Bumper mounted carrier rack

A bumper mounted carrier rack of the type having spaced downwardly extending rack legs on the bumper of a vehicle. The carrier rack is detachably mounted on the vehicle bumper by bumper mounting brackets which include tubular posts dimensioned to receive the legs of the carrier rack. The tubular posts have an outwardly flared leg on their upper end and are clamped to the bumper by a bumper clamp having an opening for receiving the post and arranged to underlie the lip to support the post at a level closely adjacent the top of the bumper. Bumper hangers secure the bumper clamp and posts to the bumper. In one embodiment, the bumper hangers are provided with multiple purpose hooks for use on flange type as well as flangeless bumpers. In another embodiment, bumper engaging hangers are provided for use on box type bumpers as well as covered bumpers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Automobile bicycle carrier racks have heretofore been made which support a 
bicycle on the bumper at the rear end of a vehicle with the bicycle 
extending generally crosswise of the vehicle. A common form of bicycle 
carrier rack has laterally spaced frame members supported at their lower 
ends on the vehicle bumper to extend generally upright, and spaced bicycle 
support members adjacent the upper end of the carrier rack for engaging 
and supporting one or more bicycles. Such carrier racks frequently 
interfere with use of the trunk lid, hatchback cover or station wagon door 
when they are mounted on the bumper. In order to facilitate removal of the 
carrier rack without requiring removal of the bumper fittings, bumper 
mounted carrier racks have heretofore been made which provide bumper 
mounting brackets that are mounted on the bumper and which detachably 
receive the lower ends of the legs of the carrier rack. However, some 
trunk lids and station wagon doors have very little clearance above the 
top of the bumper and it is important that the tops of the bumper brackets 
be disposed substantially flush with the top of the bumper, in order to 
avoid interference with the trunk lid or station wagon door, when the 
carrier rack is removed. Further, the type, size, and shape of the bumpers 
varies widely on different vehicles, and it is desirable to provide bumper 
mounting brackets capable of accommodating bumpers of different type, size 
and shape. 
An important object of the present invention is to provide, in a bumper 
mounted carrier of the type having a pair of laterally spaced downwardly 
extending rack legs, a pair of bumper mounting brackets for detachably 
mounting the carrier rack on the bumper and which bumper mounting brackets 
are disposed substantially flush with the top of the bumper, to avoid 
interference with a trunk lid or a staton wagon door, when the carrier 
rack is removed from the bumper mounting brackets. 
Another object of this invention is to provide bumper mounting brackets 
which can be mounted on bumpers of widely different type, size and shape. 
Still another object of this invention is to provide a bumper mounting 
bracket which can be economically manufactured and easily installed on 
vehicle bumpers, and which are rugged and durable in use.

The present invention relates to bumper mounted carrier racks and 
particularly bumper mounted carrier racks of a type having a pair of 
laterally spaced downwardly extending rack legs and which are adapted to 
support one or more bicycles at the rear of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 
1, the carrier rack 10 includes a frame structure having a pair of 
laterally spaced legs 11 which are interconnected as by cross members 12 
and 13, and which have bicycle support arms 14 mounted thereon for 
supporting the bicycles. The arms are mounted so as to extend rearwardly 
of the rack when the carrier rack is in use, to engage and support one or 
more bicycles, and the arms are preferably mounted for swinging movement 
from their support position shown in FIG. 1 to a position paralleling the 
frame of the carrier rack to provide compact storage when not in use. 
Bumper mounting brackets 15 are provided for detachably mounting the 
carrier rack on the bumper B of a vehicle to enable removal of the carrier 
rack without removing the bumper fittings. The carrier racks are used on a 
wide variety of different types of vehicles including sedans, station 
wagons, and recreational vehicles, and the bumper mounting brackets are 
constructed and arranged so as to be disposed substantially flush with the 
top of the bumper, when the carrier rack is removed, so that the brackets 
do not interfere with movement of the trunk lid or rear station wagon door 
between its open and close positions. A pair of bumper mounting brackets 
are provided, one for each of the upright legs 11 of the carrier rack, and 
each bumper mounting bracket includes a tubular post 16 having an internal 
dimension to slidably receive the lower end of a respective rack leg 11. 
The tubular posts 16 each have a flared lip 16a on their upper end and an 
internal stop means 16b spaced below the upper end of the post a distance 
at least several times greater than the cross section of the post to limit 
downward movement of the leg 11 of the carrier rack. As best shown in FIG. 
3, the internal stop means 16b conveniently comprises a depression formed 
in the side of the tubular posts 16. 
The tubular posts 16 are adapted to extend alongside the rear of the 
vehicle bumper B and means including bumper post clamps 18 and upper and 
lower bumper hangers 19 and 20 are provided for securing the posts to the 
bumper. The bumper post clamps 18 comprise a unitary sheet metal body 
having a plate portion 21, a flange portion 22 extending transverse to the 
plate portion along one side edge, and a lip portion 23 extending 
laterally from the flange portion and in spaced relation to the plate 
portion. The plate portion has a hole 24 formed therein of a size to 
receive a tubular bumper post, but smaller than the outer diameter of the 
lip 16a on the post so as to underlie and support the lip on the post. As 
best shown in FIG. 5, the bumper post clamps each have a pair of spaced 
bolt receiving openings 25 spaced apart a distance greater than the cross 
section of the hole 24, and the lip 23 on the clamp 18 is arranged to 
extend from the flange a distance to engage the side wall of the tubular 
post, as clearly shown in FIG. 3. 
The bumper hangers 19 secure the bumper post clamps 18 to the bumper B and, 
as shown in FIGS. 1-6, the bumper hangers 19 include an elongated shank 
having an externally threaded end portion 19a at one end that extends 
through a respective one of bolt holes 25 in the bumper post clamp, and a 
hook portion at the other end engageable with the upper forward edge of 
the bumper. Some bumpers such as designated B.sub.1 in FIGS. 2 and 3, have 
a depending flange designated f along their forward edge, while others 
such as shown at B.sub.2 in FIG. 4 have a flangeless forward edge. In 
accordance with the present invention, the hook portion on the bumper 
hangers is constructed and arranged so that the same hangers can be 
utilized with the flangeless bumpers shown in FIG. 4 as well as the 
flange-type bumpers as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. For this purpose, the 
bumper hangers are provided with a first reversely curved hook portion 19b 
that is integral with the end of the shank and defines an acute included 
angle with the shank, for engaging the edge of a flangeless bumper such as 
designated B.sub.2 in FIG. 4. The bumper hangers are also provided with a 
second hook portion 19c which is integral with the distal end of the first 
hook portion 19b and extends therefrom in a direction generally 
perpendicular to the shank portion 19, for engaging the flange f on the 
forward edge of a flange type bumper such as shown at B.sub.1 in FIGS. 2 
and 3. The hooks on the bumper engaging hangers are also provided with a 
third hook portion 19d that is integral with the distal end of the second 
hook portion 19c, and extends therefrom at an acute angle to the shank 
portion of the hook, to extend downwardly and forwardly in underlying 
relation to the flange f on a flange type bumper. Preferably, the 
reversely curved hook portion 19b and the hook portion 19d each define an 
included angle of about 45.degree. with the shank of the bumper engaging 
hook. The bumper hangers can be easily installed in overlying relation to 
the top of the bumper by turning the hook portions 19b-19d to a generally 
horizontal plane while sliding the hangers forwardly over the top of the 
bumper, and then turning the bumper hangers so that the hook portions 
extend downwardly to engage the forward edge of the bumper, as shown in 
FIGS. 3 and 4. Nuts 31 are threaded on the externally threaded end 
portions 19a of the bumper hangers and, as best shown in FIG. 5, a flat 
washer 32 and lock washer 33 are interposed between the nut and the flange 
portion of the bumper clamp. As will be seen, the nuts 31 can be tightened 
to draw the bumper post clamp forwardly and press the tubular posts 16 
against the rear face of the bumper. When installed, the bumper engaging 
hangers overlie the top of the bumper and the plate portion 21 of the 
bumper post clamp underlies the lip 16a on the upper end of the tubular 
bumper post 16 to support the same. The plate 21 is very rigid in a plane 
paralleling the lengthwise axis of the bumper hangers 19 and the bumper 
post is firmly clamped by the plate portion 21 and lip 23 against the rear 
face of the bumper. 
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-6, the lower bumper hanger 20 includes a 
hook member 41 attached to one end of a flexible chain 42, the other end 
of which chain is extended through selected ones of vertically spaced 
pairs of aligned openings 16c in the lower portion of the tubular posts 16 
and anchored to the posts by a retainer pin 43. As best shown in FIG. 2, 
the hook 41 comprises a U-shaped wire member having hook portions at 
opposite ends disposed in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the 
U-shaped wire member. During installation, the retainer pin 43 is inserted 
through the chain 42 at the rear side of the post at a location to support 
the bumper post in a generally upright position, and the nuts 31 on the 
upper bumper hangers thereafter tightened to clamp the bumper posts 16 to 
the bumper. 
The legs 11 of some of the carrier racks are formed of round tubular stock, 
such as 11/8" round tubing, while the legs of some other carrier racks are 
formed of square stock, such as 1" square tubing. In order to adapt the 
bumper mounting posts for use with carrier racks having either round or 
square tubing, the opening 24 in the bumper clamps 18 is formed so as to 
receive tubular posts of either round cross section or square cross 
section. Carrier racks having tubular legs of 11/8" round cross section 
can be received in round tubular posts having an outer diameter of about 
11/4", while tubular carrier legs having a 1" square cross section can be 
received in square tubular posts having an outer width of about 11/8". As 
best shown in FIG. 6, the opening 24 in the plate portion of the bumper 
clamps is formed so as to include a plurality of arcuately spaced arc 
segments 24a which define portions of a circle dimensioned to receive a 
tubular bumper post 16 of circular cross section as shown in FIGS. 1-6, 
and the hole also includes a plurality of notches 24b located angularly 
intermediate adjacent ones of the arc segments and defining corners of a 
square to receive tubular bumper posts 16' of square cross section as 
shown in FIG. 10. The arc segments 24a may, for example, define portions 
of a circle of a diameter slightly greater than 11/4" to receive a tubular 
bumper post of about 11/4" o.d., and the notches 24b can define portions 
of a square that is slightly greater than 11/8" on each side to receive a 
tubular bumper post of square cross section. As will be seen, the width 
dimension of the square bumper posts is less than the diameter of the 
circular bumper posts, but the diagonal dimension of the square posts is 
greater than the diameter of the circular posts. 
