2. Discussion Pick-up trucks have become increasingly popular in recent years due, at least in part, to their ability to easily transport cargo within the bed of the truck.

One disadvantage of pick-up trucks is the limited space available within the passenger compartment defined by the cab. This problem is particularly acute in smaller trucks where there is little if any room to store or transport items within the cab. This deficiency has led manufacturers to develop extended cab trucks that recently have further included additional doors to provide ready access to the additional cab space. Unfortunately, the rather significant cost increases associated with manufacturing such extended cab vehicles have resulted in retail price increases that are beyond what many customers are willing or able to pay.

In view of the above, a need exists for a pick-up truck having a cab with additional storage space that does not significantly increase the price of the vehicle. To meet this need, the illustrated embodiment of the present invention includes a storage bin that extends rearwardly behind the cab and transversely between the frame rails of the vehicle. This arrangement provides additional storage capacity within the cab of the truck without requiring extensive modifications to the structure, or adversely impacting other features, of the vehicle.

Further areas of applicability of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood however that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only, since changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinafter and the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a pick-up truck according to the present invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the truck shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 shown in Figure 2; and Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 shown in Figure 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A truck 10 is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 to include a cab 12 and a bed 14 coupled to a truck frame 16. Consistent with accepted practices, the cab 12 includes a roof 22, a rear panel 24 that separates the cab from the bed, a firewall 26, and a floor pan 28 that extends from the firewall to the rear panel of the cab.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the cab 12 and bed 14 are coupled to the frame 16 in a conventional manner such as through a bolted connection. In fact, one of the advantages provided by the present invention is that the additional storage capacity provided by the bin may be realized without any significant modifications to the structural configuration of the truck 10 when compared to conventional designs.

The present invention is directed to a cab that defines a passenger compartment 30 having a storage bin 32 (Figure 2). The storage bin communicates with the main portion of the passenger compartment and extends transversely between the sides of the cab as well as between a left side frame rail 36 and a corresponding right side frame rail 38 (Figure 3). In the illustrated embodiment, storage bin 32 extends rearwardly behind the rear panel 24 and under the truck bed 14. It should be appreciated that the configuration and orientation of storage bin 32 may be modified from the illustrated configuration in order to maximize the storage capacity and other attendant benefits without negatively impacting the structure and operation of the vehicle. Moreover, storage bin 32 may be included with a variety of floor pan configurations

including a floor pan with a raised seat support 40 as is illustrated in the drawings and more completely described in the international patent application entitled"Floor Pan With Raised Seat Support Section"filed currently herewith by the inventors of the present invention. In fact, it should be apparent that a rearward inclined surface 39 of raised seat support 40 reduces the tendency of stored material to slide under the vehicle seat during operation thereby effectively containing the material within the bin 32.

It is contemplated that the storage bin may be formed through the coupling of stamped sheet metal components such as is illustrated and described herein. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that a variety of other methods and materials may be used without departing from the scope of the invention. In general, it is contemplated that storage bin 32 may be formed through the coupling of cooperatively configured portions of floor pan 28 and rear panel 24. For example, as is most clearly illustrated in FIG. 4, the floor pan may include a rearwardly extending lower shell 44 cooperative with a rearwardly extending segment of rear panel 24 that is shaped to form an upper shell 46. The lower and upper shells 44 and 46 may be coupled together such as by a weld 48 to seal bin 32 from the environment outside the cab.

In view of the above, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the storage bin 32 illustrated and described herein advantageously provides a clean, dry, and readily accessible storage area for a pick-up truck. The additional storage compartment is provided without significant modifications to the structural or operational configuration of the cab, bed, or other components of the truck. Moreover, in the preferred embodiment, the storage compartment is located in a manner that can accommodate numerous variations to the cab configuration including different floor pan configurations as described above.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.