Forget about every little thing you know about truck accessory racks. Rivian has a new idea that could adjust how you tie down and carry almost anything.
Rivian is revolutionizing more than just what powers our pickups. In its hottest patent, the firm is searching at turning the truck accessory upside down, with simpler attachment and elimination as well as electricity and unit interaction.
The patent was filed in late January, but it wasn’t revealed until eventually late April. In patent talk, it covers “vehicle accent port and plug.” What does that necessarily mean? We’ll explore the patent language and crack down what it could suggest for the Rivian R1T truck, R1S SUV, and other upcoming types.
Rivian Will get Really serious About Accessory Mounting
“A vehicle could involve an built-in connector process,” it suggests, right before outlining what a car is. You can study the patent for on your own, but put together for a lot of that sort of language. The vital component is this: “Each attachment port is configured to get and interact with an attachment plug of an accent.”
In the submitting, Rivian states the obvious: that several folks use their pickups to haul stuff that will not in good shape in the cabin or the bed. Like skis, surfboards, and kayaks on the roof, bikes on the hitch, and many others. “It would be beneficial to deliver an straightforward to use common and adaptive mounting process for gear,” the patent doc says.
Standard mounting hardware ordinarily requirements a aid construction and adapters, Rivian states. Like crossbars hooked up to a manufacturing facility roof rack, or a mounting bracket for a cargo basket.
These extras are difficult to install, and more durable to remove, so they’re usually still left on the motor vehicle all of the time. They can also be removed by the incorrect person, or as the filing phone calls it, “susceptible to mechanical destruction by an unauthorized person.”
Tailgate-Like Latch for Uncomplicated Set up and Removing
The remedy from Rivian engineers is a latching link for equipment that looks a large amount like the latch inside a tailgate.
In determine 13, you can see the element of the latch system. A spring-loaded catch hooks all around a hinge pin to lock the attachment in location. It will make for a secure and steady way to attach components to the car or truck that never want tools to put in or clear away.
The latch system itself is ingenious. Rivian’s patent demonstrates how helpful and adaptable the process could be: attachment points on the roof of the cab, on the truck box rails, and in the mattress by itself, and all equipped to maintain a Rivian accessory mount.
Flush-mount and surface area mounts are doable, so some of the accessory connections would be all but invisible when not in use.
Mild- and Heavy-Duty Ports Planned
Protection attributes are also portion of the patent. The wording states that “in some embodiments, there are two levels of retaining a plug inside an attachment port.” It usually means an attachment that has a weaker 1st-lock capability and then a 2nd extra positive lock.
The very first would preserve the accessory in area, and the next secure it from undesired elimination. Like the two phases of a hood launch pull, where pulling the beneath-dash tackle does not end with the hood traveling open up. You have to undo the next capture.
Rivian’s patent also talks about two diverse connections, just one for gentle-duty add-ons like a reduced-capacity D-ring, foam block pad, or a bed cap. The 2nd would be for large-responsibility mounting, which include gear racks or a single-plug bicycle rack. A light-weight-duty accessory could be applied in an High definition mount, but not the other way around.
Truck Battery Could Energy Kitchen area Accessory, Lighting, Far more
Here’s exactly where it will get seriously exciting, nevertheless. Merchandise 64: “In some embodiments, an attachment port consists of a acquiring aspect configured to receive and have interaction with an accessory.” Followed by merchandise 65: “In some embodiments, electric electricity is delivered to, or obtained from electronics through connections manufactured inside the getting port.”
The accessory mounting plugs could have electrical and communications ports, you can see them in figures 14 and 15, higher than. That would permit your racks be secured and unlocked working with the power-locking mechanism.
Or, they could be made use of to offer ability to or from the accessory. Rivian mentions a “cook station” (like the camp kitchen the firm has already revealed) that could obtain ability from the truck.
Rivian indicates an electric powered jack, lighting, a fridge, and other powered components that could be driven as a result of the mounts — even a photo voltaic panel or transportable generator that would deliver ability back into the truck’s battery making use of these attachment plugs.
As significantly as the accent mounts demonstrated, Rivian has crossbars for bikes, a rooftop canoe rack (with tie-downs), and a bedside mount for a smaller sized surfboard.
Is This the Most effective Truckside Hammock?
Our preferred? The hammock shown in figure 5. Making use of arms that join to the roof of the truck and the bedside, Rivian is showing off a cozy location for a nap, a single that does not make you climb all the way up to a rooftop tent. Working with the information relationship, Rivian could even make absolutely sure you never accidentally drive away with your hammock nonetheless in position!
Rivian has revealed some intelligent patents ahead of, like the bike rack that attaches to the interior tailgate, as well as a swinging tailgate that could open 180 levels. But this latest just one is something definitely exclusive, 1 that could set the firm apart from every single other pickup as lengthy as potential buyers are willing to go for Rivian-distinct and -appropriate accent mounts.
