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US 5,423,518 AGranted
Landing gear for vehicle
AssigneeThe Binkley Company
InventorsBobby G. Baxter, Jeffrey E. Ditto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Landing gear for a vehicle comprising a tubular body for attachment to the vehicle, an adjustable-length leg slidable and finely adjustable in the body comprising an inner member slidable and coarsely adjustable in an outer member, two locking pins for locking the inner member in coarse adjusted position relative to the outer member, and a combination handle and spring biasing the pins to their locking position and movable to move them to retracted position.
Claims18
Landing gear for a vehicle comprising:
- a body for attachment to a vehicle;
- an adjustable-length leg carried by the body for up and down movement relative to the body as attached to the vehicle;
- said adjustable-length leg comprising an outer tubular member and an inner member telescopically slidable in the outer tubular member to any one of a plurality of adjusted positions relative to the outer tubular member for adjustment of the length of the leg;
- means for fine adjustment of the leg as a whole lengthwise relative to the body;
- and
- means for releasably locking the inner member in any one of said plurality of adjusted positions relative to the outer tubular member comprising:
- a first series of pin-receiving openings in one side of said inner member spaced at intervals along its length;
- a second series of pin-receiving openings in the opposite side of said inner member spaced at intervals along its length corresponding to the spacing of the openings of the first series;
- each opening of each series being aligned with an opening of the other;
- first and second holes in the outer tubular member at opposite sides thereof, the first hole being coplanar with the first series of pin-receiving openings in the inner member, the second being coplanar with the second series of pin-receiving openings in the inner member;
- first and second tubular pin guides extending laterally outwardly from the outer tubular member coaxial with the holes in the outer tubular member at opposite sides of said outer tubular member;
- each pin guide having an open inner end at the outer tubular member and an outer end spaced outwardly from the outer tubular member;
- a first pin axially slidable in the first pin guide between a locking position extending into one of the pin-receiving openings of the first series in the inner member and a retracted position;
- a second pin axially slidable in the second pin guide between a locking position extending into one of the pin-receiving openings of the second series in the inner member and a retracted position;
- said pins being coaxial and each having an outer end portion adjacent the outer end of the respective guide;
- a handle comprising a generally U-shaped spring member having a hand grip portion and spring arms extending laterally from the hand grip portion;
- said spring arms having free end portions interconnected with the outer end portions of the pins and exerting a spring bias on the pins tending to move them inwardly to their locking positions;
- said handle being swingable about the axis of the pins between a first and a second position;
- and
- means for effecting outward movement of the pins in the guides from their locking position to their retracted position against the said spring bias of the arms on the pins on swinging movement of the handle from its first to its second position and allowing inward movement of the pins in the guides from their retracted to their locking position under the said spring bias of the arms on the pins on swinging movement of the handle from its second to its first position.
17 more elements
Landing gear for a vehicle comprising:
- a body for attachment to a vehicle;
- an adjustable-length leg carried by the body for up and down movement relative to the body as attached to the vehicle;
- said adjustable-length leg comprising an outer tubular member and an inner tubular member telescopically slidable in the outer tubular member to any one of a plurality of adjusted positions relative to the outer tubular member for adjustment of the length of the leg;
- means for fine adjustment of the leg as a whole lengthwise relative to the body;
- means for releasably locking the inner member in any one of said plurality of adjusted positions relative to the outer tubular member;
- wherein;
- the body comprises a tubular member;
- the outer tubular leg member is slidable axially in the body;
- the inner tubular leg member is axially slidable in the outer tubular member;
- and
- the means for fine adjustment of the adjustable-length leg as a whole comprises a nut secured to the outer tubular leg member adjacent its upper end;
- a screw in threaded interconnection with the nut extending axially in the body and in the inner tubular leg member;
- means in the body above the upper end of the outer tubular leg member journalling the screw for rotation on its axis, the screw extending down from the nut within the inner tubular leg member and coaxial therewith;
- means accessible outside the body for rotating the screw to move up and down the nut, the outer tubular leg member which is interconnected with the nut, and the inner tubular member when locked by said locking means to the outer tubular member;
- said landing gear further having spring means biasing the inner tubular member to slide up in the outer tubular member;
- wherein the spring means comprises a coil tension spring surrounding the screw interconnected between the nut and the inner tubular member.
13 more elements
Landing gear for a vehicle comprising:
- a body for attachment to a vehicle;
- an adjustable-length leg carried by the body for up and down movement relative to the body as attached to the vehicle;
- said adjustable-length leg comprising an outer tubular member and an inner tubular member telescopically slidable in the outer tubular member to any one of a plurality of adjusted positions relative to the outer tubular member for adjustment of the length of the leg;
- means for fine adjustment of the leg as a whole lengthwise relative to the body;
- means for releasably locking the inner member in any one of said plurality of adjusted positions relative to the outer tubular member;
- and
- means within the inner tubular leg member for preventing it from sliding all the way out of the outer tubular leg member;
- wherein said means for preventing said inner tubular leg member from sliding all the way out of the outer tubular leg member comprises a detent mounted on the inside of the inner tubular leg member having a locking finger extending through an opening in the inner tubular leg member, said detent being movable to move the finger between a retracted position engaging the inside surface of the outer tubular leg member and a locking position projecting outward from the outside surface of the inner tubular leg member, and being biased to move in the direction for moving the finer out to its locking position, said outer tubular leg member having a locking opening adjacent its lower end, the finger moving into said locking opening and being engageable with the bottom of the locking opening when the inner tubular member is slid down in register with said opening.
5 more elements
Landing gear for a vehicle comprising:
- a body for attachment to a vehicle;
- an adjustable-length leg carried by the body for up and down movement relative to the body as attached to the vehicle;
- said adjustable-length leg comprising an outer tubular member and an inner tubular member telescopically slidable in the outer tubular member to any one of a plurality of adjusted positions relative to the outer tubular member for adjustment of the length of the leg;
- means for fine adjustment of the leg as a whole lengthwise relative to the body;
- means for releasably locking the inner member in any one of said plurality of adjusted positions relative to the outer tubular member;
- and
- means within the inner tubular leg member for preventing it from sliding all the way out of the outer tubular leg member;
- wherein said means for preventing said inner tubular member from sliding all the way out of the outer tubular member compresses a detent member carried by the inner tubular leg member movable between a retracted position engaging the inside surface of the outer tubular leg member and a locking position projecting outward from the outside surface of the inner tubular leg member, and being biased to move in the direction for moving it out to its locking position, said outer tubular leg member having an opening adjacent its lower end, said opening having a bottom and a top, the detent member moving into said opening and being engageable with the bottom of said opening when the inner tubular member is slid down in the outer tubular member to a position wherein the detent member is in register with said opening, and being engageable with the top of said opening when the inner tubular member is raised relative to the outer tubular member for being moved to its said retracted position.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.