Patent Application
20150209849
The present invention relates to apparatuses and devices for use in anchoring and aligning deformed vehicles.
Vehicle frame anchoring and alignment apparatuses are well known in the art and have wide spread usage in repairing vehicles that have been involved in a collision. An exemplary apparatus is the vehicle frame attachment apparatus that is fully disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,150,176 and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Such vehicle frame attachment apparatus is extremely useful in gripping the frame of a vehicle that has been bent or deformed due to for instance a collision, so as to apply a load to the frame and/or the vehicle to correct the deformity. While extremely useful in the aforementioned function for vehicles that have a discrete frame, such apparatus is not well suited to gripping and holding so-called “unibody” vehicles or hybrid structure vehicles having both discrete frames and pinch welded structures (pinch welds). Such unibody vehicles typically have a portion of the vehicle body that terminates in a “pinch-weld” in the place of a discrete frame. Such pinch-welds are typically much thinner than discrete frames and typically will not withstand as high of loading as discrete frames. If a given platform (a platform being for instance the structure into which one or more vehicle frame anchoring and alignment apparatuses of U.S. Pat. No. 7,150,176 are mounted) has been setup to use the vehicle frame anchoring and alignment apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 7,150,176, the platform would need to be revised by taking down the vehicle frame anchoring and alignment apparatuses of U.S. Pat. No. 7,150,176 and by setting up anchoring devices that are adapted to anchor unibody vehicles such as unibody vehicle having pinch-welds. Furthermore, under prior art practices, hybrid structure vehicles often result in tears to floor panels and other vehicle portions due to the point loading of prior art anchoring and alignment systems.
The present invention is a vehicle anchoring and alignment apparatus having a first vice assembly and a second vice assembly and being adapted to anchor a discrete vehicle frame, a unibody pinch-welded vehicle, and a hybrid of a discrete vehicle frame and a unibody pinch-welded vehicle.
In order that the advantages of the invention will be readily understood, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.
Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are included to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.
Referring now to
Frame attachment apparatus 20 further comprises post 30 and primary vice assembly 40. Primary vice assembly 40 further comprises vice body 50, at least one grasping digit 60, digit attach nut 70, and opposable member 80. Post 30 preferably comprises a substantially hollow cylindrical metal post having a plurality of set holes 32. Vice body 50 preferably comprises a substantially elongated cubic shaped hollow metal body having at least one preferably rectangular shaped digit reception hole 52 and optionally at least one hook 54. Grasping digit 60 preferably comprises a metal grasping digit having shank 62 connected to foot 68. Shank 62 preferably transitions from a rectangular cross-section portion 64 on a first end to a cylindrical cross-section portion 66 on a second end. Rectangular cross-section portion 64 is connected to foot 68 and cylindrical cross-section portion 66 is preferably threaded and includes threaded digit attach nut 70 threadingly and removably attached to cylindrical cross-section portion 66. Digit attach nut 70 preferably defines a conventional threaded metal nut and may be combined with a conventional metal washer. Opposable member 80 preferably comprises an elongated “L” shaped metal member having first flange 82 and second flange 84, with second flange 84 preferably including a plurality of engagement projections 86.
Primary vice assembly 40 is assembled such that vice body 50 is rigidly fixed preferably by welding to an upper end of post 30, opposable member 80 is rigidly fixed preferably by welding to an upper surface of vice body 50, grasping digit 60 is movably positioned within rectangular shaped digit reception hole 52 such that grasping digit 60 may move axially but such that rotational motion of grasping digit 60 is restricted, and digit attach nut 70 is threadingly engaged to shank cylindrical cross-section portion 66.
Auxiliary vice assembly 90 further comprises frame 100, opposable bracket 110, grasping plate 120, a plurality of bracket fasteners 130, and a plurality of plate attach fasteners 140. Frame 100 preferably comprises a metal weldment forming a substantially “L” shaped structure having upper member 102, lower member 105, and strut 108 connected therebetween, with each of upper member 102 and lower member 105 having a plurality of slots 103 and 106 respectively. Opposable bracket 110 preferably comprises a metal weldment forming a substantially inverted “T” shaped structure having upper member 112, lower member 115, and strut 118 connected therebetween, with each of upper member 112 and lower member 115 having a plurality of fastener holes 113 and 116 respectively. Grasping plate 120 preferably comprises a substantially metal plate having a plurality of fastener holes 122 and optionally a plurality of engagement projections 124. Bracket fastener 130 preferably defines conventional threaded metal bolt 132 and conventional metal nut 134, and may be combined with a conventional metal washer. Plate attach fastener 140 preferably defines conventional threaded metal bolt 142 and conventional metal nut 144, and may be combined with a conventional metal washer. It shall be noted that while auxiliary vice assembly 90 depicted in
Auxiliary vice assembly 90 is assembled such that opposable bracket lower member 115 is slidingly positioned on frame upper member 102 with bracket fasteners 130 readjustably positioned in frame upper member slots 103 and opposable bracket lower member fastener holes 116 so as to repositionably connect opposable bracket 110 to frame 100, and grasping plate 20 is clampingly and readjustably positioned on the opposable bracket upper member 112 with plate attach fasteners 140 readjustably positioned in opposable bracket upper member fastener holes 113 and grasping plate fastener holes 122 so as to repositionably connect grasping plate 120 to opposable bracket 110.
Vehicle anchoring apparatus 10 is assembled such that frame lower member 105 is positioned next to a side of vice body 50 opposite grasping digit foot 68 with grasping digit cylindrical cross-section portion 66 passing through frame lower member slots 106 and with digit attach nuts 70 repositionably connecting auxiliary vice assembly 90 to frame attachment apparatus 20. Vehicle anchoring apparatus 10 is adapted such that auxiliary vice assembly 90 may be repositioned vertically relative to primary vice assembly 40 and such that opposable bracket 110 may be repositioned horizontally relative to frame 100.
In practice, a vehicle having a discrete frame 150 (typically complete with a damaged vehicle fastened thereto) may be positioned with frame 150 secured in primary vice assembly 40 such that frame 150 does not release under a vehicle deformation correction load or a unibody vehicle having a pinch weld 154 may be positioned with pinch weld 154 secured in auxiliary vice assembly 90 such that pinch weld 154 does not release under a vehicle deformation correction load or a vehicle having a discrete frame 150 and a pinch weld 154 may be positioned with frame 150 secured in primary vice assembly 40 and with pinch weld 154 secured in auxiliary vice assembly 90 such that frame 150 does not release under a vehicle deformation correction load and such that pinch weld 154 does not release under a vehicle deformation correction load. It is noted when using vehicle anchoring apparatus 10 that no take down or setup of vehicle anchoring apparatus 10 is required in order to switch from securing a discrete frame 150 of a body-on-frame vehicle to securing a unibody vehicle having a pinch weld 154. It is further noted that in contrast to prior art vehicle anchoring apparatuses currently disclosed vehicle anchoring apparatus 10 is adapted such that a high quantity of load contact locations are made with a vehicle so as to substantially uniformly distribute vehicle corrective deformation loads such that a vehicle is properly aligned without damaging the vehicle's structure.
This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/358,651, filed Jun. 25, 2010, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61358651 | Jun 2010 | US |
