GB2119331A

GB2119331A - Car roof deck with optional luggage box

Info

Publication number: GB2119331A
Application number: GB08210620A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Billy Rix
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-04-13
Filing date: 1982-04-13
Publication date: 1983-11-16

Abstract

A removable roof deck, for use on a roofed vehicle, comprises a plinth whose bottom peripheral edge sits on the roof; clamps emerge from opposite sides of the plinth to hook releasably around the respective roof gutters (or around the door frame upper edges) of the vehicle; the bottom edge of the plinth is resiliently lipped so as not to mark the roofs surface unduly; and that lipped bottom edge is deliberately shaped to hug the contour of the roof line so that there will be no appreciable gap between that edge and the roof when the plinth is clamped in position on the roof. An optional luggage box sits removably on the plinth top and is closed except for an access door in one or in each of its walls. The luggage box overhangs the plinth considerably at its front end, but has little or substantially no overhang at the rear of the plinth. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Car roof deck with optional luggage box The invention relates to vehicle accessories and is particularly, though not exclusively, concerned with accessories for use on passenger saloon cars.

Car roof racks are well known and can take any one of several forms. They are frequently used to augment the lack of luggage space in even the best-designed modern saloon cars. They usally consists of a metal rack, to which luggage is strapped, and which is either supported by four feet on the roof and clamped to the roof guttering, or alternatively sits in the guttering itself and is clamped thereto.

Modern tubular steel ortubularaluminium roof racks are not unduly heavy, and can quickly be fitted and removed. They are however uniformly unattractive in appearance, they can rust reiatively easily in some cases, they give rise to irritating wind noise when the car is driven at anything other than relatively low speed, and they provide little or no weather protection for the luggage which is strapped to them.

The inventive concept envisages the replacement of the traditional frame-style roof rack by a basically flat-topped roof deck which is deliberately shaped to hug the contour of the roof line when in position so that there is then no appreciable gap between the bottom edge and the roof. Such a construction eliminates the irritating wind noise caused by the conventional rack, and its shape can be made pleasing enough for it to be left permanently in place on the car roof rather than being removed at the first opportunity as is the conventional roof rack. Unlike the conventional rack, this "roof deck" can be made in material such as glassfibre reinforced plastics which is light in weight, rust4ree, and can be painted or self-coloured to match orto contrast pleasingly with the finish of the car itself.

Specifically in accordance with the invention a removable roof deck, for use on a saloon car or other roofed vehicle, comprises a plinth whose bottom peripheral edge sits, in use, on the roof; clamps emerge from opposite sides of the plinth to hook releasably around the respective roof gutters (or around the door frame upper edges) of the vehicle and hold the plinth on the roof; the bottom edge of the plinth is resiliently lipped so as not to mark the roof's surface unduly; and that lipped bottom edge is deliberately shaped to hug the contour of the roof line so that there will be no appreciable gap between that edge and the roof when the plinth is clamped in position on the roof.

Preferably the clamps emerge from the side walls of the plinth, rather than emerging from the top of the plinth and extending sideways, although they may be alternatively tightened and released from the plinth top. If the clamps emerge from the plinth side walls, any wind noise caused by air flow around the exposed clamps is minimised because the exposed clamp surface is itself minimised.

The plinth top is advantageously flat, apart from such ribbing or treading as may be necessary to strengthen it and/or to give it a slip-resistant surface, so that luggage or other objects carried on it are supported throughout their length. By contrast, on the conventional roof rack, luggage spans the gap between successive bars of the rack and is not fully supported.

If the plinth top is substantially flat, it can also more easily accommodate an optional luggage box.

In accordance with another broad aspect of the invention, such a box sits removably on the plinth top and is closed except for an access door in one or in each of its side walls and/or in its front wall and/or in its rearwall. Luggage stowed in such a box will be safely held on the plinth without the need for straps, and will be weatherproof and thief-proof whilst it is being carried.

