Abstract:
A Bumper and bike rack assembly especially suitable for use as the front bumper assembly of a bus. The assembly includes a rigid structural member adapted to extend transversely of the bus and defining a series of laterally spaced slots extending vertically in a front wall of the member; a rubberized fascia member including a vertical front wall spaced forwardly of the front wall of the structural member and constituting the forward contact surface for the bumper and a series of laterally spaced notches respectively aligned with the slots in the structural member; and a bike rack including laterally spaced pivot arms each having a lower pivot end journaled on the structural member rearwardly of the front wall of the structural member and below a top wall of the structural member and extending from the pivot end outwardly through a respective slot in the structural member front wall and through an aligned notch in the fascia member for connection to a main body structure of the rack whereby to mount the rack for pivotal movement between a working position in which the pivot arms extend forwardly through the slots and aligned notches in the fascia to position the main body of the rack forwardly of the fascia and a raised, stowed position in which the pivot arms extend upwardly through the slots to position the rack above the fascia and rearwardly of the forward contact surface of the bumper.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates to motor vehicle bumper assemblies and more particularly to a bumper assembly including an attached bike rack. 
   Front bumper assemblies for busses often include a bike rack mounted on the bumper and moveable between a forwardly extending working position for receipt of one or more bicycles and an upwardly extending stowage position. Whereas these racks are generally satisfactory, they interfere with the front of the bumper assembly even when in the stowed position with the result that impact of the bumper with an impact surface may result in damage to the bike rack, damage to the front of the bus, damage to the impacted surface, and overall degradation of the crush resistant capacity of the bumper assembly. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates to an improved bumper and bike rack assembly. 
   More particularly this invention relates to a bumper and bike rack assembly wherein impact of the bumper with an impact surface with the bike rack in its stowed position does not damage the bike rack, does not damage the front end of the bus, it does not damage the impacted surface, and does not degrade the crush resistant capacity of the bus. 
   The invention relates to a motor vehicle bumper and bike rack assembly comprising a bumper structure defining a frontal contact surface and a bicycle rack mounted on the bumper structure and moveable between a working position extending generally forwardly of the bumper structure and a stowed position extending generally vertically upwardly from the bumper structure. 
   According to the invention, with the bike rack in its stowed position, the frontal contact surface of the bumper assembly is frontally unobstructed by the bike rack so that the contact surface may engage an impact surface without damage to the bicycle rack and without damage to the impact surface from the bicycle rack. 
   According to a further feature of the invention, with the bike rack in its stowed position, all aspects of the rack are positioned rearwardly of a vertical plane containing the bumper structure frontal contact surface. 
   According to a further feature of the invention, the bumper assembly includes a rubberized fascia which defines the frontal contact surface. 
   According to a further feature of the invention, the bumper assembly further includes a rigid structural member mounting the fascia and covered by the fascia and the bicycle rack is mounted to the rigid structural member. 
   According to a further feature of the invention, the bumper and bike rack assembly further includes a beam member adapted to be secured to the front end of the vehicle and extend transversely with respect to the front end of the vehicle and the rigid structural member is mounted on the beam member. 
   According to a further feature of the invention, the fascia includes a plurality of laterally spaced, frontally and upwardly opening notches; the bicycle rack includes laterally spaced mounting arms; and each mounting arm has a lower pivotal end received in a respective notch. 
   According to a further feature of the invention, the bicycle rack further includes a latch member having a lower end received in a further respective notch in the fascia. 
   According to a further feature of the invention, the rigid structural mechanism includes a plurality of slots respectively aligned with the notches in the fascia and the pivotal lower ends of each mounting arm and the lower end of the latch mechanism are also received in a respective slot in the rigid structural member. 
   According to a further feature of the invention, the rigid structural member includes a vertical front wall and a horizontal top wall extending rearwardly from the front wall; each of the slots extends vertically in the front wall and then continues rearwardly in the top wall; and the lower end of the latch mechanism comprises a latch finger passing through a notch in the fascia and an aligned slot in the structural member for latching coaction with selected detents in a latch plate positioned on the structural member behind the front wall of the structural member and below the top wall of the structural member. 
   The invention also provides an improved retro-fitting methodology for use with a bumper assembly of the type including a structural beam member, a plurality of separate fascia members secured in serial fashion to the beam member and extending forwardly from the beam member to provide crush resistance, and a bicycle rack mounted for movement between a working position extending generally forwardly of a central fascia member and a stowed position extending generally vertically upwardly from the central fascia member. 
