Hitch-Mounted Swing Arm Accessory Rack to Reduce Bumper Stress
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle bumpers are often not designed to handle the weight and stress of accessory racks and their mounted accessories, leading to undesirable stress on the bumper when accessories are mounted on the rear side of vehicles.
Innovation Solution
An accessory rack that couples to the hitch receiver of a vehicle instead of the bumper, utilizing two swing arm assemblies that are hingedly and removably coupled to a base rack, allowing easy access to the rear and distributing weight through a hitch coupling assembly designed for stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If accessory racks are mounted to the rear bumper of a vehicle, then accessories can be stored and transported on the outside of the vehicle, but the bumper experiences undesirable stress and may not be able to handle the weight
Solution Approach 1:
The accessory rack mounting system is extracted from the bumper and relocated to the vehicle frame through the hitch receiver. The hitch receiver, which is part of the vehicle's frame structure, is designed to handle heavy loads and towing forces, making it a suitable mounting location that does not compromise bumper integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The hitch receiver acts as an intermediary mounting structure between the vehicle and the accessory rack. Instead of directly mounting the rack to the bumper, the system uses the hitch receiver as a mediator that can support the rack's weight and stress without damaging the bumper.
2Ease of operation
If swing arm assemblies are hingedly coupled to the base rack, then easy access to the rear of the vehicle is achieved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The swing arm assemblies are designed to be movable rather than fixed, allowing them to swing between a horizontal position (blocking access to the rear) and a vertical position (allowing access). This dynamic configuration enables the system to adapt between two operational states: transport mode and access mode.
Solution Approach 2:
The accessory rack is segmented into a base rack and separate swing arm assemblies that can be independently positioned. Each swing arm assembly can be swung to the vertical position to clear the rear of the vehicle, allowing the arms to be segmented away from the main body when access is needed.
Data Source
AI summary
An accessory rack for a vehicle couples to the hitch receiver of a vehicle to carry accessories on the vehicle. The accessory rack includes a base rack, a hitch coupling assembly, a first swing arm assembly and a second swing arm assembly. The first and second swing arm assemblies are hingedly and removably coupled to the base rack. The first and second swing arm assemblies swing out from the center of the base rack using hinges at the outer ends of the base rack. The first and the second swing arm assemblies carry accessory racks for different types of accessories. The base rack is coupled to the hitch coupling assembly. The hitch coupling assembly couples the base rack and the first and second swing arm assemblies to the hitch receiver of the vehicle.