A spare wheel winch system with override torque control mechanism

Abstract

ABSTRACT A SPARE WHEEL WINCH SYSTEM WITH OVERRIDE TORQUE CONTROL MECHANISM A system for compact spiral drum spare wheel winch with override torque control mechanism is disclosed. The system may in accordance with an exemplary embodiment may comprise a spare wheel winch. The spare wheel winch may be configured to lift a spare wheel so to be accommodated on a bottom side of a vehicle floor. Further a fitment shaft may rotate away w.r.t to a spare wheel fitment axis. A flexible tube (Conduit) / metal guide tube and the fitment shaft may rotate in a clockwise and / or anticlockwise direction. Further the flexible tube and the fitment shaft may be mounted inside vehicle boot space area in vertical position. a wire rope may be looped around a spiral drum. Further the spiral drum may be driven by an eccentric bush gear mechanism. The eccentric bush gear mechanism may be placed horizontal in a winch housing with over-ride clutch mechanism.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[001] The present disclosure relates to vehicles, more particularly relates to a sparewheel winch system with override torque control mechanism.BACKGROUND

[002] The automotive industry continually strives for innovations that enhance thefunctionality, safety, and convenience of vehicles. A critical aspect of vehicle safety isthe provision of spare wheels, enabling drivers to address unforeseen tire-related issuespromptly. Conventional spare wheel winch systems often rely on traditional drummechanisms, presenting challenges related to bulkiness, space utilization, andefficiency.

[003] Further the conventional spare wheel storage systems, pose challenges interms of space utilization and accessibility.

[004] Current spare wheel storage methods, involve external mounts or rear-doorcarriers, have limitations in terms of design flexibility, aerodynamics, and overallaesthetics. As the demand for sleeker and more aerodynamic vehicle designs grows,there is a need for an innovative undercarriage spare wheel winch that optimizes spaceutilization, supports CNG tank accommodation with boot space, accessibility, and userconvenience.

[005] Further the current spare wheel winch systems typically employ traditionaldrum mechanisms, leading to bulkier designs and space-consuming installations withinthe vehicle's undercarriage.

[006] Additionally, these systems may encounter difficulties in smoothlydeploying and retracting spare wheels, resulting in inconvenience and potential safetyconcerns for users.

[007] There is a recognized need for an advanced spare wheel winch system thatovercomes the limitations of existing designs.SUMMARY

[008] In an implementation of the present disclosure, a spare wheel winch systemwith override torque control mechanism is disclosed. The system comprises a winch (1)for lifting a spare wheel to be accommodated on the bottom side of a vehicle floor (2).Further, a fitment shaft (7) is provided within the winch (1). In an embodiment, the winch(1) is configured to rotate away from a spare wheel fitment axis (8), both axes may beconfigured to connect through a flexible tube (conduit) or a metal guide tube (9).

[009] The fitment shaft (7) rotates in clockwise and anticlockwise directionmounted inside vehicle boot space area in vertical position. A wire rope (10) with spiraldrum (11) (pulley) that can be driven by an eccentric bush (12) gear mechanism placedhorizontal in winch housing (13) with over-ride clutch mechanism from fitment shaft (7)rotation. Further, by rotating the fitment shaft (7) in clockwise direction, the spiral drum(11) also moves in clockwise direction. The clockwise rotation of the spiral drum (11)having a hoisting wire rope (10) is configured to perform rotation through spiral drum(11). The wire rope (10) connects with the spiral drum (11) passing through a spiralgroove (14) guided by the external winch housing (13) to a tube (9) till mount bracket(5) wire suspension location.

[0010] Further, anticlockwise direction of the fitment shaft (7) moves the spiraldrum (11) anticlockwise which lowers the spare wheel (3') at the mount bracket (5)location. Once, the clamping force reached to maximum level detected by a wheelstopper (6) or wire rope (10) complete come-out condition, the clutch mechanism startsslipping at detent position with clack noise during complete fitment thus the wheelstopper (6) condition or wire rope (10) released stopper between Trunnion (29) andTrunnion stopper (30) activates. In an embodiment, the general detent torque for slippageof the clutch mechanism set between 20Nm to 50Nm and depend on human effortcapabilities. The fitment shaft drives (7) the spring plate (15) at square slot (15')interface and the spring plate (15) rotates the eccentric bush (12) from centre axis (16)to provide rotation to torque arm (17) with gear (17'). The torque arm (17) changesposition due to eccentric bush (12) movement and allows the rotation at gear interfaceto a spiral drum (11) with rotation movement.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0011] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identify the figure inwhich the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout thedrawings to refer like features and components.

