Single force strut for dual sided cargo box

• US 8,672,198 B2
• Filed: 12/12/2011
• Issued: 03/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thule Sweden AB (Thule Group AB)
• Original Assignee: Thule Sweden AB (Thule Group AB)
• Inventors: Viklund, Mark, Bove, Vincent
• Primary Examiner(s): LARSON, JUSTIN MATTHEW
• Application Number:
  US13/323,584
• Publication Number:
  US 20120118927A1
• Time in Patent Office: 827 Days
• Field of Search: 224/328, 162/86, 163/33, 163/39, 162/84, 162/90, 162/91, 163/12, 162/39, 492/79, 493/33, 493/86
• US Class Current: 224/328
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 9/055 Enclosure-type carriers, e.g. containers, boxes B60R9/048 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E05C 19/12 pivotally mounted around an axis E05C3/045, E05C3/40 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E05C 3/124 with latch under compression force between its pivot and the striker E05C3/122, E05C3/14, E05C3/16 and E05B65/0852 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E05D 11/1064 with a coil spring perpendicular to the pivot axis
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 1/1058 for counterbalancing
• CPC Class Codes: E05Y 2201/416 for counterbalancing
• CPC Class Codes: E05Y 2900/53 characterised by the type of wing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49826 Assembling or joining

Abstract

Methods and arrangements for providing and controlling operation of a dual sided opening roof mount cargo box for a carrying vehicle. A dual sided opening roof mount cargo box is has a lid portion releasably hinge-connected at two lateral sides to a bottom portion of the cargo box for alternate pivotation at each of the two lateral sides between open and closed configurations. A pair of spring-biased struts are provided, each operatively interposed between the lid portion and the bottom portion, and one each of the pair of spring-biased struts being located at the two opposite end regions of the cargo box. An expansively directed force is imposed on the lid portion, utilizing the pair of spring-biased struts, during operator induced movement from the closed configuration to the open configuration and thereby assisting the operator to smoothly open the cargo box.

Claims

1. A spring-biased strut for a vehicular mountable cargo container having a top portion hinge-connected for pivotation relative to a bottom portion of the cargo container, said strut comprising:

two arms operatively connected for pivotation relative to one another through a delimited range of motion;

a biasing spring operatively interposed between said two arms, said biasing spring configured to be operationally influential on said two arms during transitions between first and second strut orientations that correspond to open and closed configurations of an incorporating vehicular mountable cargo container;

said two arms being one each connectable to said top and bottom portions of the vehicular mountable cargo container thereby enabling said strut to deliver an assisting force for urging the cargo container into the open configuration;

said two arms configured relative to one another and the biasing spring so that across a substantial entirety of said delimited range of relative motion between said two arms, and which corresponds to a substantial entirety of relative motion between the top and bottom portions of the cargo container when transitioning between the open and closed configurations, the assisting force imparted to said cargo container acts in one rotational direction urging the vehicular mountable cargo container toward the open configuration;

a cam surface provided at one of said two arms, said cam surface establishing a surficial interaction between said two arms during transitions between said first and second strut orientations; and

delimiters configured to limit the range of relative motion between said two arms so that throughout the entire range of transitional motion of said strut between said first and second strut orientations, said operationally effective force imposed by said biasing spring between said two arms exclusively urges one of clockwise and counter clockwise pivotation of said cam surface including arm relative to the non-cam surface including arm.

2. The spring-biased strut as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

said cam surface and said biasing spring, together with a pivot connection between said two arms establish a capability for an over-center strut orientation at which the direction of said operationally effective force imposed by said biasing spring between said two arms would change between exclusively urging said one of clockwise and counter clockwise pivotation of said cam surface including arm relative to the non-cam surface including arm, but for said delimiters.

3. The spring-biased strut as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a force communication point being defined by a point of support of the non-cam surface including arm on said cam-including arm at said cam surface and which moves across the cam surface as said two arms pivot relative to one another between said first and second strut orientations during which said force communication point remains exclusively on one side of a line oriented parallel to a direction of said operationally effective force imposed by said biasing spring between said two arms and intersecting a pivot connection between said two arms.

