AU695388B2

AU695388B2 - Spare wheel lifting/lowering device

Info

Publication number: AU695388B2
Application number: AU30540/95A
Authority: AU
Inventors: John Hahn
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1994-09-09
Filing date: 1995-09-08
Publication date: 1998-08-13
Anticipated expiration: 2015-09-08
Also published as: AU3054095A

Description

_II__C~CCc) S F Ref: 313064

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFCATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

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*0 0000 0000 Name and Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: ASSOCIATED PROVISIONAL [313 Application No(s) PM7974 John Hahn 6 Endeavour Court Forster Keys New South Wales 2428

AUSTRALIA

John Hahn Spruson Ferguson, Patent Attorneys Level 33 St Martins Tower, 31 Market Street Sydney, New South Wales, 2000, Australia Spare Wheel Lifting/Lowering Device APPLICATION DETAILS [33] Country

AU

[32] Application Date 9 September 1994 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- 5815 1A Method of Raising a Spare Wheel Field of the Invention The following invention relates to a method by which an object may be lifted into position for connection to another object. More particularly, though not exclusively, the invention relates to a method of operating a spare wheel lifting apparatus by which a wheel may be lifted into position by an operator such that the operator need not bear the weight of the spare wheel whilst aligning it with the wheel studs of a vehicle.

In changing a tyre of a vehicle, particularly a four wheel drive vehicle or heavy road vehicle, it is often difficult to bear the weight of the spare wheel/tyre o combination whilst attempting to align the wheel studs with the apertures through the wheel rim. In many instances, even with ordinary passenger vehicles, it is difficult for elderly people for example to lift a wheel and maintain it in a raised position whilst rotating it into position.

15 Object of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to overcome of substantially ameliorate the above disadvantage and/or more generally, to provide a method by which a spare wheel can be raised into position for fixing to a wheel hub of a vehicle.

Disclosure of the Invention There is disclosed herein a method of raising a wheel into position for fixing to a wheel hub of a vehicle, the method comprising: placing the wheel upon a lifting/lowering device including a housing having a first housing section to be supported on a surface, a second housing section connected 25 to the first housing section and defining a space therebetween, said second housing 25 section having a weight bearing surface upon which the wheel is supported, and expansion means situated within said space and adapted to expand upon receiving pressurised air through a pneumatic line having a bleeder valve so as to bear against said first and second housing sections to at least partly counteract the weight of the wheel supported by said weight bearing surface, connecting the pneumatic line to the wheel, releasing air pressure from the wheel into said expansion means by activating the bleeder valve so as to raise the wheel into alignment with the wheel hub, Preferably, the expansion means is an inflatable bladder.

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'4- NPAL18LL10169 I:FVH 2 Preferably, the first and second housing sections are hingedly interconnected.

Preferably, said pneumatic line includes a separate pneumatic line from each device, said separate lines being mutually interconnected by a T-piece, the T-piece being connected to another pneumatic line which is connected to the bleeder valve.

Definition As used herein, the word "wheel" is intended to encompass a wheel rim with a tyre fitted thereon.

Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred form of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a, schematic perspective view of a spare wheel lifting arrangement in use beneath a spare wheel which has been raised thereby into position and placed upon the wheel studs of a jacked vehicle, Fig. 2 is a schematic exploded perspective view of one of the lifting/lowering j i|l s15 devices as depicted in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a bleeder valve forming part of the overall arrangement of components as depicted in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a schematic elevational view of a spare wheel having a pair of lifting/lowering devices in position therebeneath prior to lifting, and

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1 20 Fig. 5 is a schematic elevational view of the arrangement depicted in Fig. 4, though in a raised position.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment In Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings there is schematically depicted a jacked vehicle 20 supported above a ground surface by a jack 21. Vehicle comprises a road wheel and tyre combination 22 aligned and in position upon the wheel hub with wheel studs 23 passing through holes in the wheel rim. Supporting the wheel/tyre combination 22 in the raised position is a spare wheel lifting arrangement comprising a pair of lifting housings 11.

Each lifting housing comprises an upper housing section 12 typically fabricated in steel sheet, and a lower housing section 13 also fabricated from steel sheet. As an alternative to the fabrication of housing sections 12 and 13 in steel sheet, these parts 4 lN;L)BLLO1591:PVH _ill~r~_ il i 3 formed of rubber material or any flexible material that is impermeable to air. Bladder comprises a stem 26 which may or may not be valved in a similar way as a spare wheel is valved by a tubular stem or the like. Bladder valve 26 is adapted to pass through an ar.erture 27 in the end wall of lower housing section 13.

A pair of upwardly extending legs of the lower housing section 13 comprise apertures 28 therethrough and through which a hinge pin 14 is adapted to pass. Hinge pin 14 is adapted to connect the upper housing section 12 to the lower housing section 13 in a pivotal manner. Moreover, the hinge pin 14 is adapted to pass through apertures 25 and 28 so as to allow pivotal interconnection of the two housing sections. Upper housing lo section 12 is typically to be fabricated from the same material as that from which the lower housing section 13 is fabricated.

Extending from the valve 26 of the bladder 15 in each of the pair of lifting housings 11 are pneumatic lines 17 and 18 respectively. Each of these lines 17, 18 may be pivotally, sealingly interconnected at 31 to the respective valves 26. Connecting the two 1s pneumatic lines 17 and 18 is a T-piece 29 from which there extends another pneumatic line 19. Pneumatic line 19 is to be connected to a bleeder valve 16 as best depicted in Fig. 3. Pneumatic line 19 may be pivotally interconnected at 31 to the external thread 32 of the bleeder valve 16. This thread is typically U.N.E.F. 5/16" thread, 32 T.P.I.

