Vehicle article carrier having wind noise reducing cross bar

A vehicle article carrier for supporting articles elevationally above an outer body surface of said vehicle, said vehicle article carrier comprising:

• a pair of slats adapted to be secured to said outer body surface in slightly non-parallel fashion to one another;
• a pair of support members adapted to be secured to said slats, one of said support members being secured to an associated one of said slats;
• a cross bar secured at its outermost ends to said support members;
• at least one of said support members including a neck portion having a recess for receiving an end portion of one end of said cross bar, said recess including a slot for enabling said one support member to be adjustably secured to said one end of said cross bar to thereby enable an effective length of said cross bar to be slightly lengthened or shortened;
• a fastening member associated with said cross bar and extending through said slot for securing said cross bar adjustably to said one support member;
• and
• a compressible, foam-like member disposed in said recess for filling that portion of said recess not occupied by said one end of said cross bar and for covering that portion of said slot which is not covered by said one end of said cross bar residing within said recess, to thereby prevent the generation of wind noise by air entering said slot.

A cross bar assembly for use with a vehicle article carrier having a pair of slats which are adapted to be secured to an outer body surface of a vehicle, said cross bar assembly comprising:

• a pair of support members, and a cross bar adapted to be secured to said support members at its opposite ends of said cross bar for supporting articles elevationally above said outer body surface of said vehicle, at least one of said support members comprising:
• a base portion adapted to be secured to an associated one of said slats;
• a neck portion having a recess for receiving one end of said cross bar;
• and
• a compressible, foam-like member disposed within said recess for occupying the interior area of said recess not occupied by said one end of said cross bar.

A vehicle article carrier adapted to be secured to an outer body surface of a vehicle to support articles elevationally above said outer body surface, said vehicle article carrier comprising:

• a pair of slats adapted to be secured to said outer body surface substantially parallel to one another and such that said slats extend along a major longitudinal length of said outer body surface;
• a cross bar having a length sufficient to substantially span between said slats;
• a pair of support members adapted to be secured to said slats and to opposite ends of said cross bar for supporting said cross bar above said outer body surface;
• at least one of said support members including a base portion and a neck portion, said neck portion having a recess and a slot formed therein for receiving a fastening element to secure one end of said cross bar to said neck portion;
• and
• a compressible, foam-like member disposed within said recess for covering that portion of said slot which is not covered by said one end of said cross bar when said one end is inserted into said recess, and for enabling a degree of adjustment of an effective length of said cross bar.

A vehicle article carrier for supporting articles above an outer body surface of a vehicle, said vehicle article carrier comprising:

• a pair of slats adapted to be secured to said outer body surface;
• a cross bar assembly including:
• a pair of support members secured at opposite ends of a cross bar and adapted to be secured to said slats such that said cross bar is supported above said outer body surface by said support members;
• at least one of said support members and one end of said cross bar including a recess and the other including being adapted to be slid into said recess;
• and
• a compressible member disposed between said one of said support members and said one end of said cross bar for enabling an overall length of said cross bar to be varied to accommodate non-parallel positioning of said slats.

A vehicle article carrier for supporting articles above an outer body surface of a vehicle, and being adapted to accommodate non-parallel placement of a pair of support rails, each having an elongated channel, fixedly on said outer body surface, said vehicle article carrier comprising:

• a cross bar having opposite ends and adapted to extend transversely between said support rails so as to be supported by said support rails;
• a pair of supports adapted to be secured to said channels of said support rails, each of said supports having a neck portion telescopically engaged with a respective end of said cross bar, and each of said supports being moveable along said channels of said support rails when said supports are not in locked positions relative to said support rails;
• and
• a biasing element operably associated with said neck portion of each said support for exerting a biasing force against its respective said end of said cross bar to maintain said cross bar firmly secured between said supports and to compensate for non-parallel positioning of said support rails as said supports are moved along said support rails.

A vehicle article carrier for supporting articles above an outer body surface of a vehicle, and being adapted to accommodate non-parallel placement of a pair of support rails, each having an elongated channel, fixedly on said outer body surface, said vehicle article carrier comprising:

• a cross bar having opposite ends and disposed transversely between said support rails and supported by said support rails above said outer body surface;
• a pair of supports adapted to be supported from said channels of said support rails, each of said supports being engaged with a respective end of said cross bar to thereby support said cross bar above said outer body surface;
• and each of said supports being moveable along said support rails to permit adjustable positioning thereof at a plurality of longitudinal positions along said support rails;
• and
• a compressible member operably associated with one of said supports and one of said ends of said cross bar for permitting movement of said supports towards and away from each other as said cross bar is moved longitudinally along said supports when said supports are not disposed parallel to one another on said outer body surface.

A vehicle article carrier for supporting articles above an outer body surface of a vehicle, said vehicle article carrier comprising:

• a pair of rails adapted to be fixedly supported on said outer body surface;
• each one of said rails having a support operable to move linearly therealong;
• a cross bar having opposite ends and adapted to extend transversely between said supports so as to be supported by said supports;
• at least one of said opposite ends having a first interengaging support structure;
• at least one of said supports having a second interengaging support structure;
• said first and second interengaging support structures being operable to interengage such that said one opposite end is supported from said one support;
• and
• a biasing element interposed between said first and second interengaging support structures for exerting a biasing force that tends to urge said first and second support structures away from each other when said first and second support structures are in interengaging relationship with each other.

A vehicle article carrier for supporting articles above an outer body surface of a vehicle, said vehicle article carrier comprising:

• a pair of rails adapted to be fixedly supported on said outer body surface;
• each one of said rails having a support operable to move slidably therealong;
• a cross bar secured having a pair of opposite ends and adapted to extend transversely between said supports;
• each said opposite end of said cross bar having a first interengaging support structure;
• each one of said supports having a second interengaging support structure;
• each said first interengaging support structure being operable to telescopically interengage with an associated one of said second interengaging support structures such that said opposite ends of said cross bar are supported by said pair of supports to thereby dispose said cross bar above said outer body surface of said vehicle;
• a biasing element interposed between at least one interengaged pair of said first and second interengaging support structures for exerting a biasing force that tends to urge said first and second interengaging support structures of said at least one interengaged pair away from each other;
• and
• said biasing element further operating to allow a distance between said first and second interengaging support structures of said one interengaged pair of support structures to vary as said cross bar is moved along said rails when said rails are not disposed perfectly parallel to each other, to thereby enable placement of said rails in slightly non-parallel positions on said outer body surface without impeding adjustable sliding movement of said cross bar along said rails.