The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 23, 1998
Filed:
Mar. 31, 1997
John S Cucheran, Lake Orion, MI (US);
Jeffrey M Aftanas, Sterling Heights, MI (US);
Jon D Sparham, Waterford, MI (US);
JAC Products, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Abstract
A clamp apparatus for securing an independent article securing implement to a support bar of an existing vehicle article carrier without requiring any disassembly of the support bar from the vehicle article carrier. The clamp apparatus includes a first body portion and a second body portion. The first body portion includes a channel portion and a hook portion and the second body portion includes a base portion slidably engageable within the channel portion, and a hook portion. The first and second body portions are clamped over a support bar through the use of an elongated threaded fastener and fastening nut, which provides a significant degree of adjustability to accommodate support bars having varying cross-sectional widths. A pair of elongated, slot-like openings are formed in the first body portion and a pair of openings are also formed in the second body portion. Threaded nuts are associated with the openings formed in the second body portion such that once the apparatus is secured to a support bar, a pair of conventional fastening elements associated with the article securing implement can be secured to the clamp apparatus quickly and easily. The apparatus thus forms a means by which a variety of article securing implements can be quickly and easily attached to and removed from a support bar of an existing vehicle article carrier without requiring disassembly or any component of the existing vehicle article carrier.