GB1576808A

GB1576808A - Mounting structures adapted for securing an article to a vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB1576808A
Application number: GB4649675A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: BIRCH A BIRCH S; BIRCH M D TRADING AS DUNCOMBE
Current assignee: BIRCH A BIRCH S; BIRCH M D TRADING AS DUNCOMBE
Priority date: 1975-11-11
Filing date: 1975-11-11
Publication date: 1980-10-15

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO MOUNTING STRUCTURES ADAPTED FOR SECURING AN ARTICLE TO A VEHICLE (71) We, ALFRED BIRCH, SARAH BIRCH and MICHAEL DUNCOMBE BIRCH, all British subjects trading as JOB DUNCOMBE of Repeat Works, Little Lane, Shortheath, Willenhall, West Midlands, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention is concerned with improvements relating to mounting structures of the type adapted to be secured to a vehicle chassis or body, and by the use of which an article may be secured to, and stably supported in a desired position relative to the vehicle.

Articles of the kind frequently requiring to be so secured to a vehicle chassis or body include a spare wheel for the vehicle, a water vessel or tank, a tool box, etc.

The problem of providing a means to secure an article to a vehicle chassis or body, and particularly in a manner which allows the article to be removed relatively easily when it is required for use, is of particular interest in relation to towed vehicles, such as caravans where (in general) no such, or inadequare provision is made.

It is an object of the invention to provide a means of securing an article to a vehicle chassis or body which is particularly, though not exclusively, suitable for use on towed vehicles such as caravans.

In accordance with the invention we provide a mounting structure for use in securing an article to a vehicle chassis or body, said structure comprising a support for attachment to the chassis or body and formed to provide two guide channels, and a carrier which comprises guide parts arranged to be slidably received in the- guide channels, side parts depending from the glide parts and a base part carried by the side parts and defining a carrier surface for the article arranged so that the article can be carried at a location below the support.

Thus, in use, the support may be mounted on the underside of the vehicle chassis or body and after positioning the article on the carrier the latter may then be slide into the support in order to mount the article on the vehicle.

In one form of mounting structure in accordance with the present invention tle side parts together with the guide parts are pivotally connected to the base part so as to be movable between a collapsed condition in which the base part and two side parts are generally flat, when an article may be placed upon the carrier surface, and an erect condition in which the side parts extend generally perpendicular to the base part and restrain the article against lateral movement relative thereto, the guide parts being receivable by the guide channels when the side parts are in their erect condition.

Preferably the mounting structure is secured to the vehicle chassis or body so that the carrier is slid into the support in a substantially horizontal plane.

The support may be adapted to be secured in a fixed position on the chassis or body and means are preferably provided to secure the carrier in a fixed working position relative to the support.

In an alternative arrangement the support is adapted to be pivotally mounted on the vehicle chassis or body so that the support can be swung down from a working position to a loading position in which the carrier can be slidably engaged with or disengaged from the support, means being provided for securing the support in the raised working position.

In this latter arrangement the means which secure the support in its working position may also be arranged to secure the carrier in a fixed position relative to the support.

In the arrangements described above the means which secure the carrier in a fixed position relative to the support may comer prise, for example, a bolt which extends through one guide channel and the associated guide part of the carrier and a padlock which extends through the other guide channel and the other guide part. This will not only prevent unauthorised removal of the carrier from the support but, if the carrier is of the collapsible type described above, will ensure that the guide parts of the carrier do not disengage the guide channels due to pivoting of the side parts relative to the base part during use of the mounting structure. Such pivoting might take place, for example, if the mounting structure were being used to mount a spare wheel on the vehicle and the tyre of the wheel became deflated thus allowing inward pivoting of the side parts.

In a preferred construction the guide channels are two opposed inwardly facing channels of two members which are joined together to form the support by at ieast one strut extending between the channel members.

This strut or struts may conveniently be used to secure the support to the vehicle chassis or body.

The guide parts of the carrier may each include an elongate member of tubular or channel section for reception by the corresponding guide channel of the support.

Each side part of the carrier may comprise two side struts rigidly secured to the corresponding guide part at spaced loctions along its length and the base part may comprise two spaced carrier struts, the side struts being pivotally mounted on the ends of the carrier struts in order that the carrier can be collapsed as described above.

The invention also provides a mounting structure for use in securing an article to a vehicle chassis or body, said structure comprising a support for attachment to the chassis or body and formed to provide two guide channels, and a carrier which has guide parts arranged to be slidably received in the guide channels and is movable between a collapsed condition in which an article may be placed thereon and an erect condition in which the article is restrained thereby against lateral movement, whereby the carrier when in its erect condition may be received and supported by the support and retained thereby in its erect condition.

Two embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one form of mounting structure embodying the invention; FIGURE 2 is an end elevation of the carrier of Figure 1 in a partly collapsed condition; FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a further form of mounting structure embodying the invention, and FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the mounting structure of Figure 3 with the carrier partly slide out.

Figures 1 and 2 show a mounting structure for the spare wheel of a caravan which comprises a support 10 for attachment to the underside of a caravan, and a carrier 20 upon which the wheel W may be mounted, and which may itself be mounted on the support, and secured thereto, whereby the caravan wheel may be retained in position relative to the caravan until it is required for use.

The support 10 comprises two elongate guide members 12 providing opposed inwardly-facing guide channels, and crossstruts 16 of tubular cross-section, extending between the guide members and secured thereto by welding, whereby the guide members 12 are retained in a desired spaced apart parallel relationship, and whereby the support may be secured to the underside of the caravan using brackets (not shown) which partly encircle the tubes 16.

The carrier 20 comprises a base part comprising two carrier struts 22 of tubular form which provide upwardly facing carrier surfaces for the wheel W, and two side parts provided by side struts 24. The side struts are welded to guide tubes 23 as shown in Figure 1 and are pivoted to the ends of the carrier struts 22 by rivets 25.

The side flanges of the channel-shaped guide members 12 are provided with aligned holes 26 which are arranged to register with corresponding holes in the tubes 23 so that a bolt can be inserted through one guide member 12 and the associated tube 23 to secure the tube within the guide member and a padlock or other security device can be inserted through the other guide member 12 and tube 23. This will prevent the unauthorised removal of the carrier from the support and will also prevent the carrier from collapsing inwardly should the tyre of the spare wheel W become deflated.

In order to remove the wheel from the mounting structure shown in Figure 1, the bolt and padlock are removed from the guide members 12 and the carrier is then slid out of the support in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 1. The carrier is then placed on the ground and the side parts 24 pivoted downwardly as shown by the arrows B in Figure 2 until they lie substantially in the same plane as the two carrier struts 22. When the carrier is in this position the wheel W can be removed.

It will be appreciated that when the carrier is in the erect position shown in Figure 1 the wheel is located therein against any substantial degree of lateral displacement by the side struts 24 which engage the tread of the tyre of the spare wheel. It will be appreciated that the support is secured to the vehicle so that the carrier is slid into the guide members 12 with the tubes 23 extending in a substantially horizontal plane.

Although in the arrangement described above it is intended that the support will be securdd to the vehicle body or chassis in a fixed position, it is possible, for example, to secure the support to the vehicle body or chassis so that the support can pivot about one of the tubes 16 and thus be lowered from a raised working position to a lower loading position in which the carrier is slid into the guide members 12.

Figures 3 and 4 show a further form of mounting structure in accordance with the present invention in which the support comprises two channel-shaped guide members 30 which are secured together by cross-struts 31.

Also secured to the guide members 30 is a pressed metal cross beam 32 provided with a number of bolt holes 33 by which the cross beam 32 may be secured to the chassis members of a vehicle. If necessary, lengthening pieces 34 can be secured to the cross beam 32 as shown in Figure 3 and holes 35 in the lengthening pieces 34 can be used to secure the mounting structure to the vehicle chassis.

The necessity for the use of lengthening pieces 34 will depend on the spacing between the chassis members on which the mounting structure is to be supported.

The carrier has guide parts provided by two channels 36 and a base part and side parts provided by a plate 37 which is provided with slots and holes 38 whereby a spare wheel W can be supported beneath the plate 37 using bolts. As can be seen the wheel W will be carried beneath the beam 32 so that the guide members 30 are subjected to the minimum bending moment. The carrier is provided with additional rigidity by two crossstruts 39 which are welded between the channels 36 adjacent the ends theerof.

Again the mounting structure will be mounted on the vehicle so that the carrier will be slid into the channels 30 with the channels 36 extending in a substantially horizontal plane. Figure 4 shows the !carrier being removed by being slid in the direction of the arrow C. At least one of the channels 30 is provided with a hole 40 adjacent one end which is arranged to be aligned with a corresponding hole in the associated channel 36 when the carrier is mounted in its operational position. This enables a padlock or similar security device to be passed through the channels 30 and 36 in order to prevent unauthorised removal of the carrier from the support.

The arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 4 is particularly compact since the wheel E is suspended beneath the plate 37 and no part of the mounting structure extends below the wheel. This arrangement is therefore particularly suitable for use in circumstances where the ground clearance is limited. Also by providing a variety of slots and holes 38 in the plate 37 it is possible to easily accommodate a wide range of differing diameter wheels. This feature, in combination with the lengthening plates 34 enables the arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 4 to be particularly versatile in meeting a wide range of customer requirements.

It will be appreicated that, in general, when using the mounting structure of the present invention on a caravan it will be desirable to secure the structure to the underside of the caravan at the back end thereof so that easy access may be obtained to the spare wheel.

However, there are many positions in which a mounting structure in accordance with the present invention may be mounted on a vehicle and these positions are not necessarily limited to arrangements in which the carrier slides into the support in a substantially horizontal plane.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A mounting structure for use in securing an article to a vehicle chassis or body, said structure comprising a support for attachment to the chassis or body and formed to provide two guide channels, and a carrier which comprises guide parts arranged to be slidably received in the guide channels, side parts depending from the guide parts and a base part carried by the side parts and defining a carrier surface for the article arranged so that the article can be carried at a location below the support.

2. A structure according to Claim 1 in which the side parts together with the guide parts are pivotally connected to the base part so as to be movable between a collapsed condition in which the base part and the two side parts are generally flat, when an article may be placed upon the carrier surface, and an erect condition in which the side parts extend generally perpendicular to the base part and restrain the article against lateral movement relative thereto, the guide parts being receivable by the guide channels when the guide parts are in their erect condition.

3. A structure according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 in which the support is adapted to be secured in a fixed position on the chassis or body and means are provided to secure the carrier in a fixed working position relative to the support.

4. A structure according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the support is adapted to be pivotally mounted on the vehicle chassis or body so that the support can be swung down from a working position to a loading position in which the carrier can be slidably engaged with or disengaged from the support, means being provided for securing the support in the raised working position.

5. A structure according to claim 4 in which the means which secures the support in its working position also secures the carrier in a fixed position relative to the support.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. Although in the arrangement described above it is intended that the support will be securdd to the vehicle body or chassis in a fixed position, it is possible, for example, to secure the support to the vehicle body or chassis so that the support can pivot about one of the tubes 16 and thus be lowered from a raised working position to a lower loading position in which the carrier is slid into the guide members 12. Figures 3 and 4 show a further form of mounting structure in accordance with the present invention in which the support comprises two channel-shaped guide members 30 which are secured together by cross-struts 31. Also secured to the guide members 30 is a pressed metal cross beam 32 provided with a number of bolt holes 33 by which the cross beam 32 may be secured to the chassis members of a vehicle. If necessary, lengthening pieces 34 can be secured to the cross beam 32 as shown in Figure 3 and holes 35 in the lengthening pieces 34 can be used to secure the mounting structure to the vehicle chassis. The necessity for the use of lengthening pieces 34 will depend on the spacing between the chassis members on which the mounting structure is to be supported. The carrier has guide parts provided by two channels 36 and a base part and side parts provided by a plate 37 which is provided with slots and holes 38 whereby a spare wheel W can be supported beneath the plate 37 using bolts. As can be seen the wheel W will be carried beneath the beam 32 so that the guide members 30 are subjected to the minimum bending moment. The carrier is provided with additional rigidity by two crossstruts 39 which are welded between the channels 36 adjacent the ends theerof. Again the mounting structure will be mounted on the vehicle so that the carrier will be slid into the channels 30 with the channels 36 extending in a substantially horizontal plane. Figure 4 shows the !carrier being removed by being slid in the direction of the arrow C. At least one of the channels 30 is provided with a hole 40 adjacent one end which is arranged to be aligned with a corresponding hole in the associated channel 36 when the carrier is mounted in its operational position. This enables a padlock or similar security device to be passed through the channels 30 and 36 in order to prevent unauthorised removal of the carrier from the support. The arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 4 is particularly compact since the wheel E is suspended beneath the plate 37 and no part of the mounting structure extends below the wheel. This arrangement is therefore particularly suitable for use in circumstances where the ground clearance is limited. Also by providing a variety of slots and holes 38 in the plate 37 it is possible to easily accommodate a wide range of differing diameter wheels. This feature, in combination with the lengthening plates 34 enables the arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 4 to be particularly versatile in meeting a wide range of customer requirements. It will be appreicated that, in general, when using the mounting structure of the present invention on a caravan it will be desirable to secure the structure to the underside of the caravan at the back end thereof so that easy access may be obtained to the spare wheel. However, there are many positions in which a mounting structure in accordance with the present invention may be mounted on a vehicle and these positions are not necessarily limited to arrangements in which the carrier slides into the support in a substantially horizontal plane. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A mounting structure for use in securing an article to a vehicle chassis or body, said structure comprising a support for attachment to the chassis or body and formed to provide two guide channels, and a carrier which comprises guide parts arranged to be slidably received in the guide channels, side parts depending from the guide parts and a base part carried by the side parts and defining a carrier surface for the article arranged so that the article can be carried at a location below the support.

6. A structure according to any one of

claims 1 to 5 in which the guide channels are two opposed inwardly-facing channels of two members joined together to form the support by at least one strut extending between the channels members.

7. A structure according to any one of claims 1 to 6 in which the guide parts of the carrier each comprises an elongate member of tubular or channel section for reception by the corresponding guide channel of the support.

8. A structure according to claim 2 and claim 7 in which each side part comprises two side struts rigidly secured to the corresponding guide part at spaced locations along its length and the base part comprises two spaced carrier struts, the side struts being pivotally mounted on the ends of the carrier struts so that the collapsed and erect conditions can be obtained.

9. A mounting structure for use in securing an article to a vehicle chassis or body, said structure comprising a support for attachement to the chassis or body and formed to provide two guide channels, and a carrier which has guide parts arranged to be slidably received in the guide channels and is movable between a collapsed condition in which an article may be placed thereon and an erect condition in which the article is restrained thereby against lateral movement, wherein the carrier when in its erect condition may be received and supported by the support and retained thereby in its erect condition.

10. A vehicle having a chasis or body with a mounting structure according to any one of claims 1 to 9 attached thereto.

11. A mounting structure for use in securing an article to a vehicle chassis or body, said structure being constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawing.