Package and article carriers – Vehicle attached – Carrier attached to the front or rear end of vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-13
2001-03-27
Shoap, Allan N. (Department: 3727)
Package and article carriers
Vehicle attached
Carrier attached to the front or rear end of vehicle
C229S090000, C229S090000, C229S090000, C229S924000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06206259
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a bicycle rack detachably mounted by a base assembly to a vehicle such as a passenger automobile via a standard trailer hitch such as a hitch receiver.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Bicycle racks for attachment to passenger vehicle bumpers are well known. Bicycle racks which may be detachably secured to a conventional trailer hitch mounted on a passenger vehicle have recently been introduced. Such bicycle racks typically employ a rectangular base tube that is received in the trailer hitch square tube hitch receiver mounted on a passenger vehicle. A T-shaped bar is secured to and extends upwardly from the base tube. A pair of hook rods are mounted on the top of the T-bar to carry the crossbar of one or more bicycles. Various clamping devices have been used in the prior art to attempt to secure the crossbar of the bicycles to the hook rods extending outwardly from the T-bar. Such clamping devices have various drawbacks. Some lack the necessary structural integrity to securely hold bicycles onto the carrier while being transported by the vehicle. Others are costly to manufacture. Other clamping devices are cumbersome to use. Others lack durability.
One such bicycle rack is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,414. It employs an L-shaped clamping member that has a vertical portion telescopically received within a tubular slide member secured to the back of the T-bar. This type of clamping device is costly to manufacture. It is also cumbersome to use in that it requires the L-shaped clamp member to be lifted vertically and held in a vertical position while bicycles are loaded or unloaded from the hook rods. With this arrangement, interference between the slidable portion of the L-shaped clamp member and the tubular member at the back of the T-bar exacerbates the cumbersome nature of this arrangement.
Another recently introduced bicycle rack is the bike hitch shown and described in U.S. Ser. No. 384,578 filed Jul. 28, 1989. This bike hitch employs a clamp arm pivotally secured to a U-shaped bracket which is fixedly and permanently mounted to the top of the vertical tube and can accommodate only the standard size frame of racing bicycles. The lower portion of the vertical tube is likewise fixedly secured to a horizontally disposed base tube that supports the bicycle rack in a conventional hitch receiver. Neither the top assembly of this rack nor the base assembly permits the bicycle rack to be folded for compact storage or rotated backward to provide clearance for the rear door or hatch of a passenger vehicle or rack.
It is an object of this invention to provide a bicycle rack which securely and conveniently clamps the cross-bars of bicycle frames.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a rack which may be rotated rearward from the vehicle to permit ready access and clearance for a rear door or hatch of the passenger vehicle.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide such a bicycle rack which may be folded for compact storage.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide such a bicycle rack which includes auxiliary tail lights to allow following drivers to see turn signals and brake lights even if the bicycles block the vehicle's tail lights.
It is still another object of the invention to provide such a bicycle rack which includes a license plate bracket to allow placement of a license plate on the bicycle rack if the license plate on the vehicle is blocked from view by the bicycles.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide such a bicycle rack which may be mounted to a conventional trailer hitch receiver.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a rack which is convenient to use, yet sturdy and durable and cost effective to manufacture.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These and various other objects of the invention are accomplished by a hitch mountable bicycle rack which employs a carrier assembly comprised of a generally rectangular shaped top cover plate releasably secured to a generally rectangular shaped bottom carrier plate. The bottom carrier plate is provided with four depressions adapted to receive the crossbars of bicycles. The top cover plate is removably secured to the bottom carrier plate by threaded knobs extending through apertures in the top cover plate and corresponding, aligned threaded holes in the bottom carrier plate. The top cover plate has downwardly extending lips at each end which fit over the ends of the bottom carrier plate. A tail light assembly comprised of two tail lights mounted on a tail light bracket is secured to one lip of the top cover plate. A license plate bracket is attached to the rear of one of the tail lights. The carrier assembly is secured to the top of a vertically extending stalk which has the form of a generally rectangular shaped tube. The vertically extending stalk is pivotally supported in its vertical position by a lower base assembly having a pair of spaced apart pivot plates each provided with a first pair of vertically spaced apart apertures corresponding to apertures provided at the lower end of the vertical stalk. A removable locking pin secures the vertically extending stalk in its upright position. The pivot plates are also provided with a pair of vertically spaced pivot holes laterally or horizontally spaced apart from the first pair of apertures. Removable adjustment pins extend through the pivot holes and can be removed to allow the stalk to rotate from its vertical position backward away from the vehicle. The pivot plates are fixedly attached to opposite sides of a shank member adjacent the rear of said member. The front of said shank member is removably attached to a conventional trailer hitch receiver via a pin.
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Hitch Ski Carrier Instructions, 1993.
Draw-Tite Catalog, 1995.
Reese Catalog, 1996.
Brungardt Kervin
Cousino Michael J.
Watch David A.
Brevard Maerena W.
Doigan Lloyd D.
Draw-Tite Inc.
Redman Leon E.
Shoap Allan N.
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