Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02540027 2006-03-17
APPARATUS FOR A CAR-TOP CARRIER
Field of the Application
The present invention relates generally to a car-top article carrier. More
particularly, the present
invention relates to an article carrier that slides from a stowed position on
a vehicle roof to a
deployed position on the rear gate of the vehicle.
Back rg ound
Article carriers are mounted on the roofs of many types of vehicles, for
example, mini-vans and
sport-utility-vehicles (SUV), and are used to carry a wide variety of articles
such as luggage, cargo,
bicycles, and the like.
A car-top carrier can significantly increase the number of articles that can
be transported by a
vehicle. However, it is not always easy for a person to load articles onto a
rooftop carrier. A person
may be relatively short in comparison to their vehicle and may require the use
of a ladder to place
articles on a rooftop carrier. In another example, articles may be heavy or
cumbersome, making it
difficult for a person to elevate the articles to the roof of their vehicle.
As a result of the drawbacks associated with conventional article carriers, it
is apparent that there is
a need for a device that can assist a person in loading articles onto a car-
top article carrier.
Summary
It is an object of the present application to provide a car-top carrier
apparatus which facilitates the
loading of a car-top carrier. The apparatus of the present invention overcomes
the difficulties
associated with elevating and storing articles on a car-top carrier. The
apparatus provides an article
carrier which can be moved from a stowed position on the roof of a vehicle to
a deployed position
on the rear gate of the vehicle without requiring little, if any, physical
effort on the part of the
operator. The apparatus utilizes the rear gate of a vehicle to assist in
raising and lowering an article
carrier and its contents.
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According to the present invention then, there is provided an apparatus for a
car-top article carrier
comprising a carrier base affixed to a vehicle roof comprising two parallel
channels, a pair of parallel
rails affixed to a rear gate of said vehicle, each rail comprising a channel,
and an article carrier
comprising means to engage said channels of the carrier base and said channels
of the pair of rails;
when said rear gate is raised, said channels of the pair of rails are
horizontally aligned with said
channels of the carrier base permitting said article carrier to move from said
channels of the carrier
base to said channels of the pair of rails; said rear gate is capable of
raising and lowering said article
carrier.
Brief Description of the Drawing
Further objects and improvements incorporated in the apparatus will be
apparent from the following
specifications and accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG.1 depicts a front view of a vehicle with a car-top carrier apparatus in a
stowed position
according to one embodiment of the invention;
FIG.2 depicts a cross-section view according to section A of FIG. 1;
FIG.3 depicts a cross-section view according to section B of FIG.2;
FIG.4 depicts a top view of the article carrier component of the car-top
carrier apparatus;
FIG.5 depicts a top view of the article carrier of FIG.4 with the article
carrier top removed;
FIG.6 depicts a front view of the article carrier of FIG.4;
FIG.7 depicts a side view of the article carrier of FIG.4;
FIG.8 depicts a perspective view of a vehicle with a car-top carrier apparatus
in a stowed
position;
FIG.9 depicts a perspective view of the vehicle of FIG.8 where the car-top
carrier apparatus
is in the process of moving from a stowed position to a deployed position;
FIG. 10 depicts another perspective view of the vehicle of FIG.8 where the car-
top carrier
apparatus is in the process of moving from a stowed position to a deployed
position;
FIG.11 depicts a perspective view of the vehicle of FIG.8 where the car-top
carrier apparatus
is in a deployed position; and
FIG. 12 depicts a perspective view of the vehicle of FIG.8 where the car-top
carrier apparatus
is in a deployed position and the article carrier is open.
CA 02540027 2006-03-17
Detailed Description
The apparatus of the present invention is a carrier which can be moved from a
stowed position on
the roof of a vehicle to a deployed position on the rear gate of the vehicle.
Referring now to FIGS
1-3, one embodiment of the car-top carrier apparatus 100 comprises a carrier
base 102, an article
carrier 104, and a pair of rails 106, 107. The carrier base 102 is affixed to
the roof of vehicle 108.
