Abstract:
An article carrier for a motor vehicle having a cross bar with a pair of end supports at each end, where each end support can be simultaneously locked or unlocked by lifting an actuating member of either end support. A principal advantage of the construction of the end supports is that the actuating member thereof can be urged between its locked and unlocked positions without protruding significantly from the end support, and therefore without requiring a significant degree of clearance between the end support and the outer body surface of the vehicle. Thus, the cross bar can be placed closer to the outer body surface of the vehicle while still allowing the actuating member of each end support to be articulated between its locked and unlocked positions.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to vehicle article carriers, and more particularly to a vehicle article carrier incorporating a locking mechanism which allows a user to simultaneously place both bracket members of the article carrier in locked and unlocked positions by manually engaging a single actuating member at one side of the vehicle article carrier, and without interfering with the roof of the vehicle during manipulation of the actuating member.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Vehicle article carriers are used in a wide variety of applications to transport a variety of articles above an outer body surface of the vehicle. Such vehicle article carriers typically include a pair of slats or elevated siderails which are fixedly mounted to the outer body surface of the vehicle, a pair of bracket members slidably disposed at ends of the slats or siderails, and a cross bar disposed between the bracket members so as to be supported above the outer body surface by the bracket members. In some applications two cross bars are employed, with the second cross bar being secured either fixedly to the slats or siderails, or being adjustably secured via its own pair of bracket members disposed slidably upon the slats or siderails.  
           [0003]    Each bracket member used in most vehicle article carrier systems typically includes some form of locking mechanism with an actuating member for placing the locking mechanism in a locked or unlocked position. When the locking mechanism of each bracket member is in its unlocked position, both bracket members may be moved slidably along the slats or siderails to allow the cross bar therebetween to be repositioned as desired along the slats. The obvious drawback to this arrangement is that when the user desires to reposition the cross bar, first one of the bracket members must be unlocked and then the user must walk around to the opposite side of the vehicle to unlock the other bracket member. Once the cross bar has been moved to its desired position by the user, the user must manually place both of the bracket members in their locked positions. Thus, the user is presented with the inconvenience of separately locking and unlocking two bracket members whenever the cross bar is to be repositioned.  
           [0004]    Some manufacturers of vehicle article carriers have attempted to address this problem by providing means for simultaneously locking and unlocking each bracket member via a single actuating mechanism. One such article carrier is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,198 to Cucheran, assigned to the assignee of the present application. Other forms of single-side releasable mechanisms are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,964 to Cucheran et al. The disclosures of each of these patents are hereby incorporated by reference into the present application.  
           [0005]    While the single-side releasable crossbars disclosed in the above-referenced patents have proven to be successful and satisfactory for their intended uses, in some applications where a siderail is employed, there is very little clearance between the underside of the bracket mechanism at each end of the cross bar and the outer body surface of the vehicle. This necessitates a form of actuating member which can be opened and closed without interference with the outer body surface of the vehicle roof.  
           [0006]    Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide a vehicle article carrier which incorporates a means for simultaneously locking and unlocking both bracket members from their respective slats, as well as a means for holding both bracket members in their unlocked positions once the bracket members are urged into an unlocked orientation. It would be further be highly desirable to provide such a bracket member which includes an actuating member which can be moved pivotably between locked and unlocked positions by a user without interfering with the outer body surface of the vehicle.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    The above and other objects are provided by a vehicle article carrier apparatus having a single-sided release mechanism in accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus generally includes a pair of siderails which are adapted to be fixedly secured to an outer body surface of a vehicle. The siderails are secured in a spaced apart, generally parallel configuration on the outer body surface of the vehicle. At least one cross bar, and more preferably a pair of cross bars, are supported span-wise between the siderails. A bracket member is disposed at each end of at least one of the cross bars which allows the cross bar to be repositioned along the siderails as may be needed.  
           [0008]    In one preferred embodiment each bracket member further includes a locking pin which is disposed for linear, sliding movement within a housing portion of the bracket member. The locking finger is adapted to engage within one of a plurality of predefined, spaced apart openings in the siderail to allow the bracket member to be supported at a desired position along the siderails. A biasing member continuously biases a locking pin toward engagement with one of the predefined openings in the siderail. The locking pin also includes at least one transversely extending post which forms a cam follower surface, and an elongated slot.  