4. A spring-biased strut for a vehicular mountable cargo container having a top portion hinge-connected for pivotation relative to a bottom portion of the cargo container, said strut comprising:

two arms operatively connected for pivotation relative to one another through a delimited range of motion;

a biasing spring operatively interposed between said two arms, said biasing spring configured to be operationally influential on said two arms during transitions between first and second strut orientations that correspond to open and closed configurations of an incorporating vehicular mountable cargo container;

said two arms being one each connectable to said top and bottom portions of the vehicular mountable cargo container thereby enabling said strut to deliver an assisting force for urging the cargo container into the open configuration;

said two arms configured relative to one another and the biasing spring so that across a substantial entirety of said delimited range of relative motion between said two arms, and which corresponds to a substantial entirety of relative motion between the top and bottom portions of the cargo container when transitioning between the open and closed configurations, the assisting force imparted to said cargo container acts in one rotational direction urging the vehicular mountable cargo container toward the open configuration;

a cam surface provided at one of said two arms, said cam surface establishing a surficial interaction between said two arms during transitions between said first and second strut orientations; and

a force communication point being defined by a point of support of the non-cam surface including arm on said cam-including arm at said cam surface and which moves across the cam surface as said two arms pivot relative to one another between said first and second strut orientations during which said force communication point remains exclusively on one side of a line oriented parallel to a direction of said operationally effective force imposed by said biasing spring between said two arms and intersecting a pivot connection between said two arms.

5. The spring-biased strut as recited in claim 4, further comprising:

said line that is oriented parallel to the direction of said operationally effective force imposed by said biasing spring between said two arms and intersecting a pivot connection between said two arms being also oriented substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the non-cam-including arm.

6. A vehicular mountable cargo container comprising:

a top portion of said vehicular mountable cargo container hinge-connected for pivotation relative to a bottom portion of the cargo container between open and closed configurations;

a pair of spring-biased struts, each operatively interposed between said top and bottom portions of said vehicular mountable cargo container, and one each of said pair of spring-biased struts located at opposed end regions of the cargo container;

each of said pair of spring-biased struts being configured to exclusively deliver an assisting expansion force between the top and bottom portions of the cargo container for urging the container toward the open configuration;

a cam surface provided at one of said two arms, said cam surface establishing a surficial interaction between said two arms during transitions between said first and second strut orientations; and

a force communication point being defined by a point of support of the non-cam surface including arm on said cam-including arm at said cam surface and which moves across the cam surface as said two arms pivot relative to one another between said first and second strut orientations during which said force communication point remains exclusively on one side of a line oriented parallel to a direction of said operationally effective force imposed by said biasing spring between said two arms and intersecting a pivot connection between said two arms.

7. A method for providing and controlling operation of a dual sided opening roof mount cargo box for a carrying vehicle, said method comprising:

providing a dual sided opening roof mount cargo box having a lid portion releasably hinge-connected at two lateral sides to a bottom portion of said cargo box for alternate pivotation at each of the two lateral sides between open and closed configurations, said bottom portion being adapted to be mounted to a carrying vehicle and said lid portion being manufactured from a semi-flexible material sufficiently pliable to permit two opposite end regions thereof to be at different relative distances from the bottom portion of the cargo box during transition between the open and closed configurations;

providing a pair of spring-biased struts, each operatively interposed between said lid portion and said bottom portion of said cargo box, and one each of said pair of spring-biased struts being located at said two opposite end regions of said cargo box;

imposing an expansively directed force on said lid portion, utilizing said pair of spring-biased struts, across a substantial entirety of travel of said lid portion during operator induced movement from said closed configuration to said open configuration and thereby assisting the operator to smoothly open said cargo box; and

controlling said expansively directed force, through configuration of said pair of spring-biased struts, to have a magnitude that substantially balances a weight of said lid portion across a range of motion of said lid portion when operating in proximity of said closed configuration.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein said control of said expansively directed force to a magnitude that substantially balances the weight of said lid portion facilitates an operator'"'"'s even lifting of said lid portion across said range of motion thereby avoiding strut-induced twist in said lid portion.

9. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising:

controlling said expansively directed force, through configuration of said pair of spring-biased struts, to have a magnitude that increases compared to that imposed across the range of motion of said lid portion when operating in proximity of said open configuration.

10. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising:

controlling said expansively directed force, through configuration of said pair of spring-biased struts, to have a substantially zero magnitude when said lid portion is in said closed configuration and thereby avoiding fatigue inducement at the strut-engaging portions of the lid portion and bottom portion of the cargo box.

11. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein each of said pair of spring-biased struts further comprises:

two arms operatively connected for pivotation relative to one another through a delimited range of motion;

a biasing spring operatively interposed between said two arms for operational influence during transition between first and second strut orientations that correspond to said open and closed configurations of said cargo box; and

said two arms connected, one each, to said lid and bottom portions of said cargo box thereby enabling said strut to deliver said expansively directed force for urging the cargo box into the open configuration.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein each of said pair of spring-biased struts further comprises:

a cam surface provided at one of said two arms and thereby establishing a cam-including arm and a non-cam-including arm, said cam surface establishing a surficial interaction between said two arms during transitions between said first and second strut orientations; and

delimiters configured to limit the range of relative motion between said two arms so that throughout the entire range of transitional motion of said strut between said first and second strut orientations, said operationally effective force imposed by said biasing spring between said two arms urges exclusively unidirectional pivotation of said cam-including arm relative to said non-cam-including arm.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein each of said pair of spring-biased struts further comprises:

a force communication point being defined by a point of support of said non-cam-including arm on said cam-including arm at said cam surface and which moves across said cam surface as said two arms pivot relative to one another between said first and second strut orientations during which said force communication point remains exclusively on one side of a line oriented parallel to a direction of said operationally effective force imposed by said biasing spring between said two arms and intersecting a pivot connection between said two arms.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein each of said pair of spring-biased struts further comprises:

said non-cam-including arm comprising an arm body housing a spring biased slider therein, said slider being configured for relative reciprocation within said arm body and said slider presenting a reception surface for establishing a sliding point of contact with said cam surface of said cam-including arm;

said sliding point of contact coinciding with said force communication point.

15. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein each of said pair of spring-biased struts further comprises:

a cam surface provided at one of said two arms and thereby establishing a cam-including arm and a non-cam-including arm, said cam surface establishing a surficial interaction between said two arms during transitions between said first and second strut orientations; and

a force communication point being defined by a point of support of the non-cam-including arm on said cam-including arm at said cam surface and which moves across the cam surface as said two arms pivot relative to one another between said first and second strut orientations during which said force communication point remains exclusively on one side of a line oriented parallel to a direction of said operationally effective force imposed by said biasing spring between said two arms and intersecting a pivot connection between said two arms.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein each of said pair of spring-biased struts further comprises:

said non-cam-including arm comprising an arm body housing a spring biased slider therein, said slider being configured for relative reciprocation within said arm body and said slider presenting a reception surface for establishing a sliding point of contact with said cam surface of said cam-including arm;

said sliding point of contact coinciding with said force communication point.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein each of said pair of spring-biased struts further comprises:

said line oriented parallel to the direction of said operationally effective force imposed by said biasing spring between said two arms and intersecting a pivot connection between said two arms being further oriented substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the non-cam-including arm.

18. A dual sided opening roof mount cargo box for a carrying vehicle comprising:

a dual sided opening roof mount cargo box having a lid portion releasably hinge-connected at two lateral sides to a bottom portion of said cargo box for alternate pivotation at each of the two lateral sides between open and closed configurations, said bottom portion being adapted to be mounted to a carrying vehicle and said lid portion being manufactured from a semi-flexible material sufficiently pliable to permit two opposite end regions thereof to be at different relative distances from the bottom portion of the cargo box during transition between the open and closed configurations;

a pair of spring-biased struts, each operatively interposed between said lid portion and said bottom portion of said cargo box, and one each of said pair of spring-biased struts being located at said two opposite end regions of said cargo box,

said pair of spring-biased struts configured to impose an expansively directed force on said lid portion across a substantial entirety of travel of said lid portion during an operator induced movement from said closed configuration to said open configuration, thereby assisting the operator to smoothly open said cargo box, and

said pair of spring-biased struts further configured to control said expansively directed force to have a magnitude that substantially balances a weight of said lid portion across a range of motion of said lid portion when operating in proximity of said closed configuration.

19. The dual sided opening roof mount cargo box as recited in claim 18, wherein said control of said expansively directed force to a magnitude that substantially balances the weight of said lid portion facilitates an operator'"'"'s even lifting of said lid portion across said range of motion thereby avoiding strut-induced twist in said lid portion.

20. The dual sided opening roof mount cargo box as recited in claim 18, wherein said pair of spring-biased struts are further configured to control said expansively directed force to have a magnitude that increases compared to that imposed across the range of motion of said lid portion when operating in proximity of said open configuration.

21. The dual sided opening roof mount cargo box as recited in claim 18,

said pair of spring-biased struts are configured to control said expansively directed force to have a substantially zero magnitude when said lid portion is in said closed configuration and thereby avoiding fatigue inducement at the strut-engaging portions of the lid portion and bottom portion of the cargo box.