Claims
- 1. An article carrier adapted for mounting to a vehicle comprising: frame means including
- a pair of laterally spaced substantially straight side portions,
- a cross portion connecting said side portions,
- a pair of laterally spaced, offset portions rigidly connected to and extending from the lower extremities of said side portions and extending generally transverse to said side portions,
- said offset portions being adapted to seat on a generally horizontal top support surface of a vehicle, said side portions and offset portions providing a lever arm that turns in a lever action about a fulcrum established at a contact area between a bottom forward surface of said offset portions and said top support surface about which said lever arm will rotate in either direction,
- first fastening means attached to and extending from a lower portion of said side portions above said fulcrum to a lower fastening structure of the vehicle below said fulcrum to fasten the frame means to the vehicle to pull the frame means downwardly against said support surface and forwardly toward the vehicle to turn said frame means in one direction with respect to said fulcrum, said offset portions offsetting said side portions forming said lever arm a substantial distance rearwardly of an in-line position with said fulcrum to enable said first fastening means to provide said downward and forward pull on said side portions,
- second fastening means attached to and extending from an upper portion of said frame means to an upper fastening structure of the vehicle above said fulcrum to releasably fasten the frame means to the vehicle above said fulcrum and pull said frame means toward the vehicle to turn said frame means in an opposite direction with respect to said fulcrum,
- whereby said frame means disposed upright with a lower surface of said offset portions supported on said support surface is held in position by said first and second fastening means, and
- article support means extending outwardly from said side portions in an extended position, said article support means being movable to a folded position.
- 2. A carrier as set forth in claim 1 wherein said frame means is formed as an upper section and a lower section, said sections telescoping together along opposite sides and being releasably fastened by fastening means to permit separation of said frame into two sections.
- 3. A carrier as set forth in claim 1 wherein each offset portion includes an upper portion disposed at a slight angle to the associated side portion and a lower portion extending substantially perpendicular to said side portion.
- 4. A carrier as set forth in claim 1 wherein said cross portion includes a top cross portion connected at the upper extremities of said side support portions and a bottom cross portion connected at the lower extremities of said offset portions to form a frame body having an open, four-sided, endless configuration with four rounded corners, said side, offset, top and bottom cross portions being formed of rigid, metal tubing.
- 5. A carrier as set forth in claim 1 including pad means at the corners connecting said offset portions and said bottom cross portion that bear directly against said support surface in moving about said fulcrum.
- 6. A carrier as set forth in claim 1 wherein said article support means includes a pair of laterally spaced support arms connected by an intermediate bight arm to form a U-shaped configuration with rounded corners that is sized to fit inside said side portions.
- 7. A carrier as set forth in claim 6 including a plurality of saddle supports disposed at spaced intervals on each of said support arms, said saddle supports being arranged as opposed sets to cradle a plurality of bicycles side by side on said support arms.
- 8. A carrier as set forth in claim 7 including a cord means attached at an inner end of each support arm and releasably fastened at an outer end of each support arm to releasably fasten the bicycles to said support arms.
- 9. A carrier as set forth in claim 1 including a pivotal mounting means for mounting said article support means for pivotal movement with respect to said frame means and locking means to lock said support means in said extended position, said folded position and at selected angular positions between said extended and folded positions.
- 10. A carrier as set forth in claim 9 wherein said pivotal mounting means includes a hub assembly mounted to each of said side portions and a side of said article support means, each said hub assembly including a set of inside and outside hubs, each of said inside and outside hubs having opposed friction faces that are selectively engaged and disengaged by said locking means.
- 11. A carrier as set forth in claim 10 wherein each of said hubs includes a hollow outer body and an inner body that nests in said outer body and is separable therefrom.
- 12. A carrier as set forth in claim 11 wherein each of said outer inner bodies has inside arcuate sections complimentary in shape with the associated supporting structure of either said side portions or article support means to which they are attached by said pivot bolt and are drawn against the associated support structure by said pivot bolt.
- 13. A carrier as set forth in claim 12 wherein each said pivot bolt extends through holes in an associated of each of said side portion and support arm.
- 14. A carrier as set forth in claim 10 wherein said each said locking means includes a pivot bolt with threads extending through each of said set of inside and outside hubs and a cam lever with a cam surface carried by a nut threaded on said bolt that turns to compress said opposed friction faces against one another to lock said inside and outside hubs together at selected angular positions.
- 15. A carrier as set forth in claim 14 wherein said opposed friction faces are formed with a plurality of circumferentially spaced teeth with opposing teeth intermeshing with one another to lock against relative rotary movement between said hubs in a locking position.
- 16. A carrier as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said first and second fastening means includes a pair of straps each fastened at one end to said frame means and having a hook at the opposite end to releasably engage selected vehicle fastening structure, a locking buckle through which each strap extends to change the length between the ends of the strap and lock the strap at a selected length.
- 17. A detachable lever action carrier for bicycles adapted for mounting to a vehicle comprising: frame means including
- a pair of laterally spaced side portions arranged substantially parallel to one another,
- a top cross portion connected to the upper extremities of said side portion,
- a pair of laterally spaced, offset portions rigidly connected to and extending from the lower extremities of said side portions and extending generally transverse to said side portions, said offset portions displaying said side portions rearwardly of the rear of said vehicle,
- a bottom cross portion connected to the lower extremities of said offset portions and arranged substantially parallel to said top cross portion, said offset portions being adapted to seat on a substantially horizontal top support surface of a vehicle bumper, said side portions and offset portions defining a lever arm that turns in a lever action about a fulcrum established at a contact area between a bottom forward surface of said offset portions and said top support surface about which said lever arm will rotate in either direction,
- first adjustable length fastening means attached to and extending from a lower portion of said side portions above said fulcrum to a lower fastening structure of the vehicle below said fulcrum to fasten the frame means to the vehicle to pull the frame means in one direction downwardly against said support surface and forwardly toward the vehicle to turn said frame means in one direction with respect to said fulcrum, said offset portions offsetting said side portions forming said lever arm a substantial distance rearwardly of an in-line position with said fulcrum to enable said first fastening means to provide said downward and forward pull on said side portions,
- second adjustable length fastening means attached to and extending from an upper portion of said frame means to an upper fastening structure of the vehicle above said fulcrum to releasably fasten the frame means to the vehicle above said fulcrum to pull said frame means toward the vehicle to turn said frame means in a direction opposite to said first direction toward the vehicle with respect to said fulcrum,
- whereby said frame means disposed upright with the bottom of said offset portions supported on said support surface is held in position by said first and second fastening means and is disposed at a selected angle to the vertical according to the length settings of each of said first and second fastening means, and
- article support means including a pair of laterally spaced support arms extending rearwardly from said side portions in an extended article supporting position, said side arms being movable to a folded position.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 809,970, filed Dec. 18, 1991 now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (10)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
8001895 |
Sep 1980 |
WOX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Assembly and Mounting Instrustions No. 1076 Bumper Mount BAC-RAC. |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
809970 |
Dec 1991 |
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