Patent ID: 7802707

Claim:
A vehicle article carrier apparatus for supporting articles elevationally above an outer body surface of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising: a pair of support rails adapted to be fixedly secured to said outer body surface generally parallel to one another; a cross bar assembly having a length sufficient to span between the support rails and adapted to engage and to be supported from the support rails, for supporting articles thereon; said cross bar assembly including: a cross bar component having first and second opposing ends; a first end support secured at said first end; a second end support secured to said second end; an elongated element extending between said end supports; each of said end supports including an actuating member moveable between a locked position and an unlocked position; each of said end supports including a locking member operably associated therewith which is moveable slidably and linearly between an extended position and a retracted position; each said locking member including a rotationally mounted pulley wheel around which a portion of said elongated element is entrained, and a biasing element for biasing its associated said locking member into said extended position; said biasing element and said pulley wheel of each said locking member being supported so as to be longitudinally aligned with a longitudinal axis of said locking member, and said pulley wheel being moveable linearly along said longitudinal axis when its associated said locking member is moved between said extended and retracted positions; each said actuating member being coupled to an associated end of said elongated element, with said elongated element being entrained about both of said pulley wheels; and movement of either of said actuating members into said unlocked position being adapted to cause a generally simultaneous movement of both of said locking members into said unlocked position, against biasing forces of said biasing elements.