Automated roof rack
OwnerAvraham Y. Leviinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An automated vehicle roof rack including a driven hoist assembly connected to a slave hoist assembly by a drive shaft. Each hoist assembly has a vehicle attachment assembly and a three-stage slide. The drive assembly of the driven hoist assembly in combination with a gas spring is operable to position the three stage slide horizontally. The slide then folds to a vertical position where the three stage slide extends to its full length. In this extended position, equipment can be attached and detached from the slide. When desired to transport the equipment, the drive assembly can be activated to hoist the equipment back onto the vehicle roof.
Claims17
A motorized storage rack adapted to attach to a roof of a vehicle, the storage rack comprising:
- a pair of spaced-apart hoist assemblies, each hoist assembly comprising:
- a vehicle attachment assembly including an elongate base member adapted to attach to the vehicle, and a slide guide member operably coupled to the base member;
- a slide assembly including a plurality of slide stage members, the slide assembly operably coupled to and slidably shiftable on the slide guide member, each one of the plurality of slide stage members presenting a length dimension and being operably coupled to an adjacent one of the plurality of slide stage members so as to be shiftable along the length of the adjacent one of the plurality of slide stage members so that the slide assembly is selectively extendable and retractable between a retracted position in which the slide assembly presents a first length dimension and an extended position in which the slide assembly presents a second length dimension greater than the first length dimension;
- and
- a gas spring;
- a pair of spool assemblies, each one of the pair of spool assemblies operably coupled to a separate one of the hoist assemblies and including a rotatable spool and a strap wound on the spool, the strap operably coupled with each one of the plurality of slide stage members and the gas spring, wherein the gas spring is arranged to bias the slide assembly toward the extended position by applying tension to the strap, the strap coupled to the slide stage members so as to enable progressive extension or retraction of the slide assembly depending on a direction of rotation of the spool:
- a drive shaft rotatably coupling the spools of the pair of spool assemblies together;
- and
- a drive assembly operably coupled to the spool of one of the spool assemblies and selectively operable to rotate the spool.
A motorized rack for temporarily attaching equipment to a vehicle, the rack comprising:
- at least one hoist assembly comprising:
- a vehicle attachment assembly including an elongate base member adapted to attach to the vehicle, and a slide guide member operably coupled to the base member with a hinge such that the slide guide member is shiftable between a folded position and an unfolded position, the vehicle attachment assembly further including a first gas spring arranged to bias the slide guide member toward the unfolded position;
- a slide assembly including a plurality of slide stage members coupled together, the slide assembly selectively extendable and retractable between a retracted position presenting a first length dimension and an extended position presenting a second length dimension, the second length dimension greater than the first length dimension, the slide assembly being shiftable on the slide guide member;
- and
- a second gas spring;
- a first spool assembly operably coupled to the at least one hoist assembly, the first spool assembly including a rotatable spool and a strap wound on the spool, the strap operably coupled with each one of the plurality of slide stage members and the second gas spring, wherein the second gas spring is arranged to bias the slide assembly toward the extended position by applying tension to the strap, the strap coupled to the slide stages so as to enable progressive extension or retraction of the slide assembly depending on a direction of rotation of the spool;
- and
- a drive assembly operably coupled to the spool and selectively operable to rotate the spool.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.