WO2000030917A1

WO2000030917A1 - Lifting device for the spare wheel of a motor vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2000030917A1
Application number: PCT/EP1999/008993
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sven Schlegel; Maik Schlegel
Original assignee: Sven Schlegel; Maik Schlegel
Priority date: 1998-11-23
Filing date: 1999-11-22
Publication date: 2000-06-02
Also published as: AU1966900A; DE19853935A1

Abstract

The aim of the invention is to provide a device which facilitates the removal of a spare wheel of a motor vehicle, especially of a passenger car, from a spare wheel retainer (5) which is provided with a lifting means (10) for lifting a spare wheel (12) located in the spare wheel retainer (5). To his end, the lifting means (10) has a drive mechanism (21), especially a telescopic lift column (30) with gas pressure springs (21') for lifting the spare wheel (12).

Description

Description:

Lifting device for a spare wheel of a vehicle

The invention relates to a lifting device for a spare wheel of a vehicle, in particular a passenger car, according to the preamble features of claim 1.

In most of the usual vehicle types, the spare wheel carried in it is accommodated in a spare wheel well, which is formed in the floor of the trunk. As a rule, the spare wheel is in it by means of a fastening device, for. B. a wing screw, set on the trough bottom. Especially in vehicles with a rear wall raised to the trunk lid, removing the spare wheel is very tedious and possibly even harmful, since the spare wheel must be lifted out of the spare wheel well in a bent posture so that it can damage the back or spinal discs.

To make it easier to lift a spare wheel out of the spare wheel well, removal aids are already known from GB 21 55 421 A and DE 40 40 950 Cl, these essentially comprising a drawstring which is fastened in the spare wheel well in such a way that the spare wheel is pulled manually at the other end of the drawstring is lifted accordingly on one side. However, such removal aids only allow a partial lifting of the spare wheel out of the spare wheel well, but not a complete lifting of the spare wheel out of the spare wheel well or even lifting over the loading edge of a rear wall. The relief of the back of a person who lifts the spare wheel by means of such a removal aid is thus only possible to a small extent.

The object of the invention is therefore to propose a lifting device for a spare wheel of a vehicle, in particular a passenger car cumbersome and harmful to the body when removing the spare wheel from the spare wheel well largely avoided.

This object is achieved by a lifting device for a spare wheel of a vehicle with the features of claim 1.

Such a lifting device with a drive mechanism lifts the spare wheel up to a comfortable height for handling. The soiling of clothing when a person is leaning against the rear wall of the vehicle and the laborious and possibly harmful lifting of the spare wheel from the spare wheel holder is eliminated.

Advantageous refinements are the subject of dependent claims. The storage of the spare wheel on a scissor-type lifting linkage enables the spare wheel to be highlighted particularly far from the spare wheel holder. The use of a staggered multiple scissor lifting linkage or a telescopic lifting column is particularly advantageous, with a shift towards the rear of the vehicle taking place simultaneously with the lifting of the spare wheel.

The storage of a carrier plate for supporting the spare wheel on a carrier guide rail with an essentially L-shaped structure on the movably mounted strut or rod of the scissor lifting linkage enables the carrier for the spare wheel to be tilted, so that it can be removed or replaced even more easily . A guide groove for the bolt of the loosely mounted rod of the scissor lifting linkage, which has a latching groove before the transition into the leg leading upwards, enables the carrier for the spare wheel to be temporarily fixed in a horizontal position, for example to hold the spare wheel in this horizontal position on the To be able to attach carriers.

Gas pressure springs are particularly preferred as drive mechanisms for actively lifting the spare wheel. With a simple structure and small space requirements, this enables a special even and energy-saving lifting of the spare wheel from the spare wheel holder high. Alternatively or in combination with such a gas pressure spring, a crank linkage with a hand crank or an electric motor as a drive enables even particularly heavy spare wheels to be lifted or lowered.

Two exemplary embodiments of a lifting device for a spare wheel are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing. Show it:

1 shows a schematic section through the trunk of a vehicle, from the spare wheel well a spare wheel is lifted by means of a scissor lift linkage;

2 shows an enlarged section of the carrier for a spare wheel of the lifting device;

3 shows a side view similar to FIG. 1, with a preferred lifting device in the form of a telescopic lifting column; and

4 shows a front view of the lifting column according to arrow A in FIG. 3.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, a trunk 1 of a motor vehicle, in particular a notchback sedan, essentially comprises a partition 2 between trunk 1 and passenger compartment, a floor 3 of trunk 1 and a rear wall 4 with a loading edge. A spare wheel well 5 is embedded in the floor 3 of the trunk 1 and has a peripheral spare wheel well side wall 6 and a spare wheel well bottom 7.

A lifting device 10 is mounted on the bottom 7 of the spare wheel well 5, in the exemplary embodiment shown a multiple scissor lifting linkage 10 '. The multiple scissor lift linkage 10 'carries on its top a carrier 11 on which a spare wheel 12 by means of a spare wheel fastening device, for. B. a wing screw 13 can be fastened, which passes through a corresponding opening in the spare wheel rim 12a and into a Threaded opening of the carrier 11 for the spare wheel 12 is screwed.

The multiple scissor lift linkage 10 'in the illustrated embodiment consists of a lower floor linkage section and an upper support linkage section with parallel guided linkages, as is customary with scissor lift linkages. For the sake of simplicity, only one side of the multiple

Scissor lift linkage 10 'explained. The parallel side is structured accordingly.

The bottom linkage section of the multiple scissor lifting linkage 10 'essentially consists of two bottom linkage rods 14 and 15, respectively. The first bottom linkage rod 14 is articulated at one end near the side wall 6 of the spare wheel well 5 to the bottom 7 of the bottom linkage so that the other end of the bottom linkage rod 14 is out the spare wheel recess designed as a spare wheel well 5 can be raised. At this other end of the bottom linkage 14, a support linkage 16 is articulated, the upper end of which is articulated to a fixed support bearing 18 of the support 11 for the spare wheel 12. This second end of the carrier rod 16 is articulated to the carrier bearing 18 in such a way that the carrier rod 16 can be pivoted downward from the carrier 11. The lengths of the struts or rods 14, 15 are preferably dimensioned such that they are somewhat shorter than the rim diameter, so that in the lowered position they are accommodated in the wheel dish of the spare wheel 12 in a space-saving manner.

The second bottom linkage rod 15 is supported with its first end in a trough guide rail 19 which extends in the longitudinal direction onto the bearing point of the first

Floor rod rod 14 extends over the floor 7 of the spare wheel well 5. At the other end of the bottom rod 15, a second support rod 17 is mounted. The other, second end is mounted in a carrier guide rail 20, the extends on the edge or the underside of the carrier 11 for the spare wheel 12, the longitudinal direction of this carrier guide rail 20 pointing in the direction of the carrier bearing 18. As is customary with a scissor lifting linkage, the two floor linkage rods 14 and 15 and the two support linkage rods 16 and 17 are each coupled to one another via a central floor linkage bearing 21 and a support linkage bearing 22, respectively.

While in a conventional scissor lifting linkage for vertical lifting of a load, the guide rails and the

Rod assembly bearings are arranged so that there is an overall symmetrical structure, an asymmetrical structure is preferred in the illustrated embodiment. As a result, a movement toward the rear of the vehicle takes place simultaneously with the lifting of the carrier 11 for the spare wheel 12. In particular, the trough guide rail 19 is preferably displaced away from the side wall 6 of the spare wheel well 5 in the direction of the center of the spare wheel well 5. Furthermore, the bottom linkage bearing 21 and the support linkage bearing 22 are arranged somewhat off-center of the bottom linkage rods 14 and 15 and the support linkage rods 16 and 17.

For the partially automatic or automatic lifting of the carrier 11 for the spare wheel 12, a drive mechanism 21 designed as a gas pressure spring is coupled to the carrier 11 for the spare wheel 12 or, as shown, to the scissor-type linkage 10 '. The gas pressure spring 21 is preferably coupled at one end to the bearing between one of the bottom rod rods 14, 15 and the carrier rod rod 16 or 17 coupled thereto. The other end of the gas pressure spring 21 is mounted on the bottom 7 of the spare wheel well 5 so that the gas pressure spring 21 is fully compressed when the scissor linkage 10 'is lowered and fully pushed out when the scissor linkage 10 is extended. As an alternative to a gas pressure spring 21 or to support a gas pressure spring 21 for lifting a particularly large and heavy spare wheel 12 or multi-scissor lifting linkage 10 'which can be extended particularly far, a mechanical drive, for example a crank linkage, can also be installed as an active or activatable mechanism. In this case, a hand crank inserted in the floor 3 of the trunk 1 next to the spare wheel well 5 is suitable for actuating the crank linkage. Alternatively or additionally, an electric motor for actuating the crank linkage, ie for lifting and lowering the carrier 11 for the spare wheel 12, can also be installed.

In a preferred embodiment, the carrier 11 for the spare wheel 12 can be pivoted in the raised position about the carrier bearing 18 into the inclined position shown in dashed lines in FIG. 1. For this purpose, either the carrier rod rods 17 can be uncoupled from the corresponding carrier guide rail 20, or the carrier guide rail 20 is designed accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2. In this particularly preferred embodiment, the carrier guide rail 20 is essentially L-shaped, wherein it has a guide groove 23 in which a bolt 24 is guided, which protrudes from the corresponding end of the carrier rod rod 17. The main section of the guide groove 23 runs parallel to the carrier 11 for the spare wheel 12 and serves as a guide for the bolt 24 during the lifting of the carrier 11. In the completely raised position of the carrier 11, the bolt 24 is located at the end of the section of the guide groove 23, which runs parallel to the carrier 11. From there, the guide groove 23 leads upwards through the upwardly extending short L-leg of the carrier guide rail 20. The short leg of the carrier guide rail 20 or the section of the guide groove 23 which is guided upwards therein runs along a circular path with the carrier bearing 18 as the center. With this arrangement, the carrier 11 is up and out after the complete lifting out of the spare wheel well 5 can be tilted at the rear beyond the rear wall 4 into the position shown in dashed lines in FIG. 1.

In order to prevent unintentional tilting of the carrier 11 in the raised position, the bolt 24 of the carrier rod 17 can be automatically latched into a locking groove 25. The latching groove 25 is preferably let into the carrier guide rail 20 on the upper edge of the guide groove 23 in its section running parallel to the carrier 11 shortly before the transition into the upwardly running section.

As an alternative to a scissor lifting linkage or multiple scissor lifting linkage 10 ', other forms of lifting devices can also be used. For example, the installation of a telescopic lifting column instead of a scissor lifting linkage is possible. Such a lifting column would preferably be supported at one end in a position comparable to the position of the bottom rod rod 14 on the bottom 7 of the spare wheel well 5. Instead of installing the lifting device 10 in a spare wheel well 5 of a motor vehicle, it is also possible to use such a lifting device directly on the flat floor 3 of a trunk 1 or elsewhere in the motor vehicle in order to move a suitably mounted spare wheel 12 from the storage position into one position bring in which it is easily accessible. For example, in an off-road vehicle on which the spare wheel 12 is mounted on the tailgate, the lifting device 10 can be used to place the stored spare wheel 12 in a controlled manner on the ground or by means of the drive mechanism 21 into the storage position on the spare wheel receptacle on the To lift the tailgate of the off-road vehicle.

3 and 4, a preferred embodiment of the lifting device 10 is shown, namely in the form of a telescopic lifting column 30. Components with the same function as in FIG. 1 are provided with the same reference numerals, namely in particular the trunk 1, the spare wheel well 5, the side wall 6 and the bottom 7. The bottom 3 of the trunk 1 and the rear wall 4 are also shown, but this is shown in contrast to FIG. 1 on the right side. 1, a spare wheel 12 is also shown, which is screwed to the carrier 11 by means of a wing screw 13 or a similar quick-release fastener via the rim 12a. The carrier 11 is shown here only as a sleeve which is arranged on the telescopic lifting column 30.

The telescopic lifting column 30 consists of a base part 34, a middle part 35 and a support part 36, which are connected to one another at joints 31 and 32 located between them. The base part 34 is fastened to the base 7 of the spare wheel well 5, in particular screwed, as is also shown in FIG. 4. A gas pressure spring 21 acts on the left end of the base part 34, the piston rod of which is connected to the lower region of the middle part 35. In the middle part 35, two gas pressure springs 21 'are arranged in parallel, the pressure cylinder of which is or are attached by a holding clip 35. The piston rods of the two gas pressure springs 21 'in the middle part 35 lead downwards to the joint 31 on the base part 34. On the opposite side of the middle part 35 facing the rear wall 4, a further gas pressure spring 21 is attached, the piston rod of which is articulated on the carrier part 36. As a result, the carrier part 36, to which the carrier 11 for the spare wheel 12 is fastened, always strives to pivot the joint 32 upward, here via the rear wall 4, so that the spare wheel 12 is lifted up in an easy-to-grip position.

To fold the telescopic lifting column, a slight manual pressure is exerted on the spare wheel 12, so that, in accordance with the schematically illustrated curve Z, the upper part of the lifting column 30 is first pivoted inward about the lower swivel joint 31. The weight of the spare wheel 12 are then in an approximately vertical position of the middle part 35 through Mass applied to the gas pressure springs 21 'mounted in the middle part 35, so that the gas pressure springs 21' are mainly pressed downwards towards the base part 34 by the weight of the spare wheel 12. As a result, the carrier part 36 is then also pivoted slightly downward against the rear-side gas pressure spring 21 and finally the middle part 35 together with the carrier part 36 coupled thereto is pivoted over or into the base part 34 against the lower gas pressure spring 21. It should be noted that the lever design and the spring force of the gas pressure springs 21, 21 'are designed so that the telescopic lifting column 30 can be lowered into the trunk recess with little manual pressure. The same applies to starting up from the recess 5 of the spare wheel receptacle, so that after loosening a quick-release fastener, not shown, the telescopic lifting column 30 moves into the raised position shown (opposite the curve Z).

4 shows the front view of the telescopic lifting column 30 as a preferred embodiment of the lifting device 10. This shows the articulation of the individual gas pressure springs 21, 21 '. In FIG. 3, a warning light is also shown on the lower edge of the carrier part 36 in order to warn the following road users in the event of a spare wheel change. Furthermore, a shortened rear wall 4 'is shown in dash-dot lines, which carries a stop 41. As a result, the exact end position can be set with a stronger or weaker inclination of the spare wheel 12 over the rear wall 4.

As can be seen from FIG. 3 when swiveled by 90 °, the telescopic lifting column 30 could also serve on the rear wall of an off-road vehicle for the defined lowering of the spare wheel 12, the rear wall 4 ′ here roughly corresponding to the rear bumper. Due to the corresponding lever lengths and the choice of the spring force of the gas pressure springs 21, 21 ', an almost force-free lifting of the spare wheel 12 from the floor is possible along the folding curve Z. In particular, too pointed out that in the folded position, the carrier part 36 lies exactly above the base part 34, for which purpose both are cut obliquely in the opposite direction. The middle part 35 is designed to be somewhat narrower (see FIG. 4), so that it is accommodated together with the four gas pressure springs 21, 21 'in a compact manner within the wheel disk of the spare wheel 12. This results in a compact design, in particular, which also enables retrofitting to existing vehicles. It should be pointed out that by simply exchanging the gas pressure springs 21, 21 ', an adaptation to the respective spare wheel weight is made possible, so that the spare wheel 12 can be folded up and lifted up practically without great effort. In particular, reference should be made here to the automatically starting telescopic movement of the two gas pressure springs 21 'in the central part 35.

Claims

Claims:

1. Lifting device for a spare wheel of a vehicle, in particular a passenger car, with a spare wheel receptacle (5) and a lifting device (10) for lifting a spare wheel (12) located in the spare wheel receptacle (5), characterized in that the lifting device (10) has a drive mechanism (21) for lifting the spare wheel (12).

2. Lifting device according to claim 1, characterized in that the lifting device (10) has a scissor lifting linkage (10 '), in particular a multiple scissor lifting linkage (10'), whose lower section (14, 15) is mounted on the floor (7) of the vehicle and whose upper section (16, 17) carries the spare wheel (12).

3. Lifting device according to claim 2, characterized in that the scissor lifting linkage (10 ') has a structure offset towards the trunk opening.

4. Lifting device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that for the storage of the spare wheel (12) on the lifting device (10) a carrier (11) is mounted thereon, the carrier (11) being tiltable about a carrier bearing (18) , in particular from a substantially horizontal position to an inclined position.

5. Lifting device according to claim 4, characterized in that the carrier (11) via a first carrier rod (16) on the carrier bearing (18) and a second carrier rod (17) is mounted, the end of the carrier side in an L-shaped guide groove ( 23) is mounted, a section of the guide groove (23) extending upward in the form of a partial arc.

6. Lifting device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the carrier (11) in at least one Intermediate position, in particular a raised and not tilted position, can be locked.

7. Lifting device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drive mechanism (21) is designed as a gas pressure spring accumulator.

8. Lifting device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drive mechanism (21) has a crank drive.

9. Lifting device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drive mechanism (21) has an electric motor drive.

10. Lifting device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lifting device (10) comprises a telescopic lifting column (30) which consists of a base part (34), a central part (35) and a support part (36), which on joints (31 and 32) are interconnected.

11. Lifting device according to claim 10, characterized in that the central part (35) relative to the base part (34) is telescopic in height, in particular by means of two gas pressure springs (21 '), the pressure cylinder in the central part (35) by a retaining clip (37) is / are attached.

12. Lifting device according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the upper edges of the base part (34) and the lower edges of the carrier part (36) are arranged obliquely to one another and are adjacent to each other in the folded position.

13. Lifting device according to claim 12, characterized in that the central part (35) is narrower in width than the base part (34) and the carrier part (36).

4. Lifting device according to one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that the lifting column (30) is fitted in the folded state in the wheel bowl or spare wheel rim (12a).