Pickup Truck Bed Shelter System

Abstract

A pickup truck bed shelter system includes a pickup truck having a bed including a pair of lateral walls. Each of the lateral walls has an upper edge has a well extending therein. A frame releasably engages the lateral walls such that the frame extends upwardly from the bed. The frame includes a transverse beam vertically spaced from and extending across an opening of the bed. A pair of arms each is attached to the transverse beams. A housing is mounted on the transverse beam and a canopy is positioned in the housing. The canopy is extendable from the housing and has an outer end releasably couplable to the arms adjacent to free ends of the arms. The canopy is retracted into the housing when the canopy is released from the arms.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Field of the Disclosure

The disclosure relates to vehicle canopy devices and more particularly pertains to a new vehicle canopy device for providing shelter adjacent to a pickup truck.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a pickup truck having a bed including a pair of lateral walls. Each of the lateral walls has an upper edge has a well extending therein. A frame releasably engages the lateral walls such that the frame extends upwardly from the bed. The frame includes a transverse beam vertically spaced from and extending across an opening of the bed. A pair of arms each is attached to the transverse beams. A housing is mounted on the transverse beam and a canopy is positioned in the housing. The canopy is extendable from the housing and has an outer end releasably couplable to the arms adjacent to free ends of the arms. The canopy is retracted into the housing when the canopy is released from the arms.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a pickup truck bed shelter system according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a side in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a top perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 6 thereof, a new vehicle canopy device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6, the pickup truck bed shelter system 10 generally comprises a generally conventional pickup truck 12 that has a bed 14 including a pair of lateral walls 16. Each of the lateral walls 16 has an upper edge 18 having a well 20 extending therein. The system 10, typically, is used with the pickup truck 12 to provide shading or cover adjacent to and extending away from a rear of the pickup truck 12 as is shown in FIG. 3.

A frame 22 releasably engages the lateral walls 16 such that the frame 22 extends upwardly from the bed 14. The frame 22 includes a transverse beam 24 vertically spaced from and extending across an opening of the bed 14. The frame 22 includes a pair of legs 26 each having a bottom end 28 and a top end 30. The transverse beam 24 is attached to and extends between the top ends 30. A pair of plates 32 is provided and each of the bottom ends 28 is attached to one of the plates 32. The plates 32 are oriented perpendicular to the legs 26 and each of the plates 32 extends forward of an associated one of the legs 26. More particularly, the plates 32 extend in a same direction with respect to each other and away from the legs 26, such that the plates 32 have longitudinal axis oriented parallel to each other. Further, when the plates 32 are in a horizontal plane the legs 26 are in a vertically oriented plane. Each of the plates 32 has a distal end 34 with respect to the legs 26. A pair of posts 36 is provided and each of the plates 32 has one of the posts 36 attached thereto. The posts 36 are positioned adjacent to an associated one of the distal ends 34 and each extends downwardly from the plates 32. Each of the posts 36 is positionable in one of the wells 20 such that the legs 26 are vertically oriented.

A pair of arms 38 is provided. Each of the arms 38 is attached to the transverse beam 24, however, the term “attached” herein for the purpose of the arms 38 may include simply mounted thereon for reasons explained below. The arms 38 are spaced from each other such that each of the arms 38 is positioned adjacent to one of a pair of opposed ends of the transverse beam 24. Each of the arms 38 has a break 40 therein such that an inner portion 42 and an outer portion 44 of each arm 38 is defined. The inner 42 and outer 44 portions are hingedly coupled together such that each arm 38 is positionable in a stored position folded against the transverse beam 24 or in a deployed position extending rearward of the pickup truck 12. The break 40 is positioned near the transverse beam 24 and no more than 12.0 inches from the transverse beam 24. Each of the arms 38 has a free end 46. A housing 48 is mounted on the transverse beam 24 as is shown in FIG. 1.

However, the housing 48 may be incorporated into the transverse beam 24 or be removably mounted to the transverse beam 24. Thus, the arms 38 may be intimately attached to the housing 48, as opposed to the transverse beam 24, and thereby attached to the transverse beam 24 by way of the housing 48 being mounted on the transverse beam 24. The ability to remove the housing 48 and arms 38 from the transverse beam 24 may be beneficial for allowing alternate uses for the transverse beam 24 or for safety when the pickup truck 12 is being moved.

