Kuat Innovations, LLC

Jonathan Graif

Luke Kuschmeader

Patrick Schloth

Jordan K Bowles

Austin Harrill

Aaron A Houston

Jamie Kummerfeld

Jordan Bowles

Clayton Villars

A bicycle rack is described with an actuated arm that pivots to an open position in response to user activation of the actuator. The actuator is attached to the rack and the arm and exerts a force on the arm by extension to pivot the actuated arm to the open position. The actuator extends only when a release mechanism has been actuated by a user, but a user may pivot the actuated arm back to a closed position, or a position securing a bicycle, without actuating the release. The actuated arm will then be retained at a position selected by the user until the release is actuated by the user again.

Bicycle rack with actuated arm

Utility rack for a truck

A utility rack for a truck may be removably attached to the side walls of the bed of the truck. The disclosed utility rack discloses internal cavities for attachment bolts or other fasteners. The internal cavities allow the fasteners to be hidden under an access cover during use of the utility rack while also providing strong and secure butt joints between the ends of some of the components. The ends of the components of the utility rack may be provided with protrusions and sockets that interlock to improve the stability of flush butt joints between components. The utility rack may include closed-loop outer-boundary side frames configure to clamp on opposing side walls of a truck cargo bed, with a crossbar spanning the truck cargo bed between top rails of the side frames. The closed-loop outer-boundary side frames do not require internal vertically oriented support posts inside the outer-boundary frame.

Utility rack

Equipment such as bicycle racks are often delivered to the end user in a partially assembled state. The component subassemblies may be heavy or unwieldy in size, making it difficult for the end user to hold the subassemblies in the correct positions with respect to each other while attaching the fasteners that hold the subassemblies together while the equipment is in use. An equipment rack is described having features that hold the subassemblies in an assembled configuration while the operational fasteners are added or engaged to hold the equipment rack in its final, assembled configuration. These features may be surface features that the end user is able to engage with each other to provide support to subassemblies and hold them in the proper orientation and position while the operational fasteners are aligned, inserted, tightened, or otherwise affixed to the assembled parts.

Bicycle rack with assembly features

A rack is described for securing equipment, such as a kayak, to a vehicle. The rack has a base member for attaching to the vehicle, a support member pivotally attached to the base member, and an actuator that is operable to engage or disengage a latch mechanism that fixes the movement of the support member in one or more desired positions in relation to the base member. The actuator may be actuated from either side of the base. The actuator may extend transversely across the lengthwise axis of the base member. The opposite ends of the actuator may each be displaced toward one end of the base to release the support member and allow it to pivot with respect to the base member.

Growing community of inventors

Springfield, MO, United States of America

Jonathan Graif