NZ628636A

NZ628636A - An accessory mount

Info

Publication number: NZ628636A
Application number: NZ628636A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: John Drapier Ian
Original assignee: Yakima Australia Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2014-08-12
Filing date: 2014-08-12
Publication date: 2016-02-26
Also published as: AU2015101089A4

Abstract

An accessory mount linking a tray or intermediate member to an accessory or accessory item. The tray or intermediate member includes two or more elongate members that are approximately vertically aligned, one member above the other. The accessory mount comprises two opposing flanged rigid frames linked about the two or more elongate members; a pair of flanged lips of the rigid frames abutting either side of a top and a bottom member and linked together via a fastener that passes through an opening between the elongate members; a fascia; and a bracket configured for connection to an accessory at a first end and to the fascia at a second end and to extend from the periphery of the fascia.

Description

AN ACCESSORY MOUNT TECHNICAL FIELD Described herein is an accessory mount. More specifically an accessory mount is described to link accessories used in vehicle roof rack applications to an alloy tray or similar product.

BACKGROUND ART A number of accessory mounts already exist in the art to link accessories to an alloy tray or other vehicle roof rack item. In the context of vehicle roof racks and mounting systems, the intention of an accessory mount is to link an item such as a roof rack accessory including, for example, fishing rod holders, shovel holders and bike holders to a vehicle cross bar or other item. Specifically in this application the intention is to provide an accessory mount system that links an accessory to an alloy tray or similar object in a manner that secures the accessory to the tray in a universal form so that any number of accessories may be attached via the same accessory mount.

Existing accessory mount products are generally sold on a one off basis. The accessory mount supplied is of a set shape and size specific to the accessory in mind. There is no versatility in the position of the accessory mount, in other words the accessory must be attached at a certain mount point on the alloy tray. In addition each product or accessory must have its own accessory mount.

As may be appreciated the lack of versatility and functionality of existing accessory mount brackets is not ideal from both a manufacturer viewpoint or from a consumer viewpoint. It would therefore be advantageous to resolve at least some of this lack of versatility or at least provide the public with a choice.

SUMMARY Described herein is an accessory mount intended to link an accessory for use in vehicle roof rack applications to a vehicle, typically via an alloy tray or similar intermediate item. An aim of the accessory mount is to provide versatility in allowing a variety of different accessories to be mounted via the same accessory mount to the alloy tray or other member.

In a first aspect there is provided an accessory mount linking a tray or intermediate member to an accessory or accessory item wherein: the tray or intermediate member includes two or more elongate members that are approximately vertically aligned, one member above the other, and wherein the accessory mount comprises two opposing flanged rigid frames linked about the two members, the flanged lips of the rigid frames abutting either side of the top and bottom members and linked together via at least one fastener that passes through an opening or openings between the elongate members.

In a second aspect there is provided a method of linking a tray or intermediate member to an accessory or accessory item via at least one accessory mount, the method comprising the steps (a) selecting at least one accessory mount as claimed in claim 1; (b) linking the accessory to the at least one accessory mount; and (c) linking the at least one accessory mount to the tray or intermediate member.

The above-described accessory mount has a number of advantages including versatility in terms of location, that the accessory mount may be attached to the tray or intermediate mount. In addition the accessory mount is able to be used to link to any number of accessories and is not specifically tailored to any one particular accessory. This therefore provides, for the manufacturer, fewer parts, less tooling and lower inventory costs; while for the consumer this greater versatility is useful in that only one accessory mount needs to be purchased for any number of accessories as opposed to purchasing a different accessory mount for every single accessory purchased. In addition the above-described accessory mount is secure and strong and minimises parts and eases installation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further aspects of the accessory mount and methods of use will become apparent from the following description that is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 illustrates a perspective view of the accessory mount in an assembled form with no members or accessories attached Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of the accessory mount inner and outer frames linked via a fastener about upper and lower tray rail extrusions as viewed from the interior; Figure 3 illustrates a perspective view of the same members as Figure 2 but viewed from the exterior Figure 4 illustrates a side cross-section view of the assembled accessory mount, without accessory brackets, linked to upper and lower tray rail extrusions Figure 5 illustrates a perspective assembled view of the accessory mount including a first embodiment orientation of accessory brackets; Figure 6 illustrates a side cross-section view of an assembled accessory mount in the first embodiment as shown in Figure 5; Figure 7 illustrates a perspective view of the assembled accessory mount including a second embodiment orientation of accessory brackets; Figure 8 illustrates a side cross-section view of an assembled accessory mount in the second embodiment of Figure 7; Figure 9 illustrates a perspective view of an alloy tray including the accessory mount used to link an awning accessory to the tray; Figure 10 illustrates a perspective view from in front and behind of the alloy tray including accessory mounts used to link two recovery tracks holders to the tray; Figure 11 illustrates three perspective views illustrating different ways the accessory mount may be used to link a light bar to an alloy tray below, in front or above the mount; Figure 12 illustrates a perspective view of an alloy tray including an accessory mount used to link an aerial to the tray; and Figure 13 illustrates a perspective view of an alloy tray including an accessory mount used to link a spotlight to the tray.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION As noted above, described herein is an accessory mount intended to link an accessory for use in vehicle roof rack applications to a vehicle, typically via an alloy tray or similar intermediate item.

An aim of the accessory mount is to provide versatility in allowing a variety of different accessories to be mounted via the same accessory mount to the alloy tray or other member For the purposes of this specification, the term ‘about’ or ‘approximately’ and grammatical variations thereof mean a quantity, level, degree, value, number, frequency, percentage, dimension, size, amount, weight or length that varies by as much as 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, , 4, 3, 2, or 1% to a reference quantity, level, degree, value, number, frequency, percentage, dimension, size, amount, weight or length.

The term ‘substantially’ or grammatical variations thereof refers to at least about 50%, for example 75%, 85%, 95% or 98%.

The term 'comprise' and grammatical variations thereof 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.

The inventor has developed an accessory mount with a number of advantages over existing products. A main advantage includes versatility of position and versatility in terms of the number of accessories and adaptability of the mount to suit various applications.

As noted above, the mount links tray members or intermediate members to an accessory. The tray member or members or intermediate members are linked to a vehicle. The tray or intermediate member may in one embodiment comprise a generally flat portion in the same plane as the vehicle roof. The tray or members to which the accessory mount are attached may include one or more sides or front or back of the tray or intermediate member as is typical in this type of tray design. The members may be extruded members and in typical embodiments of, particularly alloy tray designs, there is an upper and a lower extruded member forming a boundary around the edge of the tray perimeter. In some embodiments these walls may be movable in a horizontal plane however; typically the walls have a generally vertical alignment and an exterior facing out from the vehicle and an interior facing in towards the interior of the vehicle roof.

For the purposes of this specification terms such as ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ refer to the alignment relative to a surface on which the vehicle may move. Further the terms ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ refer to the respective alignment relative to a vehicle roof top, the ‘outer’ terminology referring to the sides of a member or members as viewed from the exterior of the vehicle; and the term ‘inner’ referring to the sides of the member or members as viewed from inside the car perimeter.

Whilst for ease of description, the members are defined as being in a generally vertical alignment, it should be appreciated that the members may not be in a purely vertical plane and may instead be angled inwards or outwards as the case may be. Despite these differences in alignment the accessory mount described herein may be attached to non-purely vertically aligned members without departing from the scope of the description herein.

Further for ease of description a roof tray linked to a vehicle roof will be described however, it should be appreciated that other intermediate members may be used not specifically relating to a roof tray without departing from the scope of the description herein.

As described above, the flanged rigid frames may be in two parts, being an inner frame and an outer frame. The flanged frames may include flange lip or lips that at least partly abut against the member or members to which the accessory mount is attached. In one embodiment, the rigid frames may be elongated steel plates pressed or moulded to fit the contours of the member or members to which they are applied. The flanged lip portions abut the member or members and form a rigid mount to which the frames may be attached. Two frames may be used on either side of the members and these may be linked together via a fastener or fasteners which draw the two frames together therefore providing a strong mount on which to attach any accessory or accessory brackets which shall be explained further below.

The outer frame is a frame located on the outside of the alloy tray that may include one or more mount points to which an accessory bracket or brackets may be attached. The mount points may be one or more apertures in the outer plate through which one or more fasteners may be received.

In one embodiment the accessory bracket or brackets may be elongated rigid members that mate with the mount point at one end of the bracket and have a further mount point at the opposing end of the rigid bracket.

In one embodiment the accessory bracket or brackets include apertures at either distil end. The first aperture may align with a similar mount point on the outer frame and the opposing aperture at the opposing distil end of the accessory bracket mates with an accessory. The accessory may be mounted to the accessory bracket via one or more fasteners. Further, the accessory bracket or brackets may be mounted to the outer frame via one or more fasteners as noted above. In one embodiment, the elongated accessory bracket or brackets may extend sideways relative to the accessory mount. In further embodiments, the accessory bracket or brackets may extend above or below the accessory mount. In addition, the accessory bracket or brackets may be bent or folded or otherwise adjusted in shape between distil ends in order to alter the aperture alignment. By way of example, the accessory bracket may include a right angle bend allowing one end of the accessory bracket to attach to the outer frame in a generally vertical plane and the opposing end of the accessory bracket to link to an accessory about a generally horizontal plane.