           [0009]    The housing further includes an actuating member which is supported pivotally relative to the housing so that it may be easily grasped by a user with one or more fingers and moved between locked and unlocked positions. The actuating member includes at least one camming surface adapted to engage with the post on the locking pin to urge the locking pin away from the siderail when the actuating member is moved into an unlocked position. Moving the actuating member into a locked position allows a biasing element associated with the locking pin to urge the locking pin toward and into engagement with the slat.  
           [0010]    It is a principal advantage of the bracket mechanism of the present invention that the actuating member requires very little clearance when moved between its locked and unlocked positions. This allows the cross bar to be supported closer to the outer body surface of the vehicle without interfering with use of the actuating member. Allowing the cross bar to be supported closer to the outer body surface provides a more aerodynamic article carrier assembly and can potentially reduce wind noise and aerodynamic drag which might otherwise be caused by the cross bar being positioned at a height significantly above the outer body surface.  
           [0011]    Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion for a vehicle showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention secured to the outer body surface;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the bracket mechanism of the present invention and a portion of one cross bar to which the bracket mechanism is secured to support the cross bar from the siderail;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the bracket member with a portion of the side rail shown in phantom.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of just the actuating member.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is a simplified, side cross sectional view taken in accordance with section line  5 - 5  in FIG. 1 showing the actuating members at each end of the cross bar in their locked positions; and  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 is a view of the cross bar of FIG. 5 showing one of the actuating member in an unlocked position, and wherein the locking pin at each end support is unlocked from its respective siderail. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0019]    The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.  
         [0020]    Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a vehicle article carrier  10  in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle article carrier  10  includes a pair of siderails  12  (FIG. 1) which are disposed generally parallel to one another and which are supported above an outer body surface  14  of a motor vehicle  16 . Each siderail  12  is supported at its opposite ends by a pair of mounting feet  18  and each includes a channel  12   a  (better visible in FIG. 2) having a plurality of spaced apart openings  12   b . The openings  12   b  are indicated in phantom in FIG. 2. The mounting feet  18  are all securely affixed to the outer body surface  14  via conventional fasteners such as rivnuts.  
         [0021]    The article carrier  10  further includes at least one cross bar  20  which may be adjustably positioned along the siderails  12 . Preferably, a second adjustable cross bar  21  is also provided. Cross bar  21  is shown as being identical to cross bar  20 , but it will be appreciated that a fixed cross bar could be substituted in place of adjustable cross bar  21 . Since cross bars  20  and  21  are identical, reference only to cross bar  20  will be made when describing the construction and components of each of the cross bars  20  and  21 .  
         [0022]    The cross bar  20  includes an end support  22  at each end thereof which supports a cross bar member  24  therebetween above the outer body surface  14 . Each of the end supports  22  further include a user engageable actuating member  26 . The actuating member  26  allows both end supports  22  to be simultaneously locked or unlocked from the siderails  12  by unlocking only one of the actuating members  26 . This operation will be described in greater detail in the following paragraphs.  
         [0023]    Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, one of the end supports  22  is shown in greater detail. End support  22  includes a housing  22   a  having a base portion  22   b  integrally formed therewith. Base portion  22   b  includes a pair of bores  28  each adapted to receive a shaft  32  of a guide wheel  30  therein. The guide wheels  30  help to guide the base portion  22   b  within the channel  12   a  of its associated siderail  12  such that the entire housing  22   a  can be moved slidably along the siderail when the actuating member  26  is in its unlocked position.  
         [0024]    The housing  22   a  further includes a channel or trough  34  which is in communication with an opening  36  (FIG. 3) in the base portion  22   b . An open area  38  separates the channel  34  from the base portion  22   b . A distal end  24   a  of cross bar member  24  is received within an opening  40  (FIG. 2) of the housing  22   a  and is secured therein preferably via one or more threaded fasteners (not shown) in conventional fashion.  
         [0025]    With further reference to FIG. 2, the locking pin  42  includes a generally cylindrical body  44  having an elongated slot  46  and a pair of oppositely extending post portions  48 . A shoulder  50  abuts one end of a spring  52  when the end support  22  is assembled such that the end support can be biased continuously towards its associated siderail  12 . A tapered nose  54  of the locking pin  42  further eases insertion of the locking pin into one of the openings  12   b  in the siderail  12 .  