[0012] Figure 1-8 illustrates schematic drawing of a spare wheel winch with overridetorque control mechanism and its various components, in accordance with the presentinvention.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] Some embodiments of the present disclosure, illustrating all its features, willnow be discussed in detail. It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appendedclaims, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" include plural references unless the contextclearly dictates otherwise. Although any systems and methods similar or equivalent tothose described herein can be used for controlling stiffness and damping properties of atorsional damper.Part List- Spare wheel winch (1)- Vehicle floor (2)- Wheel rim (3)- Spare wheel (3')- Tire (4)- Bracket (5)- Wheel stopper (6)- Fitment shaft (7)- Spare Wheel fitment axis (8)- Flexible tube (Conduit) / metal guide tube (9)- Wire rope (10)- Spiral drum (11)- Eccentric bush (12)- Winch housing (13)- Plurality of spiral grooves (14)- Spring plate (15)- Square slot (15')- Centre axis (16)- Torque arm (17)- Gear (17')- Wheel carrier (18)- Swivel washer (19)- Spring element (20)- Retainer pin (21)- Push nut (22)- Detent Interface (23)- Detent height (24)- Detent profile (25)- Detent slot (26)- Base plate (27)- Rivet (28)- Trunnion (29)- Trunnion stopper (30)- Guide (31)- Positive stopper (32)- Anti-chafing flaring (33)- Tapper lock lugs (34)- Safety wire rope cable (35)

[0014] An exemplary embodiment of the present subject discloses a spare wheelwinch system (hereinafter the "system") with override torque control mechanism. Thesystem comprises a winch, in accordance with the present invention. The winch isconfigured to lift a spare wheel so to be accommodated on a bottom side of a vehiclefloor. Further, the system includes a fitment shaft which rotate away w.r.t to a sparewheel fitment axis. Further, the system includes a flexible tube (Conduit) / metal guidetube and the fitment shaft which rotates in a clockwise and / or anticlockwise direction.In an embodiment, the flexible tube and the fitment shaft are mounted inside vehicleboot space area in vertical position.

[0015] In accordance with the exemplary embodiment, a wire rope is looped arounda spiral drum. Further, the spiral drum is driven by an eccentric bush gear mechanism.Specifically, the eccentric bush gear mechanism is placed horizontal in a winch housingwith over-ride clutch mechanism.

[0016] In an exemplary aspect of the present invention, rotating the fitment shaft inclockwise direction rotates the spiral drum in a clockwise direction. Further, the wirerope looped or hoisted around the spiral drum enables rotation. The wire rope may befurther configured to pass through a plurality of spiral grooves guided by the externalwinch housing, to a tube till mount bracket.

[0017] In another aspect, the rotation of the fitment shaft in anticlockwise directionlowers the spare wheel at mount bracket location.

[0018] The over-ride torque after clamping force reached by spare wheel with wheelstopper the clutch mechanism starts slipping at detent position with clack noise duringclockwise direction fitment condition and while anticlockwise direction, the stopperlocks with housing thereby making the clack noise to indicate the wire length came outas per design.

[0019] The fitment shaft drives the spring plate at square slot interface and springplate rotates the eccentric bush from centre axis to provide rotation to torque arm withgear. The torque arm changes position due to eccentric bush movement and allows therotation at gear interface to spiral drum with rotation movement. The spare wheel winchmay comprise a wheel carrier assembled on swivel washer to allow swivel movementduring fitment of the spare wheel during wire rope movement.

[0020] The spare wheel Winch may further comprise the spring element, and theswivel washer may be provided with a passage retainer pin. Further the spare wheelwinch comprising the over-ride clutch mechanism with clack noise feature for clockwiseand anticlockwise detent locking.

[0021] The spare wheel winch may further comprise a detent interface positionedbetween the eccentric bush and the spring plate under clamp element of push nut to keepspring plate under compression with the eccentric bush. The detent feature on springplate during over-ride torque moves rotational in eccentric detent slots under definedtorque range. Specifically, the detent height and profile in spring plate leads the over-ride torque fitment with taper detent slot feature. The entire mechanism is secured in ahousing and base plate with rivet joints.

[0022] In accordance with the aspect spare wheel winch comprise a trunnion elementto avoid over travel of the wire rope from Spiral drum interface. The trunnion elementis configured to be accommodated in winch housing and spiral drum to form positivetrunnion stopper during complete unwinding of the wire rope on spiral drum. Further,the trunnion features with pivot joint with spiral drum during trunnion stopper position.Further, the over-ride clutch slipping mechanism with clack noise during completeunwound condition is also provided.

[0023] The positive stopper for torque arm during all possible movement with guidepart. The guide part is forming stopper for torque arm which is sliding as per eccentricbush position. The wire rope moves inside the guide tube to have feature for anti-chafingflaring on wire rope interface. The retainer pin part guide in swivel washer duringcomplete fitment of spare wheel to avoid rubbing at sharp corners at guide tube interface.a carrier part to have swivel feature with swivel washer interface to aligned centredfitment of the spare wheel.

[0024] Referring now to Figure 1 to Figure 8, there is shown a spare wheel winchsystem (100) (hereinafter the system (100)) with override torque control mechanism, inaccordance with the present invention. The system (100) comprises a winch (1).Specifically, the system (100) comprises a winch housing (13) fastened to the undersideof the vehicle floor (2). The winch (1) is rotatable about a vertical center axis (16). Thesystem (100) also comprises a spiral drum (11) mounted for winding a hoisting rope,which can be driven by a vertically oriented fitment shaft (7). The fitment shaft (7) withits upper end portion opening through the vehicle floor (2) into the vehicle interiorthrough a reduction gear housed in the winch housing (13).

[0025] The reduction gear is an eccentric bush (12) to lock the spiral drum (11) withtorque arm (17) mechanism. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thesystem (100) comprises an over-ride torque control mechanism to set the fitment torquefor complete unwound and wound till complete fitment of the spare wheel (3') withvehicle happens. The over-ride torque control mechanism generates clack type noise byslipping the detent. The detent slips between spring plate (15) and eccentric bush (12)from one detent hole to anther detent interface (23) with clack noise.

[0026] Specifically, the hoist wire rope (10) faces away from the winch housing (13)and passes through flexible tube (9) till mount bracket (5), so that the free one end areaof the tube (9) is rigidly supported by bracket (5) and wire rope (10) exits the tube (9)with forms anti chafing flaring (33) vertically downwards. At the free end of the wirerope (10), a retainer pin (21) is crimped and attached for carrying the spare wheel (3').The wire rope (10) then reaches through the opening of the spare wheel rim (3) andabutment containing spring element (20), swivel washer (19) and wheel carrier (18) frombelow wheel. The swivel washer (19) and wheel carrier (18) part forms a swivel jointduring spare wheel (3') lifting from spare wheel fitment axis (rim center) (8).

[0027] The spare wheel (3') fits till spare wheel tire rests at wheel stopper (6) andfurther torquing on fitment shaft clutch mechanism will start slipping at detent interface(23). The fitment shaft's (7) upper end, which is located inside the vehicle, is providedwith a polygon shaped structure (Or other in shape) for lifting spare wheel (3') duringclockwise rotation. If the fitment shaft (7)t rotates in anti-clockwise direction, the sparewheel (3') is released from the wheel stopper (6).

[0028] In an preferred embodiment of the present invention, the reduction ratio ofthe reduction gear made between spiral drum (11) and the torque arm (17) is greater than1:12 so that the spare wheel (3') should not drop unintentionally and helps operator withmechanical advantage for fitment / removal torque at fitment shaft(7) below ~12Nmtorque value. Further, the spring element (20) retains the fitment clamp force betweenspare wheel (3') and wheel stopper (6) during worst case vibrations during vehicle indynamic condition.

[0029] The spiral drum (11) is mounted with the housing (13) using a base plate (27)with 40 mm maximum height. Specifically, ~3.2 turns of spiral grooves are provided onthe spiral drum (11