GB2166073A

GB2166073A - Device for loosening and/or tightening vehicle wheel nuts

Info

Publication number: GB2166073A
Application number: GB08525018A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Thomas Mcclelland
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1984-10-10
Filing date: 1985-10-10
Publication date: 1986-04-30
Also published as: GB8525018D0; IE841754L

Abstract

A device 1 for loosening and/or tightening vehicle wheel nuts comprises a gear train formed by a gear 5 and a pinion 6 driven by a lever arm 24 through a pawl 20 engageable against the teeth of the pinion. The gear 5 is mounted on an axle 9 which extends through a bearing housing 11, 12, 13 and terminates in output sockets 15 which are connected to a conventional wheel nut receiving socket 16 through an extension bar 17. Support for the bearing housing 11, 12, 13 is provided by a support leg 29 which extends downwardly from the housing and terminates in a ground engaging foot 31 which is pivotally mounted to the leg 29 to facilitate height adjustment of the device. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A device for loosening and/or tightening vehicle wheel nuts The invention relates to a device for loosening and/or tightening vehicle wheel nuts and in particular to a device for loosening and/or tightening the wheel nuts of large trucks or vans.

In replacing wheel nuts on vehicles, particularly on the wheels of trucks or vans, an pneumatically powered wrench commonly referred to as "nut runner" is widely used to ensure adequate tightening. However, in an emergency if the driver of the vehicle has to change a wheel, it is often very difficult if not impossible to apply sufficient force to the wheel nut receiving socket of a conventional wheel brace to loosen the wheel nuts. Attempts to apply sufficient force very often result in damage to the wheel brace and/or the wheel nuts.

There is therefore a need for an improved device for loosening and/or tightening vehicle wheel nuts which will overcome these difficulties.

This invention is directed towards providing such a device for loosening and/or tightening vehicle wheel nuts.

According to the invention there is provided a device for loosening and/or tightening vehicle wheel nuts, the device comprising mechanical advantage achieving means for multiplying and transmitting an input force to apply a loosening or tightening torque to a vehicle wheel nut, and a ground engaging anchor for supporting the mechanical advantage achieving means.

In one embodiment of the invention the mechanical advantage achieving means comprises a gear train mounted in a bearing housing supported by the anchor. Preferably the gear train comprises a gear wheel and a pinion in meshing engagement with the gear wheel.

Typically the gear ratio between the gear wheel and pinion is in the range 1:4 to 1:7 and ideally between 1:5 and 1:6.

In particular a preferred embodiment of the invention the pinion is driven by a pawl engagable against the teeth of the pinion.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the mechanical advantage achieving means includes a lever arm.

Typically the pawl is operated by the lever arm. Usually the pawl is mounted in a yoke forming an extension of the lever arm. Preferably the yoke is pivotally mounted to the bearing housing.

Typically the bearing housing includes a pair of side plates which are spaced-apart to accomodate the gear wheel and pinion therebetween. Usually the housing also includes a cover section extending transversely between the side plates over at least portion of their length.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the gear wheel is mounted on a gear wheel axle which extends through the bearing housing. Preferably the gear wheel shaft extends through both side plates of the bearing housing. Usually each of the ends of the gear wheel shaft are formed with an output socket for connection to a wheel nut receiving socket. Typically the output socket is connected to a wheel nut receiving socket through a mating extension bar.

In one embodiment of the invention the anchor comprises a ground engaging foot pivotally mounted on a support leg extending from the bearing housing. Preferably the support leg is fixedly mounted to the bearing housing.

Usually the securing means are provided for securing the lever arm to the support leg, for storage.

In another embodiment of the invention the anchor comprises a pair of ground engaging support legs extending from the bearing housing. Preferably the legs are collapsible for storage. Typically one leg is pivotally mounted to the bearing housing and length adjustable bracing means is provided for extending between the legs, in use.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a device for loosening and/or tightening vehicle wheel nuts according to one embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a side, partially cross-sectional view in the direction of the arrows Ill-Ill in Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a device according to another embodiment of the invention, Fig. 5 is a side-elevational view of the device of Fig. 4 in one configuration, and Fig. 6 is a side-elevational view of the device of Fig. 4, folded for storage.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figs. 1 to 3 thereof, there is illustrated a device according to the invention, indicated generally by the reference numeral 1 for loosening and/or tightening the wheel nuts of vehicles such as vans or trucks. The device 1 comprises a mechanical advantage achieving means 2 for multiplying and transmitting an input force to turn a wheel nut, and a ground engaging anchor 3 for supporting the mechanical advantage achieving means 2.