The pair of rails 106,107 is affixed to the rear gate 110 of vehicle 108. The
carrier base 102
comprises two parallel inwardly facing C-channels 112,113. The carrier base
102 also comprises
a ball screw 114 which is turned by a motor (not shown). A ball screw adapter
116 connects the ball
screw 114 to the article carrier 104. The pair of rails 106, 107 comprises two
parallel inward facing
C-channels (not shown).
Article carrier 104 is illustrated in FIGS 4-7. Article carrier 104 comprises
a bottom 200, a floor
202, and a top 204. The bottom of the article carrier comprises two roller
rails, 206, 207. Each
roller rail comprises three outward facing rollers 208, each of which can
engage the C-channels of
the carrier base 102 and the pair of rails 106, 107.
The top of the article carrier 204 comprises two doors, one on the right side
210 and one on the left
side 211 of the article carrier. The door on the right side 210 is connected
to the right wall of article
carrier 204 by hinge 212. The door on the left side 211 is connected to the
left wall of article carrier
204 by hinge 213. The door hinges 212, 213 are weather-proof. Referring to FIG
6, doors 212, 213
open by rotating on the axes of their respective hinges 210, 211. Preferably,
hinges 212, 213 permit
their respective doors 210, 211 to be rotated on the hinges' axes a minimum of
105 degrees.
The floor 202 of article carrier 204 comprises a grid of modular attachment
holes 216. Preferably,
holes 216 are three quarters of an inch deep, are spaced three inches from the
sides of the article
carrier, and are spaced six inches from each other.
The operation of one embodiment of the car-top carrier apparatus is
illustrated in FIGS 8-12. FIG
8 shows the apparatus 100 in the stowed position on top of vehicle. The car-
top carrier motor (not
CA 02540027 2006-03-17
shown) is shut off and the ball screw is locked to keep the article carrier
104 from moving. When
an operator wishes to load or unload the article carrier 104, the user opens
rear gate 110 of vehicle
108. The rear gate 110 may be powered and opens with little to no physical
effort on the part of
operator. As is shown in FIG 9, the opening rear gate 110 stops with the C-
channels of the pair of
rails 106, 107 horizontally inline with the C-channels 112, 113 of carrier
base 102.
Next, the car-top carrier motor is engaged. The car-top carrier motor turns
the ball screw 114 which
in turn moves the ball screw adapter 116 and the article carrier 104, which is
connected to the ball
screw adapter, towards the rear of the vehicle and onto the open rear gate
110. Preferably the rear
gate 110 of vehicle 108 is reinforced to support the added weight of the
carrier and the contents of
the carrier. The rollers 108 of the article carrier 104 roll toward the rear
of vehicle 108, rolling in
the C-channels 112, 113 of the carrier base 102 and then in the C-channels of
the pair of rails 106,
107. As is shown in FIG 10, the rollers 108 move until they contact the stops
(not shown) in the
C-channels of pair of rails, 116, 117. At this point, the ball screw adapter
116 releases the article
carrier 104, allowing the rear gate 110 to be lowered. The rear gate 110 of
the vehicle 108 may
lower automatically. The rollers 108, engaged in the C-channels of the pair of
rails 106, 107, support
the article carrier 104 as it moves from the substantially horizontal
orientation of FIG 10 to the
substantially vertical orientation of FIG 11. Once the rear gate 110 is
closed, the article carrier 104
is in a fully deployed position at the rear of vehicle 108 and the article
carrier can be opened and
loaded. Preferably, the doors of the article carrier comprise a locking means.
The article carrier 104 is moved from the deployed position at the rear of
vehicle to a stowed position
on the roof of vehicle in a process reverse to the process described above.
Although one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described,
it would be
appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this
embodiment without
departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which
is defined in the claims
and their equivalents.
