Ford Patents Privacy Curtain for SUV Liftgate
Camping is fun, but one of the many problems with it (bugs, bears, body odor) is that there tends to be no easy way to change in private. Well, here comes Ford with the solution.
Sure, you can get changed in your tent, but putting on pants in the average tent requires the sort of yogic flexibility that only contortionists possess.
Like a fancy lady’s folding screen in an old-timey movie, Ford is turning your SUV’s tailgate into a curtain rod and hanging a privacy curtain from it.
According to US patent number US 2018/0147918 A1, the gadget will not only let you get changed in private, it can also be attached to poles to turn it into an awning. That means that when you’re tailgating, you can build your pergola and find some much-needed shade.
SEE ALSO: Ford Patents Wheel Airbags – For One Very Good Reason
Better yet, Ford has also included a “photoluminescent structure” in the patent, so your awning (or curtain, I suppose) can light up at night to help the fun go on into the wee small hours.
The patent is kind of elegant in its simplicity and it looks like it could work on any SUV (or hatchback for that matter) with a hatch that opens vertically—so, not the EcoSport—and even though the drawings look like an Explorer or an Expedition, we quietly hope Ford will introduce this as a party trick for the Bronco. As the sort of outdoorsy, fun-focused SUV that will be sold to the camping- and tailgating-set, it seems like exactly the type of vehicle that would benefit from a privacy curtain.
Kind of like the Aztec, but, you know, less horrible.
A version of this story originally appeared on All Ford Mustangs.
Sebastien is a roving reporter who covers Euros, domestics, and all things enthusiast. He has been writing about the automotive industry for four years and obsessed with it his whole life. He studied English at the Wilfrid Laurier University. Sebastien also edits for AutoGuide's sister sites VW Vortex, Fourtitude, Swedespeed, GM Inside News, All Ford Mustangs, and more.
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Mr. Bell, that is NOT a patent, it is a patent APPLICATION. Look up the USPTO numbering system. You are welcome.