DESC:TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
[1] The present invention relates to a locking mechanism of a split type of jack operating lever for assembling the jack handle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
[2] A car jack is a mechanical or hydraulic lifting device that is utilized to lift a car, at least partially from the ground for repairing or maintenance thereof. The car jack assists the user to lift the car with the least effort and provides suitable access to accomplish said repairing or maintenance work. Car jacks are often provided with car jack handles/ levers that are made of heavy-duty materials with strong durability. The car jack levers either have a single piece construction or can have a split type of construction for being tailored into foldable designs for convenient storage, transport and reduce the leverage based on the total length of the lever.
[3] Conventionally, the split type of jack operating lever has at least two pieces of hollow rods assembled together during the use to form the jack handle. For this purpose of assembling, said pieces of hollow rods are provided with male and female connector ends such that a hole is provided inside one of the hollow rods which contains a ball, spring, and plate which are attached inside the said hollow rod. During assembling of the jack handles, the connector ends are joined and held together by crimping that is mandatorily required, wherein the ball rises out/ partially passes out over the hollow member for fixing the arrangement. However, the crimping needs to be accurately performed, otherwise inaccurate crimping may lead to trapping of the ball inside the hole which may damage the connector ends of all the hollow rods and hamper the operational mechanism of the jack handle as the trapped ball cannot freely slide inside the hole. This impacts the accuracy, consistency of the ball movement, and reduces the overall work efficiency of the product.
[4] Therefore, there is a need to provide a locking mechanism of split type jack operating lever for assembling the jack handle that overcomes the aforementioned problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[5] An objective of the present invention is to provide a locking mechanism of a split type of jack operating lever for assembling the jack handle which has the advantage of avoiding crimping for joining the connecting members by increasing accuracy and consistency in the movement of the ball which holds all the connecting members firmly without breakage of the jack handle.
[6] Accordingly, the present invention provides a locking mechanism of a split type of jack operating lever for assembling the jack handle. The locking mechanism comprises a plurality of connecting members. The connecting members have a solid male connecting end and a female connecting end. The female connecting end has at least one aperture defined therein. The solid male connecting ends are having a groove defined therein. The groove has a tapered bush positioned therein and the tapered bush is configured to position a ball and a spring within the groove. The groove of the solid male connecting ends align with the aperture of the female connecting end such that the ball moves upward within the groove under compressive force of the spring to get engaged within the aperture to facilitate a fixing arrangement through an interference fit.
[7] In accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, the groove is formed by boring on each connecting end of the split type of jack operating lever.
[8] In accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, the tapered bush has a first end that has a diameter greater than the diameter of the ball.
[9] In accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, the tapered bush has a second end that has a diameter lesser than the diameter of the ball.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWING
[10] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures.
[11] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a split type jack operating lever of the present invention showing a disassembled condition of a plurality of connecting members thereof;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the split type of jack operating lever showing an assembled condition of the connecting members thereof;
Figure 3 is a partially exploded cross-sectional view of the locking mechanism of split type jack operating lever of figure 2 showing the connecting members in engaged state; and
Figure 4 is a partially exploded cross-sectional view of the locking mechanism of split type jack operating lever of figure 2 showing the connecting members in disengaged state.
Throughout the drawing, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:
[12] The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the invention as defined by the description. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.
[13] The terms and words used in the following description are not limited to the bibliographical meanings but are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of the present invention is provided for illustration purpose only.
[14] It is to be understood that the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
[15] The present invention discloses a locking mechanism of split type of jack operating lever that comprises a plurality of pieces of connecting members configured to be engaged with each other during the assembly. In an illustrative embodiment, the locking mechanism of split type jack operating lever includes at least one male connecting end and at least one female connecting end that are assembled together to form the jack handle in accordance with the present invention. However, it is understood that the number of male and female connecting ends may vary in other alternative embodiments of the present invention based on intended application of the split type of jack operating lever.
[16] Referring to Figures 1-4, according to an aspect, the present invention discloses a locking mechanism of split type of jack operating lever (100) (locking mechanism (100), hereinafter) that comprises a plurality of connecting members (101, 103). The connecting member (101) has a solid male connecting end (107). The connecting member (103) has a solid male connecting end (109) and a female connecting end (105). The female connecting end (105) has at least one aperture (111) defined therein. The solid male connecting ends (107, 109) respectively have a groove (113) defined therein and a tapered bush (117) is positioned therein. The tapered bush (117) is configured to position a ball (119) and a spring (115) within the groove (113). The groove (113) of the solid male connecting ends (107,109) align with the aperture (111) of the female connecting end (105) such that the ball (119) moves upward within the groove (113) under compressive force of the spring (115) to get engaged within the aperture (111) to facilitate a fixing arrangement for said connecting members (101, 103) through an interference fit.
[17] In accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, the groove (113) is formed by boring on each connecting end (107, 109) of the split type of jack operating lever.
[18] In accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, the tapered bush (117) is press-fitted within the groove (113) to prevent crimping and to achieve higher accuracy.
[19] Referring to Figures 3 and 4, the connecting members (101, 103) are respectively shown in an engaging state and a disengaging state. In the engaging state, the solid male connecting end (107) is slidably positioned within the female connecting end (105) such that the ball (119) compresses against the inner mating surface of the female connecting end (105) thereby allowing the compression of the spring (115). In the engaging state, the ball (119) continues in sliding motion against the inner mating surface of the female connecting end (105) till it aligns with the aperture (111) of the female connecting end (105). The ball moves up through the aperture (111) thereby allowing the locking to form a single joint once the ball (119) aligns with the aperture (111) of the female connecting end (105).
[20] In accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, the groove (113) of the solid male connecting ends (107, 109) align with the aperture (111) of the female connecting end (105) such that the ball (119) moves upward within the groove (113) under the compressive force of the spring (115) to get engaged within the aperture (111) to facilitate a fixing arrangement for said connecting members (101, 103) through an interference fit. The said ball (119) preferably locks by joining the solid male connecting end (107) and the female connecting end (105) based on the length of insertion of the female connecting end (105).
[21] In accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, the connecting members (101, 103) are made from a material selected from carbon steel (EN8, EN8D) and mild steel.
[22] In accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, the tapered bush (117) has a first end that has a diameter greater than the diameter of the ball (119). In another embodiment, the tapered bush (117) has a second end that has a diameter lesser than the diameter of the ball (119) such that the pop out of the ball (119) and spring (115) is prevented.
[23] In accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, the ball (119) can be replaced with a cylinder with hemispherical ends.
[24] The locking mechanism (100) has the advantage of avoiding crimping for joining the connecting members (101, 103) by increasing accuracy and consistency in the movement of the ball (119) which holds all the connecting members (101, 103) firmly without breakage for the jack handle.
[25] The locking mechanism (100) of the present invention can be applied in any system which involves the fixation of two or more removable telescopic rods or length members in the operating position.
[26] In one preferred embodiment, the connecting members (101, 103) can be made of solid or hollow rods of any material.
[27] The terms and words used in the following description are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of the system is for the purpose of understanding and nowhere limit the invention. The abovementioned parts nowhere limit the invention and are provided for understanding of the invention.
[28] Although there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made thereto which do not exceed the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, the scope of the invention is only to be limited by the following claims.
,CLAIMS:
1. A locking mechanism of split type of jack operating lever (100) for assembling the jack handle, the locking mechanism (100) comprising:
a plurality of connecting members (101, 103), the connecting member (101) having a solid male connecting end (107), the connecting member (103) having a solid male connecting end (109) and a female connecting end (105), the female connecting end (105) has at least one aperture (111) defined therein, the solid male connecting ends (107, 109) respectively having a groove (113) defined therein, the groove (113) having a tapered bush (117) positioned therein, the tapered bush (117) configured to position a ball (119) and a spring (115) within the groove (113), wherein
the groove (113) of the solid male connecting ends (107,109) align with the aperture (111) of the female connecting end (105) such that the ball (119) moves upward within the groove (113) under compressive force of the spring (115) to get engaged within the aperture (111) to facilitate a fixing arrangement for said connecting members (101, 103) through an interference fit.
2. The locking mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the groove (113) is formed by boring on each connecting end (107, 109).
3. The locking mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tapered bush (117) is press-fitted within the groove (113) to prevent crimping and to achieve higher accuracy.
4. The locking mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tapered bush (117) has a first end that has a diameter greater than the diameter of the ball (119).
5. The locking mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tapered bush (117) has a second end that has a diameter lesser than diameter of the ball (119).