Package and article carriers – Vehicle attached – Carrier associated with vehicle roof or trunk lid
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-26
2001-07-24
Cronin, Stephen K. (Department: 3727)
Package and article carriers
Vehicle attached
Carrier associated with vehicle roof or trunk lid
C224S331000, C439S034000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06264082
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a roof-rack arrangement for a motor vehicle, which comprises at least one load-bearing bar extending across the roof, two feet, one arranged at each end of the bar, for fastening the load-bearing bar on top of the roof of the vehicle, which feet each have their own support portion for clamping to the respective side portion of the roof, and, arranged on each foot, a threaded bolt connection which extends through a bolt hole in the support portions, is fixed to the roof in anchoring means and is arranged so as to make possible, by manual tightening of the bolt connection, secure clamping of the support portion between a flange portion of the bolt connection, which flange portion is located on top of the support portion, and the anchoring means.
STATE OF THE ART
A known arrangement for fixing roof-racks to car roofs comprises fixed nuts arranged at the edge portions of the roof, which are intended to serve as anchoring means for bolts which are threaded in from above through bolt holes in the feet of the roof-rack. The bolts are screwed in, normally by hand, until a flange portion, usually in the form of a bolt head, comes to bear against the top side of the foot, and a final tightening is carried out, in most cases using a tool, in order to clamp the foot securely against the roof. It is usual for the foot to rest on a pad made of an elastic material such as, for example, rubber, so that adaptation to the shape of the roof is obtained and moreover a connection with appropriate clamping force results. There are also constructional solutions in which the bolt head, which may be of any suitable type besides hexagonal, is hooked into arrangements on the roof, in some cases with some type of corresponding keyhole mounting, and a threaded end on the bolt is pushed up through a bolt hole in the foot, on the top side of which a nut with a flange portion is screwed on and tightened in a corresponding manner.
In these constructions, it is a disadvantage that a tool, which is in most cases loose, is required in order to achieve adequate clamping force for the connection. Furthermore, the grip of the tool may have to be changed during handling, which sometimes results in poor purchase and slipping. The working position in this situation, with the point of working on top of the roof of a vehicle, is also inconvenient, it being difficult to see what is being done.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The above problems have been solved in an elegant manner according to the invention by the addition of an expander element arranged between the flange portion and the support portion. In a relatively inexpensive and simple embodiment of the invention, the expander element includes an essentially annular member with an opening for the bolt connection, which member is arranged essentially coaxially with the bolt connection and the lower surface of which, that facing the support portion, is designed rotationally unsymmetrically in relation to the axis of the bolt connection and arranged so as to interact with a corresponding, rotationally unsymmetrical surface on the support portion in such a manner that the annular member and the support portion, when relative rotation takes place between the two in one direction or the other, move further from or, respectively, closer to one another. In an almost self-locking variant of the rotational symmetrical surfaces, the top side of the support portion, that facing the annular member, is provided with a ridge extending across the opening for the bolt connection, and the annular member is, on its side facing the support portion, provided with an indentation extending diagonally across the opening for the bolt connection, and two cams located one on each side of the indentation, the annular member being rotatable between two positions, one in which the ridge rests in the indentation, a readiness position, and one in which the cams rest on the ridge, essentially across the latter, an expanded position. So as to be more easily operable, the annular member is suitably provided with an operating lever which can also be used in order to prevent a protective cover being put on without the rack having been securely clamped. The cover can on the other hand safeguard the connection against coming undone by preventing, via locking the lever, rotation of the annular member back to the readiness position. Furthermore, the flange portion can be provided with first gripping means which are arranged so as, when the bolt is fully screwed in or the nut is fully screwed on, to interact with corresponding second gripping means on the top side of the annular member in such a manner that rotation of the annular member with the gripping means in engagement with one another brings about corresponding rotation of the bolt or the nut and further tightening of the bolt connection.
Other advantages and features of the invention will emerge from the description of the invention given below.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4264025 (1981-04-01), Ferguson et al.
patent: 4469261 (1984-09-01), Stapleton et al.
patent: 4640450 (1987-02-01), Gallion et al.
patent: 5306156 (1994-04-01), Gibbs et al.
patent: 5624266 (1997-04-01), Gibbs et al.
patent: 5826765 (1998-10-01), Rak et al.
patent: 4402217 (1994-01-01), None
patent: 19652297 (1996-12-01), None
patent: 9101136 (1991-02-01), None
Cronin Stephen K.
Industri AB Thule
Samuels , Gauthier & Stevens, LLP
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