Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for a new type of cargo management system, Ford Authority has learned.
The patent was filed on January 20th, 2021, published on July 21th, 2022, and assigned serial number 0227356.
The Ford Authority Take
In the ever-competitive pickup truck world, manufacturers are constantly innovating in an effort to one-up each other. As such, Ford has filed a number of truck-related patents in recent months, including one for a pivoting trailer hitch, an integrated roof rail power outlet system, a magnetic truck bed, a multi-panel bed for pickup trucks, and a pickup truck bed to cab pass through system, in addition to debuting Onboard Scales, Smart Hitch, and Continuously Controlled Damping active suspension on the 2021 Ford F-150. Now, this new Ford patent continues that trend with a new sort of cargo management system for pickups.
Cargo management systems are nothing new in not only pickups, but also SUVs, crossovers, and other types of vehicles, but this particular Ford patent lends more of a high-tech approach to this ages-old feature. In fact, the system depicted in this patent would be able to estimate the distance an item extends beyond the perimeter of the vehicle, then calculate whether or not that length is within compliance in terms of local and federal regulations.
With the system continuously monitoring the load, if the item extends too far and puts the vehicle out of compliance, the system could warn the driver, including in the event that the item shifts and becomes non-compliant while the vehicle is being driven. This would be particularly helpful for those that haul longer items like wooden boards that protrude past the lowered tailgate, especially for drivers that don’t necessarily want to get pulled over and perhaps be issued a ticket for that kind of infraction.
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