Article carrier

Claim 1

An article carrier for an automobile comprising: a plurality of parallel slats fixedly secured on a generally horizontally extending exterior automobile body surface, at least a pair of said slats extending generally longitudinally of the automobile; said pair of slats each having a bottom portion adapted to be disposed in generally facing relation toward the automobile body surface and outer and inner side portions extending upwardly from said bottom portion for forming a channel; a bracket member disposed upon each of said pair of slats and having at least one foot adapted to slide along said channel, each of said bracket members having a recessed portion on an outer surface thereof; a restraining bar extending laterally between and secured adjacent its opposite ends to said bracket members; at least one of said bracket members including actuating means rotatable pivotally about a fixed first pivot shaft and within a vertical plane extending through said restraining bar for enabling said at least one of said bracket members and said restraining bar to be releasably secured at a desired position along at least one of said slats, said actuating means being disposed within said recessed portion of said at least one of said bracket members and manually movable relative thereto between a locked position wherein an outer surface of said actuating means is generally flush with said outer surface of said at least one of said bracket members, and an upwardly extended, unlocked position wherein said actuating means extends outwardly of said outer surface of said at least one of said bracket members; and said at least one of said bracket members including elongated locking means pivotally coupled to said actuating means via a second pivot shaft for releasably securing said at least one of said bracket members to said at least one of said slats, said actuating means being operable to urge said locking means generally linearly into and out of locking engagement with said at least one of said slats and cooperable with a portion extending from at least one of said inner or outer side portions of said at least one of said slats to thereby enable releasable securing and longitudinal adjustment of said restraining bar and said at least one of said bracket members at various positions along said at least one of said slats.