Vehicle load box rail trim brackets

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10279725-B2
Application number	US-201815875599-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 19, 2018
Priority date	Feb 27, 2017
Publication date	May 7, 2019
Grant date	May 7, 2019

Abstract

Vehicle load box rail trim brackets, including a rail trim bracket comprised of a housing that is attached to a trim piece, a clamp that engages a load box rail; and a cam disposed between the housing and clamp. The housing, clamp, and cam are configured such that the clamp substantially rotates about the cam, the cam creating a metastable fulcrum point where forces between the housing, clamp, and cam are at a maximum. Rotating the clamp past the fulcrum point causes the clamp to engage the housing. The cam keeps the clamp in tension against the load box rail and in compression against the housing so as to secure the trim to the load box rail. The housing, clamp, and cam are preferably manufactured from glass-reinforced plastic.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A rail trim bracket for securing a trim piece to a vehicle load box rail, comprising:
a housing;
a clamp; and
a cam disposed between the housing and clamp,
wherein the housing, the clamp and the cam are configured to interact to create a retention-release mechanism to allow rotation of the clamp from an open position to a clamped position to attach the trim piece to the load box rail.

2. The rail trim bracket of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of hooks and a plurality of sliding surfaces located on each of the housing, clamp, and cam, and wherein:
the plurality of hooks and sliding surfaces of the housing, the clamp, and the cam interact to create a retention-release mechanism as the clamp substantially rotates about a longitudinal axis of the cam,
the cam is sized so as to create a fulcrum point as the clamp substantially rotates about the longitudinal axis of the cam, and
the clamp is at the clamped position when the clamp is rotated past the fulcrum point and the cam keeps the clamp in tension against the load box rail and in compression against the housing so as to secure the trim piece to the load box rail.

3. The rail trim bracket of claim 1 , wherein:
the cam possesses one or more sliding surfaces; and
the clamp possesses one or more sliding surfaces that are complementary to the sliding surfaces of the cam, and slideably engage the cam sliding surfaces as the clamp is rotated.

4. The rail trim bracket of claim 3 , wherein:
the cam possesses one or more hooks; and
the clamp possesses one or more hooks that are complementary to and engage with the hooks of the cam so as to retain the clamp.

5. The rail trim bracket of claim 1 , wherein the housing and clamp are manufactured from glass-reinforced nylon and the cam is manufactured from a glass-reinforced acetal.

6. A rail trim bracket for securing a trim piece to a top surface of a sidewall of a vehicle load box, comprising:
a housing having a first portion attached to the trim piece;
a clamp configured to engage the sidewall, comprising one or more hooks; and
a cam disposed between the housing and clamp, the cam having a longitudinal axis and one or more first hooks corresponding to the one or more hooks on the clamp,
wherein:
the clamp is movably retained by the cam through the interaction of the one or more hooks on the clamp with the one or more corresponding first hooks on the cam, such that the clamp is moveable about the cam's longitudinal axis,
when the clamp is rotated toward the first portion of the housing, the cam, housing and clamp interact against the sidewall to create a fulcrum point prior to the clamp reaching the first portion of the housing, and
as the clamp passes through the fulcrum point, the interaction between the housing, cam, clamp and sidewall impart tension on the clamp and a compression on the housing to maintain the clamp at the clamped position and the trim piece in contact with the top surface of the sidewall.

7. The rail trim bracket of claim 6 , wherein:
the cam further comprises one or more second hooks; and
the housing further comprises one or more hooks that correspond to the one or more second hooks, the cam being retained to the housing by the interaction of the one or more second hooks with the one or more hooks of the housing.

8. The rail trim bracket of claim 7 , wherein:
the cam further comprises one or more sliding surfaces; and
the clamp further comprises one or more sliding surfaces that are complementary to the sliding surfaces of the cam, and slideably engage the cam sliding surfaces as the clamp is rotated.

9. The rail trim bracket of claim 8 , wherein:
the cam further comprises one or more second sliding surfaces; and
the housing further comprises one or more sliding surfaces that are complementary to the second sliding surfaces of the cam, and engage the cam second sliding surfaces.

10. The rail trim bracket of claim 9 , wherein the clamp engages the sidewall by way of a side flange that extends perpendicularly from the top surface of the sidewall.

11. The rail trim bracket of claim 10 , wherein the housing and clamp are manufactured from glass-reinforced nylon, and the cam is manufactured from glass-reinforced acetal.

12. A vehicle comprising:
a load box side that has a top flange that extends perpendicular to the load box side, with a side flange further extending perpendicular from the end of the top flange in the direction of and parallel to the load box side;
a trim piece disposed upon the top flange; and
a rail trim bracket to attach the trim piece to the load box side, comprised of:
a housing including a first portion disposed upon the trim piece so as to substantially face away from the load box side, wherein the housing includes one or more hooks and one or more sliding surfaces;
a clamp comprising a first section configured to fit between load box side and side flange, the first section connected to a second section that is disposed proximate to the side flange and away from the load box side such that the first section and second section encompass both sides of the side flange, the second section further configured to fit within the housing and including one or more hooks and one or more sliding surfaces; and
a cam with a longitudinal axis, the cam disposed substantially between the housing and clamp, and comprised of one or more first hooks that are complementary to the housing's one or more hooks, one or more second hooks that are complementary to the clamp's one or more hooks, one or more first sliding surfaces that are complementary to the housing's one or more sliding surfaces, and one or more second sliding surfaces that are complementary to the clamp's one or more sliding surfaces, wherein:
the cam is rotatably attached to the housing by the one or more first hooks engaging with the housing's one or more hooks,
the cam is rotatably attached to the clamp by the one or more second hooks engaging with the clamp's one or more hooks,
the cam is sized so as to create a metastable fulcrum point where forces between the housing, clamp, side flange and cam are at a maximum, and
applying force to the clamp towards the housing past the fulcrum point causes the clamp to engage the housing, placing the clamp in tension between the housing and side flange, thereby securing the trim piece to the top flange by a compressive force.

13. The vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the vehicle is a truck.

14. The vehicle of claim 12 wherein:
the housing's one or more hooks extend from the housing in the direction away from the load box side,
the cam's one or more first hooks extend in a direction substantially opposite from the direction of the cam's one or more second hooks of the cam, and
the clamp's one or more hooks extend from the clamp in a direction towards the load box side.

15. The vehicle of claim 14 wherein:
the cam's one or more first hooks and one or more second hooks are disposed about a central section of the cam; and
the cam's one or more first sliding surfaces and one or more second sliding surfaces each comprise two first sliding surfaces and two second sliding surfaces, with one each of the first sliding surfaces and second sliding surfaces being disposed on an end positioned along the cam's longitudinal axis on either side of the central section of the cam.

16. The vehicle of claim 15 wherein the first sliding surface and second sliding surface on each of the cam's end are disposed so as to face in opposite directions.

17. The vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the hous

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Wilson Geoffrey Robert

Classifications

• B60R13/04 Primary

  External} Ornamental or guard strips; Ornamental inscriptive devices {thereon (fastening strips or bars to sheets or plates by means of clips F16B5/12) · CPC title

• B60R13/01

  Liners for load platforms or load compartments · CPC title

• B60R9/02

  at the sides, e.g. on running-board · CPC title

• B60P7/0815 Primary

  Attachment rails or trellis · CPC title