Abstract:
A roof rack system that is a platform for any roof mounted products. Examples of such products include bikes, skis, snow boards, kayaks, canoes, or storage compartments or baskets. This system will fit any vehicle, any make, any model, any year, with a single stock keeping unit (SKU). It is also an attractive rack, even if it does not carry any products.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The field of the invention is roof racks for motor vehicles and the invention relates more particularly to roof racks which utilize a pair of rails, each rail being held by a forward and rearward securement member, such as a tower or pod affixed to the roof. 
   Numerous rack assemblies have been designed for carrying items on the top of motor vehicles. Common items include bicycles, skis, kayaks, and numerous other objects. A large number of roof racks utilize a single style of longitudinal rails and typically utilize front and rear cross bars each of which are held by a pod or tower at each side. Most commonly, when attached to the roof of a motor vehicle, the pods or towers are secured to the roof by a clip which extends into the inner surface of the door openings of the motor vehicle. Because of the large number of different vehicles available, a large number of towers and clips must be stocked by the dealer to supply a majority of customers with a tower/clip combination that conforms to the shape of a particular vehicle&#39;s door opening. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is an object of the present invention to provide a securement member assembly for holding the rails of a roof rack which securement members will fit the rooftop of essentially all motor vehicles. 
   It is another object of the present invention to provide a securement member which is fixed to a motor vehicle and includes a compensating member which permits the adjustment of the orientation of a rail with respect to the securement member. 
   The present invention is for a plurality of pod assemblies for holding a rail of a roof rack assembly mounted on the roof of a wheeled vehicle. Each pod assembly comprises a first cluster of attachment members, in a triangular pattern, held in the roof of a vehicle at a location where a pod is secured. Each attachment member has a portion, such as a swage nut, secured to the surface of the roof. A pod has a pod body having a base, an upper body surface, and a rail holding member affixed to the pod body. The pod body has a cluster of vertically oriented openings to hold attachment members, such as bolts, rivets, or other such attachment members, to mate with the first cluster of attachment members affixed to the vehicle. Each of the vertically oriented openings terminates at a lower end with a downwardly extending foot or projection extending below the base of the pod body. Each downwardly extending foot is supported by the roof. An attachment member, such as a bolt, is located in each vertically oriented opening and is secured to the portion held to the roof. The attachment member is tightened to force the downwardly extending feet, in a triangular or tripod pattern, to a fixed position with respect to the roof to secure the pod body in place. Because of the positioning effect of the downwardly extending foot, any curvature in the outer surface of the roof is separated from the base of the pod by the lifting effect of the downwardly extending feet. A compensating member is attached at an inner end of said pod body and is movable with respect to said pod body, said compensating member has a rail holding portion. The compensating member may be attached to the pod body by a ball and socket assembly. The compensating member permits the alignment of the compensating member with a rail so that the rail is held at each end by a compensating member of two pod assemblies. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a roof rack, including the four pod assemblies of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is an enlarged perspective view of one of the pod assemblies of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 3  is a side view of one of the pod assemblies of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the pod assembly of  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of one of the pod assemblies of  FIG. 1  affixed to the roof of a motor vehicle. 
       FIG. 6  is a top view of a first cluster of swage nuts. 
       FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view taken along line  7 — 7  of  FIG. 6  showing the details of a swage nut. 
       FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view taken across the rails of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 9  is a side view of the pod assemblies and a rail of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 10  is an exploded perspective view of a pod assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional view of one of the pod assemblies of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 12  is a cross-sectional view taken along line  12 — 12  of  FIG. 11 . 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   A roof rack for wheeled vehicles is shown in perspective view in  FIG. 1  on a motor vehicle which is indicated generally by reference character  10 . The roof  11  of the motor vehicle supports four pods  12 . Each pod has a rail securement portion, such as socket  13  shown in  FIG. 5 , which holds a portion, such as one end of a rail  14 . The socket  13  is formed in one end of a compensating member held by each pod. The rail  14  is configured with a T-slot, and is made to accommodate rack components made by several companies, as indicated generally by reference character  15 . These standard rack components do not comprise part of the present invention. 
   Many prior art towers are configured to be secured to the roof by a clip which fits in the door opening of the motor vehicle or, in older vehicles, the drip rail. As set forth above, door openings of different vehicles have different shapes and this necessitates the stocking of numerous different towers and clips for different motor vehicles. 
   Pod assembly  12  has a pod body  16  which has three vertically oriented openings, such as bolt openings  17 ,  18 , and  19 . As shown best in  FIG. 5 , each bolt opening has a lower floor  20  which abuts the head  21  of bolt  22 . 
   It is to be understood that bolts are only one example of an attachment member and rivets or other such members may be used. A downwardly extending foot or projection  23 , which is located below floor  20 , raises the base  24  of pod body  16  above the outer surface  25  of roof  11 . 
   The pod body  16  in some instances is also raised from the roof by a portion of the attachment member. An example of a preferred attachment member is swage nut  27  which has a slightly raised ring  26 , shown best in  FIG. 7  of the drawings. 
