor, a tailgate, and a pair of sidewalls. The cargo bed is operable to convert from a walled configuration into a wall-stored configuration while at least one of the tailgate and the pair of sidewalls remain mechanically-connected to the floor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignee: KUBOTA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Nicholas Allicock, John White