US3153501A

US3153501A - Car top luggage carrier

Info

Publication number: US3153501A
Application number: US206576A
Authority: US
Inventors: Kenneth W Binding
Original assignee: Market Forge Co
Current assignee: Market Forge Co
Priority date: 1962-07-02
Filing date: 1962-07-02
Publication date: 1964-10-20
Anticipated expiration: 1981-10-20

Description

Oct. 20, 1964 K. w. BINDING cAR Top LUGGAGE CARRIER Filed July 2, 1962 United States Patent 3,153,501 CAR TOP LUGGAGE CARRIER Kenneth W. Binding, Winchester, Mass., assignor to Marhet Forge Company, Everett, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed .luly 2, 1962, Ser. No. 206,576 1 Claim. (Cl. 224-421) This invention relates to car top luggage carriers and has for its principal objects to provide a carrier which is waterproof and dust-tight; to provide a carrier which is conformable to the top of the vehicle to which it is applied in spite of the transverse and longitudinal curvatures or lack of curvature thereof, thereby to eliminate access of rain and dust between the top of the vehicle and the bottom side of the luggage carrier and also the lifting effect of the wind which tends to tear the carrier from the roof and to produce undue strain on the attaching means; to provide a luggage carrier which may be securely attached to the vehicle without damage to the car top and yet which may be easily released to remove the carrier when not required; to provide a luggage carrier which is attractive in appearance, of light weight and of large capacity; and to provideV a luggage carrier comprised of parts which are readily available, easy to manufacture and easy to assemble.

As herein illustrated, the carrier comprises a flexible envelope having a bottom, side, end, and top walls, one of the side walls containing an opening, a closure ap connected along one of its edges to one side of the opening, interengageable fastening elements on the other edges of the flap and along the edge of the opening interengageable to hold the flap closed, a substantially rectangular frame comprised of longitudinally and transversely flexible metal members, disposed in the envelope and substantially coextensive with the bottom wall, clamps secured to the frame externally of the envelope operative to secure the frame and envelope flexed to conform to the curvature of the top of the vehicle, a pair of end stretcher frames at the ends of the base frame pivotally supported for movement upwardly, relative to the base frame within the envelope to stretch the ends, sides and top taut above the bottom, a pair of arms pivotally connected to the end frames and to each other operative, when aligned, to hold the end frames upright and, when displaced, to permit the end frames to be folded into engagement with the base frame, and means on the arms cooperative to lock them in alignment. The envelope is comprised of a tightly woven waterproof fabric. The base frame is comprised of exible metal strips, to the undersides of which are applied cushion strips, and the end and side members of the base frame have upstanding flanges operative to constrain lateral movement of luggage placed within the carrier. Because of the shorter radius of curvature, transversely of the top of the vehicle, the upstanding flanges of the end members of the frame are notched to provide for flexibility.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of the luggage carrier applied to the top or roof of a vehicle, the latter being shown in dot and dash lines;

FIG. la is a fragmentary section of the envelope with the supporting frame omitted;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the supporting frame of the luggage carrier, with the envelope omitted, showing the erect and partially collapsed positions of the end frames;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken lengthwise of the carrier on the line 3--3 of FIG. 2, showing the end frames erect and partially collapsed and the envelope in dot and dash lines;

. FIG. 3a is a fragmentary section taken on the line Saz- 3a of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an end elevation of the supporting frame showing one of the end frames shown in its erect position with the envelope omitted and showing the notching of the end member of the base frame to afford flexibility transversely of the vehicle;

FIG. 5 is a section taken on the line 5--5 of FIG. 2, showing the means for pivotally securing the end frames to the base frame;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 6--6 of FIG. 2 showing the connection between a transverse member of the frame and a side member, and a cushion layer applied to the underside of the transverse member;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 7-7 of FIG. l, showing the fastening means for the closure flap of the'envelope; and

FIG. 8 is a section through a toggle clamp for securing the carrier to the vehicle top.

Referring to the drawings (FIG. l), the luggage carrier lil is shown applied to the top 12 of a vehicle by means vide, when distended, a luggage carrying space of pre-V determined volume. One of the side walls 22 (FIGS. 1

'and 7) contains an opening and a closure ap 30 which is connected along its lower edge to the bottom wall. The free edge 34 of the closure flap 30 and the edge 36 of the opening in the wall have attached thereto the component parts of a fastener 32 attached hereto, respectively, by

tapes

38 and 40. A folded ply 42 is stitched to the marginal edge of the opening in the side wall so as to overlie the junction between the edge of the opening and the edge of the flap both to exclude water and dust from access to the fastener elements and to improve the appearance.

