United States Patent (19)

Transcription

1 United Sttes Ptent (19) Mobley (11) 45) Ptent Number: Dte of Ptent: Nov. 19, 1991 (54) BICYCLE RACK FORMOUNTING ON A VAN 76 Inventor: Mrk H. Mobley, P.O. Box 636, Norris, Tenn Appl. No.: 436, Filed: Nov. 14, int. Cl.... B60R 9/00 52 U.S.C /324; 224/42.03 B; 224/ Field of Serch /329, 337, 324, 315, 224/309, B; 21 1/17, 18, 19, 22 (56) References Cited U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 3,464,608 9/1969 Rodriguez /42.03 B 3,752,375 8/1973 Weigl /324 3,901,421 8/1975 Klicki et l /324 4,085,874 4/1978 Grber /42.03 B 4,290,540 9/1981 Allen /42.03 B 4,842,148 6/1989 Bowmn /8 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS /978 Frnce /309 Primry Exminer-Lind J. Shol 57 ABSTRACT A bicycle rck ssembly for crrying up to four bicycles comprising fork support with simulted wheel xle ttched to tubulr br hving four legs. The rck is specificlly designed to be utilized on vns or similr vehicles. The ssembly is secured to the rer of vn by n upper pir of djustble strps ttched to the lip or edge of the vn door or htch nd lower pir of djust ble strps which re ttched to either the lower edge of the door or the bumper. To use, the front wheel of the bicycle is removed; nd its front fork is ttched to the simulted wheel xle. The bicycle is held verticlly with its rer wheel resting ginst the rer bumper of the vn. In this position, the bicycle is out of the ir strem of the vehicle. Moreover, since the rer wheel is close to the ground, the bicycle cn be esily mounted on the rck or removed from it. For dditionl security, sfety strp is lso provided to be fitted round ech bicycle nd ttched to the rck. 3 Clims, 2 Drwing Sheets n es s V or F K Y op p s M st N s s Y V W 47 V V N V - s. W v. w V. V. N. W. W Y.Y. 1 P

