FR3073477A1 - RETRACTABLE BIKE CARRIER FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE WITH IMPROVED COMPACITY - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a bicycle carrier for a motor vehicle comprising two guide rails (200) intended to be fixed to the rear underbody (2) of said vehicle; and a carrier structure (100) comprising two parallel longitudinal rails (110) slidably mounted respectively on said rails (200) between a retracted position and an extended position, and a support frame (120) pivotally mounted along a transverse axis ( Y) on said rails (110) and being adapted to support at least one bicycle when said rails (110) occupy their extended position; said carrier frame (120) being arranged so as to occupy a first folded position in which it extends coplanarly to said rails (110) being entirely contained therebetween, and a second extended loading position where it projects into the rearward extension of said rails (110) so as to allow the installation of at least said bike when said rails (110) are in their extended position.

Description

FOLDABLE BIKE CARRIER FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE WITH IMPROVED COMPACTION.

Field of the invention

The present invention relates generally to the problem of transporting one or more bikes by a motor vehicle.

It relates in particular to a bicycle carrier for a retractable motor vehicle under the rear underbody of said vehicle.

Invention background

In recent years, the use of bicycles has experienced a revival due in particular to the appearance of restrictive regulations limiting the use of motor vehicles in the city.

Thus, more and more users have got into the habit of transporting their bikes daily on their motor vehicle so that they can easily park the latter on the outskirts of cities and use their bikes to get to their place of work in the center. city.

In addition, during school vacation periods, families frequently transport one or more mountain bike type bikes on their motor vehicle to bring them to their vacation resort.

At present, three main categories of bicycle carriers for motor vehicles are present on the market, namely:

- bicycle carriers on the roof,

- the bike carriers on the tailgate, and

- bicycle carriers on a coupling device.

Roof bike carriers are made up of two separate parts, which are roof bars that attach to the roof of a vehicle, and the bike carrier itself, which attaches to these roof bars, respectively.

This type of bicycle carrier which makes it possible to ensure satisfactory holding of the bicycles turns out to be little used in practice because of its lack of ergonomics (the positioning of the bicycles on the roof of the vehicle proving to be particularly delicate, in particular for vehicles with a high roof height).

On the other hand, a vehicle equipped with such a bicycle carrier supporting one or more bikes is prevented from accessing many places or passages (such as underground parking lots) whose access is limited to vehicles whose height is less than a limit value.

In addition, this type of bicycle carrier negatively affects the aerodynamics of the vehicle which results in a significant increase in fuel consumption.

The bicycle carriers on the tailgate have a frame provided with a receiving fork for one or more bikes and capable of being fixed against the tailgate of the boot by means of straps.

This type of bicycle carrier which has the advantage of being quickly mountable on the tailgate, is however not suitable for certain types of vehicle and in particular those with a tailgate made of composite material.

On the other hand, its strap fastening system is not completely reliable and there is a risk of separation of the bicycle carrier due to the mass constraints exerted on the latter by the bikes.

The bicycle carriers on the coupling means comprise a chassis supporting several bicycles and intended to be rigidly mounted on a coupling ball secured to the rear underbody of the vehicle.

This type of bicycle carrier, which has the advantage of being both robust and ergonomic, requires, however, the prior installation of a towball on the vehicle.

Recently, a new type of bicycle carrier has appeared on the market.

Thus, European patent application EP 1 995 119 A1 discloses a bicycle carrier comprising:

- two guide rails intended to be fixed to the rear base of said motor vehicle;

a support structure comprising two parallel longitudinal rails mounted to slide respectively on said guide supports between a retracted position and an extended position, and a support frame pivotally mounted on a transverse axis on said rails and being designed to support at least one bicycle when said rails occupy their extended position.

This new type of bicycle carrier proves to be particularly practical and ergonomic but has the drawback of covering a large area of the underbody of the vehicle on which certain components of the vehicle are generally located, such as in particular exhaust elements.

Subject and summary of the invention

The present invention therefore aims to limit the longitudinal grip of such a bicycle carrier.

To this end, it offers a bicycle carrier for a motor vehicle comprising:

- two sliding guide rails intended to be fixed to the rear base of said motor vehicle;

a support structure comprising two parallel longitudinal rails mounted to slide respectively on said guide rails between a retracted position and an extended position, and a support frame pivotally mounted on a transverse axis on said rails and being designed to support at least one bicycle when said rails occupy their extended position;

characterized in that the said carrying frame is arranged so as to be able to occupy a first folded position in which it extends coplanarly with the said rails while being entirely contained between the latter, and a second deployed loading position where it projects into the rear extension said rails so as to allow the installation of at least one said bikes when said rails are in their extended position.

This particular arrangement of the support frame allows the bicycle carrier according to the invention to present, in its storage configuration where the longitudinal rails and this support frame respectively occupy their retracted and folded positions, a considerably smaller longitudinal grip compared to bicycle carriers of the same type of the prior art, which makes it possible to facilitate its integration into motor vehicles by avoiding having to modify the arrangement of certain members such as the exhaust elements mounted in the rear part of the underbody of the vehicle.

According to preferred characteristics of said bicycle carrier:

- The latter comprises locking means for longitudinally locking said longitudinal rails in one or the other of said retracted and extended positions;

- In said deployed loading position, said support frame is inclined upward relative to the plane of said longitudinal rails at an angle between 5 and 15 °;

- Said supporting frame comprises locking means able to cooperate with said longitudinal rails in two distant places to lock it in one or the other of said folded and deployed loading positions;

- Said supporting frame is also capable of coming to occupy a deployed position of access to the trunk in which it projects into the rear extension of said longitudinal rails while being inclined downward relative to the plane of said rails at an angle between 5 and 15 °;

- Said supporting structure comprises two abutment members each secured to a said corresponding longitudinal rail and capable of retaining said supporting frame in said deployed position for access to the trunk;

- Said support frame comprises two crosspieces connected at their ends by two lateral uprights each articulated to pivot about said transverse axis on a said corresponding longitudinal rail, said support frame also comprising two sections of substantially U-shaped section each extending along a said corresponding cross member and being intended to receive the rear wheels of two said bikes arranged vertically one behind the other;

said supporting frame also comprises two telescopic attachment arms for the frames of said bikes, each said arm comprising a first hollow section of which one of the ends is articulated in rotation about a respective longitudinal axis on a said corresponding cross member, a second section slidably mounted in said first section, and means making it possible to axially lock said sections relative to one another; and or

- Said longitudinal rails comprise two sections mounted to slide axially one on the other or one in the other as well as means making it possible to lock them relative to one another.

The invention also relates in a second aspect to a motor vehicle incorporating such a bicycle carrier.

Brief description of the drawings

The description of the invention will now be continued with the detailed illustrative description but not of an exemplary embodiment, given below by way of limitation, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 shows a rear view of a motor vehicle incorporating a bicycle carrier according to the invention whose supporting structure supports two bikes arranged vertically one behind the other;

- Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the bicycle rack of Figure 1; and

- Figures 3 to 6 are side views of the base of a vehicle of Figure 1 illustrating the kinematics of deployment of the carrier structure of the bicycle carrier.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment

In the description which follows and by convention, the terms “front”, “rear”, “longitudinal” and “transverse” will be defined with respect to the frame of reference of a motor vehicle incorporating a bicycle carrier according to the invention.

The terms "external" and "internal" will be used to define the relative position of an element with reference to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The element closest to this axis will thus be qualified as internal as opposed to the other element more distant from this same axis which will in turn be qualified as external.

With reference to FIG. 2, the bicycle carrier according to the invention 10 comprises a supporting structure 100 comprising two longitudinal metal rails 110 with parallelepipedic section (for example square) mounted sliding on two guide rails 200 intended to be fixed to the rear base 2 of a motor vehicle 1 (see FIG. 1), as well as a support frame 120 pivotally mounted about a transverse axis Y on the two longitudinal rails 110.

Each longitudinal rail 110 has at its two ends a first and a second retaining plate 111, 112 able to cooperate in abutment with a respective guide slide 200 to prevent its complete withdrawal from this slide 200.

The two longitudinal rails 110 and the support structure 100 as a whole are thus capable of sliding longitudinally between a retracted position in which this support structure is concealed under said vehicle 1 and where the first retaining plates 111 are in abutment against the guide rails 200 (FIG. 3), and an extended position in which this supporting structure 100 projects at the rear of the vehicle 1 and where the second retaining plates 112 are in abutment against the guide rails 200 (FIGS. 4 to 6).

