TARPAULIN STRUCTURE

The invention relates to a tarpaulin structure for an understructure, such as a truck, trailer, semi-trailer, railway car, dump truck or container, comprising a folding-top frame () and a tarpaulin () made of weather-resistant material, the folding-top frame () includes a plurality of struts (); at the end, each of the struts has a carriage () that is movable along a guide (), at least one bracket () is selectively pivotally connected to a pair of opposite carriages (′) of the strut or to the strut (); said bracket () forming a tarpaulin folding aid along with a bracket () of an adjacent strut (), of a pair of opposite carriages (′) or of a stationary part () of the folding-top frame (). In order to create a light-weight tarpaulin structure that allows an understructure to be reliably covered, according to the invention, the adjacent brackets () are coupled to each other by means of a kinematic connecting rod assembly () that folds when the folding-top frame () is collapsed.