Abstract:
A bicycle rack holds the bicycle by its seat post using a closeable claw. The bicycle is also held by its wheels.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/097,514, filed Aug. 21, 1998. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present disclosure describes a universal bike rack that universally holds all different kinds of bicycles. More specifically, the present disclosure teaches a bike rack that clamps the bicycle by holding the bicycle seat post and wheels.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Bicycle racks which attach to the rear of a vehicle are known. One such system, which attaches to a trailer hitch, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,231. This system mounts to the trailer hitch of the automobile and allows carrying the bicycle.  
           [0004]    Most of these bike racks are either hitch-mounted or strapped on using either a support beam or support arms. The bike rack, more generally, is held by a holding object, e.g., car, truck, etc.  
           [0005]    The tubes forming the bicycle frame typically rests on the arms of the rack.  
           [0006]    The carriers work well with traditional bicycle frames. However some new bikes, often called “full suspension” bikes, may not have the same main tubes that are held by other bikes. Some bikes may have no frames at all. Certain bikes also have non-removable front wheels.  
           [0007]    Convention bicycle carriers do not work well with bicycles that have non-traditional frames.  
         SUMMARY  
         [0008]    The present system defines a carrier that does not rely on traditional bike frames and instead holds the bicycle by common elements that are common to all bicycles including non-frame bicycles.  
           [0009]    According to this aspect, the inventor realized that one of the predictable consistent points on virtually all bicycles includes its seat post. Although the post diameter and angle may vary, it is generally round and its location in relation to the bicycle&#39;s overall geometry is consistent.  
           [0010]    Another consistent point is the bicycle wheels—all bicycles must have wheels. Hence, a preferred aspect of this disclosure uses the bicycle seat post and wheels to hold the bicycle on the carrier.  
           [0011]    Another aspect of this system is a special seat holding element which articulates to allow connection to any seat post element.  
           [0012]    Yet another aspect is the use of a seat post holding element which can telescope in a special way.  
           [0013]    Yet another aspect is that the seat holding tube folds down in a way that allows it to be moved out of the way without hitting the vehicle on which it is mounted.  
           [0014]    The foldable system allows the device to fold down when not in use to allow the user access to the trunk or hatchback, when desired. The overall preferred embodiment includes an attachment to a vehicle. That attachment can be by a receiver hitch or by attachment straps.  
           [0015]    Yet another aspect is the special wheel rail that is used in this system.  
           [0016]    The disclosed embodiment secures the bicycle to the carrier using at least one of the bicycle wheels and the bicycle seat post.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    These and other aspects of the invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, in which:  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 shows a first view of a preferred bike rack;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 shows another view of the bike rack, with the wheel portion attached;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2A shows a cross section of the wheel rack; and  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 3 shows detail of the articulated seat post holder. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0022]    The basic bike rack without certain portions is shown in FIG. 1, and the assembled bicycle rack is shown in FIG. 2. The preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes a trailer hitch mount portion  102  which is adapted to insert into the trailer hitch of an automobile or truck or the like. Any other attachment to the vehicle is possible, preferably attachment to the rear of the vehicle. The automobile attachment portion  102  is connected an upward extending element  104 , which itself is connected to a support bracket  106 . Support bracket  106  supports the main transverse support beam  108 , which is substantially parallel to the hitch mount  102 , but spaced upward therefrom.  
         [0023]    The main support beam  108  supports the bike mount devices  110 ,  112 ,  114 ,  116 , each of which are identical. Seat mount assembly  120  is shown mounted on support  116 .  
         [0024]    Seat mount support beam  122  is screwed into bike mount device  116  using screws  124 ,  125 , near one end  122 . The other end  128  includes a tightenable clamp  130  which allows selectively tightening and loosening pressure between the clamp&#39;s first surface  134  and its second surface  138 . Second surface  138  includes an inner surface  140  which substantially of the same shape as the outer surface of an upwardly extending part  142 . Similarly, a fixed portion  144 ,  146  of the clamp is attached to the transverse support beam  122 , and includes inner surfaces  147  that are substantially the same shape as the outer surface of upwardly extending part  142 .  
         [0025]    In operation, the clamp  130  can be tightened and loosened. When tightened, the clamp is in the position shown in FIG. 1. The upwardly extending portion  142  is rigidly held between the parts  138 ,  144  and  146  with the two fixed pieces  144 ,  146  on one side of the upward extending portion  142 , and the movable portion  138  on the other side. Hence, the part  142  cannot move.  
         [0026]    The clamp  130  can be loosened to allow the piece  138  to be retracted from the fixed surfaces  144 ,  146 . When moved sufficiently far away, the part  142  can be similarly moved away and can move beyond the outer edge surfaces  148  of the fixed portions  142 ,  144  of the clamp. This allows the upwardly extending device  142  to move to a position where it can fold down to a position where it is parallel and coplanar with the seat mount support beam  122 . In this folded down and out of the way position, the clamp will not interfere with access to the rear of the vehicle, such as the hatchback or other part. The part  142  preferably includes a hollow piece  143  with a second upwardly extending piece  150  located inside the hollow piece  143 .  
