Spring-Biased Strut For A Cargo Box

A method for operating a dual sided opening roof mount cargo box for a carrying vehicle, the method comprising:

• providing a dual sided opening roof mount cargo box having a lid portion releasably hinge-connected at two lateral sides to a bottom portion of the cargo box for alternate pivotation at each of the two lateral sides between open and closed configurations, the bottom portion being adapted to be mounted to a carrying vehicle;
• utilizing a spring-biased strut operatively interposed between the lid portion and the bottom portion of the cargo box, the spring-biased strut being located at an end region of the cargo box;
• controlling an assisting force via the spring-biased strut to have a magnitude that substantially balances a weight of the lid portion thereby facilitating an operator's even lifting of the lid portion across a delimited range of motion of the spring-biased strut;
• and
• controlling the assisting force via the spring-biased strut to have a substantially zero magnitude when the lid portion is in the closed configuration.

A roof mounted cargo box, comprising:

• a lid portion releasably hinge-connected to a bottom portion of the cargo box for pivotation between open and closed configurations, wherein the bottom portion is adapted to be mounted to a carrying vehicle;
• and
• a spring-biased strut operatively interposed between the lid portion and the bottom portion of the cargo box, wherein the spring-biased strut is located at an end region of the cargo box,
• wherein the spring-biased strut comprises two arms operatively interconnected,
• wherein the spring-biased strut is configured to transition between closed and open configurations of the cargo box,
• wherein the spring-biased strut is configured to control an assisting force that urges the cargo box into the open configuration to have a magnitude that substantially balances a weight of the lid portion across a delimited range of motion of the two arms, and
• wherein the spring-biased strut is configured to control the assisting force to have a substantially zero magnitude when the lid portion is in the closed configuration.