The optional luggage box may advantageously be held on the plinth by the same clamps which hold the plinth on the roof. Irrespective of whether the hooked ends of the clamps emerge from the plinth side walls, or from on top of the plinth, to engage the roof guttering or the door frame upper edges, the clamp-tightening and clamp-releasing means can themselves be shrouded within the box and can be made accessible only by unlocking the or an access door of the box. This clearly constitutes a valuable security measure as well as an elegant efficient design solution.

The box may be designed to fit onto the plinth in such a way that it overhangs the front of the plinth and hence, in use, the windscreen of say a passenger car - considerably. Preferabiy however the box has little if any overhang at the rear of the plinth. Such features combine optimum carrying capacity of the box with an ability to allow the rear doors of so-called "hatchback" vehicles to open without being obstructed by the back of the box.

The accompanying drawings show one roof deck, with optional luggage box, embodying the invention. They illustrate this one form of deck and box by way of example only, although it is currently the best way known to the applicant of putting the invention into practice. In the drawings: Figure 1 shows the deck and box in "exploded" perspective; Figure 2 shows the deck and box in use and is a half-section viewing the components from the front; and Figure 3, drawn to a smaller scale than Figures 1 and 2, shows the deck and box in use when viewed from one side.

The roof deck shown in the drawings consists basically of a rectangular plinth which is built up in glassfibre reinforced plastics material. It has a continuous peripheral skirt of which the front 11 and one side 12 are visible in Figure 1. The continuous bottom edge 13 of the peripheral skirting of the plinth is lipped with a soft rubber gasket which is U-shaped to fit over the skirt edging and is tubular from the base of the U outwards to compress, in use, against the roof of a small passenger saloon car which this particular plinth is designed to fit.

The central area 14 of the plinth top is raised out of the plane of the plinth upper surface. It is treaded, for example with the synthetic rubberised plastics mate rial known commercially as Dunlop TRAKMARKto give it a slip-resistant surface. Apart from this treading it is substantially flat.

Clamps 15 emerge from each side of the plinth.

The plinth side walls and top are drilled to allow the hooked ends of the clamps 15 to engage the roof guttering (or, on cars where there is no roof guttering, the door frame upper edges) of the car; and to allow the non-hooked screw-threaded other ends of the clamps to emerge adjacent respectively the front and rear edges of the plinth raised central area 14.

The emergent hooked ends of the clamps 15 are PVC-coated to resist rusting.

Two straight elongate aluminium box-section bars are slotted at each of their opposite ends to fit over the screw-threaded ends of the clamps 15 and sit on the plinth top to effectively extend the raised central area 14 back and front as shown. Wedges 17 follow the bars 16 and are drilled to fit over the projecting screw-threaded ends of the clamps 15. Wing nuts, shown but not referenced in Figure 1, hold the wedges 17 against the bars 16.

As the wing nuts are progressively tightened, the hooked ends of the clamps 15 are drawn up against the roof guttering (or the door frame upper edges); and the resiliently lipped bottom edge 13 of the plinth is pressed down against the car roof.

This lipped bottom edge 13 of the plinth is deliberately shaped to hug the contour of the roof line. When the plinth is fully clamped into place on the roof, there is no appreciable gap between the plinth edge 13 and the roof itself. The opposite side skirts 12 of the plinth sit in the channels of the roof guttering. The front bottom edge 13 abuts the top edge of the wind-screen's rubber surround. The back bottom edge of the plinth follows the contour of the roof line across the back of the roof but does not prevent the "hatchback" rear door of the car from being opened.

The luggage box illustrated has a longitudinally ribbed roof, for strength, and is again made up from glassfibre reinforced plastics material. Each of its side walls has two lifting handles projecting from it, referenced 18 in Figure 1, and an upward-opening tinted perspex door 19 which is built around an aluminium frame and is lockable. Apart from the access doors 19, and a cutout 21 in its base, the box is completely closed.

The cutout 21 fits exactly over and around the periphery of the raised central area 14 of the plinth.

The base of the box is slotted to fit over the projecting screw-threaded ends of the clamps 15. To fit the box onto the plinth top, the wing nuts together with the wedges 17 and bars 16 have to be removed so that the box can be lowered into position. The bars 16 then fit back into position, sandwiching the base of the box between them and the plinth top, and are followed by the wedges 17 and the wing nuts. Once the wing nuts are tightened, the box is automatically clamped to the plinth top as the plinth is clamped against the roof.

When the box is initially lowered home onto the plinth top, the access doors 19 are then opened and the bars 16, wedges 17, and wing nuts are passed through these doors 19 to be fitted into place. To unfasten the wing nuts and remove the box subsequently, the doors 19 must first be opened. If they are made lockable, and kept locked, the box and its contents cannot be removed from the plinth without being damaged.

In use, as Figure 3 shows, the front of the box overhangs the plinth considerably, but there is very little overhang at the rear of the plinth. The "hatchback" rear door of the car can be opened fully without being obstructed by the back of the box.

Many different materials can be used for the plinth and the box. Either or both could be vinyl-covered to match, or contrast pleasingly with, the roof covering itself. The access doors 19 could be spring-loaded upwards so that they stay open once they have been opened beyond a predetermined angie, and they need not necessarily be translucent. The resilient lip around the bottom edge 13 of the plinth forms a weather seal and also helps adhesion between the plinth and the roof. The aluminium bars 16 form ideal attachment points for straps, with or without the box in use, or (without the box this time) for cycle-carrying frames or canoe-carrying frames or any other suitable use. The combined plinth and box will not be high enough to be dangerous in most multi-storey car parks or garages.The fuel consumption of a car fitted with the plinth and box will not suffer to anything like the same degree as that of a car carrying luggage strapped to a conventional roof rack.

Many other advantages are given by the plinth, with or without the box, and modifications within the scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in this field.

As Figure 2 shows clearly, the plinth top in use is raised clear of the car roof by the plinth side skirts.

CLAIMS (Filed on 10/5/83) 1. A removable roof deck, for use on a saloon car or other roofed vehicle, comprising a plinth whose bottom peripheral edge fits, in use, on the roof; clamps which emerge from opposite sides of the plinth to hook releasably round the respective roof gutters (or around the door frame upper edges) of the vehicle and hold the plinth on the roof; the bottom edge of the plinth being resiliently lipped so as not to mark the roof's surface unduly; and that lipped bottom edge being deliberately shaped to hug the contour of the roof line so that there will be no appreciable gap between that edge and the roof when the plinth is clamped in position on the roof.

2. A deck according to Claim 1 and in which the clamps emerge from the side walls of the plinth.

3. A deck according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 and in which the plinth top is substantially flat and continuous.

4. A deck according to any of the preceding claims and incorporating a luggage box which sits removably on the plinth top and, when in position, encloses luggage stowed on the plinth.

