Car Rack

The present relates to a car rack adapted to be secured on the top of a car for carrying articles such as skis or other loads.

Several types of car racks are already known, but each has its disadvantages which the present invention intends to overcome.

As example, the U.S. Pat. No. 3,836,058 teaches a rach construction for carrying skis or the like on the top of a vehicle, comprising upstanding post members and a single lockable actuator at one end of the rack to set or release all post pairs in unison. Therefore, each pair of post comprises a fixed post and a movable post, the movable posts being all ganged in their connection to the single actuator. Therefore, it is evident that such a construction is complicated, expensive and when out of order difficult to fix.

The U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,760 describes a luggage rack consisting of a slats made from roll formed strips of sheet metal. Each slat has a pair of upwardly converging inner walls defining a groove therebetween which runs the length of the slat. The groove receives and holds a fastener or the like for securing an adjustable tie-down member or other article securing device on the slat. The slat also has outer walls spaced on the opposite sides of the inner walls with supporting ledges connecting the upper ends of the inner and the outer walls on opposite sides of the groove. The article to be transported can rest directly on the supporting ledges or on a decorative and protective plastic strip which is mounted on the ledges and is held in place by resilient ribs formed of its underside and fitted in the slat groove. Rope means are provided to tie-down the various articles placed on the slats.

Such a rack construction is remote from the rack construction of the present invention.

In the Swiss Pat. No. 433,021 it is shown a ski support element having a pivoting arm which swings open to receive the skis and snaps shut to clamp them in place. However, such a support element is not as effective as a support element should be and its operation is rather complicated.

The present invention overcomes the above drawbacks and provides a car rack which is easy to manufacture, non-expensive, simple, lightweight, non lockable, espacially designed for fast and easy mounting and removal.

Furthermore, the car rack of the present invention is made of a material which is resistant to cold weather, is very easily installed on the top or roof of the car without any tools which during the winter time is a big advantage, and is made of different parts which are easily disassembled and reassembled, if desired. This is particularly true for the load carrying elements which are removable from their position in the rack and which can be substituted by different kinds of carrying elements for carrying differend kinds of loads. For instance, if the loads to be carried on the top of a car are skis, carrying elements shaped especially for that purpose are used. If the laod to be carried is a different article, different type of carrying elements adapted for the specific purpose may be used.

A further advantage of the car rack of the present invention is that it is made of such material that it does not scratch or mar the car finishes, and fits most types of cars with or without drip rails.

Furthermore, when not in use, the car rack fits nicely in the luggage compartment of the car.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a car rack wherein the elongated support base is provided with a resilient means extending longitudinally thereacross and captive therein whereby to removably and solidly secure the base on the top of the car.

According to the above advantages, from a broad aspect, the present invention provides a car rack adapted to be secured, at least in pairs, on the top of a car for carrying articles. The rack comprises an elongated support base having support means resting on the top of the car for supporting the base space from the top. Resilient means extends longitudinally across the support base and captive in a channel thereof and adapted, at their opposed ends, to removably but solidly secure the support base on the top of the car. One or more carrying elements are removably connected to the support base for carrying articles.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described as an example only, having reference the attached drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pair of car racks according to the present invention installed on the top of a car;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial side view of a car rack according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a car rack according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a load carrying element used in the rack according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a top view of one carrying element in its skis holding position; FIG. 5 is located on the sheet containing FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a carrying element according to the present invention carrying a pair of alpine skis. FIG. 6 is located on the sheet containing FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 shows a cross-section according to line 7--7 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of the carrying element.

Referring to the Figures, FIG. 1 shows a pair of car racks 1 made according to the present invention and secured on the top of a car at a convenient distance from each other for carrying articles which in FIG. 1 are shown as skis 2.

As best shown in FIG. 2 each car rack 1 comprises a support base 3 having end shoes 5, the end shoes resting on the top of the car, near the lateral edges thereof (see FIG. 1).

Resilient means 7 are provided inside the support base 3, and are adapted to removably but solidly secure the support base 3 on top of the car.

Carrying elements 9 are slidably and removably inserted inside rail means 11 (see FIG. 4) provided in the support base 3 for carrying articles.

