Vehicle-straightening bench with tower locking mechanism for movable carriages that mount pulling assemblies

#This invention relates to apparatus used to straighten vehicle chassis of automobiles, vans, SUV's, trucks and other vehicles and, more particularly, to vehicle-straightening benches having platforms for supporting and anchoring vehicles while pulling assemblies apply forces at desired locations and in desired directions thereby restoring the vehicle chassis to original configurations.

#Occasionally, vehicles are involved in collisions, and before they can reenter meaningful service, the vehicle chassis must be returned, as nearly as possible, to their original configurations. This is frequently accomplished with straightening benches. A typical straightening bench includes a platform for supporting and anchoring a vehicle chassis while forces are applied to the chassis by pulling assemblies. The pulling assemblies utilize hydraulically powered telescoping towers with chains that attach to desired locations on the vehicle chassis. To hold them in place, the pulling assemblies are secured to the bottom of the platform while force is applied to the chassis. In many designs the pulling assemblies are permanently mounted to the bottom side of the platform. With the pulling assemblies mounted on the platform, the large hydraulic pulling forces exerted by the towers create even larger moments and forces where the pulling assemblies are mounted to the platform. Thus, the pulling assembly mounts must be excessively over designed and occasionally fail rendering the pulling assembly inoperable. Further, the pulling assembly mounts unduly limit the possible positions of the pulling assemblies and hence restrict an operator's ability to apply force in any desired direction.

#Many straightening benches utilize platforms, which can be raised and lowered with hydraulic lifts. Typically, the same hydraulic pump is used to power both the platform lift and the pulling assemblies. However, there are competing hydraulic design criteria for the lifts and the pulling assemblies. For the lifts, it is desirable to have a high volume pump, so that the lift does not operate too slowly, but the high-force pulls need more control requiring a low volume pump. More simply put, the lift should operate relatively fast and the towers of the pulling assemblies should operate relatively slow. To date, no satisfactory solution has been presented for these competing hydraulic design criteria. Additionally, prior straightening benches have lacked sufficient automation of locking mechanisms, and operators have been required to manually release valves and lock mechanism, which places the operators dangerously close to the straightening bench.

#These and other inventive features, advantages, and objects will appear from the following Detailed Description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views and wherein:

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle-straightening bench according to the present invention and including a plurality of carriage assemblies (hidden) and pulling assemblies;

#FIG. 2 is a top view of the bench of FIG. 1 having sections broken away to reveal a lower deck, a carriage track, and a carriage assembly;

#Referring to the drawings in greater detail, FIGS. 1 and 2 show a vehicle straightening bench 20 constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The bench 20 broadly includes a vehicle platform 22 providing a carriage track 24, a plurality of carriage assemblies 100 movably received by the carriage track 24, and a plurality of pulling assemblies 200 are movably mounted to the platform 22 by the carriage assemblies 100. Further, the pulling assemblies 200 can pivot on the carriage assemblies 100. The bench 20 is provided with an automated control system 300 (FIG. 14) enabling remote operation of the bench power system 302 and safety mechanisms. The vehicle platform 22 is operable to support a vehicle chassis (not shown), and a plurality of anchors 26 (one shown), which can be positioned at different locations on the platform 22, attach to the vehicle chassis at selected locations holding it in a substantially fixed position relative to the platform 22. While the vehicle chassis is secured, the pulling assemblies 200 are moved to desired locations around the bench 20 and locked in position. The pulling assemblies 200 then apply force to the vehicle chassis at desired locations and in desired directions. The carriage assemblies 100 are substantially identical and the pulling assemblies 200 are substantially identical, and they will be described in the singular at times for clarity with the understanding that the description applies to all of the respective assemblies.

#Referring additionally to FIG. 11, the vehicle platform 22 is substantially rigid and includes an upper deck 28 defining a top of the platform and a lower deck 30 defining a bottom of the platform. The upper and lower decks 28, 30 are joined by a plurality of rigid webs, generally designated 31, which spaces the decks 28, 30 apart to define an internal platform cavity 33. The upper and lower decks 28, 30 form legs 32 which extend over a desired length from the front 34 to the rear 36 of the of the bench 20 and define the sides 38 of the platform 22. The platform legs 32 are joined by a perpendicular rear cross beam 40 and a perpendicular front cross beam 42, which also serves to provide at least part of a protective housing for the bench control system 300 and power system 302. The upper and lower decks 28, 30 are also joined by an inner side wall plate 41 and outer wall plates 43. The wall plates 41, 43 extend below the lower deck 30 and hence below the bottom of the platform to define a track mounting area below the bottom of the platform. An outer bottom plate 45 extends across the gap between the outer wall plates 43. A hollow rectangular tube 44 is mounted between the outer wall plates 45 and functions as a conduit for hydraulic hoses (not shown) and other supply and power lines as required.

#The upper deck 28 defines a plurality of anchoring apertures 46 spaced apart and positioned between the webs 31. The anchoring apertures 46 are preferably rectangular and are configured to receive components of the anchors 26. The lower deck 30 defines a plurality of lock pin apertures 48, which are substantially uniformly spaced along straight lines in the legs 32. In the front corners of the platform 22, the lock pin apertures 48 are more closely spaced and extend around a radius, which follows an arc of the carriage track 24 in the front platform corners.