Package and article carriers – Vehicle attached – Carrier attached to the front or rear end of vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-12
2001-05-22
Vidovich, Gregory M. (Department: 3727)
Package and article carriers
Vehicle attached
Carrier attached to the front or rear end of vehicle
C224S497000, C224S502000, C224S504000, C224S521000, C224S532000, C224S535000, C224S537000, C224S924000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06234372
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a collapsible holder that is adapted to be removably connected to a motor vehicle at a conventional trailer hitch and folded into a compact package to facilitate transport thereof between uses. A unique bicycle mount is coupled to the collapsible holder, whereby a pair of bicycles may be conveniently carried by the vehicle.
2. Background Art
In my patent application Ser. No. 09/347,566 filed Jul. 6, 1999, a collapsible holder is disclosed to be removably connected to a conventional trailer hitch at the rear of a motor vehicle. More particularly, my collapsible holder is adapted to support a folding table and an outdoor grille of the type commonly used during a barbecue. By virtue of the foregoing, a family does not have to experience the inconvenience and waste of time that are sometimes associated with having to locate an available picnic area at which food can be cooked. That is to say, the aforementioned holder can be easily coupled to the trailer hitch attached to the family vehicle to enable a picnic, cook out, or the like, to be held along side the vehicle while avoiding the necessity of having to find a picnic table or an outdoor grille that is not in use. Thus, food can be cooked at any suitable location, including those (e.g. the parking lot of a sports stadium) at which a table and a grille are not often or easily found. Once the cook out has been completed, the collapsible holder is uncoupled from the trailer hitch and folded into a compact package to facilitate storage and transport.
Because of its compact nature and versatility, it would be desirable to be able to use the collapsible holder described in my earlier patent application to couple objects, other than a table or an outdoor grille, to the trailer hitch of a motor vehicle. One additional use that I have contemplated for my collapsible holder is to enable a bicycle to be conveniently transported at the rear of the vehicle without damage to the bicycle or the vehicle while leaving the interior of the vehicle free to carry passengers. Therefore, what is needed to accomplish this additional use is a bicycle mount that can be quickly and easily coupled to and removed from my collapsible holder so as to reliably support and retain one or more bicycles to be carried by a motor vehicle to which a trailer hitch has been attached.
One example of a bicycle rack that is coupled to a trailer hitch of a motor vehicle is available by referring to U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,639 issued May 19, 1999.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In general terms, a combination collapsible holder and bicycle mount is disclosed by which either one or a pair of bicycles can be carried at the rear of a motor vehicle. One end of the collapsible holder is adapted to be removably attached to a conventional trailer hitch at the rear of the motor vehicle. The bicycle mount is adapted to be coupled to the opposite end of the collapsible holder. The collapsible holder has a middle arm member that is pivotally connected at each end thereof between a pair of outer arm members. One of the pair of outer arm members is detachably connected to the trailer hitch. When the bicycle mount is uncoupled from the collapsible holder and the holder is removed from the trailer hitch, the holder can be folded into a compact package that is suitable for transport and storage between uses. More particularly, a first of the pair of outer arm members is rotated into face-to-face alignment with the middle arm member, and the middle arm member is then rotated into face-to-face alignment with the second outer arm member.
In accordance with the present improvement, the bicycle mount includes upper and lower retaining plates that are held in spaced alignment, one above the other, by means of a threaded locking bolt. A pair of gripping portions are located at each of the ends of the upper and lower retaining plates in order to receive and retain the frame bar of a bicycle therebetween. Projecting downwardly from the lower retaining plate is a hollow coupling post that is sized to receive and surround one of the outer arm members of the collapsible holder, whereby the bicycle mount is removably coupled to the holder.
The aforementioned threaded locking bolt extends through axially aligned openings in the upper and lower retaining plates of the bicycle mount for receipt by a correspondingly threaded lug that depends downwardly from the lower retaining plate. When the locking bolt is rotated in a first direction so as to move towards and into locking engagement with the threaded lug, the upper retaining plate is correspondingly moved towards the lower retaining plate to increase the clamping pressure between the pairs of gripping portions. In this same regard, when the locking bolt is rotated in a second, opposite direction so as to move away from and out of locking engagement with the threaded lug, the upper retaining plate is correspondingly moved away from the lower retaining plate to decease the clamping pressure between the pairs of gripping portions. A normally expanded coil spring surrounds the locking bolt between the upper and lower retaining plates to release stored energy and thereby urge the upper retaining plate to move away from the lower retaining plate when the locking bolt is rotated in the second direction and out of locking engagement with the threaded lug.
To prevent an unintentional rotation of the locking bolt in the second direction and an unintended decrease of the clamping force between the pairs of gripping portions as could be caused by vibrations generated by the motor vehicle, a cranking tab is pivotally connected to a relatively wide head of the locking bolt that sits atop the upper retaining plate of the bicycle mount. With the cranking tab rotated to a horizontal, locked position, a locking arm is slidably received through the cranking tab and a pair of axially aligned apertures in the upper and lower retaining plates. The cranking tab is then anchored in place relative to the locking bolt to prevent a displacement of the cranking tab and a rotation of the locking bolt. When the locking arm is withdrawn from the apertures in the retaining plates so as to slide out of receipt by the cranking tab, the cranking tab can be rotated to a vertical, unlocked position standing above the head of the locking bolt. A cranking force may now be applied to the cranking tab to cause the locking bolt to rotate in the first or second directions whereby to either increase or decrease the clamping force applied by the pair of griping portions at the opposite ends of the upper and lower retaining plates of the bicycle mount. dr
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
shows my collapsible holder coupled at one end thereof to the trailer hitch of a motor vehicle and at the opposite end to the bicycle mount which forms the present improvement;
FIGS. 2-4
illustrate the steps by which the collapsible holder of
FIG. 1
is folded into a compact package after the bicycle mount has been uncoupled therefrom;
FIG. 5
is an exploded view of the combination collapsible holder and bicycle mount; and
FIG. 6
is a cross-section showing the bicycle mount removably coupled to the collapsible holder in order to receive and retain the frames of a pair of bicycles.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1808042 (1931-06-01), Kennedy
patent: 4143799 (1979-03-01), Dietlein et al.
patent: 4411580 (1983-10-01), Kelly
patent: 4483468 (1984-11-01), Lucas
patent: 4848112 (1989-07-01), Graber et al.
patent: 4948021 (1990-08-01), Murphy et al.
patent: 5094373 (1992-03-01), Lovci
patent: 5104015 (1992-04-01), Johnson
patent: 5205446 (1993-04-01), Greenberg
patent: 5277346 (1994-01-01), Stier
patent: 5303857 (1994-04-01), Hewson
patent: 5443189 (1995-08-01), Hirschfeld
patent: 5464140 (1995-11-01), Hill
patent: 5518159 (1996-05-01), DeGuevara
patent: 5638706 (1997-06-01), Stevens
patent: 5662256 (1997-09-01), Bryan
patent: 5664717 (1997-09-01), Joder
patent: 5752639 (1998-05-01), Rice
patent: 5884826 (1999-03-01), Shaver
patent: 5950891 (1999-0
Fischer Morland C.
Vidovich Gregory M.
LandOfFree
Combination bicycle mount and collapsible holder to be... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Combination bicycle mount and collapsible holder to be..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Combination bicycle mount and collapsible holder to be... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2533674