As best shown in FIG. 3, the support base 3 comprises a support bar 13, slightly curved to conform to the shape of the roof of the car, the top of which is provided with the rail means 11. The support bar 13 has, in cross-section, the form of a flattened hexagon which is hollow and the bottom side of which is provided with a slot 15 running along the entire length of the support bar 13. The slot 15 opens into a trapezoid shaped inner section 17 which also runs along the entire length of the support bar 13. The flattened hexagon form of the support bar 13 provides a better resistance to the wind.

The support bar 13 is made of extruded aluminum or aluminum alloy, and is covered with an epoxy powder or the like or it is anodized.

The end shoes 5 are provided at the end of the support bar 13. The end shoes 5 and the support bar 13 form the support base 3.

Each end shoe (or end cushions) 5 is in the form of a truncated pyramid as best shown in FIG. 3 and is provided with a groove 19 in the shape of an U with open inclined sides 23, the groove 19 being adapted to receive the lower part of the hexagon shaped support bar 13. The outer extremity of each shoe forms an end wall 21 which overlooks the groove 19 and therefore hides the groove 19 from view when one looks from each side of the support base 3.

On each inclined side 23 of the groove 19 and next to the end wall 21 overlooking the groove 19, there are provided two triangular stop or securing elements 25 adapted to be inserted inside the hollow hexagon shaped support bar 13 in order to secure the support bar 13 inside the groove 19. For the same purpose is provided a further securing finger element 27 extending toward the groove 19 from the end wall 21, the further element 27 being adapted to be inserted inside the trapezoid shaped inner section 17 of the support bar 13. Furthermore, a protruding central lane part 29 is provided at the center of the groove 19 and is adapted to be inserted inside the slot 15 of the support bar 13. Therefore, it is evident that the stop elements 25, the securing element 27 and the protruding central part 29 all contribute to the securing of the support bar 13 inside the groove 19 of each end shoe 5. Beside these securing elements, there is provided a bolt 31 which traverses a hole 33 in the protruding central part 29 and through a U shaped washer element (or support plate) 35 is screwed to a nut 37. Therefore, when the bolt 33 and the nut 37 are screwed together both ends of the support bar 13 are fixedly but removably secured to the end shoes 5.

The end shoes 5 are made of T.P.R.* (which is a trade mark of UNIROYAL and stands for Thermo-plastic rubber) material which is a semi-rigid non staining, non marking, high-quality and stability material that keeps its soft property under very cold temperatures. This material can receive a foaming agent to increase or decrease the hardners of the material.

At the upper inside edge of the end wall 21 there is provided an inwardly projecting flange 39 adapted to cooperate with the inclinded edge of the support bar 13 which supports the carrying elements 9 (see FIGS. 2) which will be described more in details in the following paragraphs.

The entire perimeter of the base 41 of each end shoe 5 touches the roof of the car. This ensures a good friction and enhances the anti-ski property of the shoes 5.

Inside the upper part of the end wall 21, there is provided a transverse elongated opening 47 through which the resilient means 7 for fixing the support base 3 on the top of the car passes, as will be explained in the following paragraphs.

The resilient means 7 provided inside the support base 3 comprises a central rubber compound band 49 and two lateral nylon strips or webbings 51 (see FIG. 2). Each nylon strip 51 protrudes out of the transverse elongated opening 47 (see FIG. 3) provided in the end wall 21 as above explained. The connection between the central rubber band 49 and the lateral nylon strips 51 is made through a rubber element 53, connecting the inner end of each nylon strip 51 and each end 55 of the central rubber band 49. Such a connection is made by molding.

The rubber compound has a tension which can vary from 35 to 70 pounds according to the size of the car rack.

The reslient means 7 which as above explained comprises the central rubber band 49 and the lateral nylon strips 51 freely moves inside the upper hollow part 57 of the hexagon shaped support bar (see FIG. 3) and is provided at its both ends with hook-like elements 59 depending out from the support base 3. The hook-like elements are adapted to engage with edges 61 (see FIG. 2) of the top of the car, such edges 61 being usually upwardly curved.

