Toronto, Ontario – Several recent Ford patents reveal the automaker’s reimagining for pickup truck interiors with designs to create more space for work and recreation inside vehicles.
Ford has filed no less than nine patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) covering a range of features, including swiveling seats, a retractable steering column and a fold-out workstation that could allow truck cabs to be reconfigured into a hangout or work space while stationary.
Several of the patents filed deal with rear seats designed to swivel to face a fold-out table mounted to the back wall of a crew cab, and ottomans that pop out of the backs of the front seats–a feature more common to luxury vehicles than pickup trucks.
A retractable steering column has been filed that would be designed to telescope inwards when not in use to free up more space in the vehicle.
While patented ideas don’t always reach production, Ford has made efforts in the past to create more flexible truck interiors. The automaker already offers fold-flat seats and a folding shifter that turns the centre console into a flatwork space in the F-150.