   According to the invention methodology, a central fascia member and the bike rack are removed and the central fascia member and bike rack are replaced with a replacement fascia member and a replacement bike rack in which, with the bike rack in its stowed position, the frontal contact surface of the replacement fascia member is frontally unobstructed by the replacement bike rack so that the central fascia member may engage an impact surface without damage to the replacement bike rack, without damage to the impact surface, and without degradation of the crush resistant capability of the retro fitted bumper assembly. 
   According to a further feature of the invention methodology, with a replacement bike rack in a stowed position, all aspects of the replacement bike rack are positioned rearwardly of a vertical plane containing the frontal contact surface of the replacement fascia member. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a bumper and bike rack assembly constituting the front bumper assembly of a bus and showing the bike rack in a forwardly extending bicycle carrying position. 
       FIG. 2  is a side view of the bumper and bike rack assembly showing the bike rack in the bicycle carrying forwardly extending position; 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view showing the bicycle rack in a raised upwardly extending stowed position; 
       FIG. 4  is a side view showing the bike rack in the stowed position; 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the bumper assembly; 
       FIG. 6  is a plan view of the bumper assembly; 
       FIGS. 7 ,  8 ,  9 , and  10  are cross-sectional views taken respectively on lines  7 - 7 ,  8 - 8 ,  9 - 9 , and  10 - 10  of  FIG. 6 ; 
       FIGS. 8A and 8B  are detailed views of the  FIG. 8  showing; 
       FIG. 11  is an exploded perspective view of the bumper assembly; 
       FIG. 12  is a detail view of the bumper assembly; and 
       FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional view of a retrofit embodiment of the bumper assembly. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   The bumper and bike rack assembly of the invention, broadly considered, includes a bumper assembly  10  and a bike rack  12 . 
   Bumper assembly  10  includes a beam member  14 , bracket  16 , a channel member  18 , a central fascia member  20 , central fascia member primary clamps  22  and  23 , central fascia member auxiliary clamps  24 , end fascia members  26 , end fascia member primary clamps  28 , and end fascia member auxiliary clamps  30 . 
   Beam member  14  includes a main body tubular portion  14   a  extending transversely of the front end of a bus  32  and suitably secured to the frame structure of the bus, and end portions  14   b  fixedly secured to the respective ends of the main body portion  14   a  and extending around the front corners of the bus and rearwardly along the sides of the bus toward the front wheel wells  32   a . Beam member  14  is typically formed from steel. 
   Brackets  16  may be formed as elongated aluminum extrusions and are adapted to be fixedly secured to the upper face  14   c  and the lower face  14   d  of the main body portion  14   a  of beam member  14  utilizing bolts  34  passing through bracket rearward flange portions  16   a . Each bracket further includes an abutment flange  16   b  configured to be positioned against the front face  14   e  of the beam member, a main body portion  16   c , and a recessed forward flange portion  16   d  separated from the main body portion  16   c  by a shoulder  16   e.    
   Channel member  18 , which may be formed of steel, has a rearwardly opening U-shaped cross-sectional configuration and includes a central main body portion  18   a  and rearwardly angled end portions  18   b . A plurality of laterally spaced slots or notches  18   c  are provided in main body portion  18   a . Each slot or notch includes a vertically extending portion  18   d  provided in the front wall  18   e  of the channel member and a horizontally extending portion  18   f  provided in the top wall  18   g  of the channel member and connected to the vertically extending portion  18   d  to form a continuous inverted “L” shaped slot. 
   Central fascia member  20  is a molded member and is formed of a suitable rubberized material such as urethane or neoprene. Fascia member  20  includes a main body portion  20   a  and rearwardly angled end portions  20   b  and, in general, has a hollow rearwardly opening “U” shaped cross-sectional configuration including a top wall  20   c , a bottom wall  20   d  and a front wall  20   e . Fascia member  20  further includes a bead  20   f  along its upper and lower rearward edges and is formed with three laterally spaced upwardly and forwardly opening notches  20   g ,  20   h  and  20   i . Each notch opens in the upper and front walls of the fascia and is bounded at its lower end by a wall  20   j  and at its opposite sides by side walls  20   k . The upper rear bead  20   f  is broken at laterally spaced locations in alignment with notches  20   g ,  20   h  and  20   i . End portions  20   b  are angled rearwardly with respect to the main body portion at an angle corresponding to the angle of the rearwardly angled sections  18   b  of channel member  18 . Fascia  20  further includes a plurality of vertical laterally spaced crush ribs  201 . 
   Upper and lower central fascia member primary clamps  22 ,  23  include a rearward mounting flange portion  22   a / 23   a  and a forward socket portion  22   b / 23   b . The forward socket portion  22   b  of the upper clamp is interrupted at laterally spaced locations along its length to correspond to the interruptions in the top rear bead  20   f  of central fascia member  20 . 
