JPH11139354A - Spare tire carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and quickly perform loading and unloading, and to improve the appearance by providing an arm, which can be turned upward and downward, with a pedestal, which can be loaded and unloaded with a spare tire in the condition that the arm is turned downward. SOLUTION: At the time of loading a spare tire carrier 1 with a spare tire 12, a wire 34 is pulled through a handle 36 so that an arm 11 can be turned, and a tip of a jack handle 20 is engaged with a hole 21 of a hook 22 provided in a horizontal shaft 18 of a spare tire elevating device 4. An worm gear is rotated by the operation of the jack handle 20 through the hook 22 and the horizontal shaft 18, and the arm 11 is turned clockwise so as to position the pedestal 13 at the lowest predetermined position, and the spare tire 12 is fixed to the pedestal 13 for loading. The arm 11 is turned to the vertical condition by the jack handle 20 through the horizontal shaft 18, and a striker is pinched by a guide groove and a lock plate so as to conclude the loading of the spare tire 12. With this structure, loading and unloading of the spare tire 12 can be easily and quickly performed, and appearance thereof is improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a spare tire carrier.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some so-called RV vehicles used for rest, recreation and the like have detachable spare tires mounted on the rear part of the vehicle. An example of such a RV vehicle spare tire carrier is shown in FIG. I have.

In FIG. 13, a is a spare tire carrier, and the spare tire carrier a includes a carrier body b having a U-shape in front view and having two horizontal arms at the top and bottom.

The carrier body b of the spare tire carrier a can be opened and closed in the horizontal direction with a vertical pin c provided at one side of the rear portion of the vehicle as a fulcrum. The tire d can be mounted.

[0005] As another type of spare tire carrier, although not shown, a spare tire is lifted and lowered by a lifter.

[0006]

In the case of the spare tire carrier a shown in FIG. 13, when the spare tire d is mounted on the carrier body b, a large and heavy spare tire d placed on the ground or the like is manually handled by a person. It must be supported and lifted to a predetermined position on the carrier body b, and when the spare tire d is to be removed from the carrier body b, the operator must similarly support the spare tire d by hand and lower it to the ground.

For this reason, when the spare tire carrier a shown in FIG. 13 is used, the work of mounting and removing the spare tire d becomes a heavy labor and is very difficult.

In the case where the spare tire is moved up and down by the lifter, the mounting and removal of the tire on and from the spare tire carrier is easier than that of FIG.
Since the lifter is stored under the floor of the vehicle, handling is complicated and RV
There is a problem that even if it is installed on a car, it does not look good and is not popular.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, the present invention makes it possible to easily and quickly mount a spare tire on a spare tire carrier and remove the spare tire from the spare tire carrier.
Moreover, it is intended to provide a good-looking spare tire carrier.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A spare tire carrier according to the present invention is provided so that a spare tire can be mounted on or removed from an arm which can be turned up and down while the arm is turned downward. A pedestal is provided.

Further, in the spare tire carrier of the present invention,
Locking means can be provided for fixing the arm so that it does not rotate downward when the arm is rotated upward and becomes substantially upright.

In the spare tire carrier of the present invention, since it is not necessary for a person to lift the spare tire or to lower it by supporting it with hand, the spare tire can be mounted or removed easily and quickly, and the appearance is good. Are getting better and more popular.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 12 show an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a spare tire carrier, and the spare tire carrier 1 includes a carrier body 2 having a U-shape when viewed from the front and having two horizontal members 2a and 2b.

The carrier body 2 of the spare tire carrier 1 can be opened and closed in the horizontal direction with the vertical pin 3 attached to one side of the rear portion of the vehicle as a fulcrum. When set in the horizontal direction, the horizontal members 2a and 2b extend in the vehicle width direction.

A speed reducer type spare tire lifting / lowering device 4 is mounted on a horizontal member 2b below the carrier body 2.

That is, a box cover 5 is disposed on the side of the horizontal member 2b facing the vehicle rear door, and a gear box 6 is disposed on the side of the horizontal member 2b not facing the vehicle rear door. Bolts 7 that penetrate the box cover 5 in the thickness direction and are screwed to the gear box 6 are provided at least at a total of four locations on the top, bottom, left, and right of the cover 5 and the gear box 6.

The box cover 5 and the gear box 6 are fastened by bolts 7 or by welding with the horizontal member 2b sandwiched therebetween, and are fixed to the horizontal member 2b.

The gear box 6 has horizontal members 2a, 2a
When the spare tire carrier 1 is set at the rear portion of the vehicle so that b extends in the width direction of the vehicle, the worm gear 8 is housed so that the axis 11 extends in the front-rear direction of the vehicle, and the worm gear 8 is the axis of the worm gear 8. The box cover 5 and the gear box 6 are connected via the horizontal shafts 9 fixed on both sides in the l1 direction.
Are rotatably supported by bearings 10 provided respectively.

An arm 11 that can reciprocate in a vertical plane is fixed to a portion of the horizontal shaft 9 projecting rearward from the gear box 6 so as to project radially outward of the horizontal shaft 9. A pedestal 13 for setting a spare tire 12 is attached to a tip of the arm 11 remote from the horizontal shaft 9.

When the spare tire carrier 1 is set such that the horizontal members 2a and 2b of the carrier main body 2 are parallel to the rear of the vehicle, the arm 11 is positioned rearward of the vehicle with respect to the carrier main body 2 and the pedestal 13 Is located behind the arm 11 in the vehicle.
When the arm 11 is erected upward, the upper end side of the arm 11 and the pedestal 13 project above the horizontal member 2a, and the arm 11
When hangs downward, most of the arm 11 and the pedestal 13 can project below the horizontal member 2b.

The pedestal 13 is provided with a plurality (three in the figure) of bolts 14 that are parallel to the horizontal shaft 9 and protrude in a direction away from the gear box 6. By fitting the nut 17 into the mounting hole 16 provided in the
The spare tire 12 can be fixed to the base 13.

The upper part of the gear box 6 has a horizontal member 2
When the spare tire carrier 1 is set at the rear of the vehicle such that the a and 2b extend in the width direction of the vehicle, the horizontal shaft 18 is housed so that the axis l2 extends in the vehicle width direction. The front and rear ends are rotatably supported by bearings 19 provided on both sides of the gear box 6.

A projecting end of a horizontal shaft 18 projecting from one side of the gear box 6 toward the side opposite to the side where the vertical pins 3 of the carrier body 2 are mounted is provided with a jack handle 2 for operation.
A hook 22 having a hole 21 through which the hook 0 can engage is integrally fixed.

A worm 23 is externally fitted to the horizontal shaft 18 so as to be located in the gear box 6 and is fixed to the horizontal shaft 18 by screws 24. The worm 23 meshes with the worm gear 8.

The horizontal member 2a of the carrier body 2 includes
As shown in FIG. 3, a bracket-shaped lock base 25 having a substantially L-shaped side surface is fixedly provided so as to protrude downward from the horizontal member 2a, and the arm 11 is horizontally mounted on the lower horizontal member 25a of the lock base 25. As shown in FIG. 5, when rotating from the lower side to the upper side with respect to the shaft 9 as a reference, the plane shape whose side opposite to the rotation direction D1 is open is U-shaped.
A letter-shaped guide groove 26 is provided.

The guide groove 26 is formed so as to gradually decrease in width from the opening side toward the back, so that a striker 27 described later can be smoothly guided when the arm 11 rotates. .

On the surface of the arm 11 facing the carrier body 2, a striker 27 made of a round bar whose upper and lower ends are bent horizontally and the middle is formed vertically and has a U-shaped side shape.
Is fixed so that a gap is formed between the vertical portion 27a and the vertical surface of the arm 11. When the arm 11 stands upright, the vertical portion 27a of the striker 27 Can be fed to the innermost edge portion of the guide groove 26 while being guided by the guide groove 26 in a state of penetrating vertically.

In the vertical portion 27a of the striker 27, as shown in FIG. 6, if necessary, the vertical portion 27a of the striker 27 collides with the lock base 25 when it is fed into the guide groove 26 so that no sound is produced.
It is preferable that the protector 28 made of resin be fitted around the outer periphery of a.

The lower end horizontal member 25a of the lock base 25 is rotated horizontally in the vicinity of the opening side edge of the guide groove 26 through a vertical pin 29 provided at a position farther from the arm 11 than the guide groove 26. A locking plate 30 is mounted so as to be able to perform locking.

The lock plate 30 is formed by three plate-shaped lock plate main bodies 30a and arm plates 30b and 30c which extend substantially radially around the pivotal attachment portion of the vertical pin 29.

When the striker 27 is fixed, the lock plate main body 30a extends from the pivoted portion of the vertical pin 29 in a direction substantially along the guide groove 26 so as to be close to the back of the guide groove 26, and is provided with an arm plate. The arm plate 30c extends substantially away from the lock plate main body 30a with respect to the vertical pin 29 to a position off the lock base 25.
Is provided at a position at an angle of about 90 degrees with respect to the lock plate main body 30a about the vertical pin 29 in plan view and extends toward the front of the vehicle.

The lock plate main body 30a has an outer periphery formed in a substantially arc shape centered on the vertical pin 29, and has a fan shape as a whole when viewed in plan.

A striker 27 is provided between the outer periphery of the arc-shaped portion of the lock plate body 30a and the innermost edge of the guide groove 26.
A gap slightly larger than the diameter of the vertical portion 27a is formed so that the vertical portion 27a can be sent into the innermost portion of the guide groove 26, and the vertical portion 27a is fitted into the innermost portion of the guide groove 26. The vertical portion 27a of the striker 27 can be fixed by the lock plate main body 30a of the lock plate 30.

A spring fixing portion 31 is provided on the surface of the lock plate main body 30a, and at an intermediate position between the lock plate main body 30a and the arm plate 30c of the lower horizontal member 25a of the lock base 25 and the outer periphery of the lock plate main body 30a. A spring fixing portion 32 is provided at a position distant from the tip of the arm plate 30c. Between the spring fixing portions 31 and 32, the lock plate 30 is
9, a torsion coil spring 33 is provided for urging in a counterclockwise or clockwise direction with reference to FIG.
Are fixed to spring fixing portions 31 and 32, respectively.

A wire 34 is fixed to the tip of the arm plate 30c.
A wire hanger 35 extending substantially parallel to the horizontal member 2b to the same side as the arm plate 30b and fixed to the horizontal member 2b.
A handle 36 is also attached to the tip of the hole 35a, which also serves to prevent the wire 34 from coming off the wire hanger 35.

On the lower horizontal member 25a of the lock base 25, a lock plate body 30a and an arm plate 30
c, and a stopper 37 is provided which is in contact with the side of the arm plate 30c or the side of the lock plate main body 30a.

When the lock plate body 30a of the lock plate 30 fixes the vertical portion 27a of the striker 27, the lock plate 30 is urged by the torsion coil spring 33 and further rotates counterclockwise in FIG. When the lock plate 30 is changed from the state shown in FIG. 5 to the state shown in FIG. 8 by pulling the wire 34 by operating the handle 36, the lock plate 30
And is not further rotated clockwise in FIG.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

When the arm 11 is turned upright and upright, as shown in FIG. 7, the arm 11 is fed into the innermost portion of the guide groove 26 provided in the lower horizontal member 25a of the lock base 25. The lock plate 30 is fixed to the lock plate 30 by a lock plate main body 30a.

For example, when the arm 11 is turned downward from above in order to mount the spare tire 12 on the spare tire carrier 1, the wire 34 is first pulled through the handle 36.

For this reason, the lock plate 30 is moved from the position shown in FIG. 7 to the position shown in FIG.
It rotates clockwise around the vertical pin 29 until the side edge a contacts the stopper 37.

As a result, the vertical portion 27a of the striker 27 fixed to the arm 11 is fixed to the lock plate body 30a.
, The arm 11 becomes rotatable and the arm plate 30b of the lock plate 30 substantially covers the open side of the guide groove 26.

In this case, the spring fixing portion 31 of the torsion coil spring 33 is located closer to the stopper 37 than the straight line 13 connecting the center of the vertical pin 29 and the center of the spring fixing portion 32. The lock plate 30 does not return to its original position (the position shown in FIG. 7) even if the lock plate 30 is urged toward the stopper 37 and stops pulling the wire 34 as a result.

When the lock plate 30 is located at the position shown in FIG. 8 and the arm 11 is in a rotatable state, it is then inserted into the hole 21 of the hook 22 attached to the horizontal shaft 18 of the spare tire lifting device 4. By engaging the tip of the jack handle 20 and operating the jack handle 20, the horizontal shaft 18 and thus the worm 23 are rotated via the hook 22.

As a result, the worm gear 8 and the horizontal shaft 9 rotate, whereby the arm 11 rotates clockwise from the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 1 to the position indicated by the phantom line in FIG. It is located at the lowermost predetermined position.

When the arm 11 is pivoted downward from the upright state, the vertical portion 27a of the striker 27 fixed to the arm 11 is moved by the arm plate of the lock plate 30 as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. Abuts 30b side edge,
The arm plate 30c is rotated counterclockwise as shown in FIGS. For this reason, the lock plate 30 is
As shown in FIG.
Is brought into contact with.

