in the following description of the cargo carrier reference is made to the accompanying drawing that form a part hereof , and show a specific embodiment in which the invention may be practiced . it is to be understood that other embodiments of the cargo carrier may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention . as shown in fig1 , a motor vehicle 10 has a conventional tubular trailer hitch 11 attachable to the vehicle &# 39 ; s rear frame . cargo carrier 12 of the invention mounted on hitch 11 extends transversely along the back of the rear bumper of vehicle 10 . motor vehicle 10 is shown as a pick - up truck . other types of vehicles , such as automobiles , utility vans , motor homes and trailers with hitches can be used with cargo carrier 12 . cargo carrier 12 has a two - piece tubular housing 13 with longitudinal semi - circular housing sections 13 and 16 . housing 13 is located behind and generally parallel to the rear bumper of vehicle 10 . housing 13 can be made of metal , plastic , or other rigid materials . housing sections 14 and 16 can have channel shaped cross sections and other shapes . a horizontal hitch bar 15 is secured with welds to the front center of the front of section 16 . bar 15 is an elongated square member adapted to telescope into a conventional tubular trailer hitch 11 . a release lock pin ( not shown ) retains bar 15 in assembled relation with trailer hitch 11 . other types of hitch structures can be used to mount cargo carrier 12 on a vehicle . latches 17 and 18 hold housing sections 14 and 16 in face to face closed positions . as shown in fig9 and 10 , a latch 17 comprises a tab 19 secured to the top of housing section 14 and a threaded member 20 turned into tab 19 . the lower end of threaded member 20 is swedged on a nut 26 mounted on housing section 16 . threaded member 20 has a large cylindrical head to facilitate manual turning of threaded member 20 to secure housing sections 14 and 16 in their closed positions . latch 18 has the same structure as latch 17 . latches 17 and 18 are released to allow sections 14 and 16 to move to open positions . other releasable devices can be used to retain sections 14 and 16 in a generally cylindrical closed configuration and allow sections 14 and 16 to be moved to an open condition . as shown in fig5 and 6 , hinges 21 and 22 and rigid brackets 23 and 24 retain cargo carrier 12 in its open position . fig7 shows the over center stop 26 for hinge 21 that retains hinge 21 in an elongated condition . brackets 23 and 24 hold hinges 21 and 22 in over center positions . each hinge 21 and 22 has first and second members with adjacent inner ends pivotally connected with an upright pivot member . additional pivot members connect the outer ends of the first and second members to the first and second sections 14 and 16 of housing 13 . the first and second members are maintained in over center positions with stops 26 and rigid brackets 23 and 24 . brackets 23 and 24 , as shown in fig8 , are flat rectangular plates attached with fasteners to the inside walls of first and second sections 14 and 16 of housing 13 . the plates have flat top surfaces for supporting cargo . as shown in fig5 , 6 , 11 and 12 , semi - circular plates 27 and 28 are secured to opposite ends of housing section 14 . semi - circular plates 29 and 30 secured to opposite ends of housing section 16 have vertical flat ends engageable with the flat ends of plates 27 and 28 to close the opposite ends of housing 13 as shown in fig3 . the opposite ends of sections 14 and 16 can have a spherical quadrant configuration to avoid right angle edges at the ends of sections 14 and 16 . rigid bars 31 and 32 connected to plates 27 and 29 with pins 33 and 34 and to plates 28 and 30 with pins 36 and 37 retain housing sections 14 and 16 in open or expanded positions as shown in fig5 , 11 and 12 . the opposite ends of bars 31 and 32 have inwardly directed slots to accommodate plates 27 and 30 . as seen in fig1 , housing section 14 supports hooks 38 and 39 used to store bars 31 and 32 within housing 13 . bars 31 and 32 have holes 41 and 42 in the end sections to accommodate hooks 38 and 39 . other structures can be used to hold cargo carrier 12 in the open or extended position . it is to be understood that changes in the form , arrangement of parts , structure and elements of the cargo carrier and hitch bar can be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .