Patent Publication Number: US-2005116002-A1

Title: Load carrier

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      The present application is a continuation patent application of International Application No. PCT/SE03/01151 filed 2 Jul. 2003 which was published in English pursuant to Article 21(2) of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, and which claims priority to Swedish Application No. 0202121-0 filed 8 Jul. 2002. Said applications are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to a load carrier for transporting bicycles and which is designed, by means of a coupling device, to be mounted on a vehicle. The load carrier includes a carrier frame with a loading surface on which the bicycles to be transported are loaded. The carrier frame comprises a carrier body to which first and second side frames are respectively attached in a foldable manner by folding devices. The side frames, together with the carrier body, form the carrier frame upon which the front and rear wheels of a loaded bicycle are placed. The side frames can be folded inward from an extended position in which they form the loading surface to a folded position in which they are located essentially over and on the carrier body.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Load carriers of the type described above are known in the industry. A related disadvantage, however, of these types of known load carriers is that the width of the side frames, relative to the carrier body, is such that the side frames overlap when folded inward and therefore cannot be folded compactly. This results in the load carrier being bulky, for storage purposes, when not in use. To overcome this problem, it has been proposed that the width of the side frames should be reduced so that they do not overlap when folded inward. In certain cases, however, the result has been that the space available on the side frames for the wheels of the loaded bicycle is insufficient. It has also been proposed that the carrier body should be made wider relative to the side frames; this, however, has prevented certain bicycles from being accommodated (loaded on the carrier) due to the resultant increased distance between the side frames.  
      In U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,608, the problem has been solved by making the depth of the side frames less than that of the carrier body. This permits at least one of the side frames, when folded inward, to be folded into the carrier body and thereby affording a relatively compact-when-folded arrangement. The disadvantage of this design, however, is that the carrier body must, in terms of depth, be over-dimensioned relative to what is required to transport a given number of bicycles, and this results in unnecessary construction material usage and makes the carrier body unstable.  
      Therefore, a need exists for a foldable bicycle carrier in which the side frames are of such width relative to the carrier body that the wheels of a loaded bicycle are afforded sufficient room on the side frames and in which the width of the carrier body is not such that the distance between the side frames is excessive, and in which the side frames can be folded inward without overlapping and the carrier body does not require to be over-dimensioned.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention affords a solution to the above related disadvantages associated with known solutions by providing for a load carrier of the type described in the introduction above, and which is characterised by the fact that the folding device for at least one of the side frames incorporates a hinged arrangement in which the hinge pin is offset with respect to the side of the carrier body facing the side frame.  
      According to the invention, the hinge pin is further characterised by the fact that the offset is between approximately 0.5 and four inches (1 and 10 centimetres).  
      The present invention is further characterised by the fact that the hinged arrangement comprises (includes, but is not necessarily limited to) a pivot pin attached to the carrier body and a pivot plate attached to the side frame. The pivot plate is provided with an elongate hole whose longitudinal direction (axis) is lateral with respect to the longitudinal direction (axis) of the hinge pin thereby enabling the side frame to be moved sideways relative to the carrier body when the side frames are folded into a position in which they are located over the carrier body.  
      Finally the present invention is characterised in that the elongate hole in the pivot plate is between approximately 0.5 and four inches (1 and 10 centimetres). 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      Hereinafter, the invention is exemplarily described with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative load carrier configured in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the load carrier showing one of the side frames folded inwardly;  
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the load carrier showing both of the side frames folded inwardly;  
       FIG. 4  is a detail perspective view of a folding device in a position in which the side frame is extended;  
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view corresponding to that shown in  FIG. 4 , but in which the side frame is shown being inwardly folded;  
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view in which the side frame has been folded further inward compared with  FIG. 5 ;  
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view in which the side frame has been folded fully inward and moved sideways on the support frame;  
       FIG. 8  is a detail view of a hinged arrangement incorporated in the invention, with the side frame in the extended position; and  
       FIG. 9  is a detail view corresponding to  FIG. 8  in which the side frame is in the folded position. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)  
       FIG. 1  shows a load carrier  1  incorporating a carrier frame  2 , a coupling device  3  for mounting the load carrier on a vehicle (not shown in the figure) and a support arch  4 . The support arch  4  is provided with retaining arms designed for attachment to parts of the frames of the bicycles (not shown) loaded on the carrier to secure them in the loaded position. The carrier frame  2  incorporates a carrier body  6  and a first side frame  7  and a second side frame  8 . In  FIG. 1 , the side frames are shown in the extended position, forming a loading surface  9  together with the carrier body. The side frames  7  and  8  are connected to the carrier body  6  by folding devices  10  and  11 , respectively. Although the figures show two folding devices  10  and two folding device  11 , it will be clear to one skilled in the art that the folding devices may be one or more in number, depending on how they are positioned on the carrier frame parts.  
      In  FIG. 2 , the first side frame  7  is folded inward about the folding device  10  and in  FIG. 3  the second side frame  8  is also folded inward about the folding device  11 , and as shown, the side frames  7  and  8  do not overlap and the load carrier  2  is folded compactly.  
      The folding devices incorporated in the present invention will hereinafter be described in greater detail with reference to  FIGS. 4-9 .  
       FIGS. 8-9  show a folding device  11  that incorporates a hinged arrangement  12 . Although the figures show the folding device  11 , it will be clear to one skilled in the art that the description is equally applicable to the folding device  10 , which is a mirror image of the folding device  11 . The figures schematically disclose the carrier body  6  and side frame  8 , and as shown the side frame  8  is connected to the carrier body by the hinged arrangement  12 . The side of the carrier body facing the side frame  8  is designated  13  and the hinge pin of the hinged arrangement is designated  14 . The hinge pin is offset by a distance B from the side  13 . As will be clear to one skilled in the art, this location of the hinge pin causes the side frame  8 , when folded, to be sideways displaced relative to the carrier body  6  in the direction indicated by the arrow H in  FIG. 3  in the same manner as though the side frame were moved sideways on the carrier body as will be described bellow in connection with  FIGS. 4-7 . The sideways displacement of the side frame creates sufficient space on the carrier body  6  to permit the side frames to be folded without overlapping. The invention functions well if one side frame is connected to the carrier body by a hinged arrangement of the type described above, but the offset B can be made shorter if both side frames, rather than only one, are provided with such a hinged arrangement. It has also been shown that the invention works best when the offset B is between approximately 0.5 and four inches (1 and 10 centimetres).  
       FIGS. 4-7  disclose in detail an alternative folding device, and this disclosed device is the folding device  10 . It will be clear to the one skilled in the art, however, that the description is equally applicable to the folding device  11  which is a mirror image of the folding device  10 . The folding device  10  incorporates a hinge pin  15  attached to the carrier body  6 . The hinge pin consists of a U-shaped pin attached to the carrier body  6  in known manner by means of fasteners  16 . The side frame  7  is provided with a hinge plate  17 , which in the embodiment shown, consists of a U-shaped metal plate attached to the side frame  7  in known manner. The hinge plate is provided with an elongate hole  18  enclosing the hinge pin  15 . The longitudinal direction (axis) of the elongate hole is indicated by the double arrow L and the longitudinal direction (axis) of the hinge pin by the double arrow T (see  FIG. 6 ). The longitudinal part of the hinge pin is shown placed over the carrier body  6 , but it will be clear to those persons skilled in the art that the part may be positioned offset to the carrier body in the same way as the hinge pin  14  described above with reference to  FIGS. 8-9 .  
      The function of the folding devices disclosed in  FIGS. 4-7  will be described below in greater detail with reference to  FIGS. 1-7 . In the deployed position, the carrier body  6  and side frames  7  and  8  comprise a carrier frame  2  ( FIG. 1 ). When the side frame  7  is folded inward, the frame is turned clockwise and the hinge plate  17  is pivoted about the hinge pin  15  in the manner illustrated in  FIGS. 4-7 . In the position in which the side frame is located at the end of the folding phase, the side frame can be moved sideways on the carrier body in the direction indicated by the arrow V in  FIG. 2 , the elongate hole  18  permitting the hinge plate  17  to move relative to the hinge pin  15 . The side frame  8  is then folded in corresponding manner in the counter clockwise direction into the position shown in  FIG. 3  and the side frame  8  is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow H in  FIG. 3 . The sideways movement of the side frames creates sufficient space on the carrier body  6  to permit the side frames to be folded without overlapping. Although both of the folding devices  10  and  11  are shown in the figures with elongate holes, it will be clear to one skilled in the art that only one of the folding devices  10  or  11  need to be provided with an elongate hole. In such case, however, the elongate hole must be made longer and tests have shown that the invention works best if each of the respective elongate holes is between 1 and 10 centimetres in length.