Simple and reliable electric tow hook

Abstract

The invention provides a simple and reliable electric tow hook. The electric tow hook comprises a fixed part, a tow hook body, a driven part and a driving part. The driving piece is directly or indirectly connected with the actuating device, the driven piece is connected with the trailer hook, and the driving piece is matched with the driven piece and drives the driven piece to rotate; the driving piece comprises a transmission part and a locking part, the driven piece comprises a transmission part and a locking part, and the transmission part and the locking part are configured to enable the locking part to enter matching when the transmission part is separated from matching; the simple and reliable electric tow hook is extremely simple in structure, convenient to machine and manufacture and high in working reliability, and the excellent working effect can be achieved by reasonably setting the number and characteristics of the driving pieces.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of vehicle accessories, in particular to a simple and reliable electric trailer hook. Background Art

[0002] A trailer hook, also known as a tow bar, tow bar, or tow hook, is a device that connects a vehicle to other vehicles or equipment, and is mainly used for vehicles to tow other vehicles or cargo. Trailer hooks include fixed trailer hooks and non-fixed trailer hooks. Fixed trailer hooks usually have a protruding portion outside the vehicle due to usage requirements, which affects the appearance and safety of the vehicle.

[0003] In order to eliminate these effects, non-fixed trailer hooks have emerged, including detachable trailer hooks and foldable trailer hooks. When the trailer hook is extended and folded back by a motor, it is an electric trailer hook. The specific structural design used in the motor-driven mechanism can reliably fix the trailer hook in the working position and the retracted position, making it easy to use and avoiding the effect of the trailer hook always being extended. Summary of the invention

[0004] The object of the present invention is to at least partially overcome the defects of the prior art and to provide a simple and reliable electric trailer hook, which can reliably fix the trailer hook in the working position and the retracted position through a simple structure, and can stably maintain the position unchanged even under the action of external force, and can smoothly rotate from one fixed position to another and re-fix it.

[0005] To achieve the above purpose or one of the purposes, the technical solution of the present invention is as follows: A simple and reliable electric trailer hook, the simple and reliable electric trailer hook comprises: a fixing member, a trailer hook, a follower, and a driving member; the fixing member is fixedly mounted on a vehicle body, the driving member is directly or indirectly connected to an actuating device, the follower is connected to the trailer hook and mounted on the fixing member; the driving member cooperates with the follower and drives the follower to rotate; the driving member comprises a transmission part and a locking part, the follower comprises a transmission part and a locking part, the transmission part and the locking part are configured such that the locking part can enter into engagement when the transmission part is disengaged, and the transmission part can enter into engagement when the locking part is disengaged.

[0006] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the driving member is an incomplete gear, the transmission portion is a gear tooth portion, and the locking portion is a non-gear tooth portion.

[0007] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the tooth height of the first tooth and / or the last tooth of the gear tooth portion is smaller than a standard value.

[0008] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, transmission guide features are respectively provided on the driving member and the driven member, and the transmission guide features are configured to help smoothly switch the cooperation between the transmission part and the locking part.

[0009] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the transmission guide feature is configured to reduce the impact when the cooperation between the transmission part and the locking part is switched.

[0010] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the transmission portion and the locking portion are located in the same plane.

[0011] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the transmission portion and the locking portion are located in different planes.

[0012] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the number of the driving members is more than one and they are distributed along the circumference of the driven member.

[0013] Preferably, there are multiple driving members, which are evenly distributed along the circumference of the driven member and cooperate with the same actuating device at the same time.

[0014] The simple and reliable electric trailer hook of the present invention has the following advantages: The structure is simple, and the working requirements can be achieved by driving the driving member through the actuating device, and the driving member drives the driven member. The number of parts is small, the processing difficulty of the parts is also small, and the cost is low.

[0015] The operation is reliable. The locking part on the driving member and the locking part on the driven member cooperate in the working position and the retracted position of the trailer hook, so that the trailer hook can be reliably positioned in these two positions to meet the working requirements.

[0016] It is easy to use, and the driving rotation and locking fixation are switched naturally without additional action mechanism or driving method. By adding simple transmission guiding features, the dynamic characteristics of the driven part from static to rotation when being driven can be effectively improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a first embodiment of a simple and reliable electric trailer hook of the present invention; Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of a simple and reliable electric trailer hook of the present invention; Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of a third embodiment of a simple and reliable electric trailer hook of the present invention; Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of a fourth embodiment of a simple and reliable electric trailer hook of the present invention; Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of a fifth embodiment of a simple and reliable electric trailer hook of the present invention; Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of a sixth embodiment of a simple and reliable electric trailer hook of the present invention; Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of a seventh embodiment of a simple and reliable electric trailer hook of the present invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar elements. In addition, in the detailed description below, for ease of explanation, many specific details are set forth to provide a comprehensive understanding of the disclosed embodiments. However, it is apparent that one or more embodiments may also be implemented without these specific details. In other cases, known structures and devices are embodied in a schematic manner to simplify the accompanying drawings.

[0019] Figure 1 1 is a schematic diagram of a simple and reliable electric trailer hook to which the present invention is applied. As shown in the figure, the electric trailer hook includes a fixing member 100 fixedly connected to the vehicle frame, a follower 200 installed in the fixing member 100, a trailer hook 400 installed on the follower 200, and a driving member 300 cooperating with the follower 200. Here, the fixed connection part between the fixing member 100 and the vehicle body frame or bumper is not shown. The trailer hook 400 is fixedly installed with the follower 200, and the driving member 300 is installed on the fixing member 100 and can only rotate along a fixed axis. The driving member 300 is connected to the actuator (motor, not shown in the figure) and rotates actively. The driving member 300 is an incomplete gear, including a transmission part 302 (i.e., a gear part) and a locking part 301 (i.e., a non-gear part). The follower 200 is an incomplete gear, including a transmission part 203 and a locking part 202. In this embodiment, in order to smoothly realize the working process and reduce the working impact, the first tooth height of the transmission part 302 of the driving member 300 is reduced. The locking portion 301 is a convex arc without gear teeth, and the center of the arc coincides with the center of the gear. The locking portion 202 of the follower 200 is a concave arc without gear teeth, which matches the locking portion 302, and the center of the arc coincides with the center of the arc of the locking portion 302. Specifically, when the first tooth of the transmission portion 302 of the driver 300 enters into meshing, the end point of the locking portion 301 and the locking portion 202 is on the center line of the follower 200 and the driver 300; when the last tooth of the transmission portion 302 of the driver 300 is out of meshing, the starting point of the locking portion 301 and the locking portion 202 is on the center line of the follower 200 and the driver 300. Importantly, by using the above-mentioned technical means, the driving member 300 and the driven member 200 are configured so that when the transmission part 302 is disengaged from the transmission part 203, the locking part 301 is engaged with the locking part 202; when the locking part 301 is disengaged from the locking part 202, the transmission part 302 is engaged with the transmission part 203.

[0020] Figure 2Another embodiment of the present invention is Figure 1 The difference is that the locking arc radius of the locking part 301 of the driving member 300 exceeds the tooth top circle radius of the gear part 302, so the transmission part cannot enter into engagement when the locking part is out of engagement. In order to smoothly realize the working process, a transmission guide feature 303 is added to the driving member 300, and a transmission guide feature 204 is added to the driven member 200. When the locking part is out of engagement, the driving member 300 drives the driven member 200 to rotate through the transmission guide feature, and then enters into engagement with the transmission part. In order to realize that the trailer hook 400 can be locked by the driving member 300 in both the working position and the retracted position, and smoothly switch from the locked state to the transmission state, there are two sections of locking parts 202 on the driven member 200, and corresponding transmission guide features should be set on both. The locking part 202 that is not currently engaged with the locking part 301 in the figure should also be added with a transmission guide feature 204, which is not shown in the figure.

