Patent ID: 8393507

Claim:
A vehicle article carrier apparatus for supporting articles above an outer body surface of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising: a pair of support rails fixedly secured to said outer body surface and extending parallel to a major longitudinal axis of the vehicle, each said support rail including at least one structural feature formed in a wall portion thereof; a pair of cross bars adapted to be positioned to extend transversely between the support rails and to be supported on the support rails above the outer body surface, for supporting articles thereon; each cross bar including a pair of end supports secured at opposing ends thereof; at least a pair of said end supports each including: a housing having a recess, the recess including a pocket therein; a pivotally supported locking lever configured to be moved from an open, unlocked position, to a closed, locked position in which the locking lever is seated within the recess; a locking member pivotally supported from the housing and operatively associated with the locking lever so as to be moved pivotally toward a wall of the support rail when the locking lever is moved from the open position to the closed position, and away from the wall when the locking member is moved from the closed position to the open position; and the locking member, the housing and the locking lever each including structure that cooperatively enable the locking member to interfere with movement of the locking lever into the closed position when the end support is not longitudinally aligned with the structural feature in its respective said support rail; the structure of the locking lever includes at least one tongue projecting from the locking lever; the structure of the locking member includes a projecting lip portion; and the structure of the housing includes a pocket formed in the recess; and wherein the projecting lip portion is configured to project into the pocket to obstruct movement of the tongue into the pocket when the end support is not aligned with the structural feature in the support rail and the locking lever is moved at least partially into the recess, and the projecting lip portion is configured to not protrude into the pocket when the end support is aligned with the structural feature and the locking lever is moved into the recess.