CLIAMS:1. A spare-wheel lifting assembly 10 for heavy vehicles 2, the spare-wheel lifting assembly 10 comprising:
a spare wheel carrier 12 supported on a vehicle frame 14;
a pulley arrangement 16 carried by the vehicle frame 14,
a flexible elongated member 18 connected to the spare wheel carrier 12 and the pulley arrangement 16;
an input arm 20 engaged with the pulley arrangement 16, such that rotation of the input arm relatively moves the flexible elongated member 18 to move the spare wheel carrier 12 with respect to the vehicle frame 14;
an engagement portion 22 defined on the input arm 20; and
a stopper mechanism 24 carried on the pulley arrangement 16, wherein the stopper mechanism 24 adapted to be engaged with the engagement portion 22 of the input arm 20 thereby regulating movement of the input arm 20.

2. The spare-wheel lifting assembly 10 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pulley arrangement 16 includes a first pulley connected with the input arm 20 through a gear, such that the rotation of the input arm 20 rotates the first pulley to wrap up and un-wrap the flexible elongated member 18 thereon, thereby moving the spare wheel carrier 12 with respect to the vehicle frame 14.

3. The spare-wheel lifting assembly 10 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flexible elongated member 18 is a wire rope.

4. The spare-wheel lifting assembly 10 as claimed in claim 1, wherein the engagement portion of the input arm 20 includes an external toothed profile.

5. The spare-wheel lifting assembly 10 as claimed in claim 4, wherein each tooth of the toothed profile has oppositely inclined faces.

6. The spare-wheel lifting assembly 10 as claimed in claim 5, wherein the stopper mechanism includes
a marking plate 26 carried by the pulley arrangement, and
a spring loaded pin 28 passing rotatably through the marking plate 26, wherein the spring loaded pin 28 is adapted to engage with the external toothed profile of the input arm to selectively restrict movement thereof.

7. The spare-wheel lifting assembly 10 as claimed in claim 6, wherein the spring loaded pin 28 includes an end portion having opposite tapered portions, the tapered portions are adapted to be aligned with the inclined faces of the toothed profile to restrict rotatory movement thereof, in one of counter clockwise and clockwise direction.

8. The spare-wheel lifting assembly 10 as claimed in claim 6, wherein the spring loaded pin 28 includes a straight end portion adapted to engage with inclined faces of the toothed profile to restrict rotatory movement of the input arm in both clockwise and clockwise direction.

9. The spare-wheel lifting assembly 10 as claimed in claim 8, wherein the marking plate 26 includes visible indicia suggestive of position of the spring loaded pin, and the resultant allowed movement of the input arm.

10. A locking mechanism 15 for a spare-wheel lifting assembly, the locking mechanism comprising:
an engagement portion 22 defined on a peripheral portion of the input arm 20, the input arm 20 being engaged with a pulley arrangement 16, such that rotation of the input arm 20 relatively moves a flexible elongated member 18 to move a spare wheel carrier 12 with respect to a vehicle frame 14;
a stopper mechanism 24 carried on the pulley arrangement 16, the stopper mechanism 24adapted to be engaged with the engagement portion of the input arm 20 thereby restricting movement of the input arm 20.

11. The locking mechanism 15 for the spare-wheel lifting assembly 10 as claimed in claim 10, wherein the stopper mechanism 24 includes
a marking plate 26 carried by the pulley arrangement 16, and
a spring loaded pin 28 passing rotatable connected to the marking plate 26, wherein the spring loaded pin 28 is adapted to engage with the external toothed profile of the input arm 20 to selectively restrict movement thereof.
,TagSPECI:TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure generally relates to vehicles, and more particularly relates to a assembly used for a lifting spare wheel carrier of the vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Vehicles such as but not limiting to heavy vehicles are typically equipped with a spare-wheel carried on a spare wheel carrier. The spare-wheel is to be used when a tire gets flat or is otherwise unfit for further use. Conventionally, in order to replace a flat tire with a spare-wheel, the spare-wheel is required to be demounted from the spare wheel carrier on the vehicle. Subsequently, the flat tire is disassembled and the spare-wheel is mounted in place of the disassembled flat tire. In heavy vehicles such as trucks, the operation of replacing a flat tire may prove to be physically demanding for an operator, particularly because of the weight and size of the spare-wheel thereof. To ease the operator from this physically demanding activity, the heavy vehicles are typically equipped with mechanisms for raising or lowering the spare-wheels. Such mechanisms typically employ a worm-gear arrangement engaged with a pulley and a handle. When the operator moves the handle, the pulley rotates thereby moving the spare wheel carrier down. However, such arrangement does involve a high level of risk for the operator. For example, if while lowering the spare-wheel, the handle is released by the operator, the spare-wheel might fall due to its own weight. Also, there are no indicia on the arrangement to provide instructions to a layman operator about the procedure for operating the mechanism.

In light of foregoing discussion, it is necessary to develop an improved mechanism for lifting the spare wheel of the vehicle to overcome the limitations stated above.

OBJECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE

The objective of the present disclosure is to obviate the above mentioned drawbacks by providing a spare wheel carrier for vehicles.
Another object of the present disclosure is to prevent the free-falling of tire assembly under its own weight.
Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide an easy to use, safe, reliable spare wheel lifting arrangement.
Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a spare-wheel lifting assembly having a two-way locking of spare wheel in parking position.

Further objects and features of the disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a spare-wheel lifting assembly for heavy vehicles. The spare-wheel lifting assembly comprising: a spare wheel carrier supported on a vehicle frame; a pulley arrangement carried by the vehicle frame, a flexible elongated member connected to the spare wheel carrier and the pulley arrangement; an input arm engaged with the Spare wheel lifting unit, such that rotation of the input arm relatively moves the flexible elongated member to move the spare wheel carrier with respect to the vehicle frame; an engagement portion defined on the input arm; a stopper mechanism carried on the Spare wheel lifting unit, the stopper mechanism adapted to be engaged with the engagement portion of the input arm thereby restricting movement of the input arm.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of a portion of a heavy vehicle with a spare wheel carrier, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,
FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the spare-wheel lifting assembly, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,
FIG. 3 illustrates another perspective view of the spare-wheel lifting assembly, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,
FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the spare-wheel lifting assembly in a clockwise lock position, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,
FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of the spare-wheel lifting assembly in an anti- clockwise lock position, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,
FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of the spare-wheel lifting assembly in both side movement lock position, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and
FIG. 7 illustrates an exploded view of a stopper mechanism of the spare-wheel lifting assembly, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Referring now to the drawings wherein the showings are for the purpose of illustrating a preferred embodiment of the disclosure only, and not for the purpose of limiting the same.
A spare-wheel lifting assembly 10 for a spare wheel carrier 12, in accordance with the present disclosure is illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 7. The spare wheel carrier 12 may be mounted on a vehicle frame (chassis) 14 of a heavy vehicle 2 and is adapted to carry a spare wheel, in a conventionally known manner. The heavy vehicle 2 may be any commercial vehicle with high load carrying capacity, such as, but not limited to, a dump truck, a ballast truck, a trailer truck and the like. In an embodiment of the present disclosure the spare wheel carrier 12 may be removably mounted on the chassis 14 and behind a cab (not shown) of the heavy vehicle 2.
The spare-wheel lifting assembly 10 in addition to the spare wheel carrier 12 includes a pulley arrangement 16. The pulley arrangement 16 may include plurality of pulleys, one or more of them being disposed on vehicle frame 14. A flexible elongated member 18 connects the spare wheel carrier 12 (also referred to as spare wheel carrier 12) to the spare wheel lifting unit 10 through the pulley arrangement 16. More specifically, one end of the flexible elongated member 18 is connected to the spare wheel on the spare wheel carrier 12, intermediate portions of the flexible elongated member 18 may be supported on pulleys disposed on the vehicle frame 14, and an opposite end portion of the flexible elongated member 18 is connected to the spare wheel lifting unit 10 through the pulley arrangement 16. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the flexible elongated member 18 is a wire rope.
The spare-wheel lifting assembly 10 further includes an input arm 20. The input arm 20 is rotatably engaged with the pulley arrangement 16. As would be known to a person skilled in the art, the input arm 20 is rotatably connected to a first pulley of the pulley arrangement 16 through a gear arrangement (not shown). Such connection of the input arm 20 with the first pulley necessitates the movement of the first pulley with the movement of input arm 20. The flexible elongated member 18 is connected to the pulley arrangement 16 at the first pulley. Therefore, the rotation of the input arm 20 rotates the first pulley thereby pulling or releasing the elongated flexible member 18, as the elongated flexible member gets wrapped or unwrapped on the first pulley. Such movement of the elongated flexible member 18 moves the spare wheel carrier 12 with respect to the vehicle frame 14. Resultantly, a lifting arm carrying the wheel 30 is lowered or lifted.
Referring now particularly to figure 3 onwards, the spare-wheel lifting assembly 10 utilizes a locking mechanism 15. The locking mechanism 15 includes an engagement portion 22 defined on a portion of the input arm 20. As best visible in FIG. 7, the engagement portion 22 may be as an external toothed profile (also referred to as dual-taper teeth) wherein each tooth of the external tooth profile may have oppositely inclined faces.
It may herein be noted that in alternative embodiments, the engagement portion 22 may be either integral or separable from the input arm, without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the Gear with double-taper teeth may be welded to the input shaft 20 of spare wheel lifting assembly 10.
The spare wheel lifting assembly 10 further includes a stopper mechanism 24 carried on the pulley arrangement 16. The stopper mechanism 24 may be adapted to be engaged with the engagement portion 22 of the input arm 20 thereby restricting movement of the input arm 20.
More specifically, the stopper mechanism 24 includes a marking plate 26 carried by the pulley arrangement 16. The marking plate 26 includes visible indicia suggestive of position of the spring loaded pin, and the resultant allowed movement of the input arm. A spring loaded pin 28 is passing rotatably through the marking plate 26. The spring loaded pin 28 is adapted to engage with the external toothed profile of the input arm 20 to selectively restrict movement thereof.
The spring loaded pin 28 includes an end portion having opposite tapered portions. The tapered portions are adapted to be aligned with the inclined faces of the toothed profile to restrict rotatory movement thereof, in one of counter clockwise and clockwise direction, unless a predetermined force is applied. Further, the spring loaded pin further includes a straight end portion adapted to engage with inclined faces of the toothed profile to restrict rotatory movement of the input arm in both clockwise and clockwise direction.

During utilization of the spare wheel lifting assembly 10, when only lowering of the spare wheel is desired, the spring loaded pin 28 may be rotated such that inclined faces of the end portion thereof engages with one of a first inclined face of toothed profile. With such rotation of the spring loaded pin 28, the spring loaded pin 28 will be aligned with “lowering” marking on the marking plate, as best shown in FIG. 4. Any subsequent rotation of the input arm 20 by application of a predetermined force, will only allow the first pulley to unwrap the elongated flexible member 18, and the resultant lowering of spare-wheel. In the event of input arm 20 being released, the spring loaded pin 28 will disallow the reverse movement of the spare wheel. The spring loaded pin 28 is engaged through a spring whose stiffness is such that it prevents the free-fall of the spare wheel under its own weight. Its only when a predetermined force is applied, that the spare wheel moves. In one embodiment the predetermined force for lowering may be around 3.5 Kgs.

Likewise when only lifting of the spare wheel is desired, the spring loaded pin 28 may be rotated such that inclined faces of the end portion thereof engages with one of a second inclined face of toothed profile. With such rotation of the spring loaded pin 28, the spring loaded pin 28 will be aligned with “lifting” marking on the marking plate, as best shown in FIG. 4. Any subsequent rotation of the input arm 20 by applying a predetermined force will only allow the first pulley to wrap the elongated flexible member 18, and the resultant lifting of spare-wheel. In the event of input arm 20 being released, the spring loaded pin 28 will disallow the reverse movement of the spare wheel. Its only when a predetermined force is applied, that the spare wheel moves. In one embodiment the predetermined force for lifting may be around 3.5 Kgs.

Similarly, when no movement of the spare wheel is desired, the spring loaded pin 28 may be rotated such that the straight faces of the end portion thereof engages with one adjacent first and second inclined faces of toothed profile. With such rotation of the spring loaded pin 28, the spring loaded pin 28 may be aligned with “Parking” marking on the marking plate, as best shown in FIG. 4. Any subsequent rotation of the input arm 20 will be restricted.

The foregoing description provides specific embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be appreciated that these embodiment are described for purpose of illustration only, and that numerous other alterations and modifications may be practiced by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. It is intended that all such modifications and alterations be included insofar as they come within the scope of the disclosure as claimed or the equivalents thereof.
Referral Numeral:
Reference Numeral Description
2 Heavy vehicle
10 Spare-wheel lifting assembly
12 Spare wheel carrier
14 Vehicle frame (chassis)
15 Locking mechanism
16 Pulley arrangement
18 Flexible elongated member
20 Input arm
22 Engagement portion
24 Stopper mechanism
26 Marking plate
28 Spring loaded pin
30 Spare wheel