Quote:
Originally Posted by bondo
Found an interesting patent application filed by Ford on May 11, 2009, while searching for prior art on the pickup truck tailgate mount boatail. It seems one of the inventors is a gentleman named Kelly Kohlstrand, a member of the Ford Advanced Product Marketing and Technology Planning Team.
If you want to read the application it is - US 2010/0283280 A1
Title - Vehicle Cargo Management System
You can access it at - United States Patent and Trademark Office
From the text and drawings it can be determined that the cargo bed is covered by a panel for about the last two feet of the bed, just forward of the closed tailgate.
In the Abstract of the patent it reads:
"The systems partially cover the cargo bed and/or tailgate thereby reducing turbulence at the end of the vehicle and improving vehicle fuel efficiency."
I've heard of Ford!
Bondo |
An article appeared in Pop. Sci.in 1981 after the National Plywood Assoc. annual meeting.In the article 'Plywood ups mileage',they mention that Ford recognized fuel savings on their pickup after covering only the first one foot of bed in front of the closed gate.
There is an image of the article in my photo-archive.
I would have to guess that they were expanding on the 1981 discovery.