Package and article carriers – Vehicle attached – Carrier attached to the front or rear end of vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-12
2003-09-30
Vidovich, Gregory M. (Department: 3727)
Package and article carriers
Vehicle attached
Carrier attached to the front or rear end of vehicle
C224S323000, C224S324000, C224S537000, C224S924000, C224S571000, C224S570000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06626340
ABSTRACT:
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE
The entire disclosures, including the drawings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,231 issued Jun. 25, 1996 to Ronald J. Burgess for an ADJUSTABLE CAR CARRIER, U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,521 issued Jul. 15, 1997 to Ronald J. Burgess for an ADJUSTABLE CAR CARRIER, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/892,542 filed Jul. 14, 1997 entitled AN EXTENSION FOR A CAR CARRIER, and Provisional Patent Application filed Jun. 13, 1997 for a LOAD CARRIER and assigned Ser. No. 60/050,079 are expressly incorporated by reference herein for disclosure purposes.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention and its several constituent components relate to vehicular load carrying apparatus. More specifically, the primary embodiments of the presently disclosed invention relate to hitch-mounted load carrying apparatus for sports equipment. Several significant components of the invention, however, have shared applicability with load carrying apparatus positioned at alternative locations upon a vehicle such as upon the roof top.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Carriers for sporting equipment are well known in the industry and are used for transporting pieces of sport equipment to remote locations for use. One such instance is carriers for bicycles that mount upon passenger vehicles. A preferred location for mounting such racks is at the rear of the vehicle where the rack causes minimum distraction and does not obstruct a driver's view. Many vehicles have tailgates that lower and back windows that raise; examples of such vehicles are station wagons, pick-up trucks and many sport utility vehicles. It is also common for such vehicles to have trailer hitch receptacles or receivers located proximate to the bumper structure below these gates. A common configuration for such receivers is a rectangular receptacle intended for a balled assembly to be inserted and fixed therein. It is upon this balled assembly that a trailer may be hitched. When such a balled assembly is not needed, it may be removed in many designs. When removed, the rectangular or otherwise tubularly shaped receiver is vacant and often covered with a removable cap.
Sport rack carrier designers have taken advantage of the presence of such a receiver and designed sports racks to be mounted therein at times when the vehicle is not being used for towing purposes and the receiver is vacant. One particularly popular embodiment in such a rack is in the form of a bicycle carrier.
Such hitch mounted bicycle carriers are known in the industry. One example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,231 issued to Burgess on Jun. 25, 1996 for an ADJUSTABLE CAR CARRIER. In that device, an upright post is journalled to a horizontal extension mounted in the hitch receiver. Typical carrier systems of known designs incorporate a hinged configuration so that the primary upright structure may be folded downward to facilitate the opening and closing of an adjacently located tailgate or door. During transport and travel, however, the carrier must be fixed in a substantially upright orientation for proper carriage of the sports equipment resting thereon.
An obvious benefit of such hitch mounted carriers is that they do not compromise the interior carrying capacity of the vehicles upon which they are mounted. Because of the extension effect behind the vehicle, however, loads carried thereon may experience amplified movement as well as shock forces. As a result, it has been recognized as an important criteria for such carrier systems to have efficient securing systems for the load intended to be carried thereon.
In the illustrated embodiments of the present invention, those loads are shown as bicycles. Through the use of other known hitch mount carriers for bicycles, the inventors have appreciated a need for adaptable configurations for securely receiving the bicycles upon the carrier. Adaptability has also been recognized as important for accommodating various bicycles' configurations when mounted thereon. Still further, it has been appreciated that at different times an operator may desire to carry different numbers of bicycles on a carrier. As has been exemplified in the art, carriers may be adaptably constructed to carry two or more bicycles at a given time.
In view of these criteria and needs of the industry and consumer, the present invention has been developed and designed to provide suitable enhancements for such load carrier apparatus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention includes features and/or components that have been invented and selected for their individual and combined benefits and superior performance as a load carrier. The system includes multiple components that individually and singularly have new and novel features in and of themselves. Each of the individual components, however, work in association with, and are optimally mated to the others to perform superiorly as a hitch mounted load carrier.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention takes the form of a load carrier for at least one bicycle. The carrier includes a load carrier frame adapted to be mounted to a transport vehicle. A bicycle support is carried upon the load carrier frame and is configured for engaging a bicycle at a position proximate a rotatable connection of a bicycle pedal crank assembly to a frame of the bicycle. A securement mechanism is coupled to the load carrier frame and adapted for releasably engaging the bicycle pedal crank assembly of the bicycle for securing the bicycle upon the load carrier frame.
In one version of the load carrier, the securement mechanism is a substantially J-shaped hook securable about the bicycle pedal crank assembly. The J-shaped hook being of conventional design, it includes a hooked end portion and a straight end portion. A biasing member may be optionally associated with the J-shaped hook for urging the hooked end portion toward the load carrier when a bicycle is being transported upon the load carrier. In an alternative version of the load carrier, the securement mechanism is a clamping mechanism pivotally connected upon the load carrier frame. The clamping mechanism is abuttable against a properly positioned bicycle pedal crank assembly of a bicycle to be secured upon the load carrier.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a method for achieving the benefits afforded through the utilization of the above described load carrier design. This method for transporting a bicycle includes mounting a load carrier upon a transport vehicle. One or more bicycles are then installed upon a bicycle support member of the load carrier by engaging the bicycle at a position proximate a rotatable connection of a bicycle pedal crank assembly to a bicycle frame of the bicycle. The bicycle is releasably secured to the load carrier utilizing a securement mechanism coupled to the load carrier by restraining the bicycle pedal crank assembly of the bicycle to the load carrier.
The more general characteristics of the load carrier design of the present invention is comprised of two primary components. A lower or base portion is adapted to be insertably received into the carrying vehicle's tubular hitch mount. This base or mounting portion is constructed in a substantially inverted “T” design. The upright member of the “T” is either open-ended at its top or provided with another type of receiver or connection for accepting a second primary component in the form of a head piece to be mounted securely thereon. By incorporating the two piece construction between the lower base portion and the exchangeable head pieces, a high degree of versatility is imparted to the invention.
While it is expected that the primary use of the carrier will be for sport equipment transport, by providing alternative head pieces, any number of applications may be accommodated. At least three substantially different types of head pieces are disclosed herein. The first, which includes at least two preferred embodiments, is for accommodating a plurality of bicycles to be carried thereon. The second configuration accommodates and accepts a containerized cargo compartment s
Royston, Rayzor, Vickery, Novak & Druce, L.L.P.
Vidovich Gregory M.
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