WO2014193327A1

WO2014193327A1 - Vehicle jack kit placement apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2014193327A1
Application number: PCT/TR2014/000188
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sevgi CIGDEM; Cem Güney AYANA
Original assignee: Arikan Kriko Ve Makina San. Ve Tic. A. S.
Priority date: 2013-05-30
Filing date: 2014-05-30
Publication date: 2014-12-04
Also published as: EP3003785A1

Abstract

A jack kit placement apparatus enabling the body (10) provided thereon with the components such as jack (50), lug wrench (60), towing eye (70) and wheel cover remover (80) used for replacing the tires of vehicles such as passenger cars, commercial vehicles, buses, vans, trucks, etc. or for towing the vehicles to be fitted into the vehicle by means of the connection clip (30) and connection pin (40), wherein it comprises the following: a neck support (20) connected to said body (10) and formed thereon with the lug wrench end abutment (60b) preventing rotation of and providing support to the lug wrench (60) disposed on the body (10) and/or the wheel cover remover end abutment (80b) enabling the wheel cover remover (80) to be fixed and/or the wheel cover remover fixing element (80a) enabling the wheel cover remover (80) to be fixed; a jack screw fixing element (50a) disposed on said body (10); a jack top step abutment (50b) disposed on said body (10); and a jack base abutment (50c) disposed on said body (10).

Description

DESCRIPTION Vehicle jack kit placement apparatus

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a placement apparatus enabling the components such as jacks, jack handle, lug wrenches, towing eyes used for replacing the tires of vehicles such as passenger cars, commercial vehicles, buses, vans, trucks, etc. or for towing the vehicles to be placed inside the vehicle.

The present invention particularly relates to a jack kit placement apparatus made of plastic material enabling the equipment mounted on the vehicle to be fixed while cruising. Prior Art

A vehicle's handling and capabilities are the most important factors for ensuring driving safety. The ground connection and handling of the vehicle is provided by many components working together. The vehicle will be able to respond to the needs of drivers by all the components such as moving parts, steering system, suspension system, front layout geometry and tires working in harmony with each other.

Importance of the tires being the only element allowing the vehicle to contact the road is too significant to be ignored. This is why tires are vital in terms of driving safety. A tire with an incorrect pressure can lead to poor handling and increased braking distance while an unbalanced tire can result in a life threatening situation by reducing the contact between the tire and the road.

In case of blowout/deflation of one of the vehicle's tires, the tire should be replaced with the spare tire. Nearly all the vehicles are provided with a kit comprising tools to be used in case of tire replacement. Spare tire is not normally for continuing to drive but for reaching the nearest maintenance service. Basically, a vehicle is provided with a kit comprising a jack, a lug wrench and sometimes a wheel cover remover for lifting the wheel cover. Since the current kits provided in the vehicles are designed as a single use do it yourself kits, provision of an advanced kit in the vehicles would be certainly useful. Patent application 1998/01682 is encountered during the literature search conducted on the prior art, wherein said patent application relates to a jack support assembly fitted inside the spare tire and comprising a slot defining a cavity to hold the jack and removable fixing means connected to the base of the slot for securing the slot to the body and capable of forming a closed position for securing the slot and spare tire to the body and an open position allowing the slot and spare tire to be released from the body. Fixing means comprise a double formation. One of said formations is designed so as to be secured to the body and the other one is designed so as to be secured to the slot in a mutually aligned manner. However, this construct only allows the jack and the spare tire to be secured.

Also, in the constructs of the prior art, volumetrically larger and less durable materials are used. Generally, the material used for this purpose is expanded polypropylene. Due to the nature of this material, problems such as breaking and disintegration are experienced over time. This situation increases the cost of components and prevents the product to perform its functions throughout the economic life thereof in the case of using non-durable materials. In addition, even if dimensional compatibility is provided due to being a flexible material, it leads to unwanted noise problems in the vehicle over time.

In conclusion, an improvement in the respective art is necessary due to the aforementioned drawbacks and insufficiency of the existing solutions in the field.

Objects of the Invention

The present invention is developed by being inspired from the existing situations and seeks to solve the above mentioned drawbacks.

The primary object of the present invention is to enable the components such as jacks, lug wrenches, towing eyes, wheel cover removers, etc. to be placed on the apparatus and to be easily and conveniently fitted and removed with suitable force.

Another object of the present invention is to eliminate strength problems such as breaking and disintegration thanks to the plastic structure thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus to be preferred in the automotive industry thanks to the plastic material comprised in the structure thereof having a lower cost and being lighter than the currently used materials. Another object of the present invention is to enable the apparatus to be fitted on and fixed to the plate piece disposed on the vehicle trunk cavity by means of the connection clip and tab pin. Another object of the present invention is to enable the common center of gravity of the detail components disposed on the apparatus to be close to the position where said apparatus is mounted on the vehicle.

The structural and the characteristic features and all advantages of the present invention will be understood more clearly with the following figures and the detailed description written by referring to said figures. Therefore, the evaluation needs to be done by taking these figures and the detailed description into consideration.

Figures Facilitating Understanding of the Invention

Figure 1: A perspective view of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention.

Figure 2: A perspective view of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention illustrating the placement of the jack.

Figure 3: A perspective view of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention illustrating the placement location of the lug wrench.

Figure 4: A perspective view of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention with the lug wrench being placed.

Figure 5: A perspective view of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention illustrating the placement location of the towing eye.

Figure 6: Top and bottom perspective views of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention with the towing eye being placed.

Figure 7: A perspective view of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention illustrating the placement location of the wheel cover remover.

Figure 8: A perspective view of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention with the wheel cover remover being placed.

Figure 9: A perspective view of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention illustrating before and after of the connection of the body to the plate.

Figure 10: A perspective view illustrating the placement of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention onto the trunk cavity.

Figure 11 : A perspective view illustrating the mounting of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention to the plate by means of the structure with clips. Figure 12: A perspective view illustrating a different embodiment of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention with the pin and clip used for mounting to the plate being attached to each other. Description of References

10. Body

10a. Clip

20. Neck support

30. Connection clip

30a. Click fit clip

30b. Fixed clip

30c. Connecting element

40. Connection pin

50. Jack

50a. Jack screw fixing element

50b. Jack top step abutment

50c. Jack base abutment

50d. Jack screw

60. Lug wrench

60a. Lug wrench fixing element

60b. Lug wrench end abutment

70. Towing eye

70a. Towing eye fixing element

80. Wheel cover remover

80a. Wheel cover remover fixing element

80b. Wheel cover remover end abutment

90. Trunk cavity

100. Plate

Scaling of drawings is not absolutely required and details, which are not needed for understanding the present invention may have been neglected. Furthermore, elements, which are at least substantially identical or have at least substantially identical functions, are indicated with the same number. Detailed Description of the Invention

In this detailed description, preferred embodiments of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention are described only for a better understanding of the subject without constituting any restrictive effect.

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention. The vehicle jack kit placement apparatus comprises a body (10) made of plastic material provided with supports thereon for positioning the components such as jack (50), lug wrench (60), towing eye (70) and wheel cover remover (80). The body (10) is mounted to the neck support (20) by means of the clips (10a) disposed thereon. The neck support (20) comprises a geometrical structure preventing rotation of and supporting the lug wrench (60) placed on the body (10) as well as enabling the wheel cover remover (80) to be fixed.

The body (10) is provided with a jack screw fixing element (50a) for placing the jack (50) thereon. The end portions of the jack screw fixing element (50a) comprise an angled structure. The angled structure enables the end portions to flex when the jack screw (50d) is placed and prevents the breakage thereof. Again, to prevent the movement of the jack (50) on the body (10), a jack top step abutment (50b) and a jack base abutment (50c) are provided. The jack top step abutment (50b) is designed according to the geometrical structure of the jack (50) top step, wherein it enables the jack (50) to be compressed and prevents the movement thereof. The jack base abutment (50c) prevents the movement of the jack (50) in two directions by compressing the jack (50) base plate.

Figure 3 is a view of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention illustrating the placement location of the lug wrench (60). The lug wrench fixing element (60a) is disposed on the body (10). The lug wrench fixing element (60a) comprises an angled end portion while the body portion of the lug wrench (60) comprises a flexing structure preventing the breakage during the placement thereof. The lug wrench end abutment (60b) disposed on the neck support (20) portion comprises a geometrical structure preventing the lug wrench (60) from being reversely placed and enabling the large size lug wrench (60) to be fixed from a second point. The lug wrench end abutment (60b) also contacts the jack (50) and provides an abutment surface for the jack (50).

Another portion provided on the body is the towing eye fixing element (70a). This structure is designed so as to fix the towing eye (70). Since the towing eye (70) is heavy, the contact surface is increased. The towing eye fixing element (70a) is constructed so as to prevent rotation and reverse placement of the towing eye (70).

A wheel cover remover fixing element (80a) is provided in the body (10) and neck support (20) joining portion. This fixing element (80a) is constructed in accordance with the geometrical structure of the wheel cover remover (80), wherein it comprises flexible and angled end portions to hold the body portion of the wheel cover remover (80). The end portion of the wheel cover remover (80) is placed into and fixed on the wheel cover remover end abutment (80b) constructed in accordance with said end portion.

The vehicle jack kit placement apparatus comprises a geometrical structure in accordance with the plate (100) disposed on the trunk cavity (90) for fitting thereof. The apparatus is attached to the plate (100) disposed on the trunk cavity (90) by means of the connection clip (30) and connection pin (40). The connection clip (30) centers the plate (100) to be fitted with the body (10) and neck support (20) and prevents it from coming loose by means of the click fit clips (30a) disposed on the end portion thereof. The connection pin (40), after the connection of the connection clip (30) with the plate (100) is performed, prevents closing of the click fit clips (30a) disposed on the connection clip (30) by flexing and enables fixed connection thereof to the plate ( 00).

Figure 11 shows an alternative view of the connection of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention to the plate (100). In this alternative embodiment, fitting can be provided by adding a fixed clip structure (30b) to the surface for placing the body (10) component onto the plate (100) instead of the connection clip (30) and the connection pin (40). In the current vehicle body design, since slots for fitting the fixed clips (30b) are not provided, such fitting can be applied to the new vehicle bodies.

Figure 12 shows an alternative view of connection clip (30) and connection pin (40) enabling the connection of the vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to the present invention to the plate (100). In this alternative embodiment, the connection clip (30) and connection pin (40) prevent the components attached to each other by connecting element (30c) from being lost and again mounting to the plate (100) is provided by compression provided by the connection pin (40) and the connection clip.

Claims

1. A jack kit placement apparatus enabling a body (10) provided thereon with components such as jack (50), lug wrench (60), towing eye (70) and wheel cover remover (80) used for replacing tires of vehicles such as passenger cars, commercial vehicles, buses, vans, trucks, etc. or for towing the vehicles to be fitted into the vehicle by means of a connection clip (30) and connection pin (40), characterized in comprising the following:

- a neck support (20) connected to said body (10) and formed thereon with a lug wrench end abutment (60b) preventing rotation of and providing support to the lug wrench (60) disposed on the body (10) and/or a wheel cover remover end abutment (80b) enabling the wheel cover remover (80) to be fixed and/or wheel cover remover fixing element (80a) enabling the wheel cover remover (80) to be fixed;

- a jack screw fixing element (50a) disposed on said body (10); - a jack top step abutment (50b) disposed on said body (10); and

- a jack base abutment (50c) disposed on said body (10).

2. The vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to Claim 1 , characterized in comprising a lug wrench fixing element (60a) disposed on said body (10).

3. The vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to Claim 1 , characterized in comprising a towing eye fixing element (70a) disposed on said body (10).

4. The vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to Claim 1 , characterized in comprising a fixed clip (30b) structure enabling said body (10) and said neck support (20) components to be fixed on the vehicle plate (100) surface.

5. The vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to claims 1 and 7, characterized in comprising a connecting element (30c) attaching the connection clip (30) and connection pin

(40) enabling said body (10) and said neck support (20) components to be fixed on the vehicle plate (100) surface to each other.

6. The vehicle jack kit placement apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said body (10) and neck support (20) are made of plastic material.