Slotted side rail and movable bracket for article carrier

Claim 1

An adjustable cross-rail assembly for a vehicle-mounted article carrier of the type including a hollow side rail supported upon a vehicle surface, said rail including transversely spaced inner and outer walls, said inner wall including a longitudinally extending slot, a bracket slidably supported within said slot and including a cross-rail supporting portion projecting transversely inwardly of the inner wall of said side rail and means for releasably locking said bracket to said side rail, the improvement comprising: (a) said bracket being bifurcated to provide inner and outer portions straddling said side rail slot, a threaded bore formed through said inner and outer portions and extending transversely through said side rail slot; (b) a member slidably disposed within said side rail and including a recess adapted to be transversely aligned with said bracket bore, said member being transversely spaced outwardly from the outer portion of said bracket and including an outer surface disposed proximate the outer wall of said side rail; and (c) an element extending through and threadable within said bracket bore and projecting within the member recess whereby rotation of said element in one direction respectively causes the outer surface of said member to engage with the outer wall of the side rail and the outer portion of said bracket to engage with the inner wall of said side rail to adjustably fix the longitudinal position of said bracket relative to the side rail.