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the bicycle carrier 10 comprises locking means making it possible to lock the two longitudinal rails 110 in one or the other of their retracted and extended positions.

These locking means comprise in this case on each guide slide 200 a locking key 201 actuable in translation along a transverse axis against elastic return means via a control member 202 and the end of which is adapted to to be inserted into orifices made in a corresponding longitudinal rail 110 near its two ends.

As a variant, the locking means are different and may for example comprise knurling screws which are screwed into threaded orifices formed in these slides 200 and in the rails 110.

The support frame 120, of rectangular shape, comprises two cross members 121 connected at their ends by two lateral uprights 122 each articulated by pivoting along the transverse axis Y on a corresponding longitudinal rail 110.

This supporting frame 120 also comprises two receiving profiles with a substantially U-shaped section 123 each extending along a corresponding cross member 121 and being intended to receive the rear wheels 6 of two bikes 5 arranged vertically one behind the other as shown in Figure 1.

The carrying frame 120 further comprises two telescopic attachment arms 124 each comprising a first hollow section 124A, one of the ends of which is articulated in rotation about a respective longitudinal axis on a corresponding cross member 121, a second section 124B mounted at sliding in the first section 124A, and means not shown making it possible to axially lock these two sections relative to one another.

These telescopic attachment arms 124 are thus able to pass:

- from a retracted position in which the second sections are returned to the first sections and where the latter extend against and along the two cross members 121,

- An extended position in which the second sections project in the extension of the first sections and where the latter have pivoted by an acute angle θ advantageously between 60 and 80 ° so as to allow the frames 7 of the bikes 5 to be secured arm 124 via fixing clips, not shown, mounted at the free end of the second sections 124B (see FIG. 1).

The pivoting of the first sections 124A of the telescopic arms 124 can be blocked by means of two knobs 125 which are screwed both in these sections 124A and in threaded orifices 126 formed in these crosspieces 121.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 6, the support frame 120 is arranged so that it can occupy the following three positions:

a folded position in which it extends coplanarly to the two longitudinal rails 110 while being entirely contained therebetween and where the two U-shaped receiving profiles are turned downwards (FIGS. 3 and 4),

- a deployed loading position in which it projects into the rear extension of the two longitudinal rails 110 while being slightly inclined upwards relative to the plane of the latter at an angle advantageously between 5 and 15 ° (the two profiles of U-shaped reception 123 then being turned upwards so as to be able to accommodate the wheels 6 of the bikes 5) (FIG. 5), and

- a deployed position for access to the trunk in which it projects into the rear extension of the two longitudinal rails 110 while being slightly inclined downward relative to the plane of the latter at an angle β advantageously between 5 and 15 ° (FIG. 6 ).

This support frame 120 is lockable in its folded position or in the deployed loading position by means of blocking means provided on the two lateral uprights 122 and capable of cooperating with the longitudinal rails 110 in two distant locations.

These locking means are in this case constituted by two knobs 127 which are screwed both into these lateral uprights 122 and into tapped orifices 113, 114 formed in these longitudinal rails 110.

As a variant, the blocking means may consist for example of two locking keys which can be actuated in translation along a transverse axis against elastic return means via a control member and the end of which is capable of being inserted. in holes made in these longitudinal rails.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, this carrying frame 120 is retained in its deployed position for access to the trunk by two flat abutment members 115 integral with the longitudinal rails 110 and each projecting from the internal side and near the rear end of a corresponding rail 100 along the same plane inclined downward relative to that formed by these rails 110.

FIG. 3 represents the carrying structure 100 of the bicycle carrier 10 in the storage configuration in which the longitudinal rails 110, the carrying frame 120 and the telescopic arms 124 respectively occupy their retracted, folded and retracted positions.

In this configuration, the bicycle carrier 10 has a minimum longitudinal grip in comparison with the bicycle carriers of the prior art, which makes it possible to facilitate its integration into motor vehicles by avoiding having to modify the arrangement of certain members. such as the exhaust elements 3 mounted in the rear part of the underbody 2 of the vehicle 1.

We will now quickly describe the kinematics of deployment of the carrying structure 100 of this bicycle carrier 10 towards the configuration of use illustrated in FIG. 1.

Starting from the storage configuration of the user must first unlock this structure 100 using the control members 202, then do it longitudinally to its deployed position illustrated by and relock in this latter position via its carrier figure slide

3, figure the organs

4, control 202.

