Patent ID: 8627989

Claim:
A vehicle article carrier adapted to carry articles above an outer body surface of a vehicle, the vehicle article carrier comprising: a pair of support rails formed from a non-metallic material, each said support rail further including a bottom wall having at least one cutout potion at an intermediate point along a length thereof; at least one cross bar having a length sufficient to span a distance between the support rails; a plurality of fasteners for securing the support rails to the outer body surface such that the support rails extend along a major longitudinal length of the vehicle and generally parallel to one another; at least one bracket associated with each one of the pair of support rails, the bracket being dimensioned to fit within the cutout portion in its associated said support rail, each said bracket including: a base portion and a mounting portion extending generally transversely of the base portion; a pair of mounting flanges for securing opposing ends of the base portion to the bottom wall of its associated said support rail; a mounting component for securing to structure associated with the outer body surface; and the mounting portion including structure for enabling a fastening component associated within the cross bar to be secured directly to the mounting portion of the bracket, such that an end of the cross bar is fully supported only by the bracket and the outer body surface of the vehicle, and such that said associated support rail experiences substantially no load from the bracket and the cross bar attached to the bracket.