Package and article carriers – Vehicle attached – Carrier associated with vehicle roof or trunk lid
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-05
2001-07-10
Vidovich, Gregory M. (Department: 3727)
Package and article carriers
Vehicle attached
Carrier associated with vehicle roof or trunk lid
C224S323000, C224S324000, C224S325000, C224S917500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06257471
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to vehicle roof-mounted rack attachments, and more particularly to a modular vehicle roof rack ski-carrier module and module attachment apparatus.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
As many people are now aware, the difficulty or inconvenience of carrying oversized objects in a vehicle has been mitigated through the use of modular vehicle roof rack systems which allow oversized objects to be carried on the roof-top of a vehicle.
A modular vehicle roof rack system comprises (1) two parallel bars mounted to a vehicle roof-top, (2) a plurality of modules or adapters which allow for different objects to be carried on the roof top, and (3) an attachment apparatus for attaching or anchoring the modules or adapters to the parallel bars.
More specifically, a modular vehicle roof rack system comprises two parallel bars laterally placed and longitudinally spaced across a vehicle roof-top, along with interchangeable modules which attach to the bars of the roof rack. The bars act as a supporting foundation for the attachment and detachment of different types of modules. The interchangeable modules allow the user to carry different types of oversized objects on the roof of the vehicle which might otherwise be difficult or inconvenient to fit inside the vehicle. Various modular attachments which are presently available allow the user to carry different objects such as skis, surfboards, canoes, bicycles, etc.
The benefits of carrying skis in a modular vehicle roof rack system, and the existence of such a modular vehicle roof rack system as described above are well known in the art. However, there are some disadvantages with the existing designs.
For example, in order to carry a different type of oversized object, the user must first remove the presently attached module, and then attach a different module to the parallel roof rack bar. The convenience of having interchangeable attachments is substantially lost by the inconvenience involved in making such changes. Some models even require the user to detach the bars from its car mount so that the module, which is to be replaced, may be slid off the bar and replaced with a different module. Furthermore, many of the designs presently available either require tools to detach and attach various different modules or are poorly designed in that the module attaching device is unnecessarily complex and expensive to manufacture. U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,362 illustrates the level of complexity of design to which those in the art have gone to create a mounting device.
Another disadvantage with the existing designs deals with a ski rack's inability to carry ski poles in a simple and convenient manner. U.S. Pat. No. 4,720,031 attempts to solve this problem, but fails to do so in a simple and convenient manner. In the 1031 design, rectangular apertures which were designed to hold the ski poles in place are located on the upper arm of the ski rack. This design forces the user to balance the ski poles in position until the upper arm can be quickly closed before the ski poles fall out of position. This race against gravity is not always won by the user, and the user is thus forced to re-position the ski poles in another attempt.
A further disadvantage of the existing designs deals with the hinge assembly used to connect the upper and lower arms of the ski racks. Many prior designs incorporate a spring mechanism which causes the upper arm to pop up when the lock assembly is released. However, this spring serves no further purpose. The user eventually had to throw the upper arm past the vertical or constantly hold up the upper and in a raised position in order to insert the skis into the ski rack unobstructed. The metal springs used in these prior existing designs also tend to rust or corrode, leading to further uselessness.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises a modular vehicle roof rack ski-carrier module, and an improved method for attaching the module to a vehicle rack using a module attachment apparatus.
A modular vehicle rack is usually mounted on the roof of a vehicle, although it is possible for the rack to be placed elsewhere. While the module of the present invention is an improved ski carrier, the module attachment or anchoring apparatus may be used to attach various different modules to the roof rack bar, including but not limited to a flat ski-carrier module.
Therefore, although the module and module attachment apparatus of the present invention embodies a modular vehicle roof rack ski-carrier module, the scope of the present invention is not limited to vehicle racks which are only roof-mounted, nor is the present invention limited to modules which can only accommodate skis.
Presently, interchangeable roof rack attachments are either difficult to attach and detach or they are complex and expensive. The module and module attachment apparatus of the present invention are neither. The attachment or anchoring apparatus of the present invention uses a couple of simple wrap-around attachment anchors for attaching various types of interchangeable roof rack modules to the parallel bars of a vehicle roof rack system. In a preferred embodiment, no tools are required to attach or detach an interchangeable module, and the manufacture of a wrap-around attachment anchor is simple and inexpensive.
The wrap-around attachment anchors may be made of a tough, yet flexible strip of a nylon composite which can be spread open enough to place the wrap-around attachment anchor around a roof rack bar, thereby being in position to act as an anchor for an interchangeable module. In a preferred embodiment, no nuts or bolts are used, so a person with limited manual dexterity (which may result from cold hands, or gloves being worn) will still be able to attach or detach a module quite simply. The wrap-around attachment anchors may be varied in length, thereby changing the diameter of the attachment anchors, in order to fit snugly around roof rack bars of varying thickness. In other words, the simplicity of the design makes it easy to produce custom versions to match different roof rack bar profiles, thus enabling the same attachment apparatus concept to be applied to a wide variety of vehicle roof rack systems.
Once the ski-carrier module is simply and efficiently attached to the roof rack bar, the user will notice additional improvements in the ski-carrier module itself. Until now, when a user was ready to place skis into the carrier, the user either had to throw the upper arm of the ski carrier past the vertical or keep the upper arm in a raised position with one arm while inserting the skis with the other arm. With the present invention, a hinge assembly, which joins the upper and lower arms of the ski carrier, is designed to allow a user to click the upper arm into a locking raised position through the use of a positioning-device abutment which supports the upper arm in a predetermined raised position. This will enable the user to insert skis into the ski carrier without the upper arm causing an obstruction. When all the skis and ski poles which need to be inserted have been inserted, the upper arm may be lowered into its closed position by unlocking the hinge assembly with a downward force on the upper arm.
In a preferred embodiment, the hinge assembly may be easily modified to allow the upper arm to be locked into multiple raised positions by changing the design of a hinge assembly positioning-device abutment to include additional position steps which would act as additional support positions for the upper arm.
Furthermore, the present invention allows for a simple and convenient way to carry ski poles in the ski-carrier module. Unlike the prior art which placed the pole receptor on the upper arm, the module of the present invention has upward-facing receptors for the ski poles located on the lower arm of the ski carrier. The module of the present invention allows a user to insert both ski poles into a receptor on the bottom arm and have them stay in that position until the upper arm is closed shut. The poles will not
Apogee Jon
Dixon Michael
Hudson James B.
Brevard Maerena W.
Lyon & Lyon LLP
Sport Carriers, Inc.
Vidovich Gregory M.
LandOfFree
Ski-carrier module with module attachment apparatus does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Ski-carrier module with module attachment apparatus, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Ski-carrier module with module attachment apparatus will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2494234