In this case the mechanical advantage achieving means is formed by a gear train comprising a gear 5 and a pinion 6 in meshing engagement with a gear 5. In the gear train illustrated, the gear 5 has 19 gear teeth 7 and the pinion 6 has eight teeth 8, however, it is envisaged that the gear ratio would preferably be in the range of between 1:4 and 1:10 and ideally approximately 1:6 to enable the mechanical advantage of 6:1 to be achieved through the gear chain. The gear 5 and pinion 6 are rotatably mounted on axles 9 and 10 respectively which are journalled in a bearing housing formed by a pair of side plates 11, 12 which are spaced-apart to accomodate the gear 5 and pinion 6 therebetween.

A cover plate 13 extends transversely between the side plates 11, 12 over at least portion of their length for protection and safety.

Both ends of the gear axle 9 extend through the bearing side-plates 11, 12 and terminate in output sockets 15 which are connected to conventional wheel nut receiving socket 16 through a mating extension bar 17. The pinion 6 is driven by a pawl 20 which is fixedly mounted on a pawl supporting axle 21 jour nalled in a yoke 22 which is freely pivotally mounted on the pinion axle 10 which extends through the side plates 11, 12. The pawl 20 is spring biassed into engagement with the teeth 8 of the pinion 6 by a coil spring 23 which extends between a fixed mounting pivot 18 on the yoke 22 and a mounting pin 19 which extends radially from the pawl axle 21.

An operation of the lever arm 24 in the direction of the arrows A the pawl 20 engages with the teeth 8 of the pinion 6 which turns the gear 5 and hence the output sockets 15 and wheel nut receiving socket 16 and hence a vehicle wheel nut.

The ground engaging anchor 3 in this case comprises a single support leg 29 which is fixedly mounted by bolts 30 between the bearing housing side plates 11,12 and extends downwardly to terminate in a ground engaging foot 31 which is pivotally mounted to the leg 39 through a pivot bolt 32 to facilitate height adjustment as illustrated by interrupted lines in Fig. 3.

In use, the device is first offered up to a wheel nut which it is desired to loosen. The appropriate extension bar 17 and nut receiving socket 16 are then connected to the appropriate output socket 15 of the device and the anchor support leg 29 is pivotted about the pivot bolt 32 until the anchor foot 31 is firmly engaged against the ground. The lever arm 24 is then manually operated to drive the pawl 20 against the pinion 6 to rotate the pinion in a clockwise direction which in turn rotates the gear 5 and nut receiving socket 16 in a counter-clockwise direction to loosen a wheel nut.

The device is then moved on to the next wheel nut.

If it is desired to tighten a nut, the device is turned through 180 from the position illustrated in Fig. 1 so that the extension bar 17 and nut receiving socket 16 are engaged with the other of the output sockets 15 of the wheel brace, which, on operation of the lever arm in this configuration is turned in the clockwise direction to tighten the wheel nut.

This configuration is illustrated by interrupted lines in Fig. 1.

For storage, the lever arm 24 may be folded down towards the support leg 29 and secured in position by any suitable releasable securing means (not shown).

One advantage of the invention is that it provides a device which is of relatively simple and cheap construction but which can be effectively used for loosening wheel nuts and in particular the wheel nuts of large trucks, trailers or vans even when these have been tightened using an pneumatic wrench. The mechanical advantage afforded by the combination of the gear train and lever arm allows a relatively small input force to be translated into a high loosening or tightening torque. The particular advantage of using a pawl for driving the pinion is that the input force from the lever arm is directly applied to the teeth of the pinion.

In addition, the device is sufficiently compact to be carried in the cab of a truck or van.

Referring to Figs. 4 to 7 there is illustrated another device according to the invention indicated generally by the reference 40 which is similar to the device described above with reference to Figs. 1 to 3 and like parts are assigned the same reference numerals. In this case the anchor 3 comprises two support legs, one, 41 of which is fixedly mounted to the bearing housing plates 11, 12 and the other 42 of which is pivotally mounted to the bearing housing plates 11, 12 through pivot bolts 43. The leg 42 is moved inwardly and outwardly in the direction of the arms X with respect to the leg 41 to facilitate height adjustment. A length adjustable securing means, in this case is a link chain 44, is attached at one end to the leg 42 through an eye 45, and extends from the leg 42 to engage with link receiving bracket 46 on the other leg 41.

