Self-tightening vehicle roof rack
AssigneeYakima Products, Inc.
InventorMichael Grim
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A crossbar on a vehicle roof rack is supported by a pair of pedestals through a cam on each pedestal which exerts its clamping action by rotating toward the center of the vehicle, each cam operating independently of the fastening clip which secures each pedestal to the vehicle roof. The direction of the clamping rotation of the cams and the rate of increase of the radius of each cam as it rotates in the clamping direction provides the cams with a self-tightening effect--i.e., should the apparatus ever begin to loosen after the cam is engaged, any pulling apart of the pedestals will cause the crossbar to draw itself over the cam, causing the cam to rotate in the tightening direction and re-secure the crossbar.
Claims9
A self-tightening vehicle roof rack comprising:
- a crossbar;
- a pair of pedestals, each having an inner face and an outer face;
- a pair of cams;
- one such cam rotatably mounted to each said pedestal, and arranged thereon to clamp said crossbar to said pedestal upon rotation of said cam toward the other pedestal;
- a pair of threaded studs, one such threaded stud accessible through an opening in each said outer face, operable independently from said cams, for securing each said pedestal to said vehicle roof;
- and
- lever means, mounted to each said pedestal and accessible through an opening in said inner face, for manually rotating each said cam into a position clamping said crossbar to said pedestal independently of said threaded studs.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.