Material or article handling – Vehicle attached auxiliary carriers – For rim – tire – or wheel
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-29
2001-08-21
Krizek, Janice L. (Department: 3652)
Material or article handling
Vehicle attached auxiliary carriers
For rim, tire, or wheel
C224S042240
Reexamination Certificate
active
06276889
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to spare tire brackets and more particularly pertains to a new spare tire storage bracket assembly for safely securing a spare tire under a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of spare tire brackets is known in the prior art. More specifically, spare tire brackets heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,710; U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,540; U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,313; U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,995; U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,785; U.S. Pat. No. Des 378,364.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new spare tire storage bracket assembly. The inventive device includes a spare tire storage bracket assembly that includes a main member designed to be coupled to a selectively extendable and retractable cable of a vehicle. The main member includes a pair of outer portions designed to be positioned to engage a lip around a central opening of a rim of a spare tire of the vehicle. An attachment assembly holds the main member against the spare tire whereby the main member is prevented from being passed through the central opening. The attachment assembly includes a plate member that has a pair of apertures. The attachment assembly further includes a pair of screws, each of the screws includes a head portion and a threaded portion, and the threaded portion of each of the screws is insertable through an associated one of the apertures. The apertures are positioned such that the threaded portions are inserted through the attachment holes in the rim of the spare tire when the plate member is positioned adjacent the rim of the spare tire. The attachment assembly further includes a pair of nut members, each of the nut members are engaged to an associated one of the screws whereby the plate member is engageable to the rim of the spare tire for holding the main member against the rim in a static position relative to the spare tire whereby the spare tire is selectively raisable and lowerable when the cable is retracted and extended.
In these respects, the spare tire storage bracket assembly according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of safely securing a spare tire under a vehicle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of spare tire brackets now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new spare tire storage bracket assembly construction wherein the same can be utilized for safely securing a spare tire under a vehicle.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new spare tire storage bracket assembly apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the spare tire brackets mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new spare tire storage bracket assembly which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art spare tire brackets, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a main member designed to be coupled to a selectively extendable and retractable cable of a vehicle. The main member includes a pair of outer portions designed to be positioned to engage a lip around a central opening of a rim of a spare tire of the vehicle.
An attachment assembly holds the main member against the spare tire whereby the main member is prevented from being passed through the central opening. The attachment assembly includes a plate member that has a pair of apertures.
The attachment assembly further includes a pair of screws, each of the screws includes a head portion and a threaded portion, the threaded portion of each of the screws is insertable through an associated one of the apertures. The apertures are positioned such that the threaded portions are inserted through the attachment holes in the rim of the spare tire when the plate member is positioned adjacent the rim of the spare tire.
The attachment assembly further includes a pair of nut members, each of the nut members are engaged to an associated one of the screws whereby the plate member is engageable to the rim of the spare tire for holding the main member against the rim in a static position relative to the spare tire whereby the spare tire is selectively raisable and lowerable when the cable is retracted and extended.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new spare tire storage bracket assembly apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the spare tire brackets mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new spare tire storage bracket assembly which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art spare tire brackets, either alone or in any combination thereof.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new spare tire storage bracket assembly which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new spare tire storage bracket assembly which is of a durable and reliable construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new spare tire storage bracket assembly which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such spare tire storage bracket assembly economically available to the buying public.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new spare tire storage bracket assembly
Dortch Alma
Dortch Fred
LandOfFree
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