Abstract:
An apparatus for mounting a roof rack including a roof garnish and a bracket for mounting a roof rack, in which the roof garnish and the roof rack mounting apparatus can be separately mounted on a vehicle panel. Due to a simple construction, the roof rack mounting apparatus can be conveniently operated and the mounting costs and time thereof can be reduced.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application is based on and claims priority to Korean Patent Application 10-2005-0005421 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Jan. 20, 2005, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.  
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to an apparatus for mounting a roof rack.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     An apparatus for mounting a roof rack (hereinafter, “roof rack mounting apparatus”) is used for mounting a roof rack on a roof of a vehicle.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     An embodiment of the present invention is provided, which includes a roof rack mounting apparatus, which is simplified in construction, thereby allowing the manufacturing costs thereof to be reduced and making the roof rack apparatus convenient to use.  
         [0005]     There is provided a roof rack mounting apparatus including a roof garnish, a shutter, and a mounting bracket. The roof garnish is formed to be engaged with a vehicle panel, in which the roof garnish is formed with a fitting opening formed through the top portion thereof The shutter is mounted in the fitting opening to be capable of opening and closing the fitting opening. The mounting bracket is fixed on the vehicle panel underneath the fitting opening. The mounting bracket has an arrangement for allowing the roof rack to be mounted on the mounting bracket. The shutter includes a pair of guides and first and second covers. The guides are mounted on the roof garnish to be spaced from each other at a predetermined distance. The first cover is pivotally connected to each guide and the second cover is pivotally connected to the first cover.  
         [0006]     As the second cover of the shutter is folded over the first cover or horizontally extended from the first cover, the fitting opening can be opened or closed. Each guide is formed with a guide slot, and the opposite ends of the first cover are engaged in and guided along the guide slots formed in the guides. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a roof rack mounting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is a top planar view illustrating the roof rack mounting apparatus in a state in which a cover is opened;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view illustrating an arrangement in which the roof rack mounting apparatus is mounted in a fitting groove;  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  is a partial perspective view illustrating a cover and a guide of the roof rack mounting apparatus;  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the roof rack mounting apparatus;  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  is a view illustrating the roof rack mounting apparatus while being opened; and  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  is a view illustrating the cover of the roof rack mounting apparatus after opened. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0015]     Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description and drawings, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same or similar components, and so repetition of the description on the same or similar components will be omitted.  
         [0016]     Referring to FIGS.  1  to  4 , a roof rack mounting apparatus according to the present invention for use in mounting a roof rack for a vehicle includes a roof garnish  101 , a shutter  411 , and a mounting bracket  203 . The shutter  411  includes a pair of guides  407 , a first cover  105 , and a second cover  106 . The garnish  101  is configured to be capable of being clamped to vehicle panels  301 ,  303 . A fitting opening  201  is formed in the garnish  101  through the top portion. The roof garnish  101  also includes clamping projections  103  formed on the opposite sides of the roof garnish  101 , so that the clamping projections  103  may be fitted in a groove formed by a roof panel  301  and a side-out panel  303  of a vehicle body, and a fitting opening  201  within which the shutter  411  may be mounted. The clamping projections  103  are engaged with the lateral walls of the groove formed by the roof panel  301  and the side-out panel  303 , thereby securing the roof garnish  101 . The shutter  411  is mounted in fitting opening of the roof garnish  101  in such a way that the shutter  411  may open or close the fitting opening  201 .  
         [0017]     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the mounting bracket  201  may be located under the fitting opening  201  and clamped to the panels  301 ,  303  of the vehicle body The mounting bracket  201  may be configured to allow a roof rack  210  to be mounted on the mounting bracket  203 . When the shutter  411  is opened, it is possible to mount the roof rack  210  on the mounting bracket  203 . According to an embodiment of the present invention, one or more screw holes can be formed in the mounting bracket  203  so as to fasten the roof rack  210  to the mounting bracket  203 .  
         [0018]     Although  FIG. 2  schematically illustrates a roof rack  210 , the shape of the roof rack  210  is not limited to the illustrated one.  
         [0019]     Because the roof rack mounting apparatus and the mounting bracket  203  according to the present embodiment of the present invention are not interconnected with each other, it is possible to mount any one of them on the vehicle panels  301 , 303 .  
         [0020]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the roof rack mounting apparatus according to the present embodiment.  FIG. 6  shows a procedure of opening the cover of the roof rack mounting apparatus according to the present embodiment.  FIG. 7  shows the roof rack mounting apparatus in the state in which the cover is opened.  
         [0021]     The guides  407  are mounted in the roof garnish  101  to be spaced from one another at a predetermined distance. More specifically, the guides  407  are respectively mounted under the opposite longitudinal ends of the fitting opening  201  of the roof garnish  101 .  
         [0022]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the first cover  105  is provided with a latch  110  for opening and closing the shutter  411 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , a projection  401  of the first cover  105  is slidably inserted into a guide slot  409  of the guide  407 . The edge of the second cover  106  is pivotally connected to the edge of the first cover  105 . The first and second covers  105 ,  106  are connected via a pin  305 , so that they can be pivoted in relation to one another. A pin hole  307  is formed along an edge of first and second covers  105 ,  106 , so that the pin  305  may be inserted into the pin hole  307 . As the second cover  106  is folded over the first cover  105  or horizontally extended from the first cover  105 , the fitting opening  201  can be opened or closed. Each guide  407  is formed with a guide slot  409 , and the opposite ends of the first cover  105  are engaged in and guided along the guide slots  409  formed in the guides  407 . In addition, each guide  407  is formed with a hole  405  and the projection  403  of the second cover  106  is pivotally fitted in the holes  405  formed in the guides  407 .  
         [0023]     Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the opposite ends of the first cover  105  are formed with projections  401  in such a way that the projections  401  can be engaged in the guide slots  409  formed in the guides  407 .  
         [0024]     Referring to FIGS.  4  to  7 , the shutter  411  mounted in the roof garnish  103  opens and closes the fitting opening  201  in the garnish  101 .  
         [0025]     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the fist and second covers  105 ,  106  close the fitting opening  201  in the roof garnish  103  at the initial position. If force is exerted on the latch  110  in the direction indicated by arrow A, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the projections  401  of the first cover  105  move along the guide slots  409  formed in the guides  407 . In addition, the angle formed between the first and second covers  105 ,  106  is reduced and the pin  305  that connects the first and second covers  105 ,  106  is moved upwardly in the direction perpendicular to the direction indicated by arrow A.  
         [0026]     Furthermore, the second cover  106  pivots about the holes  405  formed in the guides  407 . If the force is continuously applied to the latch  110  in the direction indicated by arrow shown in  FIG. 5 , the projections  401  of the first cover  105  arrive at the other end of the guide slots  409 . In addition, the first and second covers  105 ,  106  are folded over one another, and the second cover  106  is vertically positioned with respect to the roof garnish  101 . As a result, the shutter  411  is formed into the open position and the fitting opening  201  of the roof garnish  101  is exposed.  
         [0027]     Each guide  407  has first and second stop projections  600 ,  800  protruding into a corresponding guide slot  409 , in which the first and second projections  600 ,  800  are formed adjacent to the opposing ends of the corresponding guide slot  409 , respectively, as shown in  FIG. 7 . Also shown in  FIG. 7 , when the fitting opening  201  is fully opened, the projections  401  of the first cover  105  are temporarily clamped by the stop projections  600  in the guide slots  409 . Therefore, the fitting opening  201  can remain opened.  
         [0028]      FIG. 8  is a magnified view of the part indicated dotted lines in  FIG. 5 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , when the fitting opening  201  is closed, the projections  401  of the first cover  105  are temporarily clamped in the guide slots  409  by the first stop projections  800 .  
         [0029]     Because the fitting opening  201  of the roof garnish  101  may be opened as described above, the roof rack mounting apparatus according to the present embodiment may be opened by a single operation process. In addition, because the roof rack mounting apparatus according to the present embodiment may be closed by performing the above-mentioned process in the reversed order, the roof rack mounting apparatus is convenient to use.  
         [0030]     According to an embodiment of present invention, a roof garnish  101  can be mounted regardless of whether a mounting bracket for mounting a roof rack is provided: It is unnecessary to separately fabricate a garnish for use when a roof rack is mounted and a garnish for use when no roof rack is mounted.  
         [0031]     Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.