EP0227256B1

EP0227256B1 - Jack combined with an air pump and using a common drive motor

Info

Publication number: EP0227256B1
Application number: EP86308292A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Tai-Her Yang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1985-10-24
Filing date: 1986-10-24
Publication date: 1991-05-15
Anticipated expiration: 2006-10-24
Also published as: GB8526270D0; EP0227256A2; EP0227256A3; ES2022127B3; DE3679297D1; ATE63531T1

Abstract

This invention relates to a combined pneumatic jack/air pump device including an hydraulic motor selectively operable to drive the jack or the air pump independently or simultaneously.

Description

In general, vehicles are often equipped with a wide variety of tools such as a jack and a tyre pump in order to enable drivers to carry out repairs and maintenance for example when a tyre punctures. However such tools often fill up the luggage compartment and in any case take up a lot of space in the car. Furthermore the total cost of such tools is quite significant.
DE-A-3,108,208, for example, discloses a vehicle jack which is driven by an electric motor via a screw drive.
US-A-2,458,590 discloses an automobile jack driven by an air pump, the air pump being driven by an electric motor which also drives rollers for driving the wheels of a vehicle lifted on the jack, so as to start the engine.
GB-A-131,805 discloses a combined air pump and vehicle lifting jack. In use, compressed air produced by manual operation of the jack is used subsequently to pump up the tyres of a vehicle.
None of the above prior art documents discloses an arrangement in which an electric motor drives both an air pump and a vehicle-lifting jack.
The present invention provides a combined air pump and vehicle lifting jack (as disclosed in GB 131,805) characterised by a common rotary drive motor which powers both the air pump and an oil pump, the oil pump being arranged to operate a hydraulic lifting jack and the oil pump having drain control means which can be set so as to disable the jack.
Preferred features of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.
Preferred embodiments of the invention are described below by way of example only with reference to Figures 1 to 8 of the accompanying drawings, of which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a combined air pump and vehicle lifting jack in accordance with the invention;
Figure 2 is an end elevation of the air pump and jack of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a further end elevation of the air pump and jack of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a side elevation of a horizontal combined air pump and lifting jack in accordance with the invention;
Figure 5 is a plan view of the air pump and lifting jack of Figure 4;
Figure 6 is an end elevation of the air pump and lifting jack of Figure 4;
Figure 7 shows a variant in which the jack and pump assembly are separate, and
Figure 8 is a circuit diagram of an electrical system that can be incorporated in the above embodiments.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 3, a drive motor 210 has an elongated shaft 201 which serves as the input shaft for the jack and is used to drive the piston 203 of an air pump 202 and to drive speed- reduction gears 206 and 207 as well as speed-reduction gears 206' and 207' of the jack oil pump. To enable the operator to selectively operate and control the air pump and jack, the above-said structure is further provided with a drain back flow operating valve 205 in the fluid return circuit of the outlet of air pump 202 or jack 208. The drain valve of the unit to be operated can be set at the blocked position during operation, while drain valves of the units not to be operated will be set at the respective drain position for the operating selections, thereby determining whether the air pump or jack is driven.
The jack of Figures 1 to 3 is a stand type jack, in which a stand type jack main body 260 is installed vertically on a base 261; the main body is a cylinder type oil pressure tank coupled with a stand shaft 262 which can move upward and downward under compression. A top block 263 is installed on the upper side of the stand shaft 262 and serves as a carrying member; a drive motor 210 with shaft 201 protruding from its two ends is mounted transversely in the cylinder body. On one end of the shaft is mounted a small gear wheel 206 which is coupled to a bias mechanism 204 (comprising a curved bias shaft or a bias link rod moved by a bias wheel) by means of large gear wheel 207. The bias mechanism drives a crank 209 which is coupled to a gas pump piston 203. The gas pump has an intake opening for gas input, an exhaust opening for output of compressed gas and a gas channel communicating with a pressure manometer 264.
On the other end of the shaft of motor 210 a small gear wheel 206' is mounted which engages a large gear wheel 207'. This in turn drives a bias mechanism (including a curved bias shaft or a bias link rod moved by a bias wheel) to cause bias shaft 220 to reciprocate crank set 209'. This reciprocating motion is transmitted via a coupling pin 209''' to an oil pump piston rod 209'' which reciprocates within an oil pump cylinder 208. A drain circuit piston 205 is used for drain reduction of the jack or to release drain in the non-driven state.
As shown in Figure 1 the large gear wheel 207' has a reduced diameter portion in the periphery of which a circumferential array of holes 207" (which may be screw holes) are formed. These can accommodate an operating rod, so that the oil pump can be driven by back and forth motion by hand.
Figures 4, 5 and 6 show a coaxial horizontal-type jack. The jack is mounted on wheels 273 which are mounted on wheel shaft 272 at one end of the jack body. A drive rod 281 driven by a hydraulic oil pressure tank 280 is coupled with a rising arm assembly 274 by a coupling pin 276, the rising arm plate 274 being mounted on a rod 275 which acts as the centre of oscillation. Consequently, as plate 274 swings about rod 275, an upright arm 277 coupled to plate 274 by coupling pin 278 rises and lifts a supporting block 279.
A common drive motor 210 having a shaft 201 protruding at each end is mounted on one side of the jack body. One end of the shaft has a small gear wheel 206 mounted thereon, which drives a bias mechanism 204 (including a curved bias shaft or a bias link rod moved by the bias wheel) via a large gear wheel 207. Thus it can move the crank 209 and hence gas pump piston 203 to pump gas. The gas pump has an intake opening for gas input, an exhaust opening for output of compressed gas and a gas channel communicating with a pressure manometer 264. The other end of the output shaft of motor 210 has mounted thereon a small transverse gear wheel 206' and which drives a large gear wheel 207'''. This in turn drives a bias mechanism (including a curved bias shaft or a bias link rod moved by bias wheel) which drives a crank 220'. The reciprocating motion of crank 220' is transmitted by a coupling pin 209''' to a piston rod of the oil pump 280. A drain circuit piston 205 is provided for draining purposes in order to prevent the drive. The rear portion of the large gear wheel is provided with a circumferential array of holes 207'' (which may be screw holes) for accommodating an operating rod which can be driven back and forth by hand to drive the jack oil pump.
The above-described various combined air pump and hydraulic jack devices using a common drive motor can be of the separate type as shown in Fig. 7
Furthermore the above-mentioned jack devices can be of the AC/DC dual purpose type as shown in Fig. 8. As shown in Fig. 8, inside the base a transformer 401 is provided to transform the household power supply into a low voltage output. Its low voltage output end is connected to a rectifier 402 for rectifying the low voltage output and is connected in parallel with a socket 403. Socket 403 can be used to supply DC to energise the above said DC motor 404 and drive the air pump or jack. Socket 403 can also be used as a DC output socket for charging purposes. Alternatively an output terminal can be added for this purpose. A switch 405 is connected in series with the input of the DC motor 404 to cut off the DC motor 404, when the circuit serves as a charging power supply.

Claims

A combined air pump and vehicle lifting jack characterised by a common rotary drive motor (210) which powers both the air pump (202) and an oil pump (208), the oil pump being arranged to operate a hydraulic lifting jack (260, 262, 263; 280, 281, 274-279) and the oil pump having drain control means (205) which can be set so as to disable the jack.
A combined air pump and vehicle lifting jack as claimed in claim 1 wherein both the oil pump (208) and the air pump (202), have drain valve means (205) which can be set so as to disable the air pump and jack selectively.
A combined air pump and vehicle lifting jack as claimed in claim 2 wherein said motor (210) has an elongate double-ended shaft (201) having respective end portions projecting from the motor, one of said end portions being coupled to said air pump (202) and the other of said end portions being coupled via reduction gearing (207) to said oil pump (208), said hydraulic jack including a generally horizontally disposed hydraulic cylinder (280), which drives a piston (281) in the horizontal direction, the piston (281) being coupled to an offset portion (276) of a swinging link (274) which drives a support arm (277) in the vertical direction, the support arm carrying a supporting block (279) for lifting a vehicle.
A combined air pump and vehicle lifting jack as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising a mains transformer (401) having a low-voltage output winding coupled via a rectifier (402) and a switch (405) to said motor (404), a D.C. input/output socket being connected in parallel with said motor to enable the motor to be driven by an external D.C. supply as an alternative to the mains and to enable a low voltage D.C. output to be taken from said terminals when said transformer is energised from the mains and said motor is disconnected by said switch.