Moreover, these threads are to be the same as those typically seen at the end of tubeless stems commonly used in the automotive industry. The bleeder valve 16 comprises internal thread 36 adapted to engage with external thread on the tubeless stem. Bleeder valve 16 comprises a hollow body to which a valve knob 30 may be threadingly engaged, To this end, thread 35 adjacent to the knob 30 is to be threadingly engaged with 4e. corresponding thread (not shown) at the end of the bleeder valve body 16 remote from S 25 that at which internal thread 36 is depicted. Connected to the knob 30 is a valve actuator 4 pin 34 which is adapted to extend through the body 16 to activate the valve pin in the tubeless valve stem 24 (Fig. An O-ring 33 is adapted to seal an annular bearing surface 37 of knob 30 against the end of valve body 16. Upon rotation of knob 30, the S interengagement of thread 35 with the internal mating thread in body 16 causes 3o longitudinal movement of actuator pin 34 to allow the passage of air through the fitting as shown by arrows A. That is, the air from the fitting passes through the pneumatic line 19 to the T-piece 29 and subsequently via the respective pneumatic lines 17 and 18 to the 44, bladders 15 of the lifting housings 11.

It should be appreciated that each of the swivel fittings 31 comprises an internal S 35 thread adapted to engage with external thread (such as for example as shown at 32 in Fig.

The swivel fittings 31 may comprise an internal O-ring which, upon tightening of the fitting allows for pivotal reorientation of the respective pneumatic lines 17, 18, 19. Such swivel fittings may also be provided at each of the junctions of the T-piece 29.

In use, a vehicle 20 may be jacked up by jack 21 so as to remove a deflated or otherwise damaged road wheel/tyre combination. Once the damaged wheel/tyre is [N:\Aib1I001270:DSS 4 removed, the vehicle 20 may be jacked slightly higher with jack 21 to compensate for the difference in overall diameter of a deflated tyre and a spare tyre fully inflated. Once jacked to the appropriate height, the spare wheel may be manoeuvred into position alongside the motor vehicle. Once manoeuvred as close as possible to the wheel studs 23, the pair of lifting housings may be moved into the position depicted in Fig. 4. Once positioned, the bleeder valve 16 may be attached to the tubeless valve stem 24 of the spare wheel. Once attached, the pneumatic line 19 may be affixed by means of swivel fitting 31. The knob 30 may now be turned to allow air to flow from the spare tyre into the bladders 15. As such, the spare tyre shall be raised into the position depicted in Fig. Now, without any effort by the operator directed to maintaining the vertical position of the spare wheel/tyre, the operator may readily rotate or otherwise manoeuvre the wheel into position upon the wheel studs 23. Once in position, wheel nuts may be hand tightened. The knob 30 may now be reversed so as to deactivate the valve within the tubeless stem 24. At this point, any one of the swivel fittings 31 may be removed to allow deflation of the bladders 15, The bleeder valve 16 may now be removed from the tubeless stem. With the lifting housings 11 now out of the way, the wheel may be tightened and/or lowered then tightened in a conventional manner.

The spare tyre may be kept in a slightly over-inflated state to compensate for air expelled therefrom in utilising the present invention.

It should be appreciated that modifications and alterations obvious to those skilled in the art are not to be considered as beyond the scope of the present invention. For example, a separate release valve may be situated within the T-piece 29 or within the bleeder valve 16. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the device is not solely directed to the lifting of a spare wheel for a motor vehicle, as it may be utilised in the lifting of any object.

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Claims

1. A method of raising a wheel into position for fixing to a wheel hub of a vehicle, the method comprising: placing the wheel upon a lifting/lowering device including a housing having a first housing section to be supported on a surface, a second housing section connected to the first housing section and defining a space therebetween, said second housing section having a weight bearing surface upon which the wheel is supported, and expansion means situated within said space and adapted to expand upon receiving pressurised air through a pneumatic line having a bleeder valve so as to bear against said first and second housing sections to at least partly counteract the weight of 0. 0 the wheel supported by said weight bearing surface, 6" connecting the pneumatic line to the wheel, releasing air pressure from the wheel into said expansion means by activating the bleeder valve so as to raise the wheel into alignment with the wheel hub. S 15

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the expansion means is an inflatable bladder.

3. The method of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the first and second housing sections are hingedly interconnected.

4, The method of any one of the preceding claims, including using a pair 20 of said lifting/lowering devices to raise the wheel.

The method of claim 4 wherein said pneumatic line includes a separate pneumatic line from each device, said separate lines being mutually interconnected by a ,T-piece, the T-piece being connected to another pneumatic line which is connected to the bleeder valve,

6. A method of raising a spare wheel into position for attachment to a SoC" vehicle wheel hub, the method being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated 30 June, 1998 John Hahn Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/Nominated Person SPRUSON FERGUSON INALIOLLOI 51 B IPV H Spare Wheel Lifting/Lowering Device Abstract A lifting/lowering device (10) comprises a pair of housings Each housing comprises a lower ground engaging housing section (13) having pivotally connected thereto an upper wheel supporting housing section To raise the wheel (22) into position for alignment with wheel bolts a bladder (15) within each housing (11) may be inflated utilising excess pressure in the tyre (22). 4oo *I 4 *I ft r