GB2218400A - Vehicle jack - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle jack comprises a support leg (10), a support arm (12) mounted on the leg (10) for pivotal movement about an axis (14) and a support member (16) mounted on the arm (12) remote from the axis (14) for pivotal movement about an axis (17) parallel with the axis (14). A rivet is received in aligned holes in parallel walls (18), (20) of the support member (16) and arm (12) to provide the axis for the member (16). Preferably a torsion spring (28) urges the member (16) towards its retracted position. <IMAGE>

Description

VEHICLE JACK This invention is concerned with vehicle jacks and especially with vehicle jacks of the type having a support leg and a support arm pivotally mounted thereon.

Jacks of this type are well known and one such jack is described in UK patent No. 201223913. Such jacks include a support member e.g. a support plate pivotally mounted on a free end portion of the support arm, the support member being intended to engage a part of a vehicle to lift it in the operation of the jack. The support plates of the known jacks have been mounted for pivotal movement about a pin (or axle) which has been welded to an end portion of the arm, the support plate being mounted pivotally on the pin by means of tongues formed from the plate and embracing the pin.Not only have these previous jacks involved a careful welding operation of the pin to the arm but also the manufacture and assembly of the support member on the pin at the end portion of the support arm has been a relatively complicated and time consuming operation.

In one aspect the invention may be considered to provide a vehicle jack comprising a support leg, a support arm mounted on the support leg for pivotal movement about an axis, a support member which in the operation of the jack is intended to engage a part of a vehicle to lift it, mounted on an end portion of the arm remote from the arm axis for pivotal movement about an axis parallel with the arm axis, and an axle member received in aligned holes in the support arm and the support member to provide the axis for the support member.

Preferably in a jack in accordance with the invention the aligned holes are provided in parallel walls of the support arm and the support member.

Preferably the support member is formed from sheet metal by metal pressing, portions of the metal being bent so that they are perpendicular to the axis of the support member to form the parallel walls.

Preferably the axle sof a jack in accordance with the invention is provided by a rivet which is headed at one end and, in the assembly of the jack, is passed through the aligned holes and upset at the other end to retain the rivet in place.

The support member of a jack in accordance with the invention is provided with a vehicle engaging portion which. when the jack is not in use, is preferably rotated about its axis to a retracted position. Commonly the vehicle engaging portion comprises a recess e.g. a channel portion intended to receive a projection on the vehicle when the jack is in use to locate the support member correctly on the vehicle body. Where the support member comprises such a channel portion this is conveniently received in a groove in the support arm when the member is in its retracted position. Preferably the jack comprises spring means e.g. a torsion spring urging the support member towards its retracted position.

A jack in accordance with the invention also comprises drive means of known construction adapted to pivot the support arm about its axis in the operation of the jack. In a preferred jack the drive means comprises a threaded shaft supported by a bearing member and threaded into a nut, the bearing member and nut being mounted for pivotal movement about axes parallel with the arm axis, one in each of the upper end portions of the support arm and support leg; preferably the bearing member is pivoted on the support arm and the nut on the leg.

There now follows a detailed description to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings of a vehicle jack embodying the invention. It will be realised that this jack has been selected ,for description to illustrate the invention by way of example.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a fragmentary side view showing a vehicle jack embodying the invention; and Figure 2 is a fragmentary front view of the jack shown in figure 1.

The illustrative vehicle jack shown in the drawings comprises a support leg 10, a support arm 12 mounted on the support leg 10 for pivotal movement about an axis 14 and a support member 16 mounted on an end portion of the arm 12 remote from the axis 14. The support member 16 is intended, in the operation of the jack, to engage a part of a vehicle to lift the vehicle.

In Figure 1 the parts of the illustrative jack are shown in various positions in chain-dot line or fullline; in particular, the support arm 12 is shown in three different positions, a first in which it is fully retracted towards the support leg 10 (the lowermost chain-dot position in Figure 1) a second, intermediate position in which it is shown in full line in Figure 1 and a third, extended position in which it is shown in chain-dot line at an upper portion of Figure 1.

The support member 16 is mounted for pivotal movement about an axis 17 parallel with the arm axis 14.

An axle member provided by a rivet 26 is received in aligned holes in the support arm 12 and the support member 16 and provides the axis 17 for the support member 16.

The support arm 12 is of channel section, of generally U-shaped cross section (see particularly Figure 2) and has two parallel side walls 20. The support member 16 likewise has two parallel side walls 18. When the support member 16 is assembled with the support arm 12, the walls 18 are slidingly received outwardly of the walls 20 of the arm 12 and the aligned holes are provided in the parallel walls 18, 2p.

As is commonly the case with known vehicle jacks, much of the jack is formed of pressed sheet metal. The support member 16 is formed from sheet metal by metal pressing, portions of the metal being bent so that they are perpendicular to the axis 17 of the support member to form the parallel walls 18. The support member 16 also is provided with a vehicle-engaging portion 22, 24 which, when the jack is not in use, is rotated about the axis 17 to a retracted position in which it is shown in Figure 1 of the drawings. In use, when lifting a vehicle, the support member pivots in a counter clockwise direction (viewing Figure 1) about its axis 17, as the vehicle is raised.One of the vehicle engaging portions 22 provides a substantially flat vehicle-engaging surface which is adapted to engage a load bearing portion of the vehicle spreading the load over a significant area of the vehicle to reduce the risk of damage to the vehicle. The vehicle engaging portion further comprises a recess, namely a channel portion 24 intended to receive a projection (e.g.

a rib provided by a pinch-weld) on the vehicle when the jack is in use; the rib on the vehicle engaged in the channel portion 24 assists in locating the support member in the correct position on the vehicle body and also resists sliding movement of the vehicle engaging portion relative to the body.

The axle of the illustrative jack is provided by the rivet 26 which is pre-headed at one end and after having been assembled by passing the shank through the aligned holes in the walls 18, 20 is up-set at the other end to retain the rivet 26 in position and thus retain the support member 16 on the support arm 12.

As can be seen from Figure 1, the part of the support member 16 defining the channel portion 24 is received in a groove 25 in the walls 20 of the support arm when the member 16 is ir its retracted position. The illustrative jack comprises a torsion string 28 coiled around the rivet 26 positioned between the walls 20 of the support arm 12 and having a first, hooked end portion engaged about the portion of the walls 20 of the support arm and an opposite end portion which is engaged with the support member 16. The torsion spring 28 is arranged to urge the support member 16 in a clockwise sense about the axis 17 viewing Figure 1, that is urging the support member 16 to the retracted position.Spring 28 not only ensures that when the illustrative jack is not in use, the support member 16 is urged into its retracted position and thus is unlikely to catch on any other part of the vehicle but also ensures that when the illustrative jack is stored in the vehicle when not in use, the support member 16 does not vibrate against the support arm causing unpleasant noise. The illustrative jack is arranged to be operated by drive means of known construction to pivot the support arm 12 about its axis 14 in the operation of the jack. The drive means comprises a threaded shaft 30 supported by a bearing member 32 and threaded into a nut 34. The bearing member 32 is mounted for pivotal movement on the support arm 12 and the nut is mounted for pivotal movement on the support leg 10, both bearing member 32 and nut 34 being pivotal about axis parallel with the arm axis 14. Means to rotate the threaded shaft e.g. a suitable handle of known construction is also provided thus to operate the jack.

The illustrative jack is of simpler construction and more simple to manufacture and assemble than similar types of jacks known in the prior art for example as described in the above mentioned patent. No welding is necessary to assemble the support member with the support arm and the provision of spring means to urge the support member to its retracted position is facilitated by the construction adopted. Thq assembly operation to mount the support member 16 on the arm 12 is very simple.

Claims (6)

1. A vehicle jack comprising a support leg, a support arm mounted on the support leg for pivotal movement about an axis, a support member which in the operation of the jack is intended to engage a part of a vehicle to lift it, mounted on an end portion of the arm remote from the arm axis for pivotal movement about an axis parallel with the arm axis, and an axle member received in aligned holes in the support arm and the support member to provide the axis for the support member.

2. A vehicle jack according to claim 1 wherein the aligned holes are provided in parallel walls of the support arm and support member.

3. A vehicle jack according to claim 2 wherein the support member is formed from sheet metal by pressing, portions of the metal being bent so that they are perpendicular to the axis of the support member to form the parallel walls.

4. A vehicle jack according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the axle is provided by a rivet which is headed at one end and, in the assembly of the jack, is passed through the aligned holes and upset at the other end to retain the rivet in place.

5. A vehicle jack according to any one of the preceding claims comprising spring means by which the support member is urged towards a retracted position when the jack is not in use.

6. A vehicle jack constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.