2 U.S. Ptent Nov. 19, 1991 Sheet 1 of 2 Figure 1

3 U.S. Ptent Nov. 19, 1991 Sheet 2 of Figure 2

4 1. BICYCLE RACK FOR MOUNTING ON A VAN BACKGROUND OF THE 1. Field of the Invention The present invention reltes to crriers mounted on vehicles for trnsporting one or more bicycles. 2. Description of the Prior Art Of the mny U.S. ptents on bicycle rcks mounted on vehicles, most of these rcks were designed for use on the trunks or bumpers of crs. Wssermn, U.S. Pt. No. 3,874,575, disclosed such rck in 1975 while Allen, U.S. Pt. Nos. 4,109,839 nd 4,709,840, disclosed trunk mounted bicycle rcks in 1978 nd Both Wssermnn's nd Allen's devices used djustble strps but were best suited for use on the trunk of the vehicle. Other bicycle rcks hve been designed for mounting on the roof of the vehicle. Among them, re rcks in which, during loding, the front wheel of the bicycle is removed nd the front fork secured to the rck using fixed xle. Crter, U.S. Pt. No. 3,828,993, nd Shimno U.S. Pt. No. 3,848,784 both disclose bicy cle rcks using such front fork mount, but both of these rcks re only suitble for mounting on the roof of the vehicle. Bicycles crried on the roof of vehicle dd significntly to the ir drg nd therefore reduce gs millge. Roof mounted rcks re inconvenient in tht the rck connections re high nd mostly out of rech on vns nd similr vehicles. In 1975, both Dnon, U.S. Pt. No. 3,927,810 nd Rogers, U.S. Pt. No. 3,921,869 disclosed bicycle rcks tht were fstened to the nerly verticl surfces of the rer doors of vns nd similr vehicles. The bicycle rck disclosed in the Dnon ptent is similr to most of the trunk mounted rcks in tht the bicycles re sup ported horizontlly on two brckets tht extend out wrd from the rck underneth the top tube of the bicycle frmes. Typiclly, only two or three bicycles cn be crried in this mnner. Furthermore, dmge to the bicycles is hrd to void becuse there re no provi sions to seprte them. The bicycle rck disclosed by Rogers, on the other hnd, positions the bicycles verticlly llowing severl bicycles to be crried on the rck. Rogers' rck engges the hndlebrs of the bicycles with the set resting on n intermedite support nd the wheels extending wy from the vehicle. The loding nd unloding of ny bicycle mounted on Rogers' device is wkwrd becuse the hndle brs, the most convenient plce to hndie bicycle, must be turned towrd the vehicle leving the freemoving wheels nd gresy chin nerest the user. Moreover, the rck ssembly itself is lrge nd cum bersome structure tht comprises mny prts. Further, while both Dnon's nd Rogers' devices hold totlly ssembled bicycles, both devices require dditionl strps nd tie-downs to hold the bicycles securely. In 1989, Bowmn, U.S. Pt. No. 4,842,148 disclosed bicycle rck tht lso uses front fork mount. The usefulness of this rck is limited. Bowmn's rck ws specificlly designed for sttionry use, s on wll, with permnent bolted connections. There is no mens for djustbly ttching the rck to vehicle. The rck hs provisions for only one bicycle. OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE The object of the present invention is to provide low cost bicycle-crrying rck tht is esily mounted on vehicles tht hve high roofs nd nerly verticl rer doors such s vns or the like. A further object of the present invention is to provide mens for crrying t lest one bicycle on such vehicles with the bicycle held securely nd out of the ir strem of the vehicle. A still further object of the present invention is to provide rck for such vehicles on which up to four bicycles cn be esily mounted nd removed. Other objects nd dvntges of the present invention will become pprent when the invention is considered in its preferred form s is disclosed in the ccompnying figures nd descriptions. In ccordnce with the present invention, bicycle rck comprises horizontlly mounted br or tube to which is djustbly ttched t lest one bicycle fork mount ssembly hving quick relese clmping mech nism. When more thn one such ssembly is present, the fork mount ssemblies re spced prt from ech other long the tube. Supporting the tube re two pirs of legs. Ech pir defines generlly C-shped struc ture which is dpted to contct the vehicle. The feet on the ends of the C-shped structures re cushioned to protect the finish of the crrying vehicle. The ssembly is held in position by upper nd lower strps, both of which re djustble in length. One end of ech of the strps re ttched to the bicycle rck frme using n dpter. The hooks on the opposite end of the upper strps re fstened to the upper edge of the rer door while hooks on the lower strps re fstened to the bottom of the door edge or to the bumper. The lengths of the upper strps re djusted so tht when bicycle is mounted on the rck, the rer wheel of the bicycle will rest on the rer bumper of the crrying vehicle. The lower strps re then tightened to hold the rck securely to the rer door of the vehicle. The bicycle rck thus described is simple, esily constructed nd not difficult to mount on the vehicle. All of the connections nd djustments re esily within rech of the user stnding behind the vehicle. In loding the device, the front wheel of the bicycle is renoved nd its front end pivoted upwrd using the hndle brs. The bicycle is then rised so tht the bicy cle fork cn be plced on the fork mount ssembly with the rer wheel of the bicycle directly below. The bicy cle is then held in plce with one hnd nd the clmping mechnism closed with the other. The fork mount s sembly includes quick relese clmping mechnism tht mkes the rck esy to use nd provides secure ttchment. For dditionl security, sfety strp cn be fstened round the bicycle nd ttched to the rck. In the mounted position, the front fork of the bicycle is nerly directly bove its rer wheel. The rer wheel of the bicycle is situted t the height of the bumper nd rests ginst it. As consequence, the bicycle needs to be rised less thn two feet off of the ground, thereby mking the rck esy to lod nd unlod. Furthermore, the bicycle so mounted is nerly com pletely out of the ir strem of the vehicle nd does not dd dditionl drg, thereby sving gsoline. When multiple bikes re to be mounted, the spcing of the fork mount ssemblies cn be djusted to prevent interference between the protruding prts of the indi vidul bicycles. This djustment llows convenient nd efficient mounting of up to four bicycles on rck tht is no wider thn typicl vehicle.

5 3 DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is perspective view of the bicycle rck s sembly ccording to the present invention mounted on the rer door of typicl vn with one bicycle mounted on it; nd FIG. 2 is perspective view of the bicycle rck ssembly invention ccording to FIG. 1. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 10 bicycle rck ssembly 11 elongted tube 12 upper legs 13 lower legs 14 resilient foot pds 15 strp dpter 16 djustble upper strps 7 djustble lower strps 18 hook 20 vehicle 30 fork mount ssembly 31 fork mount xle 32 quick relese clmping mechnism 33 ttchment bolts for fork mount ssembly 40 bicycle 42 sfety strp DESCRIPTION OF THE The description set forth herein is directed to the detils of the invention in its preferred form. The pres ent invention is bicycle crrying rck for mounting on the rer portion of vn or similr vehicle., Referring to the drwings, the bicycle rck ssembly, indicted in FIG. 1 generlly by the reference number 10, includes n elongted tube 11 tht is held wy from the supporting vehicle 20 by two pirs of legs 12, nd 13 tht re rigidly fstened to the tube 11. Ech of the pirs of legs 12, nd 13 is bent t n ngle of pproximtely 90 degrees. As illustrted in FIG. 2, strp dpter 15 is connected to ech leg 12, nd 13 ner the mid-section of this bend. Attched to the dpters 15 re djustble strps 16, nd 17. A hook 18 is ttched to the end of ech strp 16, nd 17 distl the dpter 15 so tht the strp cn be fstened to the edge of the door or to the bumper of the vehicle 20. The leg pirs 12, nd 13 re lso equipped with footpds 14 to prevent sliding of the rck 10 nd to protect the finish of the vehicle 20. The rck 10 further comprises mens for ttching the front fork of bicycle to the tube 11. The ttching mens includes fork support ssembly 30. As shown in FIG. 2, the ssembly 30 hs n xle 31 with quick relese clmping mechnism 32 for holding the front fork of the bicycle 40. An ssembly 30, such s model no from Performnce Bicycle Shop, Inc. lo cted in Chpel Hill, N.C. my be used in the preferred embodiment. Ech ssembly is clmped to the tube 11 by the use of bolts 33. Up to four ssemblies 30 cn be spced long the tube 11 nd utilized to crry from one to four bicycles DESCRIPTION OF THE OFERATION OF THE As shown in FIG. 1, the rck 10 is ttched to the vehicle 20 first by hnging the upper two strps 16 by their hooks 18 from the upper edge of the rer door or rin gutter of the vn 20 nd djusting the length of the strps to obtin the desired height. Then the lower two strps 17 re hooked onto the bottom of the door or htch or to the bumper nd tightened securely by d justing the lengths of the strps 17. Next the front wheel of bicycle 40 is removed, its fork is plced on the xle 31, nd the quick relese clmping mechnism 32 is tightened. For dded protection, sfety strp 42 is provided. As illustrted in FIG. 1, the sfety strp is preferbly secured round tube 11 nd the frme of bicycle 40, ner its set loction. CONCLUSION AND SCOPE OF THE It is pprent from the foregoing tht new nd improved pprtus for use in mounting bicycles on vns nd the like hs been provided. While only the presently preferred embodiment of the invention hs been disclosed, s will be pprent to those fmilir with the rt, certin chnges nd modifictions cn be mde without deprting from the scope of the invention s defined by the following clims. It is climed: 1. A rck ssembly for mounting t lest one bicycle on vehicle with substntilly verticl rer exterior wll, rer bumper nd hving width, sid rck s sembly comprising: () n elongted br hving first nd second ends nd sized to extend substntilly the width of the vehi cle; (b) two pir of support legs ttched to the elongted br t points spced wy from sid first nd sec ond ends, ech pir of support legs forming gen erlly c-shped structure when the rck ssembly is viewed from its side; sid elongted br nd two pirs of support legs forming n elongted struc ture; (c) mens for djustbly ttching the elongted structure to sid rer exterior wll; nd (d) plurlity of quick relese clmping mechnisms mechnisms being positioned between one of the first nd second ends of the elongted br nd one pir of support legs; sid rck ssembly hving only single elongted br nd structured such tht the rck ssembly is cpble of being positioned on the vehicle to llow the bicycle fork to engge the quick relese clmping mechnism nd rer tire of the bicycle to engge the rer bumper of the vehicle. 2. A rck ssembly ccording to clim 1 wherein the mens for djustbly ttching the elongted structure to sid exterior wll consists of plurlity of flexible strps, one end of ech strp being ttched to the elon gted structure. 3. A rck ssembly ccording to clim 1 tht further comprises sfety strp nd mens for securing the sfety strp so tht if sid front fork ttching mens fils, the bicycle remins ttched to sid vehicle. t