Patent ID: 7909213

Claim:
A bicycle carrier for a vehicle, the carrier comprising: a support holder for holding a bicycle aligned transversely to a longitudinal direction; a retaining bracket having a guide holder, a housing, and a retaining bracket section, the guide holder is connected to the support holder, extends transversely to the longitudinal direction, and has first and second walls spaced apart from one another along the longitudinal direction, the retaining bracket section are movable transversely to the longitudinal direction away from and into an end of the guide holder adjacent the first guide holder wall, the second guide holder wall at the first end of the guide holder having an open space therein, the retaining bracket section for holding a wheel of a bicycle held on the support holder; a fixing element having a spring and a locking member both within the housing at the end of the guide holder and both aligned along the longitudinal direction, the spring extending between the second guide holder wall and the locking member and biasing the locking member away from the second guide holder wall and towards the first guide holder wall into a locked position in which the locking member engages the retaining bracket section and thereby locks the retaining bracket section in place relative to the first end of the guide holder; an actuating mechanism having an actuating pin aligned along the longitudinal direction and extending through the open space of the second guide holder wall between an outside of the guide holder and the locking member, the actuating pin connected to the locking member and is movable along the longitudinal direction, the actuating pin upon being moved along the longitudinal direction away from the first guide holder wall and towards the second guide holder wall moves the locking member from the locked position into an unlocked position in which the locking member disengages from the retaining bracket section and thereby enables the retaining bracket section to move transversely to the longitudinal direction away from and into the end of the guide holder; and a hand lever operable upon being moved axially about an axle pin oriented transverse to the actuating pin to move the actuating pin along the longitudinal direction away from the first guide holder wall and towards the second guide holder wall to thereby move the locking member into the unlocked position; wherein the actuating pin includes a screw nut threaded onto an end thereof, wherein the hand lever is fastened to the actuating pin by the screw nut.