Patent ID: 11919484
Assignee: TALEM CAPITAL, LLC
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A roof mounted rack system comprising:
a frame configured to mount to a vehicle roof, said frame comprising:
a frame rail configured to be transversely mounted to the vehicle roof;
a mounting rail, comprising a parallel portion substantially parallel to the frame rail, said mounting rail being slidably and rotatably coupled to the frame rail such that, when the frame is mounted to the vehicle roof, the mounting rail is operable to:
slide, relative to the frame rail, in a transverse direction so that the parallel portion of the mounting rail extends into a space to the side of the vehicle roof, and
rotate, relative to the frame rail, such that the parallel portion of the mounting rail is lowered below a plane defined by the vehicle roof wherein the parallel portion of the mounting rail remains substantially parallel to the frame rail throughout the rotation; and

a spring-assisted lifting system operable to resist rotation of the mounting rail relative to the frame rail as the parallel portion of the mounting rail is lowered below the plane defined by the vehicle roof, the spring-assisted lifting system comprises:
a constant-force spring coupled to the mounting rail by a radial cam operable to transfer progressively lesser resistive force from the constant-force spring to the mounting rail as the parallel portion of the mounting rail is lowered below the plane defined by the vehicle roof.