Abstract:
A cargo carrier mountable onto a trailer hitch of a vehicle has a two-piece tubular housing having an internal chamber for accommodating link members and rigid bars used to retain the housing in an expanded open position. A hitch bar secured to the housing is adapted to be coupled to the trailer hitch on the vehicle.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/833,723 filed Jul. 28, 2006. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a cargo carrier attachable to a conventional hitch on a vehicle and, in particular, to a cargo carrier that is contractible to a compact cylindrical configuration and removable from the hitch on a motor vehicle. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Motor vehicles have rear compartments and trunks for storing luggage and other articles. Separate cases mounted the backs of motor vehicles have also been used for additional article storage spaces. Bicycle racks are connected to trailer hitches mounted on the rear frames of motor vehicles for carrying one or more bicycles. The trunks and bicycle racks are relatively large and bulky and not amenable to compact storage on and within the vehicle interior when not in use. Separate cargo carriers have been designed to connect directly to conventional trailer hitches mounted on the frames of motor vehicles. Examples of carriers attachable to hitches on motor vehicles are disclosed in the following U.S. patents. 
     P. A. Oster in U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,289 discloses a carrier attachable to a trailer hitch having a hinged tray or shelf that can be lowered to a horizontal position to support cargo and pivoted to an upright storage position. 
     A. G. Lipscomb in U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,387 describes and shows a cargo carrier attachable to a vehicle for transporting bicycles. The carrier has a main support bar and multiple support rods interconnected to provide a platform for supporting cargo. 
     J. S. Belinky and D. A. Young in U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,909 disclose a cargo carrier having an elongated drawbar and a platform mounted on the drawbar. The drawbar has a forward end telescoped into a conventional vehicle trailer hitch. 
     L. T. LeMay and T. D. Trotter in U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,451 describes a cargo carrier having a telescoping assembly to mount a cargo unit to a trailer hitch attachable to a vehicle. The telescoping assembly is operable to longitudinally move the cargo unit toward and away from the vehicle. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The cargo carrier of the invention is adapted to be mounted on a conventional trailer hitch on the rear frame of a motor vehicle, such as an automobile, van, pick-up truck, or motor home. The cargo carrier is a two part generally cylindrical housing having a contracted compact storage closed position and an expanded cargo holding open position. A hitch bar secured to the housing is adapted to be coupled to and uncoupled from the trailer hitch to allow the cargo carrier to be stored in its closed position. Link members connected to the housing are operable to allow the housing to be separated to the cargo holding open position. Rigid brackets extended between and attached to the housing maintain the housing in the cargo holding open position. Latches mounted on the housing are operable to retain the housing in the closed position. The latches are releasable to allow the housing to be moved between its closed and open positions. 
     A preferred embodiment of the cargo carrier has a two piece tubular housing having separate semi-circular elongated first and second sections with facing sides, opposite ends and an internal chamber between the first and second sections. A hitch bar secured to one of the sections of the housing is used to couple the cargo carrier to a conventional tubular hitch mounted on a frame of a motor vehicle. The first and second sections of the housing are connected with hinge members and rigid brackets to maintain the first and second sections of the housing in spaced apart open positions. The hinge members and rigid brackets are stored in the chamber between the first and second sections of the housing when the housing is in its closed position. Latches mounted on the first and second sections of the housing are operable to retain the housing in its closed position. The latches are releasable to allow the first and second sections to be moved to open and closed positions. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a pick-up truck having a tubular rear trailer hitch connected to the cargo carrier of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged rear elevational view of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the cargo carrier; 
         FIG. 4  is a top plan view of the cargo carrier of  FIG. 3  with the hitch bar foreshortened; 
         FIG. 5  is a top plan view, partly sectioned, of the cargo carrier in the open position; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the cargo carrier in the open position; 
         FIG. 7  is a side elevational view of a hinge included in the cargo carrier shown in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a bracket included in the cargo carrier shown in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 9  is an enlarged end elevational view of the cargo carrier in the closed position; 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a latch for holding the housing sections of the cargo carrier together; 
         FIG. 11  is a foreshortened perspective view of the cargo carrier in the open position; and 
         FIG. 12  is a sectional view taken along line  12 - 12  of  FIG. 11 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In the following description of the cargo carrier reference is made to the accompanying drawing that form a part hereof, and show a specific embodiment in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments of the cargo carrier may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a motor vehicle  10  has a conventional tubular trailer hitch  11  attachable to the vehicle&#39;s rear frame. Cargo carrier  12  of the invention mounted on hitch  11  extends transversely along the back of the rear bumper of vehicle  10 . Motor vehicle  10  is shown as a pick-up truck. Other types of vehicles, such as automobiles, utility vans, motor homes and trailers with hitches can be used with cargo carrier  12 . Cargo carrier  12  has a two-piece tubular housing  13  with longitudinal semi-circular housing sections  13  and  16 . Housing  13  is located behind and generally parallel to the rear bumper of vehicle  10 . Housing  13  can be made of metal, plastic, or other rigid materials. Housing sections  14  and  16  can have channel shaped cross sections and other shapes. 
