Hard folding tonneau cover

摘要

A hard folding cover system for securely covering the bed of a pickup truck that can be opened or closed without the need to manually lift and fold individual panels sequentially in order to access the bed of the truck. The cover includes a plurality of hard folding panels that pivotably interconnected by alternatingly attached up-acting hinges and down-acting hinges whereby the panels are configured to sequentially fold and retract lengthwise while riding along side tracks. The cover is configured to operate between a flat position and at least one retracted position; in the retracted position, at least one of the folding panels is in a substantially vertical position. As the cover is retracted, the panels sequentially fold vertically toward one another. The retracted position, the panels do not block a rear window or brake light of the vehicle on which the cover is installed.

主权项

1. A foldable tonneau cover for a truck bed, comprising:
a plurality of folding flat rigid rectangular panels, a plurality of up acting hinges; plurality of down acting hinges; a flexible sheet of water resistant material for protecting a truck bed;first and second truck bed cover tracks attachable to opposing side rails of a truck bed;
said rigid panels being disposed in a parallel array, pivotally connected to one another by alternately attached up acting hinges and down acting hinges; said up acting hinges and said down acting hinges having a top portion and a bottom portion; said flexible sheet of material attached on the topside of said flat panels and the top portions of said up acting hinges and said down acting hinges forming a continuous protective surface from one end of said truck bed cover to the opposite end of said truck bed cover; said flexible sheet of material connected to said upper side of said flat panels and to each of said alternating up acting hinges and down acting hinges so that there is no excess material when said truck bed cover is in a closed flat position or when said truck bed cover is in an open position where the panels are folded side-by-side; each of said rigid flat panels having a pair of end faces that are parallel; a plurality of rollers extendably connected to each end face of said flat rigid panels and sized to engage said first and second tracks mounted on each side of said truck bed allowing the entire truck bed cover to be disposed in a first position covering the entire truck bed in a flat plane but allowing the panels to be moved to a side-by-side folded up position at the front end of the truck bed; a track panel guide for guiding said rigid panels into a folded up and folded down position mounted on said first and second tracks near the front end of the truck bed cover to ensure that the panels fold up only at the front end of the truck bed cover when the truck bed cover is being opened from a closed position at the rear of said truck bed; wherein said plurality of panels are configured to sequentially fold and retract lengthwise.