   Turning briefly to  FIG. 7 , swage nut  27  is held in a hole  28  drilled in the roof of the vehicle. The swage nut  27  is shown in a collapsed configuration in  FIG. 7 . Before being collapsed, the collapsed flange  29  has a cylindrical outer surface which readily fits within hole  28 . A specially designed tool available for the swage nut is inserted into opening  30 , threaded into female threads  31 , and tightened to collapse flange  29  securely against the inner surface  32  of roof  11 . This results in a slightly raised ring  26  which extends above outer surface  25  of roof  11 . The amount of this extension usually does not exceed about 1/16th of an inch. 
   Because of the many different motor vehicle roof curvatures, the distance which base  24  is raised is critical so that the base will not touch the upper surface of the roof and cause any scratches. Once the pod is attached to the roof it typically is not removed but becomes a permanent part of the vehicle. 
   In order to install a roof rack, typically, the rack would be temporarily assembled on the roof and the location of the needed holes are marked. The holes are drilled at the marked locations. The swage nuts, or other appropriate fasteners, are then secured in place as shown in  FIG. 7  and the pod assemblies and rails are secured to the roof. 
   The result is an assembly which allows a dealer to stock only one configuration of pod instead of requiring the stocking of a very large number of towers, brackets, and clips. 
   While the term “wheeled vehicle” is used in the claims, this is intended to include not only motor vehicles, but also wheeled vehicles, such as trailers, which are technically not motor vehicles. 
   The orientation of swage nuts in a tripod configuration is an important part of the present invention. Like any tripod, it is always stable and the downwardly extending foot or projection  23  holds the body of the pod above the roof surface. A rubber or plastic mounting gasket  34 , shown best in  FIGS. 10 and 11 , may be used between the underside of the pod and the roof surface. The distance that the downwardly extending foot  23  extends below the base  24  of the pod and the raised portion of the attachment members is an important feature of the present invention. It has been found that a 0.040″ spacing is sufficient for all tested motor vehicles, and thus, the base  24  of the pod is almost imperceptibly raised from the outer surface  25  of roof  11 . 
   The particular configuration of rails and pods shown in the drawings is simply an example of one style of rack and pod. In  FIG. 8 , a pair of pods  12  are shown affixed to roof  11  and the cross-sectional shape of rails  14  are shown. Rails  14  have a conventional longitudinal groove  14 ′ which supports conventional parts used to hold bicycles or other supported articles. Rails  14  have a partly cylindrical outer surface which permits twisting rail  14  so that the supported part may be oriented in the desired direction. A side view is shown in  FIG. 9  where the insertion of rail  14  into rail socket  13  is evident. The essential factors of the invention is the combination of the tripod support and the downwardly extending feet which terminate below the base of the pod. Another important feature of the invention is the compensating member  33  shown best in  FIGS. 10 and 11 . 
   Compensating member  33  permits the adjustment of the socket  13  so that it can be aligned with a compensating member at an opposite end of a rail  14 . One configuration of compensating member is a ball and socket assembly shown in  FIGS. 5 ,  10  and  11 . A socket portion  35  has a ball  36  at an inner end and the socket  13  at the other end. Socket  13  includes a rail insert member  37  within socket  13  to interlock the rail  14  so that it cannot rotate with respect to socket member  13 . Rail  14  may be further secured in socket  13  by a bolt and plate assembly  38 , the bolt portion of which fits within opening  39  in rail  14 . 
   Socket portion  35  is held to pod body  16  by the tightening of the arms  41  of the socket  40  against ball  36 . This is accomplished by the tightening of bolt  42  which pulls end wall  43  of socket  40  into the tapered opening  44 . The walls of tapered opening  44  move the arms  41  against ball  36 . Bolt  42  can be tightened on nut  45  externally by simply turning socket portion  35  with respect to pod body  16 . The turning of socket portion  35  turns the socket  40  and the head of bolt  42  is held in a recess in end wall  43  so that the bolt turns with the socket  40  and the socket turns within the tapered opening  44  thereby moving deeper into tapered opening  44 . This permits two important adjustments. First, the turning of socket portion  35  through an arc  46  allows the user to place the rail opening  39  so that it faces upwardly. This is shown best in  FIG. 8  where the two rails  14  have their upper surfaces horizontal. Arc  46  actually is 360 degrees in the assembly shown in the drawings. Many prior art rack assemblies use an expensive tower with an angle adjustment feature so that the tower can be oriented vertically. This expense is eliminated with the turning ability of the present assembly. Secondly, the ball and socket assembly permits the angular adjustment of the socket portion  35  with respect to pod body  16  as shown in  FIG. 11  and indicated by reference character  47 . Thus, when the curvature of a particular roof  11  causes the pod body to be attached at a slight angle from the horizontal as shown in  FIG. 11 , the socket portion  35  can be adjusted to compensate for this angle. 
   Gasket  34  preferably has three openings  48  so that the downwardly extending foot or projection  23  can directly contact the fastener  27 . A socket gasket  49  provides a seal between the pod body  16  and the socket portion  36 . 
   Such pods may be secured to a wide variety of wheeled vehicle upper surfaces to hold a wide variety of members. Unlike the towers and clips now commonly used, only one pod style is necessary and, thus, expensive retail stocking is eliminated. While the socket is shown on the socket portion  35  it could instead be held by the pod body and socket  40  instead held by the pod body. 
   The present embodiments of this invention are thus to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive; the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.