         [0027]    The overall height where the seat clamp  160  is located can be adjusted by changing the amount of inner piece  150  which extends from the outer piece  143 . The height of the seat clamp  160  can be extended and raised or lowered in this way to accommodate any height of bicycle. Moreover, since the overall height changes, the length of the part  142  is actually changed. This leaves less of the part  142  that could otherwise be inconveniently located.  
         [0028]    A clamping mechanism  152  in this embodiment simply includes a screw which is screwed into the outer piece  143  and provides friction against the inner piece  150 .  
         [0029]    A more preferable system uses a clamp which attaches to both the pieces  143  and  150 . However, any clamp which holds piece  150  relative to piece  143  can be used to adjust this height.  
         [0030]    The seat clamp is shown in further exploded detail in FIG. 3. Seat clamp can be made to hold any part of the bicycle seat. Here, the seat clamp holds the seat post.  
         [0031]    The clamp includes first and second clamping jaws  162  and  164  which can be extended and contracted to hold the seat post. In the open position shown in FIG. 1, the two jaws  162 ,  164  are wide open, and the bicycle seat post can be extended between the two jaws. Note that inner surfaces  165  of each of the jaws  162 ,  164  are substantially arcuate to hold a typical bicycle seat post. Each inner surface also includes a notched portion  156  facilitating holding a seat post which is other than cylindrical in shape.  
         [0032]    Once the seat post is inserted between the jaws  162 ,  164 , the jaws are contracted to bring the surfaces  165  closer to one another. The jaws are contracted until inner surfaces  165  fit snugly around the seat post.  
         [0033]    The preferred technique of contracting the jaws is by using an over-the-center cam lever  170  as shown. The over-the-center cam lever includes a cam handle  300  connected to a lead screw  304 , a spring  306  and nut assembly  308 . The lead screw  304  threads into the nut assembly  308 . Hence, when the cam handle  302  is rotated in a rotation perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG. 3, it causes the jaws  162 ,  164  to come closer to one another. When they reach a desired position, the cam is then rotated in the direction of arrow  310  to put even further force holding the jaws  162 ,  164  against one another. The clamp stays locked in that rotated position until it is unlocked by rotating in opposite of the direction shown in arrow  310 .  
         [0034]    The position of the seat post clamp can also be adjusted in many different ways. A clamping mechanism  180  holds the seat post clamp in a desired orientation relative to horizontal. While the device in FIG. 1 shows the seat post clamp  160  as being horizontal, it can be tilted relative to the horizontal by clamp  180 .  
         [0035]    The height of the clamp can also be adjusted, as previously described, by adjusting the relative difference between the pieces  143  and  150 .  
         [0036]    In operation, the bicycle seat post is clamped within the jaws  162 ,  164 . This holds the top portion of the bicycle. The bottom portion of the bicycle is held by the wheel holding assembly  200 .  
         [0037]    Wheel holding assembly is screwed into the support mechanism  110 . The wheel holding assembly is held on disc shaped portion  202  which are located at the top of a screwable device  204 . The device  204  can be tightened or loosened to allow more slack between the top surface  111  of holding element  110  and the disc shaped portion  202 .  
         [0038]    The outer diameter of disk shaped portion  202  fits within the holding channel  206 . FIG. 2A shows a cross-section across the line  2 A- 2  as having that holding channel  206  is substantially u-shaped. The disk shaped element  202  is held within the channel  206 , with the bottom surface  250  of disk shaped element being pressed against both flange portions  252  and  254  of the channel  206 . The clamp portion  204  with its integral lead screw  256  are also shown. The clamp  204  can be tightened in order to hold the wheel tray  200  firmly into place relative to the support portion  110 . However, when the clamps  204  and  205  are loosened, the corresponding disk shaped portions becomes loose within the channel  206 . This allows the wheel rack  200  to be slid in the direction shown by arrow  210  in FIG. 2. Hence, while the orientation of the wheel rack is maintained, the position of the wheel rack can be changed to accommodate any relative positioning between the bicycle seat post and the wheel rack.  
         [0039]    Note that the additional two support structures  112 ,  114  enable placing a second bike rack holding device on the same basic support structure  108 . This allows using a second seat post holding assembly for example on support element  114 , and a second wheel rack holding assembly  200  e.g. on support rack  112 . Any additional number of support devices could also be accommodated.  
         [0040]    As shown in FIG. 2, the wheel tray  200  generally includes an inner wheel resting part  220  which is substantially flat, sloped sections  222 , both extending up from the wheel resting portion  222  and the flanged outer edge  224 . The bottom portion of the wheel resting portion includes the channel  206  which has been previously discussed.  
         [0041]    Although only a few embodiments have been described in detail above, other embodiments are contemplated by the inventor and are intended to be encompassed within the following claims. In addition, other modifications are contemplated and are also intended to be covered.