The user must then unlock the frame in carrier 120 unscrewing the knobs 127, then rotate it back to the last and lock it again in this

125.

deployed position of figure 5, position always via the knobs

It then no longer remains for telescopic 124 by unscrewing their extended position.

The carrying structure 100 configuration of use illustrated bikes 5 can be mounted there at the rear wheels 6 in the two U-shaped profiles and by securing their frames 7 its the user only to unlock the wheels 125, then to bring them in the arms of the bicycle carrier 10 then occupies its by FIG. 1 in which two verticals coming to position their arms 124 via fixing clips not shown mounted at the free end of the second sections 124B.

From this configuration of use, the carrying structure 100 of the bicycle carrier 10 can be brought to a configuration making it possible to open the rear tailgate of the vehicle without the latter interfering with the bikes 5 mounted on this carrying structure 100.

To do this, the user must simply unlock the support frame 120 by unscrewing the knobs 127, then pivot it backwards to its deployed position for access to the trunk illustrated in FIG. 6.

According to alternative embodiments not shown and in order to further reduce the longitudinal grip of the bicycle carrier according to the invention, the longitudinal rails comprise two sections mounted to slide axially one on the other (or one in the other) and means for axially locking these two sections relative to each other.

According to other alternative embodiments not shown, the two U-shaped receiving profiles also form the two crosspieces of the support frame.

In general, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown, but it encompasses any variant within the reach of the skilled person.

Claims (10)

1. Bicycle carrier for a motor vehicle comprising: - two guide rails (200) intended to be fixed to the rear underbody (2) of said motor vehicle; a support structure (100) comprising two parallel longitudinal rails (110) mounted to slide respectively on said guide rails (200) between a retracted position and an extended position, and a support frame (120) pivotally mounted along a transverse axis ( Y) on said rails (110) and being designed to support at least one bicycle (5) when said rails (110) occupy their extended position; characterized in that the said carrying frame (120) is arranged so as to be able to occupy a first folded position in which it extends coplanarly with the said rails (110) while being entirely contained between the latter, and a second deployed loading position where it projects into the rear extension of said rails (110) so as to allow the installation of at least one bicycle (5) when said rails (110) are in their extended position. 2. Bike carrier according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises blocking means (201, 202) for longitudinally locking said longitudinal rails in one or the other of said retracted and extended positions. 3. Bicycle carrier according to one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that, in said deployed loading position, said support frame (120) is inclined upward relative to the plane of said longitudinal rails (110) of an angle (a) of between 5 and 15 °. 4. Bicycle carrier according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said support frame (120) comprises locking means (127) able to cooperate with said longitudinal rails (110) in two distant places to lock it in one or the other of said folded and deployed loading positions. 5. Bicycle carrier according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said carrying frame (120) is also able to come to occupy a deployed position of access to the trunk in which it projects in the rear extension of said longitudinal rails (110) being inclined downward relative to the plane of said rails (110) by an angle (β) between 5 and 15 °. 6. Bicycle carrier according to claim 5, characterized in that said support structure (100) comprises two stop members (115) each secured to a said corresponding longitudinal rail (110) and capable of retaining said support frame (120) in said deployed trunk access position. 7. Bicycle carrier according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said carrying frame (120) comprises two crosspieces (121) connected at their ends by two lateral uprights (122) each articulated to pivot about said transverse axis (Y) on a said corresponding longitudinal rail (110), said support frame (120) also comprising two sections of substantially U-shaped section (123) each extending along a said corresponding crosspiece (121) and being intended to receive the rear wheels (6) of two said bikes (5) arranged vertically one behind the other. 8. Bicycle carrier according to claim 7, characterized in that said support frame (120) further comprises two telescopic attachment arms (124) for the frames (7) of said bikes (5), each said arm (124) comprising a first hollow section (124A), one of the ends of which is articulated in rotation about a respective longitudinal axis on a said corresponding crosspiece (121), a second section (124B) slidably mounted in said first section (124A) , and means (125) for axially locking said sections (124A, 124B) relative to each other. 9. Bicycle carrier according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said longitudinal rails comprise two sections mounted to slide axially one on the other or one in the other as well as means for lock them relative to each other. 10. Motor vehicle incorporating a bicycle carrier according to one of claims 1 to 9.