Industri Ab Thule

Thule Sweden Ab

Thomas A Chimenti

Raymond R Raaber

Daniel K Ng

Frederick G Murray

James R Noel

Fred Clark

Jan Erik Johansson

Jeffrey R Edgerly

Andreas Arvidsson

Andreas Anidsson

An arrangement for securing a load carrier to a transporting vehicle that includes an anchor mechanism adapted for securement to a transporting vehicle and for releasable engagement with a carrier foot. The carrier foot has a latching mechanism for releasable engagement with the anchor mechanism. The latching mechanism is adapted for latching engagement to, and disengagement from the anchor mechanism by movement of the carrier foot in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the carrier foot. An example of such movement is vertical movement substantially of an up and down nature. The latching mechanism has a latching and an unlatching configuration and the latching mechanism is urged toward the latching configuration by a resilient biasing mechanism. The latching mechanism is adapted to move from the latching configuration to the unlatching configuration and back to the latching configuration under the influence of the resilient biasing mechanism and responsive to the carrier foot being positioned into latching engagement upon the anchor mechanism. An example of the resilient biasing mechanism is a spring that yields from a latching configuration to an unlatching configuration of that spring as the latching mechanism moves from its latching configuration to its unlatching configuration.

Vertically engageable carrier foot

Hitch mount load carrier including a stinger adapted to be stabbingly received in a hitch mount receiver of a carrying vehicle. A fixed upright post is stationarily coupled to the stinger, and an upright load supporting member is coupled to the fixed upright post by an expandable and contractable or swing-away linkage. A securement arrangement is adapted to releasably couple the upright load supporting member to the fixed upright post. The securement arrangement has a threaded receiver positioned upon the upright load supporting member at an aperture extending through at least a portion of the upright load supporting member. An elongate slot is positioned upon the fixed upright post and is configured to receive a threaded bolt therethrough. A threaded bolt is provided and configured to be insertible through the elongate slot and dimensioned to be vertically variably positionable in the elongate slot. An operator handle is connected to the threaded bolt for accommodating operator actuation of the securement arrangement.

Securement arrangement for a hitch-mount carrier

An arrangement in a load carrier for securing a load carrier cross bar to a transporting vehicle including a top portion of a load carrier foot adapted to releasably engage a load carrier cross bar. The load carrier cross bar has an elongate slot through a lower surface thereof. The elongate slot provides access to an interior space of the load carrier cross bar. An upper surface of the top portion of the load carrier foot is configured to abuttingly engage the lower surface of the load carrier cross bar. An insertible member is provided for interconnecting the load carrier cross bar to the load carrier foot. The insertible member has a neck portion and an expanded portion. The neck portion is configured to extend through the elongate slot and the expanded portion is configured to reside in the interior space of the load carrier cross bar in an assembled configuration. The expanded portion of the insertible member has a pressing surface configured to abuttingly engage an interior receiving surface of the load carrier cross bar so that a downward bias is exerted by the expanded portion and urges the load carrier cross bar into abutting engagement with the load carrier foot. The insertible member has a guide projection and the top portion of the load carrier foot has an inclined guide track configured to receive the guide projection therein for reciprocating movement of the guide projection in the guide track. An operating assembly reciprocates the guide projection in the guide track thereby causing movement of the insertible member toward the load carrier foot.

Guided securement arrangement in a load carrier

A bicycle carrier is adapted to be mounted on the rear of a vehicle. The carrier comprises first and second mounting members and a pair of horizontally spaced bicycle supporting arms connected to the mounting members. The mounting members are pivotably connected for relative rotation about a horizontal pivot axis between a plurality of adjusted positions. The carrier includes indicia corresponding to each of the adjusted positions of the mounting members, so that a user can quickly return the carrier to the same adjusted position. The supporting arms carry cradles formed of an elastic material for receiving a bicycle. Each cradle includes a curved supporting surface for receiving a bar of the bicycle frame, and an integral strap which can be extended over the bar to retain the bar within the cradle. An anti-sway bar hangs downwardly from at least one of the supporting arms for resisting swinging movement of a bicycle.