5. A deck according to Claim 4 and in which the box is closed except for an access door or doors when in position on the plinth.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. rial known commercially as Dunlop TRAKMARKto give it a slip-resistant surface. Apart from this treading it is substantially flat. Clamps 15 emerge from each side of the plinth. The plinth side walls and top are drilled to allow the hooked ends of the clamps 15 to engage the roof guttering (or, on cars where there is no roof guttering, the door frame upper edges) of the car; and to allow the non-hooked screw-threaded other ends of the clamps to emerge adjacent respectively the front and rear edges of the plinth raised central area 14. The emergent hooked ends of the clamps 15 are PVC-coated to resist rusting. Two straight elongate aluminium box-section bars are slotted at each of their opposite ends to fit over the screw-threaded ends of the clamps 15 and sit on the plinth top to effectively extend the raised central area 14 back and front as shown. Wedges 17 follow the bars 16 and are drilled to fit over the projecting screw-threaded ends of the clamps 15. Wing nuts, shown but not referenced in Figure 1, hold the wedges 17 against the bars 16. As the wing nuts are progressively tightened, the hooked ends of the clamps 15 are drawn up against the roof guttering (or the door frame upper edges); and the resiliently lipped bottom edge 13 of the plinth is pressed down against the car roof. This lipped bottom edge 13 of the plinth is deliberately shaped to hug the contour of the roof line. When the plinth is fully clamped into place on the roof, there is no appreciable gap between the plinth edge 13 and the roof itself. The opposite side skirts 12 of the plinth sit in the channels of the roof guttering. The front bottom edge 13 abuts the top edge of the wind-screen's rubber surround. The back bottom edge of the plinth follows the contour of the roof line across the back of the roof but does not prevent the "hatchback" rear door of the car from being opened. The luggage box illustrated has a longitudinally ribbed roof, for strength, and is again made up from glassfibre reinforced plastics material. Each of its side walls has two lifting handles projecting from it, referenced 18 in Figure 1, and an upward-opening tinted perspex door 19 which is built around an aluminium frame and is lockable. Apart from the access doors 19, and a cutout 21 in its base, the box is completely closed. The cutout 21 fits exactly over and around the periphery of the raised central area 14 of the plinth. The base of the box is slotted to fit over the projecting screw-threaded ends of the clamps 15. To fit the box onto the plinth top, the wing nuts together with the wedges 17 and bars 16 have to be removed so that the box can be lowered into position. The bars 16 then fit back into position, sandwiching the base of the box between them and the plinth top, and are followed by the wedges 17 and the wing nuts. Once the wing nuts are tightened, the box is automatically clamped to the plinth top as the plinth is clamped against the roof. When the box is initially lowered home onto the plinth top, the access doors 19 are then opened and the bars 16, wedges 17, and wing nuts are passed through these doors 19 to be fitted into place. To unfasten the wing nuts and remove the box subsequently, the doors 19 must first be opened. If they are made lockable, and kept locked, the box and its contents cannot be removed from the plinth without being damaged. In use, as Figure 3 shows, the front of the box overhangs the plinth considerably, but there is very little overhang at the rear of the plinth. The "hatchback" rear door of the car can be opened fully without being obstructed by the back of the box. Many different materials can be used for the plinth and the box. Either or both could be vinyl-covered to match, or contrast pleasingly with, the roof covering itself. The access doors 19 could be spring-loaded upwards so that they stay open once they have been opened beyond a predetermined angie, and they need not necessarily be translucent. The resilient lip around the bottom edge 13 of the plinth forms a weather seal and also helps adhesion between the plinth and the roof. The aluminium bars 16 form ideal attachment points for straps, with or without the box in use, or (without the box this time) for cycle-carrying frames or canoe-carrying frames or any other suitable use. The combined plinth and box will not be high enough to be dangerous in most multi-storey car parks or garages.The fuel consumption of a car fitted with the plinth and box will not suffer to anything like the same degree as that of a car carrying luggage strapped to a conventional roof rack. Many other advantages are given by the plinth, with or without the box, and modifications within the scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in this field. As Figure 2 shows clearly, the plinth top in use is raised clear of the car roof by the plinth side skirts. CLAIMS (Filed on 10/5/83)

1. A removable roof deck, for use on a saloon car or other roofed vehicle, comprising a plinth whose bottom peripheral edge fits, in use, on the roof; clamps which emerge from opposite sides of the plinth to hook releasably round the respective roof gutters (or around the door frame upper edges) of the vehicle and hold the plinth on the roof; the bottom edge of the plinth being resiliently lipped so as not to mark the roof's surface unduly; and that lipped bottom edge being deliberately shaped to hug the contour of the roof line so that there will be no appreciable gap between that edge and the roof when the plinth is clamped in position on the roof.

6. A deck according to either of Claims 4 and 5

and in which the box is held on the plinth by the same clamps which hold the plinth on the roof in use.

7. A deck according to Claim 5 or Claim 6 and in which the clamps which hold the box in place can be tightened or released only by unlocking the or an access door of the box.

8. A deck according to any Claims 4 to 7 and in which the box when fitted on the plinth overhangs the front of the plinth.

9. A deck according to any of Claims 4 to 8 and in which the box has little or substantially no overhang at the rear of the plinth.

10. A removable roof desk comprising a plinth and associated clamps substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

11. A removable roof deck in accordance with Claim 10 and combined with a luggage carrying box in a manner substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.