Spare tire stowage apparatus
View Patent ↗A spare tire and wheel assembly is stowed on a rear tail gate of a motor vehicle by a carrier. The carrier is pivoted to rigid vehicle frame structure beneath the rear tail gate for vertical swinging movement about a transverse horizontal axis from a generally upright stowage position downwardly to a rearwardly extending, lower position. A latch mechanism releasably latches the carrier to the tail gate in the stowage position. The tire and wheel assembly is releasably mounted on the carrier.
1. Apparatus for stowing a spare tire and wheel assembly on a rear tail gate of a motor vehicle, comprising:
a carrier having an inner end pivoted to a rigid vehicle frame structure beneath the rear tail gate for vertical swinging movement of the carrier relative to a transverse horizontal axis from a generally upright stowage position downwardly to a rearwardly extending, lower position, the carrier comprising an arm having an inner arm segment pivoted to the rigid vehicle frame structure by a first pivot and an outer arm segment pivoted to the inner arm segment by a second pivot,
a latch mechanism that releasably latches the carrier to the tail gate when in the stowage position,
a mount on a swinging end of the carrier for releasably mounting the spare tire and wheel assembly, the mount pivotally attached to the carrier,
wherein the rearwardly extending, lower position comprises a second position that is a spare tire and wheel assembly removal position enabling removal of the wheel assembly from the mount and a third position that is a stowed position where the mount underlies the vehicle, wherein the inner and outer arm segments are pivoted in a first direction about the first pivot from the generally upright stowage position toward the spare tire and wheel assembly removal position and the outer arm segment is pivoted in a second direction about the second pivot relative to the inner arm segment from the spare tire and wheel assembly removal position toward the stowed position, wherein the second direction is the same as the first direction.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the mount underlies the vehicle when the carrier is disposed in the third position.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the rear tail gate is vertically rotatable relative to the transverse horizontal axis between a generally upright closed position and a substantially horizontal open position and wherein, when the carrier is disposed in the third position, the spare tire and wheel assembly and carrier are disposed directly underneath of the rear tail gate when the rear tail gate is disposed in the substantially horizontal open position enabling unobstructed access to a cargo area of the vehicle.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the carrier comprises laterally spaced apart first and second arms, each of said arms comprises an inner arm segment and an outer arm segment, the carrier is pivoted to the rigid vehicle frame structure by aligned first pivot pins pivotally supporting inner ends of the respective inner arm segments about a first generally transverse horizontal axis, the outer arm segments have outer ends to which the mount is pivotally attached, and the inner and outer arm segments of each of said arms are pivoted to one another by aligned second pivot pins pivotally supporting the inner ends of the respective outer arm segments about a second generally transverse horizontal axis.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 , further including a power drive operatively coupled to one of the inner arm segments enabling said carrier to be swung between said stowage position and said lower position by causing the inner arm segments to pivot about a corresponding one of the first pivot pins about said transverse horizontal axis.
6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the tail gate has a lower portion hinged to the vehicle on a third generally transverse horizontal axis for downward swinging of the tail gate about the third generally transverse axis from a generally upright closed position to the substantially horizontal open position for loading and unloading cargo into and out of the vehicle,
wherein when the carrier is disposed in the third position, the spare tire and wheel assembly and carrier are disposed underneath the rear tail gate, and the rear tail gate is disposed in the substantially horizontal open position providing unobstructed cargo area access, and wherein the outer arm segments are doubled back on the inner arm segments about the second pivot pins to a folded condition in which said inner and outer arm segments are substantially parallel to one another so that when the carrier is in the third position with the inner and outer arm segments in the folded condition, the carrier can be overlain by the rear tail gate when the tail gate is in the open position.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 , further including a power drive operatively coupled to at least one of said arms enabling carrier to be swung between the stowage position and the lower position.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 , further including a trailer hitch mounted on the rigid frame structure between the first pivot pins.
9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the rigid vehicle frame structure comprises a generally transversely extending bar, wherein the power drive comprises an electric motor mounted to the bar, and wherein the electric motor rotates one of the inner and outer arm segments about a corresponding generally horizontal pivot pin axis thereof when swinging the carrier between the stowage position and the lower position.