Cargo rack for pickup trucks

A mounting rack for pickup trucks that have a cargo bed with upstanding lateral side walls where the rack includes a pair of base forming rails adapted to be surmounted on the top fenders of the truck cargo bed, a pair of rigid frames attached centrally to the respective rails in a position upstanding from the side walls or top fenders of the truck cargo bed and at least one cross beam interconnecting the uppermost portions of the said rigid frames. The rack further includes cargo support cradles shaped like "U" shaped bail members carried by each of the rails and projecting laterally from the cargo bed of the truck to support bikes or other additional cargo.

The present invention relates to a structural rack to be mounted around the 
bed of a pickup truck to support bicycles, boats and other cargo. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Racks designed to carry bicycles on motor vehicles are plentiful and are 
found in a variety of designs and configurations but each of them possess 
disadvantages which are resolved by the rack of the present invention, at 
least with respect to pickup truck type of vehicles. Many of the racks are 
described in U.S. Patents, the most pertinent of which are described 
below. 
A vehicle mounted foldable bicycle carrier is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 
4,875,608 which utilizes U-shaped channels members to support the wheels 
of a bicycle however the remaining portion of the rack is markedly 
dissimilar to the rack of the present invention and could not be mounted 
in the bed of a pickup truck. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,763 discloses a load carrier for a motor load vehicle 
which is generally constructed over the sides of a light delivery van but 
the structure as taught by the patentee could not be used in the same 
manner or for the same purpose as the carrier of the present invention. 
Many pickup truck bicycle racks mount inside of the truck bed and secure 
the bicycle front fork with the wheel removed. Bicycles and other types of 
cargo may, of course, be carried in the bed of a pickup truck without any 
rack or other support at all, but in so doing valuable space within the 
bed of the truck is occupied when, by utilizing the rack of the present 
invention, that space could be saved. 
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a 
bicycle rack for pickup trucks which can mount at least two "race ready" 
bicycles without compromising the bed space for other cargo. 
A second object of the invention is to provide a bicycle rack for a pickup 
truck which is readily accessible and does not require that the bicycle be 
lifted far overhead for placement into the cradling parts of the rack. 
A third object of the invention is to provide a bicycle support for 
attachment to a truck type of vehicle which will support the bicycle by 
its wheels, the one constant feature of bicycle design. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a bicycle support which may 
be collapsed or folded into an out-of-the-way position when not carrying 
its cargo. 
A still further object of the invention is to provide a bicycle rack of the 
type described which, through the double usage of the novel supporting 
framework of the rack, a small boat or similar load can be supported over 
the bed without the consumption of truck bed storage space. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a kind of "side saddle" 
mounting rack which will not interfere with rear view vision from the 
driver's station in the vehicle, either through a standard windshield 
mounted rear view mirror or side mounted mirrors but will, at the same 
time, afford the driver an opportunity to maintain a close watch on the 
cargo being transported on the rack of the present invention through the 
side mirrors on the vehicle. 
Other and still further objects, features and advantages of the invention 
will become apparent upon a reading of the detailed description of a 
preferred form of the invention which follows. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The rack comprises a pair of frame members, each upstanding from and 
mounted on the respective sides of a pickup truck bed. The panels or 
frames are tied together at their topmost extensions with at least one 
rigid compression/tension member which can itself provide support for 
cargo, such as a boat, centrally of and above the truck bed. Extending 
laterally outwardly from the lower portion of each panel or frame are a 
pair of spaced apart supports which are sized and adapted to abut the 
tires on the wheels of the bicycle to sustain the weight of the bicycle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Viewing first the drawing of FIG. 1, the preferred form of the rack of the 
present invention is seen attached to a typical pickup truck 2 with a 
bicycle 3 attached to the near side of the rack. Looking at the side and 
top views of FIGS. 4 and 3 together, the rack comprises as its base a pair 
of mounting rails 4 and 6 which are attached respectively by any well 
known means to the upper surfaces of the lateral and upstanding sides or 
top fenders 8 and 10 of the truck bed 13. 
Pivotally attached to a central portion of each of the mounting rails 4 and 
6 are frame struts 14 and 16 respectively which each lie in and pivot 
within a plane which is inclined inwardly toward the truck bed from the 
base rail to which the strut is attached. Each of the struts may be 
elevated to the position shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 8 or may be folded down 
to a storage position flat against the forward portion of the attaching 
rail, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 8. The exact angle of the elevated 
position is fixed by a bracing bar 17 interconnecting the strut and its 
mounting rail. The bracing bar is also pivotally mounted on the mounting 
rail so as to be adjustable in setting the exact angle or position of the 
strut to which it is attached by a pin and slot interconnection 19. When 
the desired position of the frame strut is achieved the pin may be 
tightened against the sides of the slot to maintain the position in any 
well known manner to fix the dimensions of the triangle abc, establishing 
the strut in an upright position so that the upper part of the bicycle 
frame may be attached or lashed to it for the cycle's lateral support on 
the rack. 
The bracing bars 17 on each side of the truck rack provide support for the 
respective struts 14 and 16 in the plane of their capable rotation around 
their respective pivot points 15 and 18 but the struts still require 
lateral support. That support is developed through the use of a 
horizontally disposed rigid cross beam 20 which spans the distance between 
the two side members of the rack and is attached to the upper ends of the 
struts 14 and 16 across the top of the truck bed. When the struts are 
folded down into storage position, as shown by dotted lines in FIG. 7, the 
compression/tension cross beam 20 takes a position just behind the forward 
end of the truck bed, substantially aligned with the top surface of the 
sides 8 and 10 and out of the way for the loading and unloading of other 
cargo which may be contained in the truck bed 13. 
Not a part of the inventive rack which is the subject of this disclosure, 
but shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is a separate "headache" rack 21 which extends 
upwardly from the forward end of the truck bed and acts as a supplemental 
support for long cargo such as a boat 27, which utilizes the cross beam 20 
as a part of its support, as shown in FIGS. 1, 5 and 8. 
Laterally outwardly projecting cradles or other farms of wheel supports are 
carried by the base rails 4 and 6 to support a bicycle or other cargo. 
FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 illustrate front and back bicycle wheel supports made in 
the form of spaced apart balls 22 and 24 on one side and 26 and 28 on the 
other side of the truck rack. Illustrating by reference to the left side 
of the vehicle rack, the front and rear wheels 31 and 33 of a bicycle are 
received within the space between the mounting rail 4 and the outer 
extremity of the respective ball which is parallel to the rail 4. The 
longitudinal extent of each ball is of a dimension less that the diameter 
of the bicycle wheel to be received so that the wheel will not pass 
through the opening in the ball, but will be supported thereby. In order 
to hold each wheel of the bicycle firmly, a pressure bar 30 is carried by 
each of the balls. The pressure bar is parallel to the outer extremity of 
the ball and to the contained bicycle wheel and is disposed at a position 
which will be inside, or toward the truck body, of the wheel which is 
dropped into the support. Each end of the pressure bar is provided with an 
aperture 41 and 43 which loosely journals the respective legs 47 and 49 of 
each of the balls so that the pressure bar 30 may move inwardly or 
outwardly along the legs of the ball as tracks. Helical springs 34 and 35 
disposed around each of the bail legs between the pressure bar 30 and the 
adjacent mounting rail provide a biasing force to maintain the pressure 
bar against the wheel of the bicycle to hold it firmly within the cradle 
formed by the ball.