WO2020050788A1

WO2020050788A1 - A winch mechanism for under body spare tires

Info

Publication number: WO2020050788A1
Application number: PCT/TR2018/050471
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nil Nisa DEDE; Mustafa Yilmaz; Övgü Yağiz ÇİÇEK; Emre BAYDUR
Original assignee: Cavo Otomoti̇v Ti̇caret Ve Sanayi̇ Anoni̇m Şi̇rketi̇
Priority date: 2018-09-07
Filing date: 2018-09-07
Publication date: 2020-03-12

Abstract

The invention is a winch mechanism (100); that comprises a body group (10) forming the basic structure, a base plate (15) to which said body group (10) is connected and a rivet group (16) which enables mounting of said base plate (15) under the body; that enables mounting and removing of a spare tire (A) linked to a rope (40) to/from its related housing by transmission of the motion to a worm gear (12) by means of a driveshaft (13) when the mechanism key (14) is rotated and by a drum (11) that enables winding and unwinding of the rope (40) through the rotational motion received from said worm gear (12); characterized by comprising, a retaining pin (33) that keeps said worm gear (12) locked and fixed, a locking component (30) that prevents uncontrolled release of the rope (40); a locking spring (32) that keeps the system locked by operating between the locking component (30) and the retaining pin (33); a transmission component (31) that transmits the motion received from the mechanism key (14) to the locking component (30); drum threads (11.1) that are formed on the drum (11) which prevent tangling of the rope (40) by winding over and over while removing and mounting the spare tire (A).

Description

A WINCH MECHANISM FOR UNDER BODY SPARE TIRES

TECHNICAL FIELD

In general, this invention is related to a winch mechanism that enables easy mounting and removal of the spare tire to/from the housing (well) located under the body in vehicles in a practical way and without damaging other parts when needed.

More specifically, the invention is related to a spare tire winching mechanism that enables removal of the spare tire located under the body reliably when one of the current tires becomes unusable in commercial and light commercial vehicles and that enables mounting of the other tire to the related housing at the end of the procedure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Nowadays, along with the rapid development of the automotive technology, people frequently prefer motor vehicles for both passenger transportation and vacations and also for commercial purposes in the majority of their lives. During sad trips using motor vehicles, providing a safe and controlled driving experience is beyond any doubt one of the most important requirements for the drivers and the passengers. For safe and healthy driving, besides the driver being careful; the reliable and fault-free operation of the vehicle also has great importance. Here, after the careful driving of drivers, the most important factor for safety of automobiles is the tires. The grip of the car to the road is transferred to the ground only by 4 points over the tires and contrary to what is believed, this contact area consists of a very small region. Therefore, the tires must always be under the control of the driver. Right tire at the right time (i.e. use of seasonal tires), choosing quality tires, keeping track of tread depth and correct tire pressure provide maximum grip in cars. A failure in these issues may cause a loss of traction and thus to problems in braking, road grip, and vehicle traction. Besides what is mentioned, bad road conditions or not maintaining and replacing the tires on time may cause a flat tire or rendering the tires unusable. In such cases, the unusable tire must be immediately replaced by the spare tire stored in the car. Especially in the commercial and light commercial vehicles, the spare tires are mounted into the related housing located under the body. When it is desired to be used, said spare tires are removed from their related locations by winching mechanisms that provide a connection between the bottom of the vehicle and the tire which enable installation and removal and they are installed back when desired. The basic operation of said winching mechanisms depends on the principle of rotating the winching mechanism through a lever bar by human power and lowering the tire where the winching mechanism rope is connected to the ground from the bottom of the car and then drawing the flat tire into the vehicle by rotating the lever bar on the opposite direction.

In the applications of the prior art, when it is exposed to vibration for a long time, the worm gear activating the drum causes sudden or gradual release of the rope by releasing on the opposite direction of winding up. In this case, it causes uncontrolled landing of the tire onto the ground. Moreover, the rope is wound up to the drum on itself. This situation causes the rope to get stuck and the drum to break, so the spare tire does not come off the vehicle chassis when needed.

During patent research regarding the prior art, patent application numbered TR2003/01786 has been found. In the abstract page of the application; a tire lowering and winching mechanism of a spare tire winch is mentioned, wherein said mechanism enables lowering of the spare tire to the ground from where it is fixed when it is required to use and winching it to its prior position and fixing it in this position when there is no need to use. When application numbered TR2003/01786 is studied, it is seen that the winch mechanism (i.e. tire lowering and winching mechanism) does not comprise any mechanism for controlled lowering and winching and especially the rope that facilitates lowering and winching of the tire does not comprise any mechanism to prevent winding of the rope on the drum on itself.

In another patent research regarding the prior art, the application numbered TR2006/07652 has been found. In the abstract page of the application; a spare tire wincher that prevents the system from over-torque by a clutch mechanism and that can work with 4 different types/sizes of tires is mentioned. In the application numbered TR2006/07652, a clutch system that dampens the excessive torque and a locking element that enables the spare tire wincher to remain locked and safe in the system is mentioned. However, in the system, there is no mechanism to prevent the rope carrying the spare tire from winding up on the drum on itself. In conclusion, improvements are made in winching mechanisms and thus there is a need for novel structures that eliminate the abovementioned disadvantages and provide a solution to the current systems.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to a winching mechanism that fulfills the abovementioned requirements, that eliminates all of the disadvantages and that brings along some additional advantages.

The main objective of the invention; is to prevent the tires from getting damaged by preventing uncontrolled release of the rope while removing and mounting the spare tire.

An object of the invention is to prevent breaking of the drum by avoiding winding of the rope on itself by drum threads and thus preventing jamming of the rope.

Another object of the invention is to provide a product that is suitable for mass production which enables practical removal and mounting of the spare tire.

In order to realize all the aforementioned advantages which can be understood from the detailed description provided below; the current invention comprises a body group that constitutes the basic structure; a base plate to which the body group is connected and a rivet group that enable mounting of the said base plate to the bottom of the vehicle chassis. It is related to the winching mechanism that enables removal and mounting of a spare tire which is connected to a rope to its housing located under the vehicle chassis by use of a drum that provides transfer of the moment created by rotation of a mechanism key to a worm gear which is concentric with a driving rod and that enables winding up and winding off of the rope such that it does not overlap. In general, said invention comprises; a retaining pin that keeps the worm gear fixed; a locking component that prevents uncontrolled releasing of the rope; a locking spring that keeps the system locked by operating between the locking component and the retaining pin; a transmission component that conveys the motion received from the mechanism key to the locking component and the drum threads formed on the drum that prevents the rope from overlapping while removing and mounting the spare tire. The structural and characteristic properties and all advantages of the invention will be clearly understood from the figures provided below and the detailed description presented by referring to said figures. Thus, the evaluation must be performed by considering these figures and the detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

In order to best understand the structure and advantages of the present invention along with the additional components, it must be evaluated with the figures described below.

Figure 1 : is the general perspective view of the winching mechanism assembly of the invention.

Figure 2: is the general perspective exploded view of the winching mechanism of the invention.

Figure 3: is the general perspective view of the winching mechanism of the invention as installed on the spare tire.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

10: Body Group

11 : Drum

11.1 : Drum Threads

12: Worm Gear

13: Driveshaft

14: Mechanism key

15: Base Plate

16: Rivet Group

20: Limiting Rod

21 : Limiting Spring

22: Holding Tube

23: Sealing Component

24: Protective Component

30: Locking Component

31 : Transmission Component 32: Locking Spring

33: Retaining Pin

40: Rope

100: Winch Mechanism

A: Spare Tire

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In this detailed description, the preferred embodiments of the winch mechanism (100) of the invention are described for a better understanding of the subject and without bringing any limitations.

Figure 2 is the general exploded perspective view of the winch mechanism (100) of the invention. In general, said invention comprises; a body group (10) that constitutes the basic structure, a base plate (15) to which the body group is connected and a rivet group (15) that enables mounting the base plate (15) under the body. The invention further comprises a driveshaft (13) which transmits the motion when a mechanism key (14) is rotated; a worm gear (12) which converts said motion to rotational motion; a drum (1 1 ) which enables winding up and off of a rope (40) by the rotational motion received from said worm gear (12); a retaining pin (33) which fixes said worm gear (12); a locking component (30) which prevents uncontrolled release of the rope (40); a locking spring (32) which keeps the system locked by operating between the locking component (30) and the retaining pin (33); a transmission component (31 ) which transmits the motion received from the mechanism key (14) to the locking component (30) and drum threads (1 1.1 ) formed on the drum (1 1 ) which prevents overlapping of the rope (40) on itself while removing and mounting the spare tire (A).

Figure 2 is the general exploded perspective view of the winch mechanism (100) of the invention and Figure 3 is the general perspective view as mounted on the spare tire (A). When the tires present on the vehicles are damaged or blown-out, the drivers replace the damaged tire with the spare tire (A). Especially in the commercial or light commercial vehicles, the spare tire (A) is located under the chassis of the related vehicle. The drivers use the winch mechanism (100) when they want to remove the spare tire (A) from this location and to install the damaged tire to this location. In the winch mechanisms (100) of the prior art, since there is no control component on the worm gear (12) while the spare tire (A) is being lowered to ground, the rope (40) is suddenly released and the spare tire (A) is lowered to the ground in an uncontrolled manner. Moreover, in the present implementations, the rope (40) overlaps onto itself on the drum (1 1 ) and after the rope is jammed or subjected to a different strain, the drum (1 1 ) gets damaged. In order to eliminate such problems, improvements are made to the winch mechanism (100) of the invention. First, drum threads (1 1.1 ) in the form of grooves are formed on the surface of the said drum (1 1 ) to prevent overlapping of the rope (40) on the drum (1 1 ). Overlapping of the rope (40) is prevented by fitting of the rope (40) into said drum threads (1 1.1 ) while being wound up. Then, the locking component (30) linked with the worm gear (12) is used to prevent sudden uncontrolled release of the rope (40) in the opposite direction of rotation. The retaining pin (33) locks and fixes the worm gear (12) in its normal position. It is the locking spring (32) which keeps the system locked by the aid of the pre-tension force by working between said retaining pin (33) and locking component (30). The locking component

(30) is initially activated by the transmission component (31 ). Said transmission component

(31 ) activates the locking component (30) by transmitting the motion received from the mechanism key (14).

The moment created by said mechanism key (14) must be transmitted to the driveshaft (13) in a controlled manner. In the case that torque that is more than the required torque is applied, it may damage the winch mechanism (100). Thus, the rotational motion is transmitted to the driveshaft (13) over limiting rod (20) in a controlled and restrained manner through a limiting spring (21 ) and a holding tube (22). Moreover, in the winch mechanism (100) of the invention, a sealing component (23) is used which prevents entrance of liquid and dust into the mechanism over the transmission component (31 ). Again, a protective component (24) is used for protecting the winch mechanism (100) from external dust and dirt during initial contact with the external environment.

The operation principle of the winch mechanism (100) of the invention;

In order to lower the spare tire (A) positioned inside the body of the vehicle’s under-body well to the vehicle ground, the mechanism key (14) is mounted to its position on the vehicle and passes through the transmission component (31 ). The locking component (30) positioned in the channel inside the transmission component (31 ) activates the system by removing the contact on the worm gear (12) by overcoming the pre-tension force of the locking spring (32) due to the horizontal motion of the mechanism key to which it is mechanically connected. Here at this time, the driveshaft (13) which is positioned inside the worm gear (12) and which works together with the worm gear (12) is activated and transmits the motion to the drum (1 1 ) over the worm gear (12) and controlled winding up of the rope (40) starts.

Claims

1 A winch mechanism (100), which comprises a body group (10) forming the basic structure having the supporting and protecting properties, a base plate (15) to which said body group (10) is connected and a rivet group (16) which enables mounting of said base plate (15) to the underside of a vehicle chassis, which enables mounting and removing of a spare tire (A) linked to a rope (40) to/from its related housing by transmission of the motion to a worm gear (12) by means of a driveshaft (13) when a mechanism key (14) is rotated and by a drum (1 1 ) that enables winding up and off of the rope (40) via the rotational motion received from said worm gear (12), characterized by comprising;

- a retaining pin (33) that keeps said worm gear (12) locked and fixed,

- a locking component (30) that enables controlled lowering and winching of the spare tire (A) and that prevents uncontrolled release of the rope (40),

- a locking spring (32) that keeps the system locked by the aid of the pre-tensioning force by operating between said locking component (30) and the retaining pin (33),

- a transmission component (31 ) that activates the locking component (30) by transmitting the motion received from said mechanism key (14),

- drum threads (1 1.1 ) that are designed on said drum (1 1 ) which prevent overlapping and tangling of the rope (40) on itself while removing and mounting said spare tire (A).

2 The winch mechanism (100) according to Claim 1 , further comprising a limiting rod (20) that transmits the rotational motion created by said mechanism key (14) to the driveshaft (13) in a controlled and restrained manner via a limiting spring (21 ) and a holding tube (22).

3 The winch mechanism (100) according to Claim 1 , further comprising a sealing component (23) that prevents entrance of fluids and dust into the mechanism over said transmission component (31 ). 4 The winch mechanism (100) according to Claim 1 , further comprising a protective component (24) that protects the winch mechanism (100) from external dust and dirt during initial contact with the outside environment.