Patent ID: 7992751

Claim:
A carrier mountable onto a trailer hitch of a vehicle comprising: a two-piece tubular housing having semi-circular elongated first and second sections and an internal chamber between said first and second sections, each of said first and second sections having open opposite ends, transverse semi-circular plates secured to the opposite ends of the first and second sections, an elongated bar secured to one of the first and second sections of the housing for mounting the carrier on the trailer hitch of the vehicle, link members connecting the first and second sections of the housing operable to allow the first and second sections of the housing to be moved between side-by-side closed positions and laterally spaced open positions, said plates closing the open opposite ends of the first and second sections when the first and second sections are in the side-by-side closed positions, at least one one-piece rigid bracket extended between and attached to the first and second sections of the housing to maintain the first and second sections in said laterally spaced open positions, a rigid bar extended between adjacent plates, connectors attaching the rigid bar to the adjacent plates to maintain the first and second sections of the housing in the laterally spaced positions, and latches mounted on the first and second sections of the housing operable to retain the first and second sections of the housing in face-to-face closed positions and maintain the adjacent plates in positions closing the open ends of the first and second sections of the housing, said latches being releasable to allow the first and second sections of the housing to be moved between the open and closed positions.