The accessory bracket may also be folded in a particular orientation to offer some other direction or varied orientation. One example of this may be to include two folds in the accessory bracket to have the accessory mount point end of the accessory bracket sit proud of the outer frame. By doing this, attachment of an accessory to the bracket may be simplified by allowing access to behind the bracket, for example, to hold a bolt or other fastener in place.

The accessory mount may further include a fascia placed over at least part of the outer frame of the mount. The fascia may be retained in place by one or more fasteners. In one embodiment the fascia may be retained in place by a centrally located fastener or fasteners. The centrally located fastener or fasteners may be one central fastener that links both the fascia and frame members. One aim of the fascia may be purely aesthetic in order to hide any mounting bolts or brackets or sharp edges behind the fascia and therefore provide an aesthetically clean look from the exterior of the vehicle. A further aim of the fascia may also be to help retain one or more accessory brackets in a particular alignment. For example an accessory bracket may be linked to the outer frame via a single fastener. Without any further reinforcement the accessory bracket may be prone to rotation about the single fastener point. The fascia may be placed over both the accessory bracket and outer frame and the fascia may include a stop or stops to limit rotational movement of the accessory bracket about the fastener, therefore providing greater rigidity to the positioning of the accessory bracket. The fascia in one embodiment may be formed from a rigid moulded plastic. As may be appreciated other types of materials may also be used however, plastics may be advantageous due to their ability to provide a clean sleek finish.

As may be appreciated, the accessory mount as described herein may be used singularly, that is on it’s own with a single accessory attached to the single accessory mount. Alternatively, two or more accessory mounts may be used to hold a single accessory. In one embodiment two accessory mounts may be used to retain and hold an elongated item such as a fishing rod or a ladder.

As noted above the accessory mount described herein is universal and, as a result, has great versatility, as it is able to be used to retain and hold a number of different accessories.

Accessories may include various holders or accessory items themselves. Non-limiting examples of such holders or accessories themselves include a ladder or ladder rack; a fishing rod or rods or fishing rod holder; a shovel holder or shovel; a recovery tracks holder or holders or recovery tracks themselves; an awning or awning holder; lights or lighting strips or light holding apparatus, the lights including spotlights, LED strips and other devices known in the art; aerials or aerial holders; flags or flag holders; jerry cans or jerry can holders; cargo or cargo holders; fixing points such as lugs, rings or other similar brackets used for example to link a belt or chain to.

The above-described accessory mount has a number of advantages including versatility in terms of location that the accessory mount may be attached to on the tray or intermediate mount. In addition the accessory mount is able to be used to link to any number of accessories and is not specifically tailored to any one particular accessory. This therefore provides, for the manufacturer, fewer parts, less tooling and lower imagery costs; while for the consumer, this provides more versatility in that one accessory mount needs to be purchased for any number of accessories as opposed to purchasing a different accessory mount for every single accessory purchased. In addition the above-described accessory mount is secure and strong and minimises parts and eases installation.

The embodiments described above may also be said broadly to consist in the parts, elements and features referred to or indicated in the specification of the application, individually or collectively, and any or all combinations of any two or more said parts, elements or features, and where specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents in the art to which the embodiments relates, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as of individually set forth.

Where specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents in the art to which this invention relates, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually set forth.

WORKING EXAMPLES The above described accessory mount and method of use are described by reference to a specific example.

EXAMPLE 1 In its assembled form, Figure 1 describes the accessory mount 1. Figures 2 to 8 describe the accessory mount 1 in various different configurations and in exploded form.

With reference to the Figures, the accessory mount 1 is shown as having a rear or inner frame 4 that is linked to an outer frame 5 via a single fastener 6. The inner 4 and outer 5 frames are linked about two rail extrusions 2,3 of an alloy tray, the upper rail extrusion 2 and lower rail extrusion 3 being aluminium elongated extrusions typically used on the sides, front or back of an alloy tray.

As shown in the Figures the accessory mount 1 may also include a fascia 7 and one or more accessory brackets 9. Figure 2 shows how the rigid frame members 4, 5 include flanged lip portions that extend about and abut and against the rail extrusion members 2, 3. The fastener 6 draws the two frame members 4, 5 together to form a rigid hold on to the side rail extrusions 2, 3.

