Normal Motors has designed foldable mattress ramps that might make loading bikes, ATVs, or lawnmowers into the beds of pickup vehicles extra handy.

Ramps enable wheeled autos to be pushed or pushed right into a truck’s mattress, however there is a tradeoff between a high-angled ramp that may match within the mattress, however makes loading harder, and a low-angled ramp that could be tough to retailer. GM defined that in a patent software revealed by the US Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) on Jan. 18 and initially filed on July 13, 2022.

GM’s proposed answer is to make the ramps foldable. This enables for the ramp to be lengthy sufficient to create a shallow angle, so hundreds haven’t got to barter a steep incline to achieve the mattress, whereas nonetheless permitting for in-bed storage of the ramp itself.

As described within the patent software, every ramp consists of two sections hinged within the center, with structural helps so it could possibly deal with enough weight. When absolutely deployed, they connect to the tailgate. After they’re not wanted, the ramps fold in half, permitting them to be saved on the mattress partitions.

GM is not the one truck maker engaged on elaborate mattress ramps. Ford patent filings from 2023 point out a ramp that will be a part of an extendable cargo mattress flooring. On this case, your entire mattress flooring would have the ability to slide backward previous the tip of the tailgate, with the rearmost part pivoting downward to type a ramp.

The GM design is way less complicated, because it does not require any adjustments to the mattress itself—so whereas no automaker patent is assured to achieve manufacturing, it might have a greater likelihood than Ford’s advanced answer.