Some vehicle bumpers, such as those used on some recreational vehicles have 
a box shaped cross section such as shown at B.sub.3 in FIG. 7 and do not 
provide a lip or a flange which can be engaged by hook-type bumper 
engaging hangers. Some other bumpers are in at least substantially 
enclosed in a heavy plastic or rubber covering, for example as shown in 
FIG. 10 and designated B.sub.4. In the embodiment of FIGS. 8-10, the 
bumper posts 16 and the upper bumper clamps 18 are conveniently of the 
same construction as previously described in connection with FIGS. 1-7, 
and like numerals are used to designate corresponding parts. In this 
embodiment, modified upper bumper hangers 19' and modified lower bumper 
hangers 20' are provided. The upper bumper hangers comprise a pair of 
generally L-shaped bolts having first and second legs 19a' and 19b' 
integrally connected at one end to extend transverse to each other and 
having threaded end portions. The lower bumper hangers comprising eye 
bolts having an eye 20a' at one end dimensioned to receive one of the legs 
of the upper bumper hook, and a threaded end portion at its other end. One 
leg 19a" of each of the upper bumper hangers extends through respective 
ones of the bolt receiving openings 25 in an upper bumper clamp 18 and has 
threaded fasteners 31' thereon for adjusting the upper bump clamp 
horizontally. The threaded end portions on the legs 19b' of the upper 
bumper hangers extend downwardly through the eyes 20a' on the lower bumper 
hangers and have threaded fasteners 51 thereon for adjusting the lower 
bumper hangers vertically. The threaded ends of the eye bolts 20' extend 
through bolt openings in the flange of a lower bumper clamp 18', 
conveniently of the same form as the upper bumper clamp 18, and have 
threaded fasteners 52 thereon for adjusting the lower bumper clamp 18' 
horizontally. When the bumper brackets are installed on the bumper as 
shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the tubular bumper posts 16 extend alongside the 
rear face of the bumper and the L-shaped bolts 19' extend along the top 
and rear sides of the bumper while the lower eye bolts 20' extend along 
the underside of the bumper. The position of the lower eye bolts on the 
upright legs 19' can be vertically adjusted by the nuts 51' to accommodate 
bumpers of different height, and the lower bumper clamp 18' is vertically 
adjustable along the tubular bumper posts 16 so that the lower eye bolts 
can closely underlie the bottom of the bumper. The nuts 31' and 52' adjust 
the upper and lower bumper clamps 18 and 18' in a horizontal direction to 
adapt the bumper mounting bracket for bumpers of different widths. 
The same bumper hangers 19' and 20' can be utilized on covered bumpers, 
that is bumpers as shown at B.sub.4 in FIG. 9 that are covered by a heavy 
plastic or rubber covering C that extends over the top, rear end bottom of 
the bumper. When used on such bumpers, it is only necessary to drill a 
pair of small holes C' in the covering C closely adjacent the top of the 
bumper and at locations along the length of the bumper where it is desired 
to position the bumper mounting brackets. The leg 19b' of the L-shaped 
bolt 19' can be inserted through the opening C' and the leg 19b' then 
swung downwardly at the rear side of the bumper. The lower eye bolts 20' 
are then assembled on the upper and lower clamps 18 and 18' and bumper 
posts 16, in the manner previously described in connecton with FIGS. 8 and 
9. 
From the foregoing it will be seen that the bumper mounting brackets are 
adapted to removably support the carrier rack on the rear bumper of a 
vehicle and that the bumper mounting brackets, when mounted by either 
bumper hangers 19, 20 or 19', 20' are disposed substantially flush with 
the top of the bumper so that they do not obstruct either the trunk lid or 
the rear station wagon door, when the carrier rack is removed. Bumper 
hangers 19 are adapted for use on a wide variety of bumpers including 
flangeless bumpers as well as flange-type bumpers. Bumper engaging hangers 
19' and 20' are adapted for use with box type bumpers or covered bumpers 
as shown in FIGS. 8-10, and can accommodate bumpers of widely different 
height and width. Moreover, the bumper clamps are constructed and arranged 
so that they can be utilized with tubular posts of either circular cross 
section or square cross section to respectively accommodate carrier racks 
formed of circular tubing or square tubing.