Bike mount

Abstract

A bike mount for securing a bicycle to a vehicle rack. The bike mount includes arms that pivot apart to receive a bicycle wheel and pivot together to cooperatively hold the bicycle wheel. The bike mount may be configured to include a lever that pivots the arms together as the bicycle is positioned on the vehicle rack.

1 . An apparatus for carrying a bicycle on a vehicle rack, comprising: 
 at least one wheel tray structure for supporting one or more wheels of a bicycle,    at least a first wheel gripping member pivotally connected to the wheel tray structure,    a lever portion connected to the wheel gripping member, the lever portion being positioned along the wheel tray such that when a tire rolls along the wheel tray, it contacts the lever causing the wheel gripping member to pivot into gripping engagement with the wheel.    
   
   
       2 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising 
 a second wheel gripping structure which cooperates with the first wheel gripping structure to grip the wheel from different sides.    
   
   
       3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle rack includes a crossbar, the rack support structure being configured to be attached to the crossbar.  
   
   
       4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a detent mechanism, the detent mechanism being volitionally implementable to restrict the second arm from pivoting out of engagement with the wheel from the fixed retaining position.  
   
   
       5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , the apparatus being configured to have at least three spaced positions of engagement with the tire of the wheel when the first and second arms cooperatively engage the wheel.