[0021] Figure 3 Another embodiment of the present invention is Figure 2 The difference lies in the transmission guidance characteristics. Figure 2 In the embodiment of the invention, the transmission guide features are in the form of a lever and a pin, respectively, which can realize the transmission of the action and smoothly switch the transmission cooperation and the locking cooperation. In the process of switching the transmission cooperation and the locking cooperation, the action of the follower 200 is a dynamic-static conversion, which has a certain impact. Figure 3 In the embodiment, the position where the transmission guide feature 303 and the transmission guide feature 204 cooperate is the instantaneous center curve. When the shape of the instantaneous center curve is different, the motion characteristics of the driven member are also different in the process from contact to separation of the transmission guide features. Preferably, the curve of the transmission guide feature cooperation is the instantaneous center line. Through the curve design of the instantaneous center line, a smooth transition of the transmission ratio of the driving member and the driven member from zero to a fixed transmission ratio can be achieved, speed mutations and impacts can be reduced or even eliminated, and better power transmission characteristics can be obtained.

[0022] In the above embodiments, the driving member 300 adopts an incomplete gear, and the transmission part 302 and the locking part 301 are both on the same plane. Correspondingly, the driven member 200 also adopts an incomplete gear, and the transmission part 203 and the locking part 202 are also on the same plane. Figure 4In the embodiment shown, the driving member 300 is an incomplete gear, but the transmission part 302 and the locking part 301 belong to different planes. In the plane where the transmission part 302 is located, it includes a gear part for driving, and a non-gear part. The locking part 301 is arranged at a position corresponding to the non-gear part and located in another plane. The driven member 200 includes a part 201 that cooperates with the fixing member 100, a transmission part 203 that cooperates with the transmission part 302, and a locking part 202 that cooperates with the locking part 301. As can be seen from the figure, the transmission part 203 allows the use of complete gears and incomplete gears, which can be selected according to specific usage conditions. The secondary transmission gear 310 is fixedly connected to the driving member 300. Preferably, the secondary transmission gear 310 has the same module as the gear part 302 of the driving member 300, the same number of complete teeth as the driving member 300, and is processed as a whole to reduce production costs. Preferably, there are three driving members 300, which are evenly distributed along the circumference of the driven member 200. The primary transmission gear 001 cooperates with the secondary transmission gear 310 and is connected to the motor.

[0023] Attached Figure 5 The embodiment shown and the attached Figure 4 The two gears are basically the same, except that the number of teeth and the module of the secondary transmission gear 310 are different from the gear teeth parameters of the driving member 300, so that the transmission ratio design of the actuator for the driving member 300 is more free, and the parameter selection of each gear is more diverse. Specifically, the secondary transmission gear 310 is processed separately, or processed in one piece with different parameters, or the fixed connection between the secondary transmission gear 310 and the driving member 300 is allowed to be decomposed, which can be achieved in various ways.

[0024] Attached Figure 1 In the embodiment of FIG. 5 , the driving member 300 and the driven member 200 are both matched by an incomplete gear mechanism. Figure 6 and attached Figure 7 In the embodiment, the driving member 300 and the driven member 200 are matched with each other using a grooved wheel mechanism. Figure 6 The flat grooved wheel mechanism is shown. Figure 7 The spatial sheave mechanism is shown, which has basically the same structure and working principle, and the mechanism is basically the same as the incomplete gear mechanism, except that the sheave mechanism cannot achieve a 180-degree rotation at one time, so the driving member 300 (i.e., the dial) needs to be rotated multiple times to realize a working process of the trailer hook.

[0025] The following is attached Figure 4 The embodiment shown in Figure 5 describes the working process of the simple and reliable electric trailer hook of the present invention: The fixing member 100 is fixedly connected to the vehicle frame, the trailer hook 400 is fixedly connected to the driven member 200, and the primary transmission gear 001 is connected to the motor and meshed with the secondary transmission gear 310. The secondary transmission gear 310 is fixedly connected to the driving member 300 and drives the driving member 300 to rotate together. Since the locking part and the transmission part belong to different planes, it is allowed that the tooth height is reduced and the transmission guide feature is not allowed. When the trailer hook 400 is in the retracted position, the transmission part 302 of the driving member 300 faces the transmission part 203 of the driven member 200 with the non-toothed part, and the locking part 301 of the driving member 300 is locked with the locking part 202 of the driven member 200, so that the driven member 200, that is, the trailer hook 400, is stable in the retracted position and cannot move. When the motor rotates, the driving member 300 is driven to rotate through the primary transmission gear 001 and the secondary transmission gear 310, so that the trailer hook 400 is unfolded from the retracted position to the working position. During this process, when the locking portion 301 of the driving member 300 is disengaged from the locking portion 202 of the driven member 200, the transmission portion 302 is engaged with the transmission portion 203 until the trailer hook 400 is rotated to the working position, which is a 180-degree stroke in the embodiment. Then the transmission portion 302 of the driving member 300 is disengaged from the transmission portion 203 of the driven member 200, and the locking portion 301 is engaged with the locking portion 202. During the entire working process, the movement of the trailer hook 400 is completely under control. Even in the working position and the retracted position, due to the gravity of the trailer hook 400 itself, during the switching process between the transmission cooperation and the locking cooperation, the driven member 200 may rotate autonomously in a small range due to reasons such as processing accuracy, but it does not affect the switching process at all, and the entire working process can be carried out normally.

[0026] Attached Figure 6 and attached Figure 7 The entire working process of the trailer hook is also achieved by directly or indirectly driving the driving member 300 through the actuating device, and the transmission part 302 on the driving member 300 cooperates with the transmission part 203 on the driven member 200 to achieve transmission, and the locking part 301 on the driving member 300 cooperates with the locking part 202 on the driven member 200 to achieve locking, and when the transmission part is out of engagement, the locking part enters engagement; when the locking part is out of engagement, the transmission part enters engagement, completing the entire working process, which is basically the same as the working process of the above embodiment and will not be described in detail here.

[0027] The simple and reliable electric trailer hook of the present invention has the following advantages: The structure is simple and the number of parts is small. Under special circumstances, the requirements can be met by the cooperation of a pair of incomplete gears to realize the complete working process.

[0028] The processing is convenient and the cost is low. The structural features of the transmission part, locking part, etc. are the gear structure, arc surface mechanism, straight groove, etc. commonly seen in the engineering field. The processing is extremely convenient, with little difficulty and low cost.

[0029] The process is smooth and the operation is reliable. The incomplete gear mechanism or groove wheel mechanism can naturally meet the smooth switching of the transmission process and the locking process. At the moment the transmission stops, the locking mechanism works and instantly locks the follower to achieve reliable positioning; when the locking mechanism is separated, the transmission work is immediately started, and even due to processing accuracy and gravity factors, it has no impact on the working process.

[0030] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention. The scope of application of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A simple and reliable electric trailer hook, characterized by: It includes a fixing part, a trailer hook, a follower, and a driving part; the fixing part is fixedly mounted on the vehicle body, the driving part is directly or indirectly connected to the actuating device, the follower is connected to the trailer hook and mounted on the fixing part; the driving part cooperates with the follower and drives the follower to rotate; the driving part includes a transmission part and a locking part, the follower includes a transmission part and a locking part, the transmission part and the locking part are configured so that the locking part can enter into engagement when the transmission part is disengaged, and the transmission part can enter into engagement when the locking part is disengaged.

2. The simple and reliable electric trailer hook according to claim 1, characterized in that: The driving member is an incomplete gear, the transmission part is a gear tooth part, and the locking part is a non-gear tooth part.

3. The simple and reliable electric trailer hook according to claim 2, characterized in that: Transmission guide features are respectively provided on the driving member and the driven member, and the transmission guide features are configured to help smoothly switch the cooperation between the transmission part and the locking part.

4. The simple and reliable electric trailer hook according to claim 3, characterized in that: The transmission guide feature is configured to reduce the impact when the transmission part and the locking part are switched.

5. The simple and reliable electric trailer hook according to claim 2, characterized in that: The transmission part and the locking part are located in the same plane; or, the transmission part and the locking part are located in different planes.

6. The simple and reliable electric trailer hook according to claim 2, characterized in that: The tooth height of the first tooth and / or the last tooth of the gear tooth portion is smaller than the standard value.

7. The simple and reliable electric trailer hook according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of the driving members is more than one and they are distributed along the circumference of the driven member.

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