DRAWINGS
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pickup truck incorporating an embodiment of a cargo management system as described in the present application;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of just the cargo management system;
FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view in accordance with section line 3-3 in FIG. 2, showing the parallel arrangement of the channels of the cross bar of FIG. 2; and
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the cross bar of FIG. 3 illustrating an accessory attachment component (i.e., a rotatable tie down loop) positioned in one channel of the cross bar; and
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the cross bar of FIG. 3 that incorporates a plurality of spaced apart holes in at least one of the channels, to enable positive locking engagement of an external support assembly at specific points along the cross bar.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a motor vehicle 12 incorporating an embodiment of a cargo management system 10 in accordance with the present disclosure. The System 10 includes a pair of side rails 14,16 that are secured in opposed, facing relation to a corresponding pair of sidewalls 18,20 of a bed 22 of a pickup truck 24. It will be appreciated immediately, however, that the system 10 could just as readily be employed on virtually any other type of motor vehicle. For example, the system 10 could be employed on the roof of a sport utility vehicle (SUV), in the rear interior area of a cargo van, etc. The depiction of the system 10 in the bed 22 of a pickup truck 24 is thus intended merely to represent one implementation of the system 10. The cargo management system 10, by itself, is illustrated in perspective in FIG. 2.
The side rails 14,16 are secured to the sidewalls 18,20 by conventional fasteners (not shown), for example by RIVNUTS®, threaded fasteners or the like. Each side rail 14,16 has at least one channel formed therein, and the illustrated side rails 14,16 in this embodiment each have a pair of co-extending channels 26,28 arranged in vertical fashion. Referring specifically to FIG. 2, the side rails are used to support a cross bar assembly 30. The cross bar assembly 30 has a cross bar component 32 and locking mechanisms 34, 36 at its opposite ends. Locking mechanisms 34,36 engage with one or the other of each channel 26 or 28 in each side rail 14,16 to support the cross bar assembly 30 above a floor 32 of the bed 22.
The locking mechanisms 34,36 may comprise any type of mechanism that allows it to be quickly secured and released from its associated side rail 14 or 16 so that the cross bar assembly 30 can be secured at a desired position along the side rails 14,16, and re-positioned at a new position if needed. Suitable locking mechanisms for use with the cross bar assembly are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,826,766, 5,833,103, 6,068,169 and 6,179,179, all assigned to the assignee of the present application, and all incorporated by reference herein into the present application.
Referring to FIG. 3, an enlarged cross-sectional view of just the cross bar component 32 is shown. The crossbar component 32 in this example is generally rectangularly shaped, but it will be appreciated that other shapes could be used as well (e.g., oval, circular, etc.). The cross bar component 32 includes a plurality of parallel arranged channels 38,40,42,44 that each can be used to enable attachment elements, for example attachment accessories such as bicycle racks, ski racks, etc., or rotatable tie down loops, to be secured to each channel. Channel 38 is formed by a bottom wall 46, side walls 48,50 and ledges 52 that extend perpendicularly from the side walls 48. Channel 40 is formed by the sidewall 50 (which functions essentially as a bottom wall portion) and inwardly turned ledges 54. Channel 42 is formed by a bottom wall 56, portions of sidewalls 48,50 and inwardly extending ledges 58. Channel 44 is formed by sidewall 48 (which functions essentially as a bottom wall portion), and inwardly turned ledges 60. Bottom walls 46 and 56 create a closed off internal, centrally located channel 62 that is not used, but adds to the structural strength and rigidity of the cross bar component 32 without adding significantly to its overall weight. The channels 38,40,42,44 each extend preferably along at least a substantial portion of the length of the cross bar component 32, and more preferably along the entire length thereof. Furthermore, the channels 38,40,42,44 could all be formed so as to have different cross sectional shapes, if needed, to accommodate specific accessory attachment structures or specific types of tie down loops through a method port at the end of each channel. For example, the cross bar component 32 could be formed to have a circular, oval or trapezoidal shape, when viewed end-wise.
The cross bar component 32 is preferably extruded from aluminum or a high strength plastic. However, the cross bar component 32 could potentially be formed from other manufacturing processes, such as roll forming a piece of aluminum stock, or possibly by molding. Both the roll forming and molding processes are likely to present more difficult challenges from a manufacturing standpoint than an extrusion process.
In FIG. 4, the cross bar component 32 is illustrated with an accessory attachment 64 for a bicycle rack, and a rotatable tie down element 66, secured to channels 38 and 40, respectively. Accessory attachment 64 may correspond to a portion of a bicycle carrier, for example a bicycle carrier that is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,398,091 or 6,866,175, which are hereby incorporated by reference into the present application, or virtually any other form of accessory attachment that is cable of being attached to a channel of an elongated component. Rotatable tie down element 66 may correspond to that which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,473,178 and 4,501,385, which are also incorporated by reference into the present application, as well as to any other form of tie down element that can be secured within a channel of an elongated element.
The ability to secure various forms of attachment accessories and/or tie down elements to various channels 38, 40, 42, 44 of the cross bar component 32 significantly enhances the utility of the cross bar component 32. For example, channel 38 can be used to support a bicycle attachment (to thus carry a bicycle on the cross bar component 32) while channel 40 can be used with one or more tie down components (such as one or more of components 64) to secure a different piece of cargo being transported in the bed 22, via a rubber strap, to the cross bar component 32, or possibly even on the cross bar component 32. Since the channels 38,40,42,44 each run preferably along the entire length of the cross bar component 32, the attachment accessories and/or tie down components can be secured at needed points along the cross bar component 32 to best secure the cargo items to the cross bar component 32.
FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative cross bar component 32′ which is identical in construction to cross bar component 32, but also includes pluralities of spaced apart holes 68 and 70 in each of the bottom wall 46 and side wall 50. Holes 68 and 70 enable attachment accessories that include a locking pin to be used with the cross bar component 32′ so that an attachment accessory or tie down component can be even more positively secured at specific points along the length of the tie down component 38.
A particular advantage of the cross bar components 32, 32′ described herein is that they lend themselves well to be retrofitted to existing cargo management and vehicle article carrier systems. The obvious factors that need to be considered are the specific type/style of locking mechanism that need to be incorporated at the opposite ends of the cross bar component 32 or 32, to engage with the specific style or side rails being used, and the overall length of the cross bar assembly 30.
The various forms of the cargo management system described herein thus enable a large plurality of accessory attachments and tie down components to be supported from a cross bar assembly, which significantly enhances the utility of the cargo management system in supporting and/or restraining various forms of cargo.
Patent Application
20070286697
