Vehicle article carrier apparatus having single sided release and method therefor

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

• a pair of support rails adapted to be fixedly secured to said outer body surface generally parallel to one another;
• a cross bar assembly having a length sufficient to span between the support rails and adapted to engage and to be supported from the support rails, for supporting articles thereon;
• said cross bar assembly including:
• a cross bar component having first and second opposing ends;
• a first end support secured at said first end;
• a second end support secured to said second end;
• a cable extending between said end supports;
• each of said end supports including an actuating member moveable between a locked position and an unlocked position;
• each of said end supports including a locking member operably associated therewith which is moveable slidably linearly between an extended position and a retracted position;
• each said locking member including a rotationally mounted pulley wheel around which a portion of said cable is entrained, and a biasing element for biasing its associated said locking member into said extended position, said pulley wheel adapted to move linearly with movement of said locking member;
• each said actuating member being coupled to an associated end of said cable, with said cable being entrained about both of said pulley wheels;
• and
• movement of either of said actuating members from said locked position into said unlocked position being adapted to cause an effective shortening of said cable that causes said cable to draw said pulley wheels linearly toward one another, thus shortening a longitudinal distance between said pulley wheels, and to generally simultaneously move both of said locking members into said unlocked position against biasing forces of said biasing elements;
• and
• movement of either of said actuating member from its unlocked position into its locked position being adapted to cause an effective lengthening of said cable that enables said biasing elements to urge said locking members into their extended positions generally simultaneously.

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

• a pair of support rails adapted to be fixedly secured to said outer body surface generally parallel to one another;
• a cross bar assembly having a length sufficient to span between the support rails and adapted to engage and to be supported from the support rails, for supporting articles thereon;
• said cross bar assembly including:
• a cross bar component having first and second opposing ends;
• a first end support secured at said first end;
• a second end support secured to said second end;
• a cable extending between said end supports;
• each of said end supports including an actuating member moveable between a locked position and an unlocked position;
• each of said end supports including a locking member operably associated therewith which is moveable slidably linearly between an extended position and a retracted position;
• each said locking member including an opening having a rotationally mounted pulley wheel around which a portion of said cable is entrained;
• each said locking member including a coil spring operably associated therewith;
• each said locking member further including a structural portion for capturing a first end of its associated said coil spring and holding said associated coil spring aligned with said locking member;
• each end of said first and second opposing ends of said cross bar including a portion for supporting a second end of said coil spring to maintain said coil spring longitudinally aligned with said locking member;
• each said actuating member being coupled to an end of said cable, with said cable being entrained about both of said pulley wheels;
• each said support rail having a plurality of spaced apart holes in a wall portion thereof, with specific ones of said holes in said support rails being laterally aligned with one another to thus form a plurality of pairs of associated holes, with each said pair defining a specific longitudinal location along said support rails at which said cross bar assembly can be fixedly secured;
• movement of either of said actuating members into said unlocked position adapted to cause an effective shortening of said cable that causes said cable to draw said pulley wheels toward one another, to generally simultaneously move both of said locking members into said unlocked position against biasing forces of said biasing elements;
• and
• movement of either of said actuating member from its unlocked position into its locked position, adapted to cause an effective lengthening of said cable that enables said biasing elements to urge said locking members into their extended positions generally simultaneously.

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

• a pair of support rails adapted to be fixedly secured to said outer body surface generally parallel to one another;
• a cross bar assembly having a length sufficient to span between the support rails and adapted to engage and to be supported from the support rails, for supporting articles thereon;
• said cross bar assembly including:
• a cross bar component having first and second opposing ends;
• a first end support secured at said first end;
• a second end support secured to said second end;
• an elongated element extending between said end supports;
• each of said end supports including an actuating member moveable between a locked position and an unlocked position;
• each of said end supports including a locking member operably associated therewith which is moveable between an extended position and a retracted position;
• each said locking member including:
• a rotationally mounted pulley wheel around which a portion of said elongated element is entrained;
• a biasing element for biasing its associated said locking member into said extended position;
• a head portion adapted to engage with a portion of an associated one of said support rails;
• a base portion over which a portion of an associated one of said biasing elements is positioned;
• a mid-portion having an opening formed therein, said pulley wheel being rotationally supported within said opening;
• each said actuating member being coupled to an associated one of said elongated element, with said elongated element being entrained about both of said pulley wheels;
• and
• movement of either of said actuating members into said unlocked position being adapted to cause a generally simultaneously movement of both of said locking members into said unlocked position, against biasing forces of said biasing elements.