Article carrier for automotive vehicles

Claim 1

An article carrier for the trunk lid of an automobile, said trunk lid extending horizontally as an exterior body surface and having a leading edge, a trailing edge, and laterally disposed side edges, including a plurality of parallel slats fixedly secured on said horizontally extending exterior body surface, extending from adjacent said leading edge to adjacent said trailing edge, and lying closely against said surface in a low profile configurafion throughout the entire length of said slat, each of said slats having a generally horizontal transverse cross-sectional width greater than its cross-sectional vertical height, and each said slat having an upper article supporting surface, extending the length thereof; a bracket secured to the laterally outermost slats disposeable adjacent said side edges at the end of said slats adjacent the trailing edge of said body surface; an elevated restraining bar supported by said brackets and extending laterally across said slats and said body surface; and end cap means including integral tie down means directly fixedly secured to said body surface and operably associated with at least the intermediate slats of said carrier and cooperable with said slats to restrain articles disposed on said slats substantially out of contact with said body surface, said end cap means disposed at least at the ends of said slats adjacent the leading edge of said body surface.