The envelope 16 is held distended for use by a supporting frame 18 (FIG. 2), constructed so as to flex both lengthwise and widthwise into conformity with the curvature of the top of the vehicle. This frame comprises a base frame of substantially rectangular configuration made up of spaced parallel side members 44 and end members 46 joined at their extremities. A plurality of spaced parallel, transversely extending cross-members 48 are joined at their ends to the side members 44 to provide support for luggage placed within the carrier. The side and end members have

upstanding flanges

50 and 52 which limit lateral movement. of the luggage resting within the carrier on the base frame. To afford the flexibility necessary transversely of the vehicle top which has a much greater radius of curvature than lengthwise, the anges 52 of lthe end members are notched at 54 (FIG. 4). Cushion strips 56 (FIG. 6) are applied to the underside of the transverse members 4S to keep the metal of the members out of contact with the subjacent fabric ofthe bottom wall of the envelope.

The base frame is placed within the envelope and is coextensive with the bottom wall 20. A pair of end stretcher frames 58, substantially yU-shaped in form, having legs 60, are pivotally secured to the opposite ends of the base frame for movement upwardly, relative to the base frame, to stretch the side, end and top walls taut with respect to the bottom wall. For pivotal movement the lower ends of the legs 60 are provided with laterally extending feet 62 adapted to be rotatably secured to the base frame by bracxets 64 (FIG. 5). In order* to raise and hold the end stretcher frames 58 in their erect positions as shown in FIG. 3, kthereby to hold the envelope tauta pair of scissor arms 66 are pivotally connected by brackets 68 (FIG. 3a) to the end trames S8 midway between the legs 60 and to each other by a pivot bolt 70. The arms are of ysuch length that,"when placed in alignment as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the end frames are held erect and the envelope taut. By displacement of the arms laterally as shown in FIG. 2, the stretcher frames are allowed to be folded inwardly and downwardly toward the base frame and hence to collapse the envelope. Each of the arms-66 has a notch 72 at its distal end engageable with a pin 74 on the other arm to hold the arms in alignment. To assist in maintaining the notches engaged with the pin the pivot` bolt 70 is provided with a wing nut 76 by means of which it may be tightened.

Anchor elements '78 arefastened to the ends of the side members 44 by rivets 80 (FIG. 8) or the like. The anchor elements are fastened to the frame externally of the envelope, that is, so that the bottom Wall of the envelope is situated between the anchor Velements and the base frame and is secured to the base frame by the rivets 80. A cushion strip 82 is fastened to the underside of each anchor element to prevent damage to the top of the car where the carrier bears upon the top. The distal ends of the anchor elements 78 are provided with hooks 34 for engagement with one of a plurality of notches S6 in a plate S8 curved to conform to the shoulder of Vthe roof and provided with toggle levers 90 for engagement with the gutters along the sides of the roof.

Thecarrier, as thus constructed, is of very light weight and large capacity and yet is durable and will withstand the extreme wind pressures encountered at high speed.

As herein illustrated, the top of the envelope is slightly smaller in area than the bottom, the sides and ends are trapezoidal and the transverse portions of the end frames are upwardly bowed so as to provide a pitch from the longitudinal center line kof the top wall of the envelope toward the sides. The shape of the envelope, however, may be changed by making it rectangular in section throughout or by making it arched in section. The end frames will, of course, be designed to correspond to the section of theenvelope.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A truncated trapezoidal vehicle top luggage carrier comprising the combination of a flexible Waterproof envelope having a bottom, sides, end and top walls, one of said side walls having a zipper opening therein, a rectangular base frame disposed in the envelope against the bottom wall, said base frame being coextensive with the bottom wall and said base frame and bottom wall being conformable to thetop of the vehicle, clamping elements secured to the underside ofthe base frame externally of the envelope for clamping the base frame to the top of the vehicle with the bottom wall of the envelope situated between it and the vehicle top, and a collapsible composite canopy frame on the base frame for holding the ends, sides yand top of the envelope dstended, comprising end frames pivotally supported transversely of the base frame at opposite ends, said end frames having parts coextensive with the opposite ends of the end Wall at their junction with the side walls and with the upper edges of the end walls at their junctions with the ends of the top wall, and a ridge piece having parts pivotally connected to the end frames and to each other lengthwise of the base frame midway between its opposite sides, said end frames, when erected, affording support for the end walls and said parts of the ridge piece, when aligned, affording the sole support for the top Wall and side walls intermediate said end frames, said pivoted parts of the ridge piece providing means for forcing the end frames into their upright positions to stretch the walls of the envelope on the composite frame sufficiently so that the side walls are Sustained taut Without supporting structure lengthwise of the upper edges of the side walls, and means operative to lock the pivoted ridge piece parts in alignment.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS France June 11, 1957