In this case, since the spring fixing portion 31 of the torsion coil spring 33 is located closer to the guide groove 26 than the straight line 13 connecting the center of the vertical pin 29 and the center of the spring fixing portion 32, the arm plate 30 c is moved by the torsion coil spring 33. Stopper 37
Side so that the lock plate 30 is
Is held in the position shown in FIG.

When the arm 11 is rotated downward and the pedestal 13 is located at a predetermined lower position, the spare tire 12 is rolled or the like and conveyed to a position near the pedestal 13. After the center of the mounting hole 16 in the hub 15 of the tire 12 is aligned, the spare tire 12 is pushed into the pedestal 13 from the state shown in FIG. The nut 12 is attached to a portion of the bolt 14 protruding from the hub 15 to the side opposite to the arm 11, and the spare tire 12 is mounted on the pedestal 13 and fixed.

When the spare tire 12 is mounted on the pedestal 13, the arm 1 is again moved by the jack handle 20 via the horizontal shaft 18, the worm 23, the worm gear 8, and the horizontal shaft 9.
1 is rotated counterclockwise from the position of the imaginary line in FIG. 1 until it stands upright as shown by the solid line.

When the arm 11 pivots upward from below and approaches an upright state, the vertical portion 27a of the striker 27 fixed to the arm 11 is moved toward the lock plate body 30a side of the lock plate 30 as shown in FIG. The lock plate 30 comes into contact with the edge and overcomes the drag of the torsion coil spring 33 to rotate the lock plate 30 counterclockwise. For this reason, the vertical portion 27a of the striker 27 is pushed inward into the guide groove 26 along the side edge of the lock plate main body 30a while rotating the lock plate 30 counterclockwise as shown in FIG. .

When the arm 11 further pivots in the upright direction and the vertical portion 27a of the striker 27 is pushed into the innermost portion of the guide groove 26 and separates from the side edge of the lock plate body 30a, the lock plate 30 is a torsion coil spring 3
As shown in FIG. 12, the lock plate main body 30a pivots in a direction to close the guide groove 26 by the repulsive force of 3, and as a result,
The vertical portion 27a of the striker 27 is sandwiched between the innermost portion of the guide groove 26 and the lock plate body 30a, and
Cannot be rotated, and the mounting of the spare tire 12 on the spare tire carrier 1 is completed.

When removing the spare tire 12 from the spare tire carrier 1, the wire 34 is pulled by the handle 36, and the lock plate body 30a of the lock plate 30 is retreated from the guide groove 26 as shown in FIG.
When the arm 11 is lowered, the nut 17 is removed from the bolt 14, and the spare tire 12 is removed from the pedestal 13. The movement of each part at that time is the same as the movement when the spare tire 12 is mounted on the pedestal 13, and thus detailed description is omitted.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, since it is not necessary for a person to lift the spare tire 12 by hand or to lower it by supporting it with the hand, the spare tire 12 Mounting and removal from the spare tire carrier 1 can be performed easily and quickly, and the spare tire carrier 1 has a good appearance, so that various excellent effects can be obtained, such as having a favorable feeling from the driver and becoming popular.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0057]

According to the spare tire carrier of the present invention, the mounting of the spare tire on the spare tire carrier and the removal from the spare tire carrier can be performed easily and quickly. Various excellent effects can be achieved, such as being favorably received by people and becoming popular.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an embodiment of a spare tire carrier of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the spare tire carrier of FIG. 1 as viewed from the rear side.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a lock base used in the spare tire carrier of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a modified example of the striker used for the spare tire carrier of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a state in which a striker fixed to an arm is fixed by a lock plate in the spare tire carrier of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the spare tire carrier of the present invention, showing a state in which a lock plate is released to rotate the arm downward.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a state in which the arm starts rotating downward and the striker returns the lock plate to the original position in the spare tire carrier of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a state in which the lock plate has completely returned to the original position after the striker has retreated from the lock base in the spare tire carrier of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a state in which the arm pivots upward from below and the striker releases the lock plate in the spare tire carrier of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a state in which the arm pivots upward from below and the striker substantially completely releases the lock plate in the spare tire carrier of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a rear view of a vehicle equipped with a conventional spare tire carrier.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 spare tire carrier 11 arm 12 spare tire 13 pedestal 25 lock base (lock means) 27 striker (lock means) 30 lock plate (lock means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An arm which can be turned up and down,
A spare tire carrier provided with a pedestal on which a spare tire can be mounted or removed while the arm is turned downward. 2. The spare tire carrier according to claim 1, further comprising a lock means for fixing the arm from rotating downward when the arm is rotated upward and becomes substantially upright.