Kuat Innovations LLC

An equipment rack for use with a vehicle is described having a sliding member translatably attached to a lower cross member of the rack. The sliding member translates outwardly from the rack to a loading and unloading position. In the loading and unloading position, sports equipment may be placed on or removed from the sliding member. When the sports equipment has been loaded the sliding member may be translated back toward the rack into a stowed position. In the stowed position an upper cross member may be clamped to the lower cross member to secure the sports equipment on the rack.

A bicycle rack is described with a platform for supporting a bicycle and an arm for securing the bicycle to the platform. The arm rotates or pivots from a closed position adjacent to the platform, to an open position to allow the loading of a bicycle. The arm may also be pivoted past the horizontal to an over-center position and further past horizontal to a lowered position. The arm may be provided with a latch mechanism to limit the rotation of the arm in certain ranges of rotation. The arm may be provided with an extending connector between the arm and the platform.

A bicycle rack is described with an actuated arm that pivots to an open position in response to user activation of an actuator. The actuator is attached to the rack and the arm and exerts a force on the arm by extension to pivot the actuated arm to the open position. The actuator extends only when a release mechanism has been actuated by a user, but a user may pivot the actuated arm back to a closed position, or a position securing a bicycle, without actuating the release. The actuated arm will then be retained at a position selected by the user until the release is actuated by the user again.

A cargo container for a vehicle roof has dual latch handles, with one latch handle on each side of the cargo container. The cargo container comprises a lid that may be in closed or open configurations. In the closed configuration, the latch handles may be in a locked or unlocked state. In the unlocked state the latches may be latched or unlatched. The cargo container may be reconfigured from closed to open configurations when either of the latches is in the unlocked and unlatched state, even if the other latch is in the locked state or the unlocked, latched state. This allows a user to open the cargo container without walking around to both sides of a vehicle to unlock both latches. The cargo container utilizes a single hinge axis between the lid and the base of the cargo container and does not need multiple, disconnecting hinges.

A bicycle rack is described with an actuated arm that pivots to an open position in response to user activation of the actuator. The actuator is attached to the rack and the arm and exerts a force on the arm by extension to pivot the actuated arm to the open position. The actuator extends only when a release mechanism has been actuated by a user, but a user may pivot the actuated arm back to a closed position, or a position securing a bicycle, without actuating the release. The actuated arm will then be retained at a position selected by the user until the release is actuated by the user again.

A bicycle carrier with a pivoting hub and a removable add-on carrier to carry additional bicycles includes an actuator handle on the add-on carrier. When actuated by a user, the actuator handle disengages the pivoting hub to allow the bicycle carrier to pivot. A mechanism is provided to allow the actuator on the add-on carrier to be disconnected from the pivoting hub when the add-on carrier is removed from the bicycle carrier. The mechanism comprises a first linkage connected to the pivoting hub, and a second linkage in the add-on carrier that is configured to connect and disconnect to the first linkage.

Clamp devices for a utility rack for a truck bed have upper and lower portions to attach to the rack and the truck bed, respectively. The upper and lower portions of the clamp may be disconnected from each other to remove the utility rack from the truck bed, while leaving the upper portion attached to the utility rack and the lower portion attached to the truck bed. Some embodiments of the upper portion have cavities for receiving part of the lower portion to align the upper and lower portions together. A bolt may be provided to pull the upper and lower portions of the clamp device towards each other, thus securing the utility rack to the truck bed.

A utility rack for a truck may be removably attached to the side walls of the bed of the truck. The disclosed utility rack discloses internal cavities for attachment bolts or other fasteners. The internal cavities allow the fasteners to be hidden under an access cover during use of the utility rack while also providing strong and secure butt joints between the ends of some of the components. The ends of the components of the utility rack may be provided with protrusions and sockets that interlock to improve the stability of flush butt joints between components. The utility rack may include closed-loop outer-boundary side frames configure to clamp on opposing side walls of a truck cargo bed, with a crossbar spanning the truck cargo bed between top rails of the side frames. The closed-loop outer-boundary side frames do not require internal vertically oriented support posts inside the outer-boundary frame.