         [0026]    Referring further to FIGS. 2 and 4, the actuating member  26  will now be described. The actuating member  26  is retained to the housing via a pivot pin which includes a manually graspable end portion  56  and a main body portion  58 . The main body portion  58  includes a bore  60  through which a pivot pin  62  is inserted. The pivot pin  62  further extends through an opening  22   c  (FIG. 2) in the housing  22   a , and the slot  46  in the locking pin  42  when the end support  22  is fully assembled. With specific reference to FIG. 4, the main body portion  58  includes a pair of spaced apart camming surfaces  64  which each have a detent recess  66 .  
         [0027]    Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, the actuating member  26  can also be seen to include an attachment portion  68  which forms a pocket within which an enlarged end  70  of a cable  72  can be trapped. From FIG. 5 it can be seen that cable  72  is also coupled to the locking pin  42  of the opposite end support  22 . The cable  72  extends within the channel  24   b  of the cross bar member  24  and is concealed underneath a support strip  73  which is placed over the channel portion  24   b  of the cross bar member  24  during final assembly of the cross bar  20 . The opposite actuating member  26  similarly includes a cable  76  coupled to the locking pin  42  of the leftmost actuating member  26  in the drawing of FIG. 5. Cable  76  is likewise disposed in within channel  24  when the cross bar  20  is fully assembled. Cable  76  is secured to cable  72  by a spring  74  which helps to maintain tension in each of the cables.  
         [0028]    During operation, when the actuating members  26  are both in their locked positions (FIG. 5), the spring  52  associated with each end support  22  biases its associated locking pin  42  into engagement with one of the openings  12   b  in an associated one of the siderails  12 . When the cross bar  20  is to be adjustably positioned on the siderails  12 , the user grasps the end portion  56  of one or the other of the actuating members  26  and lifts upwardly to urge the member  26  into the position shown in FIG. 6. The post portions  48  of the locking pin  42  associated with the actuating member  26  being unlocked rides over the camming surfaces  64  until seating within the detent recesses  66 . When this position is reached, the user may release the actuating member  26  and the member will remain in the unlocked position shown in FIG. 6. As the member  26  is urged into this position, it pivots about pivot pin  62 . The elongated slot  46  allows the locking pin  42  to move linearly into engagement with one of the openings  12   b  in the siderail  12 .  
         [0029]    It is a principal advantage of the present invention that the pivoting movement of the actuating member  26  is accomplished without an outer surface  80  of the actuating member  26  being forced to protrude significantly outwardly of the housing  22   a  of the end support  22 . Thus, the end support  22  can be used to support a cross bar closely adjacent an outer surface of a vehicle without experiencing interference with the outer surface as the actuating member  26  is moved between its locked and unlocked positions. Thus, an even lower profile, more aerodynamic article carrier can be constructed because of the ability of the actuating member  26  to be opened and closed without requiring significant clearance between it and an outer body surface of the vehicle.  
         [0030]    With specific reference to FIG. 6, the leftmost actuating member  26  is shown in its fully unlocked position. The post portions  48  of the locking pin  46  have been urged out of engagement with their respective openings  12   b , thus causing the locking pins  42  to be retracted from their openings  12   b . This has also caused the cable  72  to be placed under greater tension, which in turn urges the locking pin  42  of the rightmost end support  22  out of engagement with opening  12   b  of its associated siderail  12 . Thus, the unlocking of each of the locking pins  42  is accomplished simultaneously with a single movement of one or the other of the actuating members  26 . This unlocking action can be effected in the same manner if the right most actuating lever  26  in the drawing of FIG. 6 is lifted instead. Urging the left most actuating member  26  back into its locked position (FIG. 5) simultaneously causes both locking pins  42  to be urged back into engagement with the openings  12   b  in their associated siderails  12 .  
         [0031]    The cross bar of the present invention thus provides a pair of end supports  22  each having a construction which allows both end supports to be simultaneously locked or unlocked from their respective siderails  12 , and importantly without requiring significant clearance between the end supports  22  and the outer body surface of a the vehicle.  
         [0032]    Those skilled in the art can now appreciate from the foregoing description that the broad teachings of the present invention can be implemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while this invention has been described in connection with particular examples thereof, the true scope of the invention should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings, specification and following claims.