AU2015101091A4 - Improvements in roof tray design - Google Patents

Abstract

Roof trays are typically mounted to the vehicle roof with the tray being attached to roof rack crossbars. The range of positions to which an accessory can be attached to known roof trays may be limited, for example by where placements of bolt holes have been located by the manufacturer. The present invention relates to an improved design for roof tray extrusions, comprising a novel mounting portion on a wall rail or rails of the roof tray, and the provision of additional slots slot infill's offering greater flexibility in mounting points for various accessories onto the rails, as well as minimising wind noise.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN ROOF TRAY DESIGN TECHNICAL FIELD Described herein is an improved roof tray design. More specifically, roof tray elements including 5 roof tray extrusions, particularly those forming a wall or walls on a roof tray, include additional slots and wind noise reduction infill in order to provide an improved product with additional attachment points, yet not increase the wind noise from such products. BACKGROUND ART 10 Roof trays have been known for some time in the art, commonly used on many four-wheel-drive vehicles, although other vehicles may also incorporate such tray devices on roof rack crossbars. These devices are typically mounted to the vehicle roof with the tray being attached to roof rack crossbars. Typically, such roof tray designs incorporate one or more extruded rails that form one or more 15 walls, typically defining the perimeter of the tray around a substantially flat base region. Occasionally these rails may not be at the perimeter, or may instead form a wall or walls intermediate the perimeter rails. The wall regions are typically formed by two extruded rails, an upper and a lower rail, relative to the vehicle position. The rails are normally rounded-edged extrusions and an accessory or accessories may be strapped or bolted via an aperture or 20 apertures to the rails and contained within the tray region. As may be appreciated, the range of positions to which an accessory or accessories can be attached may be limited, for example by where placement of bolt holes have been located by the manufacturer. This restriction in placement may not be ideal or may not be preferred by a consumer. In addition, where additional mounting points are allowed for in art designs, the wind 25 noise from such attachment points may detract from the overall product quality. It should be appreciated that it would be useful to solve or address the above problems, or at least provide the public with a choice. Further aspects and advantages of the roof tray will become apparent from the ensuing description that is given by way of example only. 30 SUMMARY Described herein is an improved roof tray. The roof tray includes a novel mounting portion on a wall rail or rails of the roof tray, offering greater flexibility in mounting points for various accessories into the rails, as well as minimising wind noise. 35 In a first aspect there is provided a roof tray for a vehicle comprising at least one rail that forms a 1 substantially vertical wall around or along at least part of the tray base; wherein the rail or rails include a T-slot therein, the T-slot incorporating a resilient infill, and wherein the infill, without an accessory positioned in the T-slot, comprises a surface that abuts and is shaped to correspond with the opposing lips of the crossbar channel, and 5 wherein the infill may be compressed locally to accept an accessory mount therein. As may be appreciated from the above and further discussion below, the improved roof tray provides versatility to the consumer by allowing them to attach accessories to a variety of different points on the roof tray. The attachment point need not be limited to any one aperture, and may be located at any point along the above-described T-slot. In addition, through use of a 10 compressible infill in these T-slots, wind noise is reduced when the accessory is not attached to the tray. Further, ease of attachment is allowed for by the ability to not have to withdraw the infill and instead, it is possible to attach an accessory or accessory holder by only locally compressing the infill where the accessory point is located. 15 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further aspects of the improved roof tray will become apparent from the following description that is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of a tray according to one embodiment described herein; 20 Figure 2 illustrates a detail view of two rails as used herein; Figure 3 illustrates a close-up perspective view of a top and bottom rail according to one embodiment of the improved roof tray described herein; Figure 4 illustrates a perspective and side cross-section view of a bottom rail according to one embodiment of the improved roof tray described herein using an infill; and 25 Figure 5 illustrates a perspective and side cross-section view of a bottom rail according to one embodiment of the improved roof tray described herein with the infill removed for clarity, showing an example attachment nut. DETAILED DESCRIPTION 30 As noted above, described herein is an improved roof tray. The roof tray includes a novel mounting portion on a wall rail or rails of the roof tray, offering greater flexibility in mounting points for various accessories into the rails, as well as minimising wind noise. For the purposes of this specification, the term 'about' or 'approximately' and grammatical variations thereof mean a quantity, level, degree, value, number, frequency, percentage, 35 dimension, size, amount, weight or length that varies by as much as 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 2 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1% to a reference quantity, level, degree, value, number, frequency, percentage, dimension, size, amount, weight or length. The term 'substantially' or grammatical variations thereof refers to at least about 50%, for example 75%, 85%, 95% or 98%. 5 The term 'comprise' and grammatical variations thereof shall have an inclusive meaning - i.e. that it will be taken to mean an inclusion of not only the listed components it directly references, but also other non-specified components or elements. The term 'roof tray' or grammatical variations thereof refers to a tray shaped accessory used on vehicle comprising a substantially planar base with one or more approximately vertically 10 extending walls thereon. The base may be formed from one or more slats. The walls may be located at and define the perimeter of the roof tray. The term 'T-slot' or grammatical variations thereof refers to a slot in an extruded member, the slot having a cavity therein partially closed at the slot surface by opposing lips extending across the opening. T-slot shapes may accept a nut which a bolt or other fastener may attach to in order to 15 link a further item to the T-slot in the extruded member. Terms such as 'up', 'down', 'top', 'bottom', 'upper' or 'lower' and grammatical variations thereof in the context of the roof tray and related items refer to the relative position with respect to a vehicle orientation, up or upper or top being away from a surface on which the vehicle moves, down or lower or bottom being towards the surface on which the vehicle moves. 