     A horizontal hitch bar  15  is secured with welds to the front center of the front of section  16 . Bar  15  is an elongated square member adapted to telescope into a conventional tubular trailer hitch  11 . A release lock pin (not shown) retains bar  15  in assembled relation with trailer hitch  11 . Other types of hitch structures can be used to mount cargo carrier  12  on a vehicle. 
     Latches  17  and  18  hold housing sections  14  and  16  in face to face closed positions. As shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 , a latch  17  comprises a tab  19  secured to the top of housing section  14  and a threaded member  20  turned into tab  19 . The lower end of threaded member  20  is swedged on a nut  26  mounted on housing section  16 . Threaded member  20  has a large cylindrical head to facilitate manual turning of threaded member  20  to secure housing sections  14  and  16  in their closed positions. Latch  18  has the same structure as latch  17 . Latches  17  and  18  are released to allow sections  14  and  16  to move to open positions. Other releasable devices can be used to retain sections  14  and  16  in a generally cylindrical closed configuration and allow sections  14  and  16  to be moved to an open condition. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , hinges  21  and  22  and rigid brackets  23  and  24  retain cargo carrier  12  in its open position.  FIG. 7  shows the over center stop  26  for hinge  21  that retains hinge  21  in an elongated condition. Brackets  23  and  24  hold hinges  21  and  22  in over center positions. Each hinge  21  and  22  has first and second members with adjacent inner ends pivotally connected with an upright pivot member. Additional pivot members connect the outer ends of the first and second members to the first and second sections  14  and  16  of housing  13 . The first and second members are maintained in over center positions with stops  26  and rigid brackets  23  and  24 . Brackets  23  and  24 , as shown in  FIG. 8 , are flat rectangular plates attached with fasteners to the inside walls of first and second sections  14  and  16  of housing  13 . The plates have flat top surfaces for supporting cargo. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 5 ,  6 ,  11  and  12 , semi-circular plates  27  and  28  are secured to opposite ends of housing section  14 . Semi-circular plates  29  and  30  secured to opposite ends of housing section  16  have vertical flat ends engageable with the flat ends of plates  27  and  28  to close the opposite ends of housing  13  as shown in  FIG. 3 . The opposite ends of sections  14  and  16  can have a spherical quadrant configuration to avoid right angle edges at the ends of sections  14  and  16 . Rigid bars  31  and  32  connected to plates  27  and  29  with pins  33  and  34  and to plates  28  and  30  with pins  36  and  37  retain housing sections  14  and  16  in open or expanded positions as shown in  FIGS. 5 ,  11  and  12 . The opposite ends of bars  31  and  32  have inwardly directed slots to accommodate plates  27  and  30 . As seen in  FIG. 11 , housing section  14  supports hooks  38  and  39  used to store bars  31  and  32  within housing  13 . Bars  31  and  32  have holes  41  and  42  in the end sections to accommodate hooks  38  and  39 . Other structures can be used to hold cargo carrier  12  in the open or extended position. 
     It is to be understood that changes in the form, arrangement of parts, structure and elements of the cargo carrier and hitch bar can be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.