Patent Application
20180154953
The present disclosure relates to vehicle systems including spare tires systems and towing systems.
Vehicles may include spare tires that are that are stored within a compartment of the vehicle. Vehicles may also include connection points where the vehicle may be secured to a second vehicle during a towing operation.
A vehicle includes a frame, load floor, subfloor, spare tire, jack, and a tow-eye. The frame defines a trunk. The load floor and the subfloor are each secured to the frame and are disposed within the trunk. The load floor and the subfloor define a spare tire receptacle therebetween. The spare tire and the jack each define orifices and are disposed within the receptacle. The tow-eye has a fastening portion extending therefrom. The fastening portion extends through the orifices and engages the subfloor to secure the spare tire and jack to the subfloor.
A vehicle includes a floor panel, spare tire, and tow-eye. The floor panel defines a spare tire receptacle and a first tapped hole. The spare tire defines a through hole and is disposed within the receptacle. The tow-eye has a threaded rod extending therefrom. The threaded rod extends through the through hole and is threaded into the first tapped hole to secure the spare tire to the floor panel.
A vehicle spare tire system includes a panel, spare tire, jack, and tow-eye. A receptacle is defined by the panel. The spare tire and the jack each define orifices and are disposed within the receptacle. The tow-eye has a fastening portion extending therefrom. The fastening portion extends through the orifices and engages the panel to secure the spare tire and jack to the subfloor.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and other embodiments may take various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features could be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the embodiments. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various features illustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures may be combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The combinations of features illustrated provide representative embodiments for typical applications. Various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of this disclosure, however, could be desired for particular applications or implementations.
Referring to
The body and/or frame 12 may define a first set of one or more tapped orifices 20 located on or proximate to a front bumper 22. The fastening portions 16 of the tow-eyes 14 may be threaded or received into the tapped orifices 20 while a towing hookup from another vehicle is secured to the eyelets 18 of tow-eyes 14 during a towing operation where the vehicle 10 is being towed from a front position of the vehicle 10.
Referring to
The body and/or frame 12 may define a storage space or trunk 28. For illustrative purposes, a rear door or hatch has been removed to expose the storage space or trunk 28. A first floor 30 may be secured to the body and/or frame 12 and disposed within the trunk 28. The first floor 30 may be a load floor that is configured to support cargo that is being transferred by the vehicle 10. The first floor 30 may be movable exposing a second floor 32 (or subfloor) and a spare tire system 34 that is stored between the first floor 30 and the second floor 32. The first floor 30 (load floor) and the second floor (or subfloor) 32 may be specific body or interior trim panels that are part of a vehicle storage or trunk system.
Referring to
Referring to
When the spare tire 38 and the jack 40 are not in use, they are each disposed within the spare tire receptacle 36 such that the first orifice 44 defined by the spare tire 38 becomes aligned with the second orifice 46 defined by the jack 40. The fastening portion 16 of the tow-eye 14 may extend through the first orifice 44 defined by the spare tire 38 and the second orifice 46 defined by the jack 40 in order to secure the spare tire 38 and the jack 42 to the second floor (or subfloor) 32 and within the spare tire receptacle 36.
The fastening portion 16 of the tow-eye 14 may engage the second floor (or subfloor) 32 in order to secure the spare tire 38 and the jack 42 to the second floor (or subfloor) 32 and within the spare tire receptacle 36. More specifically, the fastening portion 16 of the tow-eye 14 may engage in nut 48 in order to secure the spare tire 38 and the jack 42 to the second floor (or subfloor) 32 and within the spare tire receptacle 36. The nut 48 may be welded to the second floor (or subfloor) 32 on an opposing side of the second floor (or subfloor) 32 relative to the spare tire system 34. The nut 48 may define a tapped orifice and the fastening portion 16 (which may be a threaded rod) may engage (i.e., threaded into) the tapped orifice of the nut 48 in order to secure the spare tire 38 and the jack 42 to the second floor (or subfloor) 32 and within the spare tire receptacle 36. The tapped orifice of the nut 48 may include the same thread dimensions as the first set of one or more tapped orifices 20 located on or proximate to the front bumper 22. The tapped orifice of the nut 48 may also include the same thread dimensions as the second set of one or more tapped orifices 24 located on or proximate to the rear bumper 26.
The tow-eye 14 may include a ridge portion 50 that is located between the eyelet 18 of the tow-eye 14 and the fastening portion 16 of the tow-eye 14. The ridge portion 50 may be a surface that is a portion of the eyelet 18 that faces toward the fastening portion 16 of the tow-eye 14. The spare tire 38 may include an upper or outer surface 52. More specifically, the metallic rim portion of the spare tire 38 may include the upper or outer surface 52. The spare tire system 34 may also include a washer 54 that is disposed between the spare tire 38 and the tow-eye 14. More specifically, the washer 54 may be disposed between the eyelet 18 and the upper or outer surface 52 of the metallic rim portion of the spare tire 38. The washer 54 may engage the ridge portion 50 of the tow-eye 14 and the upper or outer surface 52 of the spare tire 38 in order to secure the spare tire 38 to the second floor (or subfloor) 32 and within the spare tire receptacle 36. The jack 40 may be disposed within a cavity 56 defined by the spare tire 38 on an opposing side of the spare tire 38 relative to the upper or outer surface 52. More specifically, the cavity 56 may be defined by the metallic rim portion of the spare tire 38 on the opposing side of the spare tire 38 relative to the upper outer surface 52.
The tow-eye 14 may include a second ridge portion 58 that is disposed about the fastening portion 16 of the tow-eye 14. The second ridge portion 58 may engage an upper or outer surface of the jack 40 to secure the jack 40 to the second floor (or subfloor) 32 and within the spare tire receptacle 36.
The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. As previously described, the features of various embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments that may not be explicitly described or illustrated. While various embodiments could have been described as providing advantages or being preferred over other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more desired characteristics, those of ordinary skill in the art recognize that one or more features or characteristics may be compromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which depend on the specific application and implementation. As such, embodiments described as less desirable than other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more characteristics are not outside the scope of the disclosure and may be desirable for particular applications.