   Central fascia member auxiliary clamps  24  have a cross-sectional configuration corresponding to the cross-sectional configuration of primary clamps  22 / 23  and include a mounting flange portion  24   a  and a socket portion  24   b.    
   In the assembled relation of brackets  16 , channel member  18 , fascia  20  and clamps  22 - 24 , the rear edges  18   h  of channel member  18  are sandwiched between the flange portions  16   d  of brackets  16  and the mounting flange portions  22   a / 23   a  of primary clamps  22  and  23 , with the sandwiches held together by bolts  36 , and the beads  20   f  of fascia  20  are received in socket portions  22   b / 23   b  of primary clamps  22 / 23  with the upper and lower rearward edge portion  20   k  of fascia  20  positioned over the upper and lower forward edge portions of channel member  18  and with sidewalls  20   k , bottom walls  20   j  and ribs  201  positioned against the front face  18   e  of channel member  18  to provide crush resistance. Similarly, auxiliary clamps  24  are fastened to the upper and lower walls of the end portions  18   b  of channel member  18  with their socket portions  24   b  receiving the end portions of the fascia beads  20   f . The end edges of brackets  16  will be seen to be beveled to accommodate the angled disposition of the end portions  18   b  of channel member  18 . 
   End fascias  26  are formed of a molded, rubberized material identical to the material of central fascia member  20  and have a “U” shaped rearwardly opening cross-sectional configuration including beads  26   a  along the upper and lower rear edges of the top and bottom walls  26   b / 26   c  and vertical crush ribs  26   d  provided at laterally spaced locations. End fascias  26  are mounted on respective end portions of the beam member  14  utilizing socket portions  28   a  of primary clamps  28 . The mounting flange portions  28   b  of the primary clamps  28  are fastened to upper and lower walls of the beam member utilizing fasteners  38 . Each fascia member  26  includes a rearwardly extending corner portion  26   e  including upper and lower beads  26   f , forming respective continuations of beads  26   a , received in socket portions  30   a  of auxiliary clamps  30  having mounting flange portions  30   b  fixedly secured to upper and lower walls of end portions  14   b  utilizing fasteners  40 . It will be understood that, in the assembled relation of the bumper assembly, the end edges  26   g  of the end fascias  26  are positioned in substantially abutting engagement with the end edges  20   m  of the central fascia to form a continuous fascia extending across the entire front face of beam member  14  and further covering the end beam member portions  14   b . It will be further understood that crush ribs  26   d  of end fascias  26  coact with the front face of bead member  14  to provide crush resistance to frontal impact and crush ribs  201  of central fascia  20  coact with channel member  18  to provide impact crush resistance in the central region of the bumper assembly. 
   Bike rack  12  has a tubular construction and includes a main frame  42 , pivot arms  44 , cradles or carriers  46 , lock arms  48 , and a latch mechanism  50 . 
   Main frame  42  has a generally rectangular tubular configuration including side rails  42   a  and upper and lower end rails  42   b  and  42   c.    
   Pivot arms  44  have a flat, blade cross-sectional configuration, have an “L” shaped overall configuration, and extend in laterally spaced relation from lower frame end rail  42   c . Specifically, each pivot arm  44  has a crank arm portion  44   a  and a lower arm portion  44   b  terminating in a journal  44   c . Each journal  44   c  is journaled on a pin  52  carried by spaced lug plates  54  positioned in flanking relation with respect to each outboard slot  18   c  in channel member  18 . The laterally spaced journals  44   c  on the lower ends of the spaced pivot arms thus mount the bike rack for pivotal movement between the working or lowered position seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2  and the raised or stowed position seen in  FIGS. 3 and 4  with the flat lower arm portions  44   b  guiding in the respective slots  18   c  in channel member  18  and moving in the respective notches  20   g / 20   i  in fascia  20  to accommodate the pivotal movement of the bike rack between its lowered and raised positions. In the lowered position, the weight of the bike rack is borne by the engagement of lower pivot arm portions  44   b  with fascia walls  20   j.    
   Each cradle  46  accommodates a single bicycle and specifically defines a relatively short first or front well  46   a  to receive the front wheel of a bicycle and a relatively long second or rear well  46   b  to receive the back wheel of the bicycle. The front and rear cradles  46  are preferably reversed so that the short front wheel well of the front cradle confronts the long rear wheel well of the rear cradle and the long rear wheel well of the front cradle confronts the short front wheel well of the rear cradle. 
   A pivotal lock arm  48  is associated with each cradle. Specifically, following placement of a bike in a cradle the respective lock arm  48  is pivoted upwardly into grasping relationship with respect to the front wheel of the bicycle. An air spring  49  is associated with each lock arm  48  and serves to maintain the lock arm in tight engaging relationship with the front wheel to preclude displacement of the bicycle from the respective cradle. 