A canopy 50, of flexible material, is positioned in the housing 48 and is extendable outwardly from the housing 48. The canopy 50 has an outer end 52 releasably couplable to the arms 38 adjacent to the free ends 46. This may be achieved, for example, with a rod 54 being attached to the outer end 52 of the canopy 50 wherein ends of the rod 54 are removably seated in saddles 56 formed in the free ends 46. The canopy 50 is retracted into the housing 48 when the canopy 50 is released from the arms. This may be accomplished in any conventional way well known in the arts of retractable shades utilizing coil springs for biasing a spindle in a first direction. The canopy 50 may comprise an opaque or partially opaque material to shade a person under the canopy 50 and may also be water impermeable to provide for cover from rain. The arms 38 and canopy 50 extend from the transverse beam 24 a distance of generally between 3.0 feet and 6.0 feet.

In use, the posts 36 are placed in the wells 20 such that the plates 32 rest upon the upper edges 18 of the lateral walls 16. In this position the arms 38 will positioned in a horizontally oriented plane as long as the plates 32 are also horizontally oriented. The canopy 50 is pulled from the housing 38 and attached to the free ends 46 of the arms 38 so that it provides a covering extending rearward from the pickup truck 12. The legs 26 each have a height greater than 2.0 feet and it should be understood that while the system is generally in use adjacent to the pickup truck tailgate to extend the canopy 50 over a ground surface, the canopy 50 may be reversed such that it extends primarily over the bed 14.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.

Claims

1. A vehicle awning system comprising:

a pickup truck having a bed including a pair of lateral walls, each of said lateral walls having an upper edge having a well extending therein;

a frame releasably engaging said lateral walls such that said frame extends upwardly from the bed, said frame including a transverse beam vertically spaced from and extending across an opening of the bed, wherein said frame includes a pair of posts, each of said posts being positionable in one of said wells such that said transverse beam is positioned above and vertically spaced from said bed, a pair of legs each having a bottom end and a top end, said transverse beam being attached to and extending between said top ends, a pair of plates, each of said bottom ends being attached to one of said plates, each of said plates being oriented perpendicular to said legs, each of said plates being elongated and extending forward of an associated one of said legs, each of said plates having a distal end with respect to said legs, and each of said plates having one of said posts attached thereto, said posts being positioned adjacent to an associated one of said distal ends and extending downwardly from said plates, each of said posts being positionable in one of said wells such that said legs are vertically oriented and horizontally offset from said wells;

a pair of arms each being attached to said transverse beam;

a housing being mounted on said transverse beam; and

a canopy being positioned in said housing, said canopy being extendable from said housing, said canopy having an outer end releasably couplable to said arms adjacent to free ends of said arms, said canopy being retracted into said housing when said canopy is released from said arms.

2. (canceled)

3. (canceled)

4. The vehicle awning system according to claim 1, wherein said arms are spaced from each other such that each of said arms is positioned adjacent to one of a pair of opposed ends of said transverse beam, each of said arms being positionable in a stored position folded against said transverse beam or in a deployed position extending rearward of said pickup truck.

5. A vehicle awning system comprising:

a pickup truck having a bed including a pair of lateral walls, each of said lateral walls having an upper edge having a well extending therein;

a frame releasably engaging said lateral walls such that said frame extends upwardly from the bed, said frame including a transverse beam vertically spaced from and extending across an opening of the bed, said frame including: a pair of legs each having a bottom end and a top end, said transverse beam being attached to and extending between said top ends; a pair of plates, each of said bottom ends being attached to one of said plates, each of said plates being oriented perpendicular to said legs, each of said plates being elongated and extending forward of an associated one of said legs, each of said plates having a distal end with respect to said legs; a pair of posts, each of said plates having one of said posts attached thereto, said posts being positioned adjacent to an associated one of said distal ends and extending downwardly from said plates, each of said posts being positionable in one of said wells such that said legs are vertically oriented and positioned horizontally offset from said wells;

a pair of arms, each of said arms being attached to said transverse beam, said arms being spaced from each other such that each of said arms is positioned adjacent to one of a pair of opposed ends of said transverse beam, each of said arms being positionable in a stored position folded against said transverse beam or in a deployed position extending rearward of said pickup truck, each of said arms having a free end;

a housing being mounted on said transverse beam; and

a canopy being positioned in said housing, said canopy being extendable from said housing, said canopy having an outer end releasably couplable to said arms adjacent to said free ends, said canopy being retracted into said housing when said canopy is released from said arms.