1. Technical Field
This invention relates to vehicle article carriers, and more particularly to a vehicle article carrier incorporating a cross bar constructed to reduce or eliminate wind noise generated thereby.
2. Discussion
Vehicle article carriers are used in a wide variety of applications to enable various articles to be secured above an outer surface of a vehicle and transported thereon. Such vehicle article carriers typically incorporate a pair of slats which are fixedly secured to an outer body surface, such as a roof or deck lid of the vehicle. The slats are typically secured such that they extend generally parallel to one another. One or more cross bars are incorporated which each include a support member at opposite ends thereof for securing the cross bar to the slats. Often, one of the cross bars is fixedly secured to the slat so as to be immovable while the other cross bar may be adjustably positioned along the slats as needed to accommodate variously sized articles being supported on the cross bars.
With some modern day vehicles, the vehicle roof has a shape which requires the slats to converge slightly in order to follow the contour of the vehicle roof. The convergence of the slats requires that the movable cross bar be adjustably secured to at least one of its associated support members such that the overall length of the cross bar can be effectively increased or decreased slightly as the cross bar moves along the slats. This has typically been accomplished by a slot which is formed in one of the supports associated with the movable cross bar. The slot enables a fastening member to secure one end of the cross bar to the support and further enables the cross bar to move slightly inwardly and outwardly relative to the support to accommodate the convergence of the slats when the cross bar is moved along the slats.
The above described arrangement in which a slot is formed within a portion of the support member has been found to, in some instances, generate some objectionable wind noise. In some instances, the slot may have a "flute" like effect depending upon the speed of the vehicle and various environmental conditions such as the speed and direction of wind which the vehicle is subjected to.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide some means for coupling an end of a movable cross bar to its associated support member to provide for a degree of adjustability between these two components while doing so in a fashion which prevents any wind noise from being generated by the support member at the area where it couples to its associated cross bar.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds