CN220245305U - Lifting appliance for vehicle generator - Google Patents

Abstract

A spreader for a vehicle generator, comprising: a substrate; a lifting ring assembly; a pair of support plates connected to the base plate, provided with sliding grooves; a clamping assembly between the support plates, including a movable shaft passing through the sliding groove and movable between an unlocking position and a locking position, a pair of clamping plates coupled to the movable shaft, the clamping plates pivotable about the movable shaft between a contracted position and an expanded position, the clamping plates provided at a lower end with a positioning pin for insertion into a mounting hole of a vehicle generator, an inner surface of the clamping plates provided with a recess, and a pushing member provided between the clamping plates to push the clamping plates to move toward the expanded position; and a locking member including a locking pin, both ends of which are fixed to the support plate, the locking pin being received by the recess and allowing the clamp plate to move toward the retracted position when the movable shaft is in the unlocking position; the locking pin disengages the recess and prevents movement of the clamping plate towards the retracted position when the movable shaft moves the clamping plate together to the locked position, thereby preventing the spreader from being released.

Description

Lifting appliance for vehicle generator

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a spreader for a vehicle generator.

Background

In vehicles, generators are often used as a power source to supply electrical power to consumers of the vehicle. In the manufacturing process of a vehicle, a generator of the vehicle is generally installed in a final assembly plant. Generators for conventional fuel-powered vehicles provide 12-15 volts and are typically light in weight, such as about 8-9 kg in weight. Such generators are typically manually carried by an operator at the assembly site to an installation location on the engine or on a pre-load station for subsequent installation or fastening.

However, as the current demand for new energy vehicles increases, the generator for new energy vehicles also changes accordingly. For example, for a lightweight hybrid vehicle, a generator is typically required to provide 48 volts to meet the power demands on the hybrid vehicle. The increase in the supply voltage of the generator tends to mean that the windings inside the generator become larger, which in turn makes the weight of the generator itself larger. For example, a generator providing 48 volts may weigh up to about 15 kg. During manufacturing, it is difficult for an operator to manually handle such a weight of the generator, which may cause the operator to be accidentally injured or accidentally collide with the generator to be damaged.

There is therefore a need for a spreader for a vehicle generator to grip the vehicle generator during installation of the vehicle generator and it is also desirable to be able to prevent accidental release of the spreader during hoisting.

Disclosure of Invention

The lifting appliance for the vehicle generator can clamp the vehicle generator and prevent the lifting appliance from being accidentally released in the lifting process.

The present disclosure relates to a spreader for a vehicle generator, characterized in that the spreader comprises: a substrate having opposite first and second ends; a pair of support plates connected to the first and second ends of the base plate at upper end portions thereof, respectively, each support plate being provided with a vertically extending sliding groove; a clamping assembly located between the pair of support plates, the clamping assembly (4) comprising a movable shaft passing through a sliding slot of each support plate and being movable along the sliding slot (32) between an unlocked position and a locked position, each clamping plate being pivotably coupled at its upper end to the movable shaft, and a pair of clamping plates pivotable about the movable shaft between a contracted position in which lower ends of the clamping plates are close to each other and an expanded position in which lower ends of the clamping plates are distant from each other, each clamping plate being provided at the lower end with a locating pin for insertion into a mounting hole of the vehicle generator, an inner surface of each clamping plate being provided with a recess; and a locking member including a locking pin, both ends of which are fixed to a lower end portion of each support plate, the locking pin being received by the recess and allowing the pair of clamp plates to move toward the retracted position when the movable shaft is in the unlocking position; wherein when the movable shaft moves the pair of holding plates together to the locking position, the locking pin disengages from the recess and prevents the pair of holding plates from moving toward the retracted position, thereby preventing the spreader from being released.

In one embodiment, the locking member further comprises a locking shaft coupled to the movable shaft at one end and coupled to the locking pin at the other end, and a return spring disposed around the locking shaft, the locking shaft having a spring seat, the return spring being held between the spring seat and the locking pin.

In one embodiment, the return spring urges the spring seat and movable shaft upward back to the unlocked position when the vehicle generator (200) no longer pulls the clamping plate downward.

In one embodiment, the inner surface of each clamping plate is further provided with a recess for receiving the locking shaft and the return spring.

In one embodiment, the locking shaft includes a pivoting head portion and a lever portion, the movable shaft is inserted into a pivoting hole of an upper end of the pivoting head portion, a lower end of the pivoting head portion is connected to an upper end of the lever portion, and a lower end of the lever portion is coupled to the locking pin and is capable of sliding through a pin hole provided on the locking pin.

In one embodiment, the spreader further comprises a pushing member disposed between the pair of clamping plates to push the pair of clamping plates towards the expanded position.

In one embodiment, the pushing member includes a telescopic rod and a pushing spring disposed around the telescopic rod, both ends of the telescopic rod being inserted into corresponding spring seat holes provided on an inner surface of each clamping plate.

In one embodiment, the clamping assembly further comprises a limiting device for limiting the extreme positions of the movement of the pair of clamping plates towards the expanded position.

In one embodiment, the limiting device comprises a connecting shaft and two limiting heads, wherein the two limiting heads are respectively inserted into the clamping plate from the outer surface of the clamping plate through limiting holes on the outer surface and are connected through the connecting shaft.

In one embodiment, the spreader further comprises a pair of handles, each handle being connected to an outer surface of a respective clamping plate of the clamping assembly.

In one embodiment, each support plate is provided at a lower end portion with a fixing hole into which both ends of the locking pin are fixed.

In one embodiment, each clamping plate further comprises a locating block connected to an outer surface of the clamping plate, a lower surface of the locating block being designed to match an outer profile of a protrusion of the vehicle generator, the mounting holes being located on inner faces of the protrusion opposite each other.

In one embodiment, the lower surface of the locating block is designed to align with the mounting hole of the vehicle generator when the lower surface of the locating block abuts the outer contour of the protrusion.

In one embodiment, the distance of extension of the locating pins is designed such that the distance between the free ends of the locating pins on a pair of clamping plates allows the lower ends of the clamping plates to be able to access the mounting holes of the vehicle generator when the pair of clamping plates are in the retracted position.

Drawings

The present disclosure will be more readily understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like elements. The drawings are schematic and are non-limiting. Elements in the figures are not necessarily shown to scale, e.g., elements may be exaggerated for purposes of illustration or may be drawn on scale to keep the figures clear and easy to understand.

In the drawings:

fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a spreader according to the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 shows a side view of a spreader according to the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 shows a front cross-sectional view of the spreader according to the present disclosure, taken along line A-A in fig. 2.

Fig. 4 shows an exploded view of a spreader according to the present disclosure, wherein the locking members of the spreader are omitted.

Fig. 5 shows an exploded view of the locking member of the spreader according to the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic view of a generator hoisted by a spreader according to the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate several embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood, however, that the present disclosure may be presented in many different ways and is not limited to the embodiments described below; indeed, the embodiments described below are intended to more fully convey the disclosure to those skilled in the art and to fully convey the scope of the disclosure. It should also be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in various ways to provide yet additional embodiments.

It should be understood that throughout the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like elements. In the drawings, the size of certain features may be modified for clarity.

It should be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. All terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in the specification have the meanings commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art unless otherwise defined. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.

As used in this specification, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The use of the terms "comprising," "including," and "containing" in the specification mean that the recited features are present, but that one or more other features are not excluded. The use of the phrase "and/or" in the specification includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The words "between X and Y" and "between about X and Y" used in this specification should be interpreted to include X and Y. The phrase "between about X and Y" as used herein means "between about X and about Y", and the phrase "from about X to Y" as used herein means "from about X to about Y".

In the description, an element is referred to as being "on," "attached" to, "connected" to, "coupled" to, "contacting" or the like another element, and the element may be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled to or contacting the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly attached to," directly connected to, "directly coupled to," or "directly contacting" another element, there are no intervening elements present. In the specification, one feature is arranged "adjacent" to another feature, which may mean that one feature has a portion overlapping with the adjacent feature or a portion located above or below the adjacent feature.

In the specification, spatial relationship words such as "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "front", "rear", "high", "low", and the like may describe the relationship of one feature to another feature in the drawings. It will be understood that the spatial relationship words comprise, in addition to the orientations shown in the figures, different orientations of the device in use or operation. For example, when the device in the figures is inverted, features that were originally described as "below" other features may be described as "above" the other features. The device may also be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the relative spatial relationship will be explained accordingly.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 shows a spreader 100 for a vehicle generator according to the present disclosure. The spreader 100 comprises a base plate 1, a sling assembly 2, a pair of support plates 3, a clamping assembly 4 and a locking member 5.

Referring to fig. 4, the base plate 1 has a substantially rectangular body shape and defines an upper surface. The base plate 1 serves as a base of the spreader 100 to connect the sling assembly 2 and a pair of support plates 3. The upper surface of the base plate 1 may be provided with a sling mounting hole 11 for connection with a connection piece of the sling assembly 2. The eye mounting hole 11 is, for example, a screw hole. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the base plate 1 and the bail assembly 2 may be joined together by other means of connection such as welding. The base plate 1 also has opposite first and second ends on either side of the upper surface. The first and second ends of the base plate 1 are connected to the support plate 3 of the spreader 100.

Each of the first and second ends may be provided with a support plate mounting hole 12 for connection with each support plate 3, respectively. In fig. 4 the support plate 3 is shown as being connected to the support plate mounting hole 12 in the form of a threaded sleeve, but it will be appreciated that the connection may also be made by means of other forms of connection elements, such as screws, bolts, rivets, etc.

Referring to fig. 1-2, a spreader 100 includes a bail assembly 2. The bail assembly 2 is used to couple the spreader 100 to a hoist rope or hook for the spreader 100. The bail assembly 2 includes a bail base 21 and a bail 22. The bail base 21 is used to connect the bail assembly 2 to the substrate 1. The bail base 21 may be generally rectangular in shape and have a connector that is capable of mating with the bail mounting hole 11 of the base 1. The connection piece of the base of the lifting ring is for example a bolt. The lifting eyes 22 are used to attach a lifting rope or hook for the lifting appliance 100. The eye 22 is in the form of a generally annular member defining a hole for passing a lifting rope or hook therethrough. The eye 22 also has lugs extending from opposite sides of the ring. Lugs are rotatably connected to respective sides of the bail base 21 to allow the bail 22 to be rotated relative to the bail base 21 to facilitate use of the spreader 100.

Referring to fig. 1 to 4, the spreader 100 includes a pair of support plates 3. The pair of support plates 3 are used to connect the base plate 1 and the clamping assembly 4 of the spreader 100 together and to support the clamping assembly 4. Each support plate 3 has a substantially elongated plate shape. Each support plate 3 extends downward in the vertical direction from its upper end to its lower end.

Each support plate 3 is connected to the base plate 1 at an upper end portion. Each support plate 3 may be provided at an upper end portion with a corresponding support plate mounting hole 31. As described above, the upper end portions of the support plates 3 can be connected to the opposite first and second ends of the base 1, respectively, by aligning and connecting the support plate mounting holes 12 of the base 1 with the corresponding support plate mounting holes 31 of the support plates 3. Each support plate 3 is provided with an elongated sliding groove 32 at the upper end below the connection with the base plate 1. The elongated sliding groove 32 extends in the vertical direction. In the embodiment, the sliding groove 32 is shown as oblong, but it is understood that the sliding groove 32 may take other oblong shapes, such as rectangular. The sliding groove 32 engages with a component of the clamping assembly 4 of the spreader 100 for limiting the range of motion of the clamping assembly 4 in the vertical direction, as will be described in detail below.

Each support plate 3 is provided with a fixing hole 33 at a lower end portion. The securing holes 33 engage with components of the clamping assembly 4 for securing, as will be described in detail below.

Referring to fig. 1 to 4, a spreader 100 includes a clamping assembly 4 between a pair of support plates 3. The clamping assembly 4 is used to clamp the vehicle generator when operating the spreader 100 and to prevent accidental release after clamping.

The clamping assembly 4 comprises a movable shaft 41. The movable shaft 41 is used to connect the clamping assembly 4 to the pair of support plates 3. Opposite ends of the movable shaft 41 are received in the sliding grooves 32 of each support plate 3, respectively. During operation of the spreader 100, the movable shaft 41 is slidable in the vertical direction in the sliding groove 32 of the support plate 3 between an upper unlocked position and a lower locked position, as will be described below with the aid of the locking members 5 of the spreader 100.

The clamping assembly 4 further includes a pair of clamping plates 42. The pair of clamping plates 42 are used to clamp the vehicle generator as clamping portions. The pair of clamping plates 32 define an inner surface facing each other and an opposite outer surface. Each clamping plate 42 has an upper end and a lower end. An upper end of each clamping plate 42 is pivotably coupled to the movable shaft 41. Each of the clamping plates 42 is pivotable about a movable axis 41 to enable the pair of clamping plates 42 to move between a contracted position adjacent to each other and an expanded position away from each other. As shown in the cross-sectional view of fig. 3, the pair of clamping plates 42 are in the expanded position.

As shown in fig. 3 to 4, each clamping plate 42 may be pivotably coupled to the movable shaft 41 by a pivot coupling 43. The pivot link 43 comprises an attachment portion 431 and two pivot arms 432. The attachment portion 431 is attached to the outer surface of the clamp plate 42 at the upper end of the clamp plate 42 by a connection such as a threaded sleeve, a bolt, or the like. Two pivot arms 432 protrude from both sides of the attachment portion 431 and extend to distal ends of the pivot arms 432 at an angle with respect to the attachment portion 431. The distal ends of the two pivot arms 432 have pivot holes for passing the movable shaft 41 therethrough. Although a separate pivot connection 43 is shown in the embodiment, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the pivot connection 43 may be formed integrally with the clamp plate 42.

Each clamping plate 42 is provided with a locating pin 44 at a lower end. One end of the positioning pin 44 is connected to the clamping plate 42 by a screw or the like. The locating pin 44 extends outwardly perpendicular to the outer surface of the clamping plate 42 to the free end of the locating pin 44. The extending distance of the positioning pins 44 is designed such that the distance between the free ends of the two positioning pins 44 on the clamp plates 42 (e.g., as shown by W in fig. 3) allows the lower ends of the clamp plates 42 to be able to access the mounting holes of the vehicle generator when the pair of clamp plates 42 are in the retracted position. The positioning pins 44 are inserted into the mounting holes of the vehicle generator when the pair of clamping plates 42 are in the expanded position, for clamping and fixing the vehicle generator from the inside.

Fig. 6 illustrates an exemplary vehicle generator 200 hoisted by the spreader 100 according to the present disclosure. The housing of the vehicle generator 200 has protrusions 210 disposed opposite to each other. The inner faces of the protruding portion 210 opposite to each other are provided with mounting holes 220. Mounting hole 220 is a hole of generator 200 for connection with an engine. In operating the spreader 100 according to the present disclosure, the pair of clamping plates 42 is first brought to the contracted position, where the distance between the positioning pins 44 on the two clamping plates 42 is minimized; the lower ends of the pair of clamp plates 42 in the contracted position are then inserted into the space between the opposing projections 210 of the vehicle generator 200; after the lower ends of the clamping plates 42 are inserted, the pair of clamping plates 42 are moved to the expanded position, at which time the distance between the two positioning pins 44 becomes maximum, and the two positioning pins 44 are respectively inserted into the corresponding one of the mounting holes 220, thereby achieving clamping and fixing of the vehicle generator 200 from the inside. Although the spreader 100 is shown in the embodiment to be mated with the mounting hole 220 of the vehicle generator 200, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the spreader 100 may be designed to mate with mounting holes on other similar protrusions on the vehicle engine 200 for hoisting so long as the mounting holes do not interfere or interfere with other corresponding components (e.g., locating pins, etc.) on the engine or generator pre-load station during hoisting.

Referring to fig. 4, the inner surface of each clamping plate 42 is further provided with a recess 421 extending transversely to the vertical direction. The recesses 421 of the two clamping plates 42 combine to form a receiving space for receiving the locking member 5 of the spreader 100, as will be described in detail below. The inner surface of each clamping plate 42 may also be provided with a groove 422 extending in the vertical direction. The groove 422 may communicate with the recess 421. The recess 422 also serves to receive the locking member 5.

Each clamping plate 42 may also include a locating block 45. The positioning block 45 is disposed above the positioning pin 44 at the lower end of the clamp plate 42. The locating block 45 may be attached to the outer surface of the clamping plate 42 by a connector such as a threaded sleeve, screw, or the like. The positioning block 45 has a lower surface. When the spreader 100 is operated such that the lower end of the clamping plate 42 is inserted between the opposite protrusions 210 of the vehicle generator 200, the lower surface of each positioning block 45 abuts the outer contour of the protrusion 210. The lower surface of the locating block 45 is contoured to match the shape of the outer contour of the protrusion 210 of the vehicle generator 200 such that the locating pin 44 is properly aligned with the mounting hole 220 of the vehicle generator 200 when the lower surface of the locating block 45 abuts the outer contour of the protrusion 210. By using the positioning blocks 45, it is made possible to easily and efficiently align the positioning pins 44 with the mounting holes 220 of the vehicle generator 200 when operating the spreader 100, which improves the efficiency of the operation.

Referring to fig. 4, the clamping assembly 4 further comprises a pushing member. A pushing member is disposed between the pair of clamping plates 42 for pushing the pair of clamping plates 42 toward the expanded position. The pushing member may include a telescopic rod 46 and a pushing spring 47 disposed around the telescopic rod 46. The ends of the telescopic rod 46 are inserted into corresponding spring seat holes 48 provided on the inner surface of each clamping plate 42. When the pair of clamping plates 42 are moved to the retracted position during operation of the spreader 100, the push springs 47 and the telescopic rods 46 of the push members are compressed. Then when the locating pin 44 has been positioned in alignment with the mounting hole 220 of the vehicle generator 200, the clamping plate 42 may be released and the compressed push spring 47 provides a pushing force to force the clamping plate 42 back to the expanded position, thereby inserting the locating pin 44 into the mounting hole 220. After the locating pin 44 is inserted into the mounting hole 220, the spring 46 still provides a pushing force to resist the tendency of the clamping plate 42 to move toward the retracted position.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, the clamping assembly 4 may further comprise a stop 49. The limiting means 49 serves to limit the extreme positions of the movement of the pair of clamping plates 42 toward the expanded position. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the spacing device 49 includes a connecting shaft 491 and two spacing heads 492. Two spacing heads 492 are inserted into the clamping plates 42 from the outer surface of each clamping plate 42 via spacing holes (such as counter bores as shown in fig. 3) in the outer surface, respectively, and the two spacing heads 492 are connected together by a connecting shaft 491. In this manner, the limit position of movement of the two clamp plates 42 away from each other toward the expanded position is limited by the engagement of the spacing heads 492 with the respective clamp plates 42. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other forms of stop devices may be employed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 3 and 5, the spreader 100 further comprises a locking member 5. The locking member 5 is used to prevent movement of the clamping plate 42 towards the retracted position during lifting of the vehicle generator 200 by the lifting appliance 100, so as to avoid the risk of the lifting appliance 100 being released and an accidental fall of the vehicle generator 200 occurring.

The locking member 5 comprises a locking pin 51. In the embodiment, the locking pin 51 has a substantially rectangular body shape, but it is understood that the locking pin 51 may also take a cylindrical body, an ellipsoid body, or the like. Opposite ends of the locking pins 51 are engaged and fixed to the fixing holes 33 of the support plate 3, respectively. When the movable shaft 41 is in the upper unlock position in the slide groove 32 of the support plate 3, the lock pin 51 is received by the recess 421 of the clamp plate 42 of the clamp assembly 4 to allow the pair of clamp plates 42 to be movable to the retracted position.

In using the spreader 100 according to the present disclosure, when the positioning pins 44 of the clamping plates 42 of the clamping assembly 4 are inserted into the mounting holes 220 of the vehicle generator 200 and the spreader 100 is operated to move upward to start hoisting the vehicle generator 200, the vehicle generator 200 will pull the clamping plates 42 downward due to the weight of the vehicle generator 200. Because the upper end of the clamp plate 42 is coupled to the movable shaft 41 of the clamp assembly 4 and the movable shaft 41 is capable of sliding in the vertical direction in the sliding groove 32 of the support plate 3, the clamp plate 42 pulled downward will move together with the movable shaft 41 from the upper unlocked position to the lower locked position, whereby the recess 421 on the inner surface of the clamp plate 42 will also move downward. Also because both ends of the locking pin 51 of the locking member 5 are fixed to the support plate 3 and the support plate 3 is directly connected to the base plate 1 at the upper end, the locking pin 51 will not move. The downward movement of the recess 421 and the locking pin 51 do not move so that the locking pin 51 will disengage from the recess 421, whereby the locking pin 51 will contact the portion of the clamping plate 42 that is above the recess 421. Since the two clamp plates 42 are coupled to the movable shaft 41 at the upper end, the distance between the inner surfaces of the clamp plates 42 will decrease as approaching the upper end, and in addition, the portion above the recess 421 does not form a receiving space, the locking pins 51 contacting the portion of the clamp plates 42 above the recess 421 will prevent the pair of clamp plates 42 from moving to the retracted position close to each other, thereby avoiding the positioning pins 44 from being accidentally disengaged from the mounting holes 220 of the vehicle generator 200 and dropping the vehicle generator 200.

The locking member 5 may further include a locking shaft 52 and a return spring 53 disposed around the locking shaft 52. The locking shaft 52 is coupled at one end to the movable shaft 41 of the clamp assembly 4 and at the other end to the locking pin 51. The locking shaft 52 may include a pivot head 521 and a stem 522. The pivot head 521 has an upper end and a lower end. The upper end of the pivot head 521 includes a pivot hole through which the movable shaft 41 can be inserted. The lower end of the pivot head 521 is connected to the upper end of the stem 522. The lower end of the lever portion 522 is coupled to the locking pin 51 and is capable of sliding through a pin hole 511 provided on the locking pin 51. A spring seat 523 surrounding the stem 522 may also be provided near the upper end of the stem 522. A return spring 53 provided around the lock shaft 52 is held between the spring seat 523 and the lock pin 51. The upper end of the return spring 53 abuts the spring seat 523, and the lower end of the return spring 53 abuts the locking pin 51. Although in the embodiment shown the locking shaft 52 includes separate pivot head 521 and lever 522, it will be appreciated that the pivot head 521 and lever 522 may be formed as an integral component.

In the case where the locking member 5 includes the locking shaft 52 and the return spring 53, the inner surface of each of the clamping plates 42 of the clamping assembly 4 may be provided with a groove 422 extending in the vertical direction. The recess 422 is adapted to receive the locking shaft 52 and the return spring 53.

The lock shaft 52 and the return spring 53 serve to return the movable shaft 41 of the clamp assembly 4 to the unlock position when the vehicle generator 200 is not hoisted. When the spreader 100 is operated to hoist the vehicle generator 200, the movable shaft 41 will move downward as described above. Since one end of the locking shaft 52 is coupled to the movable shaft 41, the downward movement of the movable shaft 41 will bring the locking shaft 52 to move downward. Also because the locking pin 51 does not move, the other end of the locking shaft 52 will slidingly pass through the pin hole 511 of the locking pin 51, while the return spring 53 will be compressed between the spring seat 523, which moves downward, and the stationary locking pin 51. When the vehicle generator 200 is placed in a position to be mounted on the engine, the vehicle generator 200 will be supported, at which time the vehicle generator 200 will no longer pull the movable shaft 41 and the clamping plate 42 downward. The previously compressed return spring 53 will thus push the locking shaft 52 upwards by pushing the spring seat 523 by means of the spring force and thus the movable shaft 41 and the clamping plate 42 back to the unlocked position. After the movable shaft 41 is returned to the unlocking position, the recess 421 of the clamping plate 42 will also reset and re-receive the positioning pin 51, thereby enabling the pair of clamping plates 42 to be moved towards the retracted position in order to disengage the spreader 100 from the vehicle generator 200.

Referring to fig. 1-4, a spreader 100 according to the present disclosure may further include a pair of handles 6. Each handle 6 is connected to the outer surface of each clamping plate 42 of the clamping assembly 4 by means of a connection such as a screw. The handle 6 facilitates operator control of movement of the clamp plate 42 between the contracted and expanded positions. Referring to fig. 4, in an embodiment, each handle 6 is shown to include a handle connection 62 and a handle head 61 for grasping by an operator. The handle connection 62 is connected to the outer surface of the clamping plate 42. The handle head 61 is connected to the handle connection 62. The handle head 61 may be formed of a material suitable for gripping, such as rubber. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the handle 6 may also be an integrally formed separate piece.

Although exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, all changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The disclosure is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.

Claims (14)

1. A spreader (100) for a vehicle generator (200), the spreader (100) comprising:

a substrate (1) having opposite first and second ends;

a pair of support plates (3), the pair of support plates (3) being connected to the first and second ends of the base plate (1) at upper ends of the support plates (3), respectively, each support plate (3) being provided with a vertically extending sliding groove (32);

-a clamping assembly (4) located between the pair of support plates (3), the clamping assembly (4) comprising:

a movable shaft (41), the movable shaft (41) passing through the sliding groove (32) of each support plate (3) and being movable along the sliding groove (32) between an unlock position and a lock position;

a pair of clamping plates (42), each clamping plate (42) being pivotably coupled at an upper end thereof to the movable shaft (41), the pair of clamping plates (42) being pivotable about the movable shaft (41) between a contracted position in which lower ends of the clamping plates (42) are close to each other and an expanded position in which lower ends of the clamping plates (42) are distant from each other, each clamping plate (42) being provided at the lower end with a positioning pin (44) for insertion into a mounting hole (220) of the vehicle generator (200), an inner surface of each clamping plate (42) being provided with a recess (421); and

a locking member (5) including a locking pin (51), both ends of the locking pin (51) being fixed to a lower end portion of each support plate (3), the locking pin (51) being received by the recess (421) and allowing the pair of clamp plates (42) to move toward the retracted position when the movable shaft (41) is in the unlocking position;

wherein when the movable shaft (41) moves the pair of holding plates (42) together to the locking position, the locking pin (51) is disengaged from the recess (421) and prevents the pair of holding plates (42) from moving toward the retracted position, thereby preventing the spreader from being released.

2. The spreader (100) for a vehicle generator (200) according to claim 1, characterized in that the locking member (5) further comprises a locking shaft (52) and a return spring (53) arranged around the locking shaft (52), the locking shaft (52) being coupled to the movable shaft (41) at one end and the locking shaft (52) being coupled to the locking pin (51) at the other end, the locking shaft (52) having a spring seat (523), the return spring (53) being held between the spring seat (523) and the locking pin (51).

3. The spreader (100) for a vehicle generator (200) according to claim 2, characterized in that the return spring (53) pushes the spring seat (523) and the movable shaft (41) upwards back to the unlocked position when the vehicle generator (200) no longer pulls the clamping plate (42) downwards.

4. The spreader (100) for a vehicle generator (200) according to claim 2, characterized in that the inner surface of each clamping plate (42) is further provided with a recess (422) for receiving the locking shaft (52) and a return spring (53).

5. The spreader (100) for a vehicle generator (200) according to claim 2, wherein the locking shaft (52) comprises a pivoting head (521) and a rod portion (522), the movable shaft (41) is inserted into a pivoting hole of an upper end of the pivoting head (521), a lower end of the pivoting head (521) is connected to an upper end of the rod portion (522), and a lower end of the rod portion (522) is coupled to the locking pin (51) and is capable of sliding through a pin hole (511) provided on the locking pin (51).

6. The spreader (100) for a vehicle generator (200) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the spreader (100) further comprises a pushing member disposed between the pair of clamping plates (42) to push the pair of clamping plates (42) towards the expanded position.

7. The spreader (100) for a vehicle generator (200) according to claim 6, wherein the pushing member comprises a telescopic rod (46) and a pushing spring (47) provided around the telescopic rod (46), both ends of the telescopic rod (46) being inserted into corresponding spring seat holes (48) provided on an inner surface of each clamping plate (42).

8. The spreader (100) for a vehicle generator (200) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the clamping assembly (4) further comprises a limiting device (49) for limiting the extreme positions of the movement of the pair of clamping plates (42) towards the expanded position.

9. The spreader (100) for a vehicle generator (200) according to claim 8, characterized in that the limiting device (49) comprises a connecting shaft (491) and two limiting heads (492), said two limiting heads (492) being inserted into the clamping plate (42) from an outer surface of the clamping plate (42) via limiting holes on said outer surface and being connected by said connecting shaft (491), respectively.

10. The spreader (100) for a vehicle generator (200) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the spreader (100) further comprises a pair of handles (6), each handle (6) being connected to an outer surface of a respective clamping plate (42) of the clamping assembly (4).

11. The spreader (100) for a vehicle generator (200) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that each support plate (3) is provided with a fixing hole (33) at a lower end, both ends of the locking pin (51) being fixed into the fixing holes (33).

12. The spreader (100) for a vehicle generator (200) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that each clamping plate (42) further comprises a positioning block (45), the positioning block (45) being connected to the outer surface of the clamping plate (42), the lower surface of the positioning block (45) being designed to match the outer contour of a protrusion (210) of the vehicle generator (200), the mounting holes (220) being located on inner faces of the protrusions (210) opposite to each other.

13. The spreader (100) for a vehicle generator (200) according to claim 12, wherein the lower surface of the positioning block (45) is designed to align with the mounting hole (220) of the vehicle generator (200) when the lower surface of the positioning block (45) abuts the outer contour of the protrusion (210).

14. The spreader (100) for a vehicle generator (200) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the distance of extension of the locating pins (44) is designed such that the distance between the free ends of the locating pins (44) on a pair of clamping plates (42) allows the lower ends of the clamping plates (42) to be accessible to the mounting hole (220) of the vehicle generator (200) when the pair of clamping plates (42) are in the retracted position.