20 Further, terms such as 'forward' or 'backward' or grammatical variations thereof refer to the position of an item relative to a typical direction of motion of a vehicle to which the item or items are mounted. In a first aspect there is provided a roof tray for a vehicle comprising at least one rail that forms a substantially vertical wall around or along at least part of the tray base; 25 wherein the rail or rails include a T-slot therein, the T-slot incorporating a resilient infill, and wherein the infill, without an accessory positioned in the T-slot, comprises a surface that abuts and is shaped to correspond with the opposing lips of the crossbar channel, and wherein the infill may be compressed locally to accept an accessory mount therein. The inventor has borrowed on cues of other aspects of roof rack design and incorporated these 30 into an improved roof tray design. In roof rack cross bars, T-slots are used to attach various accessories to the crossbars. This design is well accepted, and a number of accessories have been produced and designed to attach to and utilise a T-slot feature. One art patent owned by the applicant relates to a resilient infill in a T-slot to be used in a roof rack crossbar. Inherent to the use of a resilient infill is a reduced wind noise and the ability to attach an accessory to the T 35 slot without full removal of the infill. This is a great advantage over art devices which either do not have an infill and hence are noisy, or have an infill that needs to be completely removed in order to attach the accessory. In the context of roof trays however, the inventor is unaware of art 3 use of the feature of an infill within a T-slot in roof trays. With the need to supply a range and versatility of attachment points to the consumer for tray design, the inventor has set out and established a revised tray design utilising T-slots and infill points. The use of this design on roof trays is particularly advantageous due to the range of attachment points available to the user, 5 particularly in the case of a roof tray where multiple items and multiple attachment points are required. In cross bar designs, typically only two attachment points are required hence the infill has less utility than in the roof tray embodiment described herein. In the above aspect, the tray wall or perimeter may comprise a top and bottom rail. In one embodiment the top rail may include a T-slot and infill portion on the underside. This top 10 rail slot may be adjusted in depth to suit the desired rail shape. In one example, the top rail T slot may be flatter in cross section than a lower rail T-slot cavity and the infill shape adjusted accordingly. As may be appreciated, the aim of the design may be to provide a range of attachment points on the underside of the top rail for the consumer. In a further embodiment, the bottom rail may include a T-slot running along the top or upward 15 facing side of the bottom rail and an infill located therein. This T-slot, owing to the typically larger size of the bottom rail extrusion, may have a deeper T-slot in order to incorporate a larger bolt and nut as may be needed for greater loads. Whilst two embodiments are described above of a bottom and top infill relating to a top and bottom rail, further changes or locations of a T-slot and infill may be utilised without departing 20 from the scope of the description herein. The general shape of the infill itself may be as per art designs. For example, the design described in Australian Patent No. AU2008301329 may be used, including the variations described therein. Other infill shapes may also be used such as a general rectangular shape. As should be appreciated, the shape chosen is one that ideally is locally compressible yet which 25 also is able to resiliently move to a position of sealing the T-slot and minimising any notch or bump between the T-slot lip or lips and the outer face of the infill. It is envisaged that the accessories to which the T-slots may be used in the rail or rails may include lightweight accessories such as strap attachment lug points, lighting attachments, aerial attachments and so on. High weight-bearing accessories or loads may not be particularly suited 30 to such applications, given that extrusion rails are typically light weight and lower strength being made from alloy materials and with a thin wall size. Despite this, the extrusion T-slot may instead be strengthened, for example using ribbed lips, in order to cope with greater loads as may be required. Typical nut and bolt assemblies as in the art or re-sized to suit the slot shape may be used within the T-slot or T-slots. 35 As may be appreciated from the above description, the improved roof tray described herein has the advantage of multiple attachment points for access in or on or about a tray for the consumer to attach accessories to the tray at a variety of points. A further advantage is the ability to not have to remove the infill in order to attach an accessory. 4 Cross bar designs utilising an infill often require the infill to be fully removed, or removed and then cut about the mount point, and replaced. Removal or cutting a gap leaves a permanent gap or gaps which then become a source of noise or at least poor aesthetics. Also as noted above, the improvement of having T-slots as well as an infill inside the slots means 5 that the roof tray may be more aerodynamic and less susceptible to wind noise than art designs which do not include infill into T-slots or other slot or attachment points. As may be appreciated from the above and continuing discussion, the improved tray as described above provides versatility to the consumer by allowing them to attach accessories to a variety of different points on the roof tray. The attachment point need not be limited to any one 10 aperture, and may be located at any point along the above-described T-slot. In addition, through use of a compressible infill in these T-slots, wind noise is reduced when the accessory is not attached to the tray, and further, ease of attachment is allowed for by the ability to not have to withdraw the entire infill and instead only locally compress the infill where the accessory point is located. 15 The embodiments described above may also be said broadly to consist in the parts, elements and features referred to or indicated in the specification of the application, individually or collectively, and any or all combinations of any two or more said parts, elements or features, and where specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents in the art to which the embodiments relates, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as of 20 individually set forth, Where specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents in the art to which this invention relates, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually set forth. 25 WORKING EXAMPLES The above described improved roof tray is now described by reference to a specific example. EXAMPLE 1 Referring to Figures 1-5, an embodiment utilising a T-slot (5) and an infill (6), an improved roof 30 tray (1) is described. Figure 1 illustrates the tray (1) in an assembled, completed form. The tray (1) is generally defined by a planar surface area or base defined at its perimeter by one or more substantially vertically aligned rails (2) in the embodiment shown using two rails (2), a top and bottom rail (3, 4), around the perimeter of the roof tray (1). As may be appreciated, the rail or rails (2) need not 35 be at the perimeter and may in fact form a wall or walls about the centre or other parts of the tray (1). In addition, three or more rails (2) may be used, or one continuous rail (2) used to form the 5 perimeter or wall of a roof tray (1). Figures 2 and 3 show close-up images of one embodiment utilising T-slot (5) channels in the underside of the top rail (3) extrusion and on the top side of the bottom rail (4) extrusion of the tray. In each case an infill (6) may be inserted within the T-slot (5) channels. The infill (6) as 5 shown in Figures 2 and 3 is of a mushroom-style infill (6) similar to that shown in Australian Patent No. AU2008301329. Figures 4 and 5 illustrate some additional views of the bottom rail (4) showing in more detail how the mushroom-shaped infill (6) of Figure 4 aligns and abuts the lips (7) of the T-slot (5), thereby preventing wind noise by avoiding any gaps and there having a flush surface over which the air 10 may flow. Figure 5 illustrates the same bottom rail (4) with the infill (6) removed for clarity, and showing a nut (8) inside the T-slot (5) providing a base on which to attach a bolt and therefore link an accessory to the rail (4). Note that in practice, the infill (6) would remain inside the rail (4) of Figure 5 and be locally compressed by the nut (8), as opposed to the infill (6) needing to be 15 removed. As may be appreciated, local compression may be useful if the accessory is to be later removed, so that the infill (6) will then spring back and form a flush seal once again. In addition, localised compression avoids the need to remove all of the infill (6) or cut the infill (6) or otherwise incur extra work in mounting an accessory. Aspects of the improved roof tray have been described by way of example only and it should be 20 appreciated that modifications and additions may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the claims herein. 6

Claims (10)

1. A roof tray for a vehicle comprising at least one rail that forms a substantially vertical wall around or along at least part of the tray base; wherein the rail or rails include a T-slot therein, the T-slot incorporating a resilient infill, and wherein the infill, without an accessory positioned in the T-slot, comprises a surface that abuts and is shaped to correspond with a pair of opposing lips of the crossbar channel, and wherein the infill is compressed locally to accept an accessory mounted therein.

2. The tray rack for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the T-slot is strengthened by at least one rib.

3. The tray rack for a vehicle as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the at least one rail is a top rail and a bottom rail.

4. The roof tray for a vehicle as claimed in claim 3, wherein the top rail includes a T-slot in a lower surface and the bottom rail includes a T-slot in its upper surface.

5. The roof tray for a vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the infill substantially fills the T-slot and comprises a base surface configured to contact a floor of the T-slot and a top surface configured to be shaped to correspond to the shape of the pair of opposing lips.

6. The roof tray for a vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the infill is configured to re-form a resilient seal locally after the accessory mount has been removed.

7. The roof tray for a vehicle as claimed in claim 6, wherein the infill re-forms a resilient seal in a horizontal direction, a vertical direction or a combination of both directions.

8. The roof tray for a vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the infill is substantially mushroom shaped configured to re-form a resilient seal in a substantially vertical direction.

9. The roof for a vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the infill is at least one strip member configured to re-form a resilient seal in a substantially horizontal direction.

10. A roof rack assembly comprising: a) a roof tray for a vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9; and b) at least one accessory configured to be mounted in a T-slot of a rail of the roof tray. 7