AU2006100386A4 - Roof rack crossbar - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant(s): Hubco Automotive Limited Invention Title: ROOF RACK CROSSBAR The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: Vehicle roof rack Technical Field The present invention relates to the construction of crossbars for vehicle roof racks IND of the type having an opening in an upper surface for the insertion of fastening 00 fixtures.

IND Background Art The applicant's POT international application WO 99/54168 describes a vehicle roof rack having a crossbar comprising a structural member in the form of an upwardly-opening steel channel section. An elongate streamlined plastic sleeve is fitted to the channel for the reduction of aerodynamic noise and drag. A longitudinal opening in the upper surface of the bar enables the insertion of fixtures, for example screws with a T-shaped head or T-shaped supports, for fixing various objects such as bicycle carriers, luggage carriers, ski carriers. A hollow resilient seal received inside the bar closes the opening, an outer face of the seal conforming with the upper surface of the bar.

As it is deformable to a greater degree than the prior art sealing strips, this hollow seal is not damaged by the insertion of fixtures into the opening. The sleeve enclosing the channel however, is vulnerable to damage in use and this two-part construction requires an additional assembly step in manufacturing. Therefore, while this prior art roof rack performs satisfactorily, it will be appreciated that there is a need for further improvements in ease of use, and a reduction in manufacturing steps, in addition to the ongoing desire for improvement in aerodynamic performance.

All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this O specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not 00 constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common Sgeneral knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.

It is acknowledged that the term 'comprise' may, under varying jurisdictions, be C1 attributed with either an exclusive or an inclusive meaning. For the purpose of this specification, and unless otherwise noted, the term 'comprise' 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. This rationale will also be used when the term 'comprised' or 'comprising' is used in relation to one or more steps in a method or process.

It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.

Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.

Disclosure of Invention According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a vehicle roof rack comprising a one-piece bar with two ends configured to extend across the roof of a vehicle to each said end having a foot attached for mounting to the vehicle, the bar having a streamlined profile with a rounded forward section and tapered rearward section, with a longitudinally extending cavity extending below its upper surface configured to slidingly receive fixtures for use in attaching articles to the bar, the cavity having a longitudinally extending opening with opposing lips O which taper so as to narrow the opening toward the upper surface, characterised by an elongate hollow and resilient seal received in and closing the cavity, a ridge portion of the seal having an outer face conforming with the upper surface of the bar, sealing faces adjacent the sides of the outer face being complementary to the 00oO M' inner faces of the lips.

SUpper and lower surfaces of the bar are preferably substantially symmetrical about a chord line, most preferably being defined substantially by a NACA 0030 aerofoil.

While retaining the substantial geometry of this aerofoil, two small scale modifications are preferably made to theses surfaces including the provision of a flow-interrupting rib and an asymmetric trailing edge.

Preferably the asymmetric trailing edge is arcuate.

Preferably the flow-interrupting rib extends longitudinally and protruding from the upper surface at a position between the leading edge and the opening. The rib is configured to transform a laminar boundary layer of air to a turbulent flow downstream thereof and passing over the opening for the reduction of aerodynamic noise and drag.

Preferably the ridge portion is wedge-shaped tapering toward the outer face.

Preferably the seal is substantially symmetrical about an axis perpendicular to the outer face, having eight mutually connected wall portions including: an upper wall portion upon which the outer face is provided; ridge wall portions extending obliquely from opposing sides of the upper wall portion; 0 a base wall portion opposing the upper wall portion; O side wall portions extending orthogonally from opposing sides of the base wall portion, and transverse wall portions extending transversely to join the respective side wall portions and ridge wall portions. The transverse wall portions preferably extend at an acute angle to the side wall portions, each forming 00oO Mq a respective resilient hinge.

IDPreferably the bar includes a pair of flanges projecting inwardly from an upper wall of the bar, each flange terminating in a face disposed away from the outer surface for engagement with a fixture received in the opening.

This invention provides a roof rack which is effective and efficient in operational use, which has an overall simple design which minimizes manufacturing costs and maximizes performance, reducing aerodynamic noise and drag.

Brief Description of Drawings Further aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a cross section of the crossbar of the roof rack of the present invention; Figure 2 is a cross section of a seal for the bar of Fig. 1, and Figqure 3 is an enlarged view of region A of Fig. 1, and Figure 4 is a cross section of the crossbar of Fig. 1 assembled with the seal of Fig. 2.

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O Best Modes for Carrying out the Invention A vehicle roof rack is constructed by fixing a foot to each end of a crossbar of a type illustrated in Fig. 1. The construction of feet and their manner of attachment to the bar is well-known in the art and is not described further. Each foot is fixed to 00 5 the vehicle and two such racks are used for carrying most loads.

As best seen in Fig. 1, the bar 1 is made in one piece, and may conveniently be extruded from aluminium. The bar 1 is streamlined with a rounded forward section C 11 and tapered rearward section 12, being substantially a NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) 0030 aerofoil in profile. Upper and lower surfaces 2 and 3 extend symmetrically either side of the chord line 4 which passes between the leading and trailing edges 5 and 6 respectively. A cavity 7 extends below the upper surface 2 and is configured to slidingly receive fixtures for use in attaching articles to the bar 1. A longitudinally extending opening 8 in the cavity 7 is bounded by opposing lips 9a, 9b having respective inner faces 10 a, 10 Ob tapering so as to narrow the opening 8 toward the upper surface 2.

The drawings, which show the bar 1 to scale, illustrate a small scale modification to the upper surface 2 in the form of longitudinally extends flow-interrupting rib 29 protruding from the upper surface 2 at a position between the leading edge 5 and the opening 8. A second small-scale modification is the asymmetric trailing edge 6, where the arcuate surface 32 joins the upper surface 2 tangentially at point and to extend obliquely to the lower surface 3 at point 31.

The bar 1 includes a pair of flanges 13a, 13b projecting inwardly from an upper wall 14 of the bar 1, with each flange terminating in a face 15a, 15b disposed away from the outer surface 2 for engagement with a fixture (not shown) received in the opening 8. The cavity 8 is bounded by planar internal webs including transverselyextending webs 17, 18 at the sides thereof and longitudinally-extending base web 16.

A hollow seal 19 made from an extruded elastomer is received in and closes the cavity 8. The seal 19 is supported upon the base web 16 and a ridge portion 20 of the seal 19 has an outer face 21 which conforms with the upper surface 2 of the bar 1 to reduce aerodynamic noise and drag which would otherwise be caused by 00oO Mc, the opening 8. The ridge portion 20 is wedge-shaped tapering toward the outer face 2, with the sealing faces 22a, 22b being complementary to the inner faces Oa, 10 b of the lips 9a, 9b thereby also locating and fixing the seal 19 in the cavity C 7.

The seal 19 is substantially symmetrical about the transverse axis 23. Eight planar wall portions are mutually connected to form the seal 19, including an upper wall portion 24 upon which the outer face 21 is provided; ridge wall portions 25a, extending obliquely from opposing sides of the upper wall portion 24; a base wall portion 26 opposing the upper wall portion 24; side wall portions 27a, 27b extending orthogonally from opposing sides of the base wall portion 26, and transverse wall portions 28a, 28b extending transversely to join the respective side wall portions 27a, 27b and ridge wall portions 25a, 25b at an acute angle forming a respective resilient hinge.

Aspects of the present invention have been described by way of example only and it should be appreciated that modifications and additions may be made thereto without departing from the scope thereof.

Claims (4)

1. A vehicle roof rack comprising a one-piece bar adapted to extend across the roof of a vehicle to each end of which a foot is attached for mounting to IDthe vehicle, the bar having a streamlined profile with a rounded forward 00oO section and tapered rearward section, with a longitudinally extending cavity extending below its upper surface configured to slidingly receive fixtures for IND use in attaching articles to the bar, the cavity having a longitudinally extending opening with opposing lips which taper so as to narrow the opening toward the upper surface, characterised by an elongate hollow and resilient seal received in and closing the cavity, a ridge portion of the seal having an outer face conforming with the upper surface of the bar, sealing faces adjacent the sides of the outer face being complementary to the inner faces of the lips.

2. The vehicle roof rack of claim 1 wherein upper and lower surfaces of the bar are substantially symmetrical about a chord line being defined substantially by a NACA 0030 aerofoil.

3. The vehicle roof rack of claim 1 or claim 2 further including one or more of the following features: an arcuate asymmetric trailing edge; a flow-interrupting rib which extends longitudinally and protrudes from the upper surface at a position between the leading edge and the opening; and a wedge-shaped ridge portion, tapering toward the outer face.

4. The vehicle roof rack of any one of claims 1 to 3 the seal is substantially 0 symmetrical about an axis perpendicular to the outer face, having eight mutually connected wall portions including: an upper wall portion upon which the outer face is provided ridge wall portions extending obliquely from opposing sides of the upper O 5 wall portion Sa base wall portion opposing the upper wall portion INO side wall portions extending orthogonally from opposing sides of the base wall portion, and transverse wall portions extending transversely to join the respective side wall portions and ridge wall portions, the transverse wall portions extending at an acute angle to the side wall portions, each forming a respective resilient hinge. The vehicle roof rack of any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the bar includes a pair of flanges projecting inwardly from an upper wall of the bar, each flange terminating in a face disposed away from the outer surface for engagement with a fixture received in the opening. Dated this 4th day of April 2006 Hubco Automotive Limited By its Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK