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Ornamentation Roll bar, or Sportbar, is a traditional pick-up's component very popular in several countries. Known in most markets as a roll bar, the name Sportbar came up from a potential legal issue. Roll bars in general may sound like a structural roll protective element, however in most cases, it is just an ornamentation component used to enhance the aesthetics of the pick-up truck. Even though the main objective of some available sportbars is not to be a structural element, it is commonly used as a cargo attachment device besides ornamentation function. This condition implies the Sportbar be able to withstand dynamic loads itself during cargo transportation, which in turn, summed with the high extra efforts added by the Sportbar mass, directly transmits it to the attachment points of the part on the truck bed. Different truck bed designs, imposes different structural issues regarding the attachment characteristics.

The purpose of this paper is to suggest guidelines for new projects of soft tonneau covers for pickup truck beds made up of aluminum framework and soft coverage. As the main objective, this paper will make an overall about new accessories projects focusing on each one of the main components of the assembly. The target is to obtain a low cost tonneau cover with a great performance regarding functionality, water accumulation, sealing, noise, robustness, vibration and compatibility with another pick up box's accessories. This article also explores basic procedures for testing and validation of a new soft tonneau covers or a carry over one, with its use extended to a different pickup truck. It is one of the first technical documents about truck soft tonneau covers available, so few references could be found in technical databases.