Off-road vehicle having a cargo box with a side storage space

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11964703-B2
Application number	US-202117513267-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 28, 2021
Priority date	Oct 30, 2020
Publication date	Apr 23, 2024
Grant date	Apr 23, 2024

Abstract

An off-road vehicle has a frame, a motor, a plurality of ground engaging members and a cargo box connected to the frame. The cargo box having a floor, a front wall, a left side wall and a right side wall. An inner panel is connected to one of the left and right side walls of the cargo box. The inner panel defines a side storage space on an outer side of the inner panel. An outer panel is removably connected to the inner panel. The outer panel covers the side storage space. The outer panel has an outer periphery, and an integrally formed portion of the inner panel extends outside the outer periphery of the outer panel.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An off-road vehicle comprising:
a frame;
a motor connected to the frame;
a plurality of ground engaging members operatively connected to the frame, at least one ground engaging member of the plurality of ground engaging members being operatively connected to the motor;
a cargo box connected to the frame, the cargo box having a floor, a front wall extending upwardly from a front end of the floor, a left side wall extending upwardly from a left side of the floor, a right side wall extending upwardly from a right side of the floor, the cargo box further comprising:
an inner panel connected to one of the left side wall and the right side wall of the cargo box, the inner panel defining a side storage space on an outer side of the inner panel; and
an outer panel removably connected to the inner panel, the outer panel covering the side storage space, the outer panel having an outer periphery, and an integrally formed portion of the inner panel extends outside the outer periphery of the outer panel.

2. The off-road vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the integrally formed portion of the inner panel:
extends below the side storage space;
extends below the outer panel when the outer panel is connected to the inner panel; and
is vertically lower than the floor of the cargo box.

3. The off-road vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the integrally formed portion of the inner panel defines at least in part a fender extending above a rear ground-engaging member of the plurality of ground-engaging members.

4. The off-road vehicle of claim 3 , wherein the inner panel extends longitudinally in front of and at the rear of the rear ground engaging member of the plurality of ground-engaging members.

5. The off-road vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
the inner panel defines a latch aperture;
the off-road vehicle further comprises:
a latch movable between a locked position and an unlocked position, the latch being connected to the outer panel, the latch being engageable in the latch aperture of the inner panel when in the locked position for securing the outer panel to the inner panel;

the latch is resiliently biased toward the locked position; and
the latch is a manually operable latch.

6. The off-road vehicle of claim 5 , wherein a latch access area is defined rearward of the front wall of the cargo box and between the inner panel and the one of the left and right side walls of the cargo box, the latch access area providing access to move the latch between the locked position and the unlocked position.

7. The off-road vehicle of claim 5 , further comprising at least one fastener selectively connecting the outer panel to the one of the left and right side walls of the cargo box; and
wherein the cargo box further includes a tailgate movable between an open position and a closed position, and the at least one fastener is accessible for being unfastened when the tailgate is in the open position, and the tailgate prevents access to the fastener when in the closed position.

8. The off-road vehicle of claim 5 , wherein:
the inner panel has at least one tab aperture defined therein;
the outer panel further includes at least one tab engageable in the at least one tab aperture of the inner panel; and
the at least one tab aperture and the at least one tab are configured such that in order to disconnect the outer panel from the inner panel, the outer panel is moved to disengage the at least one tab from the at least one tab aperture of the inner panel before the outer panel is pulled away from the inner panel.

9. The off-road vehicle of claim 8 , wherein the at least one tab aperture and the at least one tab are configured such that in order to disengage the at least one tab from the at least one tab aperture, the outer panel is moved rearward.

10. The off-road vehicle of claim 8 , wherein the at least one tab aperture and the at least one tab are configured such that the at least one tab is disengaged from the at least one tab aperture by forward motion of the outer panel.

11. The off-road vehicle of claim 8 , further comprising at least one fastener selectively connecting the outer panel to the one of the left and right side walls of the cargo box, and
wherein the latch, the at least one fastener and the at least one tab are provided on the outer panel so as to be located on each side of the side storage space when the outer panel is connected to the inner panel.

12. The off-road vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the inner panel defines a recess adapted for receiving a light assembly of the off-road vehicle.

13. The off-road vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the inner panel further includes an accessory holder in the side storage space for receiving an accessory.

14. The off-road vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the accessory holder is integrally formed with the inner panel.

15. The off-road vehicle of claim 14 , wherein the accessory holder includes at least one of a belt holder, a booster cable holder, and a tool holder.

16. The off-road vehicle of claim 1 , wherein:
the inner panel is an inner left panel;
the side storage space is a left side storage space;
the outer panel is an outer left panel;
the one of the left and right side walls is the left side wall of the cargo box; and
the cargo box further comprises:
an inner right panel connected to the right side wall of the cargo box, the inner right panel defining a right side storage space on an outer side of the inner right panel, and
an outer right panel removably connected to the inner right panel, the outer right panel covering the right side storage space, the outer right panel having an outer periphery, and an integrally formed portion of the inner right panel extends outside the outer periphery of the outer right panel.

17. The off-road vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the inner right panel further includes a right accessory holder in the right side storage space.

18. The off-road vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the right accessory holder is integrally formed with the inner right panel.

19. The off-road vehicle of claim 16 , wherein the outer right panel is also connected to the right side wall of the cargo box.

20. The off-road vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the frame defines at least in part a cockpit area and a power pack area, the power pack area being disposed rearward of the cockpit area, and the motor is disposed in the power pack area.

Assignees

• Bombardier Recreational Products Inc

Inventors

• Veillette Stephane
• Dubois Didier
• Krucko Igor
• Crepeau Jean-Philippe
• Cotnoir Thierry

Classifications

• B62D33/023 Primary

  Sideboard or tailgate structures {(vehicle side panels in general B62D25/02)} · CPC title

• B62D21/183

  specially adapted for sports vehicles, e.g. race, dune buggies, go-karts (tubular skeleton B62D23/005) · CPC title

• B62D33/0273

  Movable tailboards for vehicles comprising non-movable sideboards, e.g. pick-up trucks (B62D33/037 takes precedence) · CPC title