The cross-section of Figure 4 shows the interaction between the parts in more detail in particular showing the fastener 6 that draws the inner and outer frame members 4, 5 together being centrally located at a point within the opening of the top and bottom rail extrusions 2, 3. Also, as shown and particularly in Figure 4 but also in other Figures is the presence of one or more linking points on the outer frame 5 to which the accessory bracket or brackets 9 may be attached via for example one or more fasteners 8. Also as shown in the Figures the fascia 7 may include one or more apertures 11 that help to align and retain in place the accessory bracket or brackets 9 to avoid rotation of these brackets 9. The apertures 11 may be sized to effectively act as a stop thus preventing rotation of the accessory bracket 9 or brackets 9 about the connection point 8 on the outer frame 5. The fascia 7 also provides an aesthetically appealing appearance to the outside of the accessory mount 1 and may be formed, for example, from a moulded plastic. The inner and outer frame portions 4, 5 and accessory bracket or brackets 9 may be formed from pressed or moulded steel.

The accessory bracket or brackets 9 may be mounted in a variety of configurations as illustrated in Figures 1 and Figures 5 to 8.

The accessory bracket or brackets 9 may for example extend from the top or bottom of the accessory mount 1 as shown in Figures 5 or 6. In these embodiments the accessory bracket or brackets 9 may include a fold 12 to alter the orientation of the accessory bracket or brackets 9 from a generally vertical plane of the accessory mount 1 to a generally horizontal plane either above or below the rail extrusions 2, 3 of the tray. It should be appreciated the angle of the fold 12 may be in various orientations depending on what accessory is to be mounted to the accessory mount 1. As shown in Figures 7 and 8 the accessory bracket or brackets 9 may also extend sideways relative to the accessory mount 1. In these configurations it may be advantageous to include a fold or folds 12, in order to have the accessory ending of the accessory bracket or brackets 9 sit or stand proud of the accessory mount 1 and/or rail extrusions 2, 3 and thereby allow easy fitting of any bolt or bolts to fasten the accessory to the accessory bracket or brackets 9.

Figures 9 to 13 are included to further illustrate the versatility of the accessory mount 1. Figure 9 shows how the alloy tray may be mounted to an awning using the accessory mount 1. The awning 14 may extend alongside on edge or side of the alloy tray 13 and may be mounted to the alloy tray 13 using two accessory mounts 1.

As shown in Figure 10 the accessory mount 1 may be used to attach one or more recovery tracks holders 14 to the alloy tray 13.

As showing in the images of Figure 11 a light bar accessory 14 may also be attached to an alloy tray 13 using the accessory mounts 1. As shown in Figure 11 the orientation of the light bar may be in several different positions depending on what accessory bracket or brackets 9 are used and the orientation of the accessory bracket or brackets 9 relative to the frame members. Figure 12 shows an example whereby an aerial accessory is mounted via the accessory bracket or brackets 9 to an alloy tray 13. The accessory bracket or brackets 9 have two endings each with elongated apertures 10.

Figure 13 shows a spotlight mounted to an alloy tray 13 via the accessory mount 1.

It should be appreciated the accessory mount 1 may be used with a number of different accessories 14 and, whilst particularly advantageous to be used with an alloy tray 13, the accessory mount 1 could be used with any number of different intermediate parts, an important feature being the use of two or more extruded members about which the accessory mount 1 may be fastened.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An accessory mount linking a tray or intermediate member to an accessory or accessory item wherein: the tray or intermediate member includes two or more elongate members that are approximately vertically aligned, one member above the other, wherein the accessory mount comprises: • two opposing flanged rigid frames linked about the two or more elongate members, a pair of flanged lips of the rigid frames abutting either side of a top and a bottom member and linked together via at least one fastener that passes through an opening or openings between the elongate members; • a fascia; and • at least one bracket configured for connection to an accessory at a first end and to the fascia at a second end and to extend from the periphery of the fascia.

2. An accessory mount as claimed in claim 1 wherein the two or more elongate members are two elongate members.

3. An accessory mount as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one fastener is one fastener.

4. A roof rack assembly comprising: • at least one vehicle roof rack cross bar; • a vehicle tray attached to the cross bars; and • at least one accessory mount as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 linked to the tray via the accessory bracket.

5. A method of linking a vehicle tray or intermediate member to an accessory or accessory item via at least one accessory mount, the method comprising the steps of: (a) selecting at least one accessory mount as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3; (b) linking the at least one accessory mount to the vehicle tray or intermediate member; (c) linking an accessory to the at least one accessory mount.

6. An accessory mount linking a tray or intermediate member to an accessory or accessory item substantially described herein with reference to Example 1 and/or