To facilitate height adjustment the support leg 42 is split intermediate its ends at 46 and a link bar 47 extends between the two sections of the leg defined by the split 46. The link bar 47 is attached to the support leg 41 by upper fixing bolts 48 and a lower pivot bolt 49. Cut-out slots (not shown) are provided in the lower section of the support leg 42 to allow the lower section of the leg to be pivotted inwardly into the position illustrated in Fig. 5.

The device 40 is in use operated in a similar manner to the device described above with reference to Figs. 1 to 3 except that for height adjustment the support legs 41, 42 are moved into position in which both anchor feet engage the ground at which point the appropriate link of the chain 44 is attached to the link receiving bracket 46, on the support leg 41. To collapse the device 40 for storage the legs 41, 42 are pushed together and the lever arm 24 is pushed down towards the leg 41 into the position illustrated in Fig. 6. If the wheel nut which it is desired to loosen is relatively close to the ground, the support leg may be collapsed to the position illustrated in Fig. 5, in which case the lower section of the leg 42 acts as a ground engaging anchor.

It will be appreciated that any suitable mechanical advantage achieving means may be employed as an alternative to the spur gear, pawl and lever arrangement of the specific embodiments of the invention described. For example, any suitable gear train may be employed, including bevel or worm gearing, and if desired helical or double helical gears could also be employed with the teeth of the gear wheels inclined the relation to the axis of rotation of the wheels.

It will also be appreciated that the lever arm may be provided with by a torque bar. Further, it is envisaged that means may be provided for setting the torque to be applied by the device.

It will further be appreciated that any suitable ground engaging anchoring means may be employed. For example, for height adjustment one or both of the anchor support legs may be of telescopic construction.

Further, it will be appreciated that, if desired the ground engaging support feet may be formed with one or more studs or spurs for anchoring the feet to the ground.

It will also be appreciated that the pawl may be spring biassed into engagement with the teeth of the pinion by any suitable spring biassing means.

Claims

1. A device for loosening and/or tightening vehicle wheel nuts, the device comprising mechanical advantage achieving means for multiplying and transmitting an input force to apply a loosening or tightening torque to a vehicle wheel nut, and a ground engaging anchor for supporting the mechanical advantage achieving means.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the mechanical advantage means comprises a gear train mounted in a bearing housing supported by the anchor.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2 in which the gear train comprises a gear wheel and a pinion in meshing engagement with the gear wheel.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3 in which the gear ratio between the gear wheel and pinion is in the range 1:4 to 1:10.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4 in which the gear ratio is in the range 1:5 to 1:6.

6. A device as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5 in which the pinion is driven by a pawl engagable against the teeth of the pinion.

7. A device as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 in which the mechanical advantage achieving means includes a lever arm.

8. A device as claimed in claim 6 in which the mechanical advantage achieving means comprises a lever arm.

9. A device as claimed in claim 8 in which the pawl is operated by the lever arm.

10. A device as claimed in claim 9 in which the pawl is mounted in a yoke forming an extension of the lever arm.

11. A device as claimed in claim 10 in which the yoke is pivotally mounted to the bearing housing.

12. A device as claimed in any of claims 2 to 11 in which the bearing housing includes a pair of side plates which are spaced-apart to accomodate the gear wheel and pinion therebetween.

13. A device as claimed in claim 12 in which the housing includes a cover section extending transversely between the side plates over at least portion of their length.

14. A device as claimed in claim 12 or 13 in which the gear wheel is mounted on a gear wheel axle which extends through the bearing housing.

15. A device as claimed in claim 14 in which the gear wheel axle extends through both side plates of the bearing housing.

16. A device as claimed in claim 15 in which each of the ends of the gear wheel axle are formed with an output socket for connection to a wheel nut receiving socket.

17. A device as claimed in claim 16 in which the output sockets are connected to a wheel nut receiving socket through a mating extension bar.

18. A device as claimed in any of claims 2 to 17 in which the anchor comprises a ground engaging foot pivotally mounted on a support leg extending from the bearing housing.

19. A device as claimed in claim 18 in which the support leg is fixedly mounted to the bearing housing.

20. A device as claimed in any of claims 18 to 20 in which securing means are provided for securing the lever arm to the support let, for storage.

21. A device as claimed in any of claims 2 to 17 in which the anchor comprises a pair of ground engaging support legs extending from the bearing housing.

22. A device as claimed in claim 21 in which the ground engaging support legs are collapsible for storage.

23. A device as claimed in claim 21 or 22 in which at lease one support leg is pivotally mounted to the bearing housing and length adjustable bracing means is provided for extending between the legs, in use.

24. A device as claimed in claim 23 in which the length adjustable bracing means comprises a chain.

25. A device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

26. A device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 4 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.