Package and article carriers – Vehicle attached – Carrier associated with vehicle roof or trunk lid
Patent
1997-10-08
1999-08-03
Scholl, Linda J.
Package and article carriers
Vehicle attached
Carrier associated with vehicle roof or trunk lid
224319, 224322, 224329, B60R 9045, B60R 9058
Patent
active
059313595
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to carriers for motor-vehicle roofs of the type comprising: along each of said end portions, motor-vehicle with the bar arranged transversely to the longitudinal direction of the motor-vehicle, each of said legs being slidably mounted within a respective one of said guide rails on said bar, and each of said legs for controlling movement of each leg along the respective guide rail.
A carrier for a motor-vehicle roof having the above indicated features is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,570 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,042. However, the construction of this known carrier is relatively complicated and costly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is that of providing a carrier for a motor-vehicle roof which has a simple structure comprised of a reduced number of parts, inexpensive to manufacture and assemble, which can be mounted on a roof of a motor-vehicle easily and rapidly, which can be adapted to even very different configurations of motor-vehicle roofs and can be mounted also adjacent to the rear end of the roof, while insuring an absolute reliability and safety of the connection to the motor-vehicle structure.
In order to satisfy efficiently all the above mentioned needs, the present invention provides a carrier for a motor-vehicle roof of the type indicated at the beginning, wherein said screw-and-nut control means comprises: bar, end channels of the bar and operatively connected to the respective bar supporting leg with respect to movements along the longitudinal direction of the bar, threaded member to move axially within the respective threaded end channel, also causing thereby the longitudinal movement of the corresponding leg along said guide rail.
The bar can be comprised for example of a profiled element, for example an extruded element of light alloy, in which said guide rails and said channels are formed by a single operation, after which said channels are then subject to a tapping operation. Each bar supporting leg can have a sheet metal structure, easy and inexpensive to manufacture.
The above mentioned means for rotating each threaded member comprises an operating tool which is slidably engagable within an axial hole having a non-circular cross section formed though each threaded member.
Alternatively, said threaded end channels may be formed with oppositely wound threads and the means for rotating the threaded members in this case comprise a single rod rotatably mounted within the bar and slidably engageable within said threaded members, said rod having one end projecting outside of the bar and provided with an operating knob, to cause the simultaneous and symmetrical displacement of the two threaded members with respect to the centre of the bar.
As it will be clearly apparent, the structure of the carrier according to the invention is comprised of an extremely reduced number of parts and is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble.
In a first embodiment of the invention, said legs are provided with feet adapted to rest on the motor-vehicle roof and said carrier further comprises two hook members respectively connected to the two bar supporting legs and able to engage the side edges of a roof of a motor-vehicle.
In order to proceed to the mounting on the motor-vehicle roof, in the case of the first embodiment, the bar supporting legs are placed with their feet on the roof and the rotation of the two threaded members is then driven (either at subsequent times or simultaneously, depending upon which of the above mentioned forms of the rotation control means is chosen) until the two hook members engaging the side edges of the motor-vehicle roof are put under tension.
In a second embodiment which is adapted to be mounted on two longitudinal guides fixed on the roof of a motor-vehicle, the said carrier supporting legs are in the form of two outer clamping jaws adapted to abut against the outer side surfaces of said longitudinal guides, said carrier further comprising: said bar and adapted to abut against t
REFERENCES:
patent: 5226570 (1993-07-01), Pedrini
patent: 5275320 (1994-01-01), Duemmler
patent: 5397042 (1995-03-01), Pedrini
patent: 5758810 (1998-06-01), Stapleton
Fabio Pedrini
Scholl Linda J.
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