Metal working – Means to assemble or disassemble – Means comprising hand manipulatable tool
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-12
2001-05-29
Watson, Robert C. (Department: 3723)
Metal working
Means to assemble or disassemble
Means comprising hand manipulatable tool
Reexamination Certificate
active
06237206
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of truck repair and maintenance, and, more particularly to devices useful in the removal and replacement of truck wheels.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
During the repair or maintenance of trucks, it is frequently necessary to remove wheels from trucks, including pairs of wheels that operate together on large trucks. Such removal may be necessary for changing a tire during routine maintenance. Alternatively, it may be necessary to remove the wheel to perform maintenance or repair on the brakes, which are located behind the wheels.
The two most common methods for mounting pairs of truck wheels on an axle are stud-piloted mounting and hub-piloted mounting. In a hub-piloted mounting system, the wheels, and the inner wheel in particular, fit very snugly onto the wheel hub, which is affixed to the end of the truck axle. Generally, the tolerance between the circumference of the inner wheel rim and the wheel hub is very small, measured in thousandths of an inch. With hub-piloted mounting, the weight of the truck is supported by the wheel hub at the point where the inner wheel fits onto the wheel hub.
With respect to maintenance and repair, the time between removals of a pair of wheels can often be as long as 18 months. Because of the tiny tolerance between the inner wheel and the wheel hub, and because the wheel hub bears the weight of the truck, extended use of the truck frequently causes the inner wheel rim to become fused or seized upon the wheel hub.
Although hub-piloted inner wheels are those most likely to become seized, any kind of wheel, including an outer wheel and a stud-piloted wheel, may become seized, and therefore may be difficult to remove.
Because the wheel is seized upon the wheel hub, it is impossible to remove the wheel by hand, either while standing in front of the wheel or by pushing the wheel from under the truck. The common practice in such cases is for the mechanic to slide under the truck and hammer on the seized wheel with a large hammer, such as a sledghammer, until the wheel comes loose.
Such a method for removing the wheel is not adequate for a number of reasons. First, there is a serious risk of injury to the mechanic, who is swinging a large hammer in a small space under the truck. Second, it is possible that the mechanic, in hammering the seized wheel, will damage the wheel. The mechanic may also damage some other portion of the truck if his hammering is not accurate and the hammer hits something other than the seized wheel. Third, it is often necessary to hammer on the seized wheel for an extended period of time before the wheel comes loose. Therefore, this method for removing seized wheel is inconvenient, as well as potentially damaging to the truck and dangerous for the mechanic.
Furthermore, this method for removing the seized wheel is frequently unsuccessful, even after an extended period of hammering on the seized wheel. In such a case, it is necessary to remove from the axle the wheel hub and wheel together, and then attempt to separate the hub and wheel when the wheel is off of the truck. This creates significant extra work for the mechanic, who must subsequently replace the hub on the axle.
There are a number of devices in existence which can be used to pull wheels or other devices from an axle, indicating that solutions to problems relating to the pulling of wheels have been long sought-after. These include:
U.S. Pat. No.
Inventor(s)
Date of Issue
4,930,966
Chien
June 5, 1990
2,640,604
Curley
June 2, 1953
1,305,322
Towler
June 13, 1919
1,426,835
Mohrman
August 22, 1922
1,705,011
Godman
March 12, 1929
1,889,965
Kendall
December 6, 1932
2,235,953
Whitfield
March 25, 1941
2,807,380
Boehnke
September 24, 1957
3,830,387
Virnig
August 20, 1974
3,847,294
Davenport
November 12, 1974
4,042,139
Pernsteiner et al.
August 16, 1977
4,635,336
Ades et al.
January 13, 1987
4,908,925
Johnson
March 20, 1990
5,479,688
Rubino et al.
January 2, 1996
All of the devices disclosed in these patents disclose devices for removing wheels or similar devices from axles. However, none of these relates directly to hub-piloted truck wheels.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,042,139 and 2,640,604, for example, disclose devices for removing truck wheels, or wheels from other heavy industrial equipment, from axles. However, none of these devices is directed to the problem of removing seized hub-piloted inner truck wheels from wheel hubs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,966 issued to Chien also discloses a tire removal device which can be used on trucks, but it is not directed to the problem of removing seized hub-piloted inner wheels, nor does it provide for the even distribution of and application of the substantial force necessary to remove seized hub-piloted inner truck wheels. The absence of a solution to this problem in the prior art is indicated by the continuing practice by mechanics of using sledgehammers to remove seized hub-piloted inner wheels.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Removal of hub-piloted inner truck wheels poses a particular problem for mechanics performing maintenance on trucks. Because the weight of the truck is borne at the point that the inner wheel fits onto the hub, long use of the truck often results in the hub-piloted inner wheel becoming seized upon the hub.
This situation requires a device for removing a seized wheel from a wheel hub. Preferably, such a device would exert sufficient force, applied in an appropriate manner, to cause a seized truck wheel to be removed from a wheel hub.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a device for pulling a wheel from a wheel hub. The device includes a frame, which frame has a threaded hole therethrough, and retainer means for retaining the device in engagement with the wheel hub. The device also includes a threaded shaft in rotatable engagement with the threaded hole, and with a retainer means for retaining the device in engagement with the wheel hub. The device still further includes substantially torqueless fastening means, affixed to the frame, for releasably attaching the frame to the wheel. The shaft may be rotated to urge the frame away from the wheel hub, thus exerting a force upon the wheel through the substantially torqueless fastening means. The substantially torqueless fastening means may be any fastening arrangement in which there is substantially no net torque on the wheel about the center of the wheel hub when the force is exerted upon the wheel by rotation of the shaft.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1305322 (1919-06-01), Towler
patent: 1426835 (1922-08-01), Mohrman
patent: 1705011 (1929-03-01), Godman
patent: 1889965 (1932-12-01), Kendall
patent: 2235953 (1941-03-01), Whitfield
patent: 2640604 (1953-06-01), Curley
patent: 2807380 (1957-09-01), Boehnke
patent: 3145859 (1964-08-01), Barosko
patent: 3830387 (1974-08-01), Virnig
patent: 3847294 (1974-11-01), Davenport
patent: 4042139 (1977-08-01), Pernsteiner et al.
patent: 4056207 (1977-11-01), Spilker
patent: 4635336 (1987-01-01), Ades et al.
patent: 4729157 (1988-03-01), McCue
patent: 4771531 (1988-09-01), Asher
patent: 4908925 (1990-03-01), Johnson
patent: 4930966 (1990-06-01), Chien
patent: 5112070 (1992-05-01), Hahn
patent: 5479688 (1996-01-01), Rubino et al.
Bezemer Cornelius John
Molson Gordon George
Kiene Diesel Accessories, Inc.
Reed Smith LLP
Watson Robert C.
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