   Latch mechanism  50  includes a handle  50   a , a latch finger  50   b , and a latch arm  50   m  interconnecting the handle  50   a  and the latch finger  50   b . The free end  50   c  of latch finger  50   b  coacts with a latch plate  56  positioned in channel member  18  proximate central slot  18   c  and rearwardly of front wall  18   e . Latch finger  50   b  slidably guides in a guide to  50   d  secured to a cross arm  50   e  extending rigidly between pivot arms  44  at the juncture of crank arm portions  44   a  and lower arm portions  44   b . Finger  50   b  will be seen to pass slidably through cross arm  50   e  and thence through guide tube  50   d  to position free end  50   c  for coaction with latch plate  56 . Latch plate  56  defines a pair of angularly spaced detents  56   a  and  56   b  interconnected by an arcuate cam surface  56   c . With the rack in the lowered position latch finger free end  50   c  coacts with detent  56   b  to maintain the rack in the lowered position and, in the raised position of the bike rack, finger free end  50   c  coacts with detent  56   a  to maintain the rack in the raised position. 
   Handle  50   a  includes a main rod  50   f , a yoke  50   g , and a squeeze bar  50   h . The free ends  50   i  of yoke  50   g  guide slidably in frame member  42   b  and the free end of rod  50   f  carries a “C” clip  50   i  coacting with a coil spring  50   j  surrounding the free end of the rod and received in a tube  50   k  secured to frame member  42   c  with a nut  501  threaded onto tube  50   k  to preclude displacement of spring  50 . 
   It will be seen that a squeezing force exerted on squeeze bar  50   h  releases the free end  50   c  of the latch finger from the engaged detent against the resistance of spring  50   j  whereafter the rack may be moved to the alternate position with the finger free end guiding along and against cam surface  56   c  under the urging of spring  50   j  until the other detent is reached and engaged. 
   It will be seen that as the rack is moved between its lowered and raised positions the latch finger moves within the central slot  18   c  of the channel member  18  and within the notch  20   h  in fascia member  20 . 
   The bumper and bike rack assembly thus far described comprises a complete assembly intended for installation on the front end of a bus during original equipment manufacture of the bus or as a total replacement for an existing front bumper and bike rack assembly. 
   The bumper and bike rack assembly seen in  FIG. 13  is intended for use in retrofitting an existing front bumper and bike rack assembly and, specifically, contemplates that the central fascia of an existing energy absorbing front bumper would be removed along with the attached bike rack whereafter a center fascia and bike rack in accordance with the invention would be installed in place of the removed fascia and bike rack. The retrofit central fascia and bike rack assembly seen in  FIG. 13  corresponds generally to the central fascia and bike rack assembly described with respect to  FIGS. 1-12  with the exception that the assembly includes a further aluminum extrusion  60  which is sized to be fitted against a forwardly opening channel beam member  62  typically utilized as the foundation member for a bus front bumper assembly. Specifically, the extrusion  60  includes a main body portion  60   a , engaging the forward end edges  62   a  of the upper and lower flanges of the channel member  62 , and upper and lower flange portions  60   b  sandwiched between the flange portions  16   a  of the brackets  16  and the respective upper and lower flanges of the channel member  62  with the sandwiches held in place by bolts  34 . 
   It will be understood that, in the retrofit embodiment of the invention, the end fascias of the existing energy absorbing bumper assembly would remain in place and only the central fascia, together with the associated bike rack, would be removed and replaced with the retrofitted bumper and bike rack assembly of the invention. 
   The bumper and bike rack assembly of the invention, whether in the original equipment configuration of  FIGS. 1-12  or the retrofit configuration of  FIG. 13 , provides many important advantages as compared to prior art bumper and bike rack assemblies. Specifically, since with the bike rack in the raised position the front face  20   e  of the central fascia is frontally unobstructed and all aspects of the bike rack are positioned rearwardly of a vertical plane containing the front face  20   e , the bus may be maneuvered without concern for inadvertent impact with impact surfaces since any such impact would be absorbed by the energy absorbing capacity of the bumper, would not damage the bumper, would not damage the surface impacted, would not damage the bike rack, and would not damage the front end of the bus. By comparison, in existing bumper and bike rack arrangements wherein the mounting for the bike rack is positioned forwardly of the fascia, inadvertent impact of the bumper and bike rack assembly with an impact surface, even with the bike rack in the stowed position, may result in damage to the bumper, damage to the impacted surface, damage to the bike rack, and potential damage to the front of the bus resulting from the bike rack being thrust rearwardly into the front end of the bus as a result of the impact. 
   While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, which scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures as is permitted under the law.