This invention relates to the load carrying and/or securing system for all types of vehicles using carriers, roof bars and roof racks, with greater security and less complications than is presently known. Currently, all types of loads are usually secured to vehicle roof racks or bars by means of nets, ropes and/or straps of all types. All these prior art arrangements tend to be unsatisfactory in that they consume long time to properly secure any load easily or become unfastened and/or stretched due to sun heat, rain, uneven road or human error. This will cause the load to fall from the rooof of the car and may represent a safety hazard particulaisly when said car : suddenly stops.

Furthermore Australian Patent No. 517, 4-30 (Application No. Au-A 49478/79) describes a roof bar using the strap-spindle technique wherein a belt is engaged through projected (from the bar) belt-engaging pegs. This technique is unsafe due to the stress placed on the proj ected pegs and the lack of strong support on the open end of said projected pegs. Said stress on proj ected pegs is caused when the said belt is tightened and with the extreme tension of said belts when tightened, the said projected pegs will bend towards the said spindle particularly during sudden braking from a moderate speed where the load is increased due to the force of gravity or in the case of an uneven road. On the other hand, if said device is to be more secured, the following must be done:

1- One must use a more narrow type of belt so as to reduce the force on said horizontally projected belt-engaging pegs. This would cause more expense as the non-standard width belts are usually more expensive to produce compared to say a standard seat-belt. Furthermore the narrow type belt would leave a deeper mark or imprint when tightened on luggage or packets than a wider belt.

2- The said projected pegs as illustrated in Figure 1 of said Australian Patent No. 517, 430 is very weak and would come out easily by use, unless it is made of a very strong type of peg which would involve many nuts and washers so as to secure the pegs through the entire bar. This usually complicates the device and becomes very expensive to produce.

3- The projected belt-engaging pegs, requi re a strong projected housing reel with strong bolts and nuts to attach i t to the main bar. This of course would add to the complication and cost of the device, besides which it would decrease the safety aspect in the case of the entire housing reel becoming loose.

The above disadvantages are overcome with the present invention , said system comprising: one or more securinq bars which have built-in pins, pipes or metal straps in-between two supporting elements made from metal strips or p ipes ; securi nq p ins to be secured to said two supportirα metal strips or p ipes; sa i d secu rinq bar resembles a simple house ladder but of much smal l er dimensi on '-, and more elongated, the pins rese bl inq the rungs of a ladder; a t one .fi of said bar is the built-in ratchet wi th retractable bel t o f any si ze, sai d bel t being retractable around said ratchet and extendable to beyond the other end of said bar where a movable or fi xed pin enables the end

of the belt to be secured by means of hook or loop at end of said belt; said belt is supported by means of said built-in pins. The means by which this invention operates is that the load to be carried is placed upon or along side said securing bar, said belt is then released from said ratchet, passed under a pin, passed over said load, passed under next adjacent pin, and end loop of hook of said belt is finally engaged and secured to last unused pin, which may be a movable pin or a tight or secured pin as other said pins, in which case the said belt is clipped onto last said unused pin by means of a strong hook; said last pin if of the movable type is then secured in place and said ratchet rotated until said belt is taut, whereby said load is securely held upon said securing bar. Further, the tension on said last pin will secure it in place with minimum bolting or similar tightening. In the case of passenger vehicles, usually two of said securing bars may be used one at each end of said vehicle roof; however, in the case of cargo vehicles or railway wagons, as many as required of said securing bars may be used.

Said securing bar could be manufactured from any metal or alloys or strong polymer such as plastic material and in any size. For a better understanding of this invention, a preferred embodiment will now be described with the assistance of drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view from the side, illustrating the securing bar device in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a partly fragmented perspective view from above the device in accordance with Figure 1 without the retaining ratchet.

Figure 3 is a partly fragmented perspective view from above the device illustrating another embodiment according to this invention.

Figure A- is an illustration of a vehicle with a load, there being attached two horizontal and securing bars located on the. top of the said vehicle.

Figure 5 is a frontal view of a typical passenger car with the said securing bar attached.

Figure 1 is a perspective view with the details of the securing bar which comprises two supporting metal strips or pipes 1, said two metal strips enclose a number of spacer pins 20 either welded or riveted to the strips or pipes 1. Exact number of pins 20 is designed as per requirement; for example, a tray of a truck is wider than the roof of a passenger car and therefore needs longer securing bars and consequently more pins. Figure 2 shows that extra cross strip or pipe 23 is securely fitted to the two strips 1 for extra strength.

When using metal strips for 1 instead of pipes, a U-shaped rubber of plastic protection boot 19 is fitted on top of the bar so as not to damage any luggage or cartons when said load is securely tightened onto securing bar(s).

Said securing bar is fitted onto a passenger vehicle using a U-shaped metal bracket 5 which is consequently bolted to a conventional gutter bracket clamp. Said gutter bracket is designed for strength and consists of main bracket 2, fixing bracket 3 with protecting boots 17 and 18, and support bracket 4, all brackets are bolted together at positions

13 and 14 and may be adjusted for height and the whole gutter bracket is gently bolted to bracket 5, the securing bar is then adjusted and geometrically centred onto the roof of said vehicle, then brackets and 6 are tightened at positions 15. Said securing bar is fitted onto a load carrying vehicle such as trucks by simply bolting said bar in position 15 using only two brackets 5. Pin 12 is the belt securing pin and if movable is made of bolt and nut type or bolt where the loop at the end of the belt is finally attached to it after the belt has secured the load by going over the load, then under one of the fixed pins 20 as illustrated in Figure 5. It must be understood that pin 12 could be of t ^' he fixed type, similar to pins 20, providing a strong hook is attached to the looped end of the belt and then clipped onto said last pin 12.

The ratchet 6 is placed at the end of said securing bar and the teeth of said ratchet 6 is retained by a relatively heavy weight lever 9 which is applied wi thout any springs as it drops between the teeth by gravity force only. Belt 11 in Figure 2 is secured tightly by screws or the like around ratchet shaft.

The above description of the inven tion together wi th the accompanying figures clearly indicate that the securing bar technique offers a unique method of securing loads onto vehicles by using built-in pins instead of the proj ecting bel t-engaging pegs technique.

The main advantages are: (a ) Thi s inven tion offers more tightening and securi ty as the buil t-in pins would not bend and become loose by the combina ti on of tension, long distance driving and/or uneven/rough roads.

(b) Low cost of production due to the .simplicity of the pins, the built-in ratchet and the use of standard and commonly available conventional car seat belt; consequently this invention offers a cheap and elegant carrying device for the public. (c) This invention offers versatility when requiring different lengths of the securing device.

Upon a consideration of the foregoing, it will become obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the invention embodied herein. Therefore, such modifications should fall into the scope of the appended claims.