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US 4,067,543 AGranted
Electrically operated retractable jack
OwnerJoseph P. Orth, Gerald F. Schmidtinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrically operated retractable jack for leveling a vehicle. The jack is automatically retractable from a vertical position into a horizontal stowage position under the vehicle. The jack may be operated individually or a plurality of jacks may be used in leveling the corners of a vehicle. The jacks may be raised and lowered by control switches mounted inside the vehicle without the need of the operator getting outside the vehicle.
Claims15
A retractable jack for mounting on a vehicle and for supporting the vehicle on a ground plane, the jack comprising:
- a mounting bracket attached to the vehicle;
- an electric motor mounted in a housing, said housing pivotally attached to said bracket;
- a clutch mounted in said housing, said clutch driven by said motor;
- a jack screw threaded in a jack screw nut, one end of said jack screw attached to said clutch and driven thereby;
- an inner jack tube slidably mounted inside an outer jack tube, said jack screw nut attached to said inner jack tube for telescoping said inner jack in said outer jack tube when said jack screw is rotated;
- a jack pad attached to the lower end of said inner jack tube, said pad contacting the ground plane when said inner jack tube is extended;
- an annular retraction sleeve disposed around said inner and outer jack tubes;
- and
- a pair of elongated retraction links pivotally attached to said retraction sleeve and pivotally attached to said bracket;
- said jack pad contacting the lower portion of said retraction sleeve when said inner jack is retracted and said retraction sleeve and said retraction links pivoting the jack into a horizontal position on said bracket.
7 more elements
A retractable jack for mounting on a vehicle and for supporting the vehicle on a ground plane, the jack comprising:
- a mounting bracket attached to the vehicle;
- an electric motor mounted in a housing, said housing pivotally attached to said bracket;
- a clutch mounted in said housing, said clutch driven by said motor;
- a jack screw threaded in a jack screw nut, one end of said jack screw attached to said clutch and driven thereby;
- an inner jack tube slidably mounted inside an outer jack tube, said jack screw nut attached to said inner jack tube for telescoping said inner jack in said outer jack tube when said jack screw is rotated;
- a jack pad attached to the lower end of said inner jack tube, said pad contacting the ground plane when said inner jack tube is extended;
- an annular retraction sleeve disposed around said inner and outer jack tube;
- and
- a pair of elongated retraction links pivotally attached to said retraction sleeve and pivotally attached to said bracket, the pivot point of said retraction links on said bracket offset from the pivot point of said housing on said bracket so that when said jack pad contacts the lower portion of said retraction sleeve an eccentric load is applied thereon and said retraction sleeve and said retraction links pivot the jack into a horizontal position on said bracket.
6 more elements
A retractable jack for mounting on a vehicle and for supporting the vehicle on a ground plane, the jack comprising:
- a mounting bracket attachment to the vehicle;
- a telescoping ram assembly operatively coupled at a first position to said mounting bracket in pivotable relationship to the bracket for pivotable movement between a retracted position under the vehicle and an extended position for supporting the vehicle on the ground plane, said telescoping ram assembly including a ball screw and a nut movable along the nut in accordance with the rotation of the screw and further including an electrical motor supported by the telescoping ram assembly at the end adjacent the attachment of said ram assembly to said mounting bracket and further including gears extending between the motor and the screw for rotating the screw in accordance with the operation of the motor;
- linkage means attached at one end to said mounting bracket at a second position displaced from the first position for pivotal movement at the second position as a fulcrum and attached at the second end to said telescoping ram assembly for cooperating with said telescoping ram assembly to produce a pivotal movement of said telescoping ram assembly in accordance with the operation of the motor;
- and
- support means operatively coupled to said telescoping ram assembly and responsive to the pivotable movement of said telescoping ram assembly to the extended position for movement to a position for supporting the vehicle on the ground plane in accordance with a further operation of said telescoping ram assembly.
2 more elements
A retractable jack for mounting on a vehicle and for supporting the vehicle on a ground plane, the jack comprising:
- a mounting bracket attachment to the vehicle;
- a telescoping ram assembly mounted on said bracket at a first position for pivotal movement between a retracted position under the vehicle and a position extending toward the ground plane, said telescoping ram assembly including a rotatable screw and a nut and means including an inner jack tube holding the nut against rotation and providing for a movement of the nut along the screw in accordance with the rotation of the screw and including drive means for producing a rotation of the screw;
- an annular sleeve disposed externally of the inner jack tube for receiving the jack tube for slidable movement within the sleeve;
- a pair of links attached at first ends to the mounting bracket at a second position displaced from the first position for pivotable movement in accordance with the rotation of the screw and attached to the sleeve at second ends at opposite diametrical positions on the sleeve, the links being constructed to collapse upon an overloading of said telescope ram assembly above a particular value;
- and
- means attached to the inner jack tube for providing a support for the jack on the ground plane.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.