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US 5,205,453 AGranted
Locking mechanism for automobile luggage racks
AssigneeMasco Industries, Inc.
InventorsRichard I. Pudney, Charles R. Schriner, Charles E. Stringer, Mark C. Towns, Gary M. Cronce
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An article securing member for an automobile luggage rack is provided with a spring biased retractable lock pin which can selectively engage a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures formed in the side rail of the rack. A push button is provided for actuating a lever link which lifts the retractable lock pin against the spring bias when the button is depressed to disengage the lock pin from the apertures and permit sliding movement of the article securing member along the side rail.
Claims32
An article carrier for an automotive vehicle having an exterior body surface, comprising in combination,
- at least one elongated member adapted to be mounted on said exterior body surface, said elongated member having a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures therein,
- an article securing member adapted to be mounted for longitudinal movement on said elongated member,
- said article securing member including means cooperable with said apertures for locking and longitudinally adjusting said article securing member at predetermined positions along said elongated member,
- said locking and adjusting means including a latching member carried by said article securing member and having one end thereof engageable and disengageable with said apertures, an actuating member carried by said article securing member and being depressed and extended linearly relative to an outer surface of said article securing member from a latching position to an unlatching position, and means including a pivotally movable lever link having an elongated body and first and second ends, said elongated body of said lever link extending between and being pivotally connected adjacent each of said first and second ends respectively to said latching member and said actuating member for disengaging said one end of said latching member from said apertures incident to said actuating member being manually moved to said unlatching position causing corresponding relative pivotal movement of said lever link with respect to both said actuating member and said latching member.
1 more element
An article carrier for an automotive vehicle having an exterior body surface, comprising in combination,
- a pair of elongated members adapted to be mounted on said exterior body surface in spaced apart, parallel relation, said elongated members having a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures therein,
- an article securing member adapted to be mounted for longitudinal movement on each of said elongated members and to support a cross bar therebetween,
- each of said article securing members including means cooperable with said apertures for locking and longitudinally adjusting said article securing members and said cross bar at predetermined positions along said elongated members,
- said locking and adjusting means including a lock pin carried by each of said article securing members and having one end thereof engageable and disengageable with said apertures, spring means for biasing said lock pin into engagement with said apertures, a push button movably mounted in each of said article securing members and being manually movable from a latching position to an unlatching position, and means including a pivotally movable lever link having an elongated body and first and second ends, said elongated body of said lever link extending between and being pivotally connected adjacent each of said first and second ends respectively to said lock pin and said push button for disengaging said one end of said lock pin from said apertures against the bias of said spring means incident to said push button being manually moved to said unlatching position causing corresponding relative pivotal movement of said lever link with respect to both said push button and said lock pin.
1 more element
An article carrier for an automotive vehicle having an exterior body surface, comprising in combination,
- at least one elongated member adapted to be mounted on said exterior body surface, said elongated member having a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures therein,
- an article securing member adapted to be mounted for longitudinal movement on said elongated member,
- said article securing member including means cooperable with said apertures for locking and longitudinally adjusting said article securing member at predetermined positions along said elongated member,
- said locking and adjusting means including a latching member carried by said article securing member and having one end thereof engageable and disengageable with said apertures,
- spring means for biasing said one end of said latching member into engagement with said apertures, said article securing member being formed with an internal socket for receiving one end of said spring means and said latching member being formed with a shoulder intermediate its ends for abutting the other end of said spring means,
- an actuating member carried by said article securing member and being depressed and extended linearly relative to an outer surface of said article securing member from a latching position to an unlatching position, and means including pivotal link means having an elongated body and first and second ends, said elongated body of said pivotal link means extending between and being pivotally connected adjacent each of said first and second ends respectively to said latching member and said actuating member for disengaging said one end of said latching member from said apertures incident to said actuating member being manually moved to said unlatching position causing corresponding relative pivotal movement of said pivotal link means with respect to both said actuating member and said latching member.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.