Bicycle carrier adapted to be mounted on the back of a vehicle

A mechanism for releasably fixing a bicycle's fork upon a support. The mechanism includes a bicycle fork anchor having a fork pinching assembly that has two bicycle fork prong receiving portions. A handle is operably coupled to, or associated with the fork pinching assembly for configuring the fork pinching assembly between a bicycle fork pre-pinched position and a bicycle fork pinch-secured position. Also, the handle is located between the fork prong receiving portions. Supplementarily, an adjustable mounting may be included for permitting the bicycle fork anchor to be canted to a side within a substantially horizontal plane thereby turning the handle bars of a bicycle that is secured upon the bicycle fork anchor.

Fork pinching assembly for a bicycle anchor

A load carrier mountable upon a transporting vehicle having an extension member for positioning an article carried upon the load carrier away from the transporting vehicle. The extension member has a vehicle engaging end that is coupleable to the transporting vehicle and a supporting end substantially opposite the vehicle engaging end upon which an upwardly extending support assembly is connected. The support assembly has an upright post fixed to the extension member and an upright support member coupled to the extension member for relative pivotal movement between the upright post and the upright support member. A collar is slidingly engagable upon the upright support member for releasably securing the upright support member to the upright post thereby establishing a traveling orientation of the load carrier. The collar has a tightener for orienting the collar between an expanded configuration that permits relative sliding movement between the collar and the upwardly extending support assembly and a constricted configuration that prevents relative sliding movement between the collar and the upwardly extending support assembly.

Rack hitch mount

Apparatus and method for providing a shock absorbing bicycle carrier engageable with a transporting vehicle is disclosed. The carrier includes an interconnecting frame to which mounting members are arranged for fixed orientation thereto and support arms are connected thereto for limited and controlled relative motion therebetween. A shock absorber is coupled within the carrier between the shock inducing carrying vehicle and the bicycle support arm. The shock absorber may be selectively chosen for variable resistive force or may be selectively variable by an operator. Among other embodiments, the shock absorber may take the form of an elastomeric shock, a coil spring shock, and/or a compressed fluid shock.

Shock absorbing carrier mountable to a vehicle for carrying sports

A securement assembly for releasably securing an article to an elongate member of a load carrier that is mountable upon a transporting vehicle. The securement assembly includes an elongate member of a load carrier adapted to slidably receive an article thereupon that at least partially surrounds the elongate member. The elongate member has a receiving portion and an extension portion, each portion being established when an article is engaged about the elongate member in a secured configuration. A depressible securing button is located at the extension portion and depressibly projects outwardly from the extension portion for preventing unintended disengagement of an engaged article from the elongate member. The depressible securing button extends through a wall of the elongate member with a rear portion of the depressible securing button being located at an interior of the elongate member and a protruding portion of the depressible securing button being located outside an exterior surface of the elongate member when the depressible securing button is in an extended configuration. A biasing member is coupled to the depressible securing button for urging the depressible securing button to an extended configuration that prohibits disengagement of an engaged article from the elongate member.

Depressible securement assembly for a load carrier

A mechanism for releasably fixing a bicycle's fork upon a support such as a vehicular load carrier or a storage mount. The mechanism includes a pair of skewers (123) that are at least partially received within a bicycle fork anchor (100) and the skewers (123) are movable one skewer (125) relative to the other skewer (130). The pair of skewers (123) are configured for fixing a bicycle's fork to the anchor (100). Each skewer (125,130) of the pair (123) is operable between a bicycle fork pre-pinched position and a bicycle fork pinch-secured position. Each skewer (125) of the skewer pair (123) is longitudinally aligned with the other skewer pair (130) and the skewers (125,130) are spaced apart from one another in at least one of the two positions. At least one handle (110) is coupled to the bicycle fork anchor (100) for operating at least one skewer (125,130) of the skewer pair (123) between the bicycle fork pre-pinched position and the bicycle fork pinch-secured position. A single handle (110) may be located between fork prong receiving portions (136) of the skewer pair (123) so that the handle (110) operates exclusively within a space between the distal ends (129,134) of the skewer pair (123).

Centralized handled bicycle fork anchor

A bicycle carrier includes first and second mounting members and a pair of bicycle support arms, all interconnected by a pair of housings. The first mounting member is rotatable to a selected position of adjustment and is locked in that position by means of a locking engagement with the bicycle support arms. The bicycle support arms can be rotated to unlocking positions to enable the first mounting member to be adjusted to a different position.

Growing community of inventors

Fairfield, CT, United States of America

Thomas A Chimenti