Each hook-like element 59 comprises a body (not seen), connected by any known ways to the corresponding nylon strips 51 (see FIG. 2) and two arms one, upper arm 65 upwardly bent and one lower arm 67 having a hooked end 69 adapted to engage and grasp the edge 61 of the top of the car (see FIG. 2).

The hook-like elements 59 are made of cold rolled, prime quality steel or any other suitable material. It can be zinc-plated steel with baked polyester paint. The shape of the hook like-element is designed to fit the majority of car roof details. However, a protective sleeve 71 made of thermo-plastic rubber (T.P.R.* trade mark) or any other suitable plastic material is fitted on the body of the hook-like element 59, in order to prevent any scratching or maring of the top of the car in case the hook-like elements 59 touch such top.

The upper arm 65 is for easily manipulating the engaging and disengaging of the hooked end 69 of each lower arm 67 into and out of the edge 61 of the top of the car.

It is thus evident that the installation of the car rack on the top of the car does not necessitate any tools and is easily made only by hand.

Different lengths of resilient means are provided for the different type of cars.

As above-mentioned, in the rail means 11 provided on the top of the support base 3, there are provided carrying elements 9 for carrying articles which in FIG. 1 is shown as being skis. Such skis may be "country skis" or "alpine skis".

There is a plurality of carrying elements (or clips) 9 slidably and removably inserted inside the rail means 11. Each carrying element 9 is made of modified nylon such as "ZYTEL S.T."* (super tough) which is a trade mark of DUPONT or the like and comprises (see FIG. 4) a reversed T shaped element 72 having an upstanding web 73 and a transverse leg 75, one side 77 of the leg 75 being longer than the other side 79 thereof. The web 73 is integrally provided with an upstanding inner element 81 (lining) which is narrower than the width of the upstanding web 73.

A tail portion 83 is integrally connected to the free end of the web 73 and is perpendicularly bent with respect of the web 73 and extends toward the same side as the long side 77 of the leg 75. The tail portion 83 has a length shorter than the length of the long side 77 of the leg 75.

Slightly ahead of the inner upstanding element 81 and toward the long side 77 of the leg 75 there are provided two small elements, an upper small element 85 forming an integral part of the tail portion 83 and depending downwardly therefrom and a lower small element 87 forming an integral part of the long side 77 of the leg 75 and upstanding or extending upwardly therefrom. These small opposite elements are provided for removably receiving a bumper element 89 made of dense mechanical rubber, or the like and which will be explained in the following paragraphs.

The bumper element 89 (see FIG. 4) comprises a main body 91 which is substantially rectangular in form and has two cross-linked forward arms 93 and two lateral rear flanges 95 which together with a rear base portion 97 form a recess 99 with the back portion 100 of the main body 91 of the bumper element 89. The recess 99 runs along the entire length of the main body 91 of the bumper element 89. The rear lateral flanges 95 extend beyond the rear base portion 97 and form a channel 101.

For inserting the bumper element 89 in its place, which is between the upper tail portion 83 of the web 73 and the lower long side 77 of the leg 75, it is only necessary to flex the rubber body of the bumper element 89 so that the upper small element 85 and the lower small element 87 be inserted inside the recess 99 while the rear flanges 95 of the channel 101 surround the inner upstanding element 81 in such a way that the channel imprisons the inner upstanding element 81. Thus, the bumper element 89 is fixedly but removably inserted in its place.

Opposite the inner upstanding element 81 there is provided a bail element 103 made of "ZYTEL S.T."* trade mark which is removably secured at its lower part to the long side 77 of the leg 75 and is provided at its upper part with locking means to engage with locking means provided on the tail portion 83 of the web 73 as will be explained in the following paragraphs.

The bail element 103 is provided at its lower end with two opposite hinge elements 105 adapted to be inserted inside corresponding holes 107 provided on each side of a bump 109 located on the long side 77 of the leg 75 at a suitable location slightly ahead of the end 111 of the tail portion 83 of the web 73. Such a location of the bump 109 and therefore of the bail element 103 is calculated such that a pair of skis be securely inserted between the free space provided between the bumper element 89 and the bail 103 as will be explained below.

