Motorcycle lift stand and actuator
OwnerWinfred E. Yapleinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed is an improved automatically actuated motorcycle lift stand. The stand comprises upper and lower stand units on each side of the motorcycle. This configuration enables independent raising of the motorcycle when resting on either side, as well as providing a normal parking function. Also disclosed is an improved linear actuator comprising a plurality of concentric telescoping members. Two embodiments of single groove ball return elements are disclosed.
Claims30
A motorcycle stand comprising:
- upper stand unit means mounted upon a respective side of a motorcycle;
- said upper stand unit means comprising drive unit means and linear actuator means driven by said drive unit means;
- said linear actuator means further comprising rotary-to-linear motion conversion means;
- lower stand unit means pivotally mounted for movement between a retracted position and a ground contactable position by said linear actuator means;
- and
- said motorcycle stand further comprising encoder means.
Linear ball screw actuator apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of concentric-telescoped actuator element means;
- at least one of said actuator elements means comprising threaded cylindrical member means;
- at least two of said actuator elements comprising threaded ball recirculation means of constant outer diameter and variable depth;
- at least one other actuator element means being telescoped concentrically within said at least one actuator element means for relative rotation therewith;
- and
- wherein relative rotation between said concentric actuator element means results in linear translation of said concentric actuator element means.
A method of using a motorcycle stand, said stand comprising a plurality of upper and lower stand units, each said upper stand unit being pivotally connected to a lower stand unit and comprising a plurality of nested concentric linear actuators, said method comprising the steps of:
- a) mounting the upper and lower stand units on both sides of a motorcycle;
- b) actuating the upper stand units by extending the plurality of nested concentric linear actuators;
- c) thereby pivoting the lower stand units into ground contact.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.