1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hydraulic jacks and devices used to stabilize hydraulic jacks while supporting a heavy object. More specifically, the device is a hydraulic jack with an integral jack stand.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hydraulic jacks are often used to raise a motor vehicle off the ground, to allow the vehicle to be repaired. However, these jacks lack the stability to maintain the vehicle in that position safely while a person works under the vehicle. Jack stands have been developed to support the vehicle in a stable, safe manner once the vehicle has been raised off the ground. These jack stands usually have a wide support base and do not raise or lower, so that there is little chance of one accidentally failing and allowing the vehicle to lower unexpectedly.
Typically, the user must first raise the vehicle using the jack, and then slide the jack stand into place before removing the jack. The process must then be reversed to lower the vehicle back down to the ground. Because this process takes time, and requires that the person performing the work must have both parts nearby, jack stands have been created that allow a user to use a jack in conjunction with a jack to raise and support the vehicle all at once.
However, a jack stand that is integrated into a hydraulic jack body, with multiple parallel safety mechanisms to prevent unintended, accidental falling of the vehicle due to failure of the jack is needed. Thus a hydraulic jack stand solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The hydraulic jack stand is a hydraulic jack with an integral jack stand. The jack stand helps stabilize and support the heavy object being lifted by the jack. By combining the jack stand and a hydraulic jack, the user needs only one piece of equipment to raise, support and lower a heavy object such as a vehicle.
The hydraulic jack stand uses multiple parallel safety mechanisms to prevent the jack from lowering unexpectedly while being used as a jack stand. The jack uses hydraulic pressure to raise and lower a lifting post and seat. The lifting post fits into an opening in the top of a hydraulic cylinder. A handle extends from the hydraulic cylinder and is used to operate the jack. By pumping the handle, hydraulic fluid is forced into a chamber under a piston beneath the lifting post. The post rises due to the hydraulic pressure action of the jack. To lower the seat and post, the handle is rotated to open a valve in the chamber and release the hydraulic fluid from the chamber, lowering the lifting post and seat.
Pivoting teeth are arranged along the lifting post to allow the lifting post to be raised, while preventing the post from falling due to any failure in the hydraulic cylinder. The pivoting teeth are secured to the lifting post by hinges that allow the teeth to pivot inward but not outward. The teeth are spring-urged outwardly, so that they naturally point away from the lifting post, and some force must be applied to them to pivot them in against the side of the lifting post. The teeth are spaced apart in regular intervals vertically along the side of the lifting post.
A guide support may be located in the top of the hydraulic cylinder, and is used to support the teeth and prevent the lifting post from lowering unintentionally. This guide support will hold the lifting post in place, even if the hydraulic chamber ruptures or fails. The guide support may be slid out from underneath the teeth in order to allow the lifting post to be lowered. This release of the guide support may be actuated by the hydraulic pump handle, or may be done with a separate lever, switch or button.
At the top of the lifting post, a curved support surface is provided to allow an object being lifted to rest on the lifting post in a stable manner. The lifting post may have only one curved support surface, or the post may have smaller support surfaces on either side of a larger, central support surface. These additional support surfaces allow the user to support more than one element of the object being lifted, providing greater security and stability.
The jack stand has several legs, which extend out to provide a wide base. The legs generally splay downward from the top of the hydraulic cylinder, and are wider near the bottom of each leg than at the top. The legs are slightly curved in cross-section, to provide greater strength, and have flat, horizontal feet to help stabilize the stand on a support surface. The feet have pads underneath to protect the feet from wear and to help prevent the stand from slipping. The pads are made from a durable, elastic material such as rubber or a closed cell foam material.
These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
The present invention is a hydraulic jack stand, designated generally as 10. As shown in
The hydraulic jack stand 10 uses multiple parallel safety mechanisms to prevent the jack 20 from lowering unexpectedly while being used as a jack stand. The jack 20 uses hydraulic pressure to raise and lower a lifting post 40. Referring to
As shown in
A guide support 46 may be located in the jack stand 30, adjacent to the lifting post 40, and is used to support the teeth 42 and prevent the lifting post 40 from lowering unintentionally. This guide support 46 will hold the lifting post 40 in place, even if the hydraulic chamber ruptures or fails. The guide support 46 may be slid out from underneath the teeth 42 in order to allow the lifting post 40 to be lowered. This release of the guide support 46 may be actuated by a knob 60, which is mechanically secured to the guide support 46. The knob 60 extends through a slot 62 defined in the jack stand, and may be manually slid towards or away from the lifting post 40.
Referring back to
The jack stand 30 has several legs 32, which extend out to provide a wide base, as shown in
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/673,799, filed Apr. 22, 2005.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20060237699 A1 | Oct 2006 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60673799 | Apr 2005 | US |