The bail element 103 has the shape of a reversed L. The upper bent part of the bail element 103 is turned toward the reversed T-shaped element 72 and is provided at its free end 119 with locking means in a form of a lug 113 adapted to be snapped into a slot 115 provided at the end part of the tail portion 83 or the web 73. A tab 117 upstands from the free end 119 of the bent part of the L shaped bail element, the tab 117 having as function the snapping of the lug 113 into and disengaging it out of the slot 115.

As the material from which is made the bail element is of modified nylon ("ZYTEL S.T."* trade mark) or the like as above indicated such a locking gives a firm support to the skis or other articles inserted between the bumper element 89 and the bail element 103 while it provides an easy manual unlocking of the bail element 103 when it is desired to remove the ski or the article from the grip of the carrying elements 9.

A further bumper element 121 in the form of a grooved rectangular member smaller than the bumper element 89 is connected to the inside surface of the bail element 103, the upstanding part 122 of the reversed L shaped bail element 103 having side flanges 123 surrounding the lateral sides of the further bumper element 121. Such a further bumper element 121 the grooves 122 of which are turned toward the cross-linked arms 93 of the bumper element 89 provides a resilient support along which the resilient support provided by the bumper element 89 for the skis or articles carried by the carrying elements 9.

On the back surface of the upstanding part 122 of the bail element 103 there are provided grooves 125 intended to facilitate the placing of the thumb thereon during the locking or the unlocking of the bail element 103.

The transverse leg 75 of each carrying element 9 has downwardly and outwardly inclined lateral longitudinal edges 127 adapted to match with corresponding upwardly and inwardly inclined edges 129 of the rail means 11 inside which the carrying elements are inserted. Furthermore, the transverse edges 131 and 133 of the long side 77 and of the short side 79, respectively, of each reversed T-shaped element 72 are also beveled but in opposite directions i.e. one 133, downwardly and outwardly and the other 131, upwardly and inwardly, so that when the carrying elements 9 are consecutively inserted inside the rail means 11, two adjacent edges 131 and 133 of two adjacent carrying elements 9 having opposite inclination, overlap and form a flush upper surface (see FIG. 2).

As shown in FIG. 5, when skis or other articles are inserted into the space between the bumper element 89 and the further bumper element 121 of bail element 103, the cross-linked arms 93 flex (see broken lines in FIG. 5) and securely hold the skis and/or articles inside the carrying elements.

FIG. 5 shows cross-country skis 2 held by the carrying elements 9. FIG. 6 shows alpine skis 4, which are narrower in width, held between the bumper element 121 of the bail element 103 and the bumper element 89. Therefore, the bumper element 89 shows an upper part which is partly overhanging the skis 4.

Of course, the form and the shape of the carrying elements 9 may be modified and therefore, instead of skis, other articles may be carried on the rack placed and secured on the top of the car. In fact, instead of ski clips 9, carry-all attachments may be inserted in the support bar 13.

The inner surface of the long side 77 of the transverse leg 75 of each reversed T-shaped element 72 is provided between the lower small element 87 and the bump 109 with a central trapezoid shaped longitudinal protuberance 135. A similar central longitudinal trapezoid protuberance 137 is provided on the inner surface of the tail portion 83. These protuberances prevent the skis from touching the inner surface of the transverse leg 75 and the inner surface of the tail portion 83.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the hinge elements 105 are connected together to form a single pivot shaft 139, the end portion 140 of the long side 77 of the leg 77 is provided with two lateral protuberances 141 staggered one with respect to the other, and the bump 109 is provided with a single opening 143 running through the width of the bump 109. The pivot shaft 139 of the bail element 103 is inserted into the opening 143 of the bump 109 by forcibly passing the gap 145 provided between the pivot shaft 139 and the upstanding part 122 of the bail element 103 through the said protuberances 141 when all these elements are still hot, to finally lodge the pivot shaft 139 inside the opening 143. The pivot shaft 139 is maintained inside opening 143 by means of a bar 142 and can pivot therein. However, the bail element 103 cannot be removed out of its location as it is the case in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 because of the protuberances 141. Furthermore, the lateral protuberances 141 assist in securely maintaining the end portion 140 of the long side 77 of leg 75 inside the inclined edges 129 of the rail means.

It is to be understood that the above description was made with a certain degree of particularity, but the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts as well as in the material used may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention.