Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Car Ramp
This inven-tion relates to car ramps which are used for
supporting a wheel or wheels of a vehicle sufficien-tly
clear of the ground to enable a person to slide under
the vehicle for underside inspection and/or repair
purposes.
The present invention is concerned with a portable
manually handlable type of car ramp. The most commonly
used car ramp of this type comprises a framework of metal
bars welded or otherwise secured together to provide a
rigid structure. Some car ramps of this nature are
designed to be nested or stacked so as to take up the
minimum of space when not in use, but the conventional car
ramps of this type are not collapsible or dismantleable,
and therefore they tend to be used only in garages as
opposed to being part of a motorists kit.
The present invention is concerned with provlding a car
ramp which will perform the supporting function as
effectively as the rigid ramp, but which will be capable
of being dismantled or collapsed to a position in which
it occupies much less space than in its open position,
so that it will be suitable for being transported for
example in the boot of a vehicle as part of a driver's
emergency kit.
The conventional car ramp is provided with an upper frame
which extends from the front end of -the ramp upwardly
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and rearwardly, and at the rear the upper frame has a
portion which extends parallel to the yround this portion
bein~ the "flat" on which tl~e vehicle wheel rests. ~le
upper rrame is defined by parallel side rails which are
connected by cross bars~ The ramp furthermore has base
rails for resting on the ground, and uprights connect the
base rails with the side rails. An end frame connects the
rear ends of the base and side rails, and the end frame
may also serve as a stop for the vehicle wheel as it rides
up the ramp surface from front to rear.
In the present invention, the ramp is provided with an
upper deck portion whi~h in use is adapted to be supported
in an upwardly and rearwardly inclined position b~ means
lS of a strut portion which enga~es or is connected to the
upper deck portion at or towards the rear thereof, and at
the rear of the upper deck portion there is defined a well
into which the vehicle wheel locates, and the wheel is
supported by means of transverse support means of the
upper deck portion and/or strut portion, the said strut
portion being pivotally connected to the upper deck
portion or being disconnectable thererom, or otherwise
displaceable relative thereto so that the upper deck
portion and strut portion can be collapsed or disassembled
to a relatively flat structure suitable for
transp~rtatlon.
The upper deck portion preferably comprises a frame and
to each side of said well are side rails which overlap
the si~es of t~e wheel when in posit.ion; the strut portion
may also be a frame.
In use, the s-trut frame preferably meets the upper frame
at an acute angle, and the said transverse support means
are cross bars of the upper frame and strut frame which
support the wheel when in the said well, and the bars
preferably comprise two cross bars of the upper frane
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disposed on opposite sides of the location where the
strut frame is connected to or engages the top frame,
and a third cross bar which is part of the strut frame,
but loca-ted under the plane of -t~e upper rame.
It will be appreciated that to achieve this construction,
the pitching between the said cross bars of the upper
frame which support the wheel when in the well is greater
than that between cross bars of the upper frame located
towards the front end of the upper frame.
The ramp may include a base frame or base pieces,or
a flexible retention member such as a chain or wire or
the like to which the strut frame and upper rame
are connected, pivotally or otherwise, or with which the
said upper and strut frames are releasably engaged.
In a specific construction, there are base pieces
of tubular or circular bar steel of U - configuration ,
and the upper frame is hinged to one pair of limbs of
these pieces, and the strut frame is hinged to the
other pair of limbs,the strut frame including bars which
have reduced diameter ends forming dowells for engagement
in apertures in the side rails o~ the upper frame, when
the ramp is in the in use position. In an alternative
arrangement,the bars of the strut frame are connected to
the side rails of the upper frame by means of releasable
screw fastenings , such as bolts or serews, locked by
hexagonal nuts or wingnuts.
As will be clear from the description which follows,
the invention can take any of a large number of
construotions, but in each case the ramp will be
dismantlable or collapsible to a rela-tively flat state
suitable for transportation.
Embodiments of the invention will now be descrlbed, by
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way of example, with reference to the accompanying
diagrams, wherein:-
Diagram 1 is a perspective view of a conventional car
ramp;
Diagram 2 is a perspective view of a car ramp according toa first preferred embodiment of my invention;
Diagram 3 shows the ramp of ~iagram 2 in collapsed
condition;
Diagram 4 shows in four steps how the ramp of Diagram 2 is
moved between collapsed and operative posi-tions;
Diagram 5 shows in perspective view the respective
components of the ramp of Diagram 2;
Diagram 6 shows in nine figures nine alternative
embodiments of the invention in diagrammatic side
elevation; and
Diagram 7 shows in two figures and in side elevation how
the conventional ramp functions and how the ramp according
to the present invention functions.
Referring to the diagrams, as can be seen clearly in
diagram 1, a conventional car ramp comprises an upper
frame 10, made up o side rails 12 and 14 which incline
3~ upwardly and rearwardly from the front end 16 of the ramp,
the side rails 12 and 14 being connected by approximately
equally spaced cross bars 18. The ramp has a pair of base
rails 20 and uprights 22 are welded between the base rails
and the side rails, whilst an end frame 24 of inverted U
configuration connects the ends of the base rails 20 and
the side rails 12 and 14. The top 26 of th~ frame 24
serves as a st~p for the vehicle wheel as it rides up the
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ramp, and the side rails 12 and 14 in the rear region 28
are made to e~tend horizontally or substantially so, so as
to provide with the rear bars 18 and the cross piece 26 a
substantially flat platform for the vehicle wheel. The
frame 24 has a reinforcing cross bar 30.
The conventional ramp is made up of welded angle iron
and flat iron, and is of ri~id construction. The desi~n
is such that ~e ramps can be nested or stacked one within
the other, but the ramp cannot be disassembled or
collapsed and hence its u~e has heretoore been limited to
garages and repair workshops and the like.The conventional
ramp is also illustrated is Figure A of Diagram 7.
The present invention aims at providing a collapsible
or dismantleable ramp which can be suitable for being
transported in the boot of a vehicle for use in the event
of brea]~-down or the like.
A first preferred embodiment of the new ramp is
illustrated in Diagram 2, and will be seen to comprise an
upper frame 50 defined by parallel rails 52 and 54
connected by cross bars 56, 58, 60 and 62. In the in use
position, the upper frame 50 ex~ends from the front end 64
of the ramp in an upwardly and rearwar~ly inclined
manner. The fron-t end has a front end tube 63 . The frame
is pivotally connected to base pieces 66 which are of
shallow U - configuration as shown in Diagram 5 and are
formed oE tubular rod or circular bar. The
upper frame S0 is hinged to one pair of ends of the base
pieces66, and hinged to the other pair of ends is a strut
frame 68 made up of parallel strut members 70 which are
connected by a cross bar 74 and a reinforcement bar 75
and which are connected to a lower sleeve 72 into which
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the base pieces 66 pass to provide a pivotal connection.
The ends oE the strut members 70 which will be the upper
ends in use are provided with flattened end portions 76
which have holes through which bolts or screws 77 pass,
said bolts or screws also passing through apertures
in the rails 52 and 54, in the in use position of the
ramp. The bolts or screws are secured by manually
releasable wingnuts 79; hexagonal nuts may be used instead
oE wingnuts and in another arrangement dowell ends on
the members 70 simply releasably engage in apertures
in rails 52, 54.
It will be noticed that the cross bars 60 and 62 are
spaced apart by a greater distance than are the cross bars
56, 58 and 60. This greater spacing in faet creates a
well for the vehicle wheel which, when in position on the
ramp locates in this well, so that the rails 52 and 54
overlap the vehicle wheel ~as will be explained when
referring to diagram 7), and the bars 60,62 and 74 in
~act form a three point support for the wheel, keeping it
firmly in position. ~le bar 62 prevents the wheel from
going too far forward, whilst the bar 60 prevents the
wheel from rolling back down the ramp. By so constructing
the ramp, it has been possible to make it collapsible or
disasselnblable as will be clear when referrillg to Diagram
6.
Diagram 3 shows the ramp of Diagram 2 in collapsed
condition and to explain how this condition is reached,
reference is made to Diagram 4. In figure A of Diagram
4, the ramp o~ Diagram 2 is shown in side elevation in the
in use position.
To collapse the ramp, after releasing bolts 77, the upper
frame 50 is raised as shown in Figure B of Diagram 4. The
strut frame 68 is pivoted downwardly followed by the upper
~rame 50 as shown in figure C of Diagram 4, and figure D
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of diagram 3 shows the ramp in collapsed condition. It
will be seen tha-t it is substantially flat in this
condition, taking up the minimum of space.
To erect the ramp, the reverse procedure is followed.
Diagram 5 shows the component parts of the ramp of Diagram
2, and to assemble the ramp, the upper frame 50 and strut
frame 68 are positioned on the rods 66 so that the upper
frame is hinged to the ends 78 of the rods,and the strut
frame 68 is hinged to the ends 81 and the tubes 64 and 72
and the ends 78 and 81 are swaged together to define
waisted portions to prevent the ends 78 and 81 from coming
out of the tubes 64 and 72, but not affecting the pivotal
connec-tion thereby completing the assembly. As will be
understood, the strut frame 68 and upper frame 50 are
dimensioned so that the strut frame will fit inside the
upper frame 50, and the upper frame will fit inside the
base pieces 66 as indicated clearly in Diagram 3.
Referring now to Diagram 6, the nine figures illustrate
different embodiments of the invention and the variety of
embodiments illustrate that the invention can take many
forms. For simplicity in describing the various
embodiments briefly, the upper Erame, strut frame and base
pieces are indicated respectively by the numerals X, Y and
Z.
In fig. 1 of Diagram ~, the upper frame and strut frame ~
and Y are pivoted to the base pieces Z, but the strut frame
Y is pivoted inwardly of the rear end of the base pieces,
the strut frame Y being disengageably connected to the
upper frame X.
In Fig. 2 of Diagram 6, there are no base pieces, and the
strut frame is disengageably connected with the upper
frame X.
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In Fig. 3 of Diagram 6, the strut frame Y and upper frame
X are pivotally interconnected, and there are no base
pieces.
Figs 2 and 3 also illustrate a modification. The dotted
lines indicate a flexible tension rnemb~Qr such as a chain
or wire or the like to add extra restraining effort to
prevent the frames X and Y from spreading under load
ln use.
In Fig. 4 of Diagram 6, the upper frame X is pivotally
connected to base pieces Z and strut frame Y, the
connection be-tween the strut frame Y and the base frame Z
being a disengageable one.
In Fig. 5 of Diagram 5, the arrangement is similar to
diagram ~ except that the strut frame Y engages the base
pieces Z inwardly at the rear end thereof.
In Fig. 6 of Diagram 6, the strut frame Y is disengageably
connected with each of the upper fra~ne X and the base
pieces Z, the upper frame X and base pieces Z being
pivotally interconnected.
In the arrangement oE Fig. 7 o~ Diagram 6, the upper frame
X is pivotally interconnected to the strut frame Y, whilst
-the upper frame X of strut frame Y are disengageably
connected -to the base pieces Z.
In Fig. 8 of Diagram 6, the strut frarne Y is in two parts
Yl and Y2 which are disengageably connected, the upper
frarne X being pivoted to the base pieces Z, and thQ strut
frame parts Yl and Y2 being pivotally connected to the
upper frame X and base pieces Z respectively.
In Fig. 9 of Diagram 6, there is no pivotal
interconnection between the frames X and Y and base pieces
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Z, the frames and base pieces merely being disengageably
interconnected as shown.
In each embodiment of the invention there is the common
feature as indicated in the embodiments of Diagram 2
and 2A and in figure B of Diagram 7 which shows ~hat the
wheel W of the vehicle engages in the well provided by the
spacing of the bars 60 and 62 and also provided by the
cross bar 74 of the strut frame 68. Additionally, it is
desirable that the strut frame should meet the side rails
52 and 54 at a location be-tween the spaced cross bars 60
and 62 of the upper frame, and at an acute angle, to give
maximum support.
It will be seen that the invention can apply where there
is only an upper frame and a strut frame, a~ it is not
neccessary that the respective frames be pivotally
interconnected. Indeed, it is not necessary that members
and 68 be frames; they could be plates. In each case,
however, the ramp defines a well for the wheel, and it is
to be mentioned that the ramp size may have to be selected
so as to be capable of receiving any of a large number of
vehicle wheels, and in each case the ramp can bemoved to a
substantially flat condition for transportation in a
vehicle boot, when the collapsed ramp accordin~ to the
inventiorl will take up only a fraction o the space which
would be taken up by a conventional car ramp as shown in
Diagram 1
The joint between the respective frames, when not a
pivotal joint, could be a telescopic type joint, a screw
fixing in vertical or horizontal plane, or peg in hole
arrangement.
3S The cross bars 56 to 62 of the upper frame are welded,
rivotted or otherwise permanently secured to the side
rails 52, and 54, and the number of cross members may
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be varied to suit the application.
The materials used for the frames of a car ramp according
to the invention may be suitable steel members, rods
or any required cross section and design, the components
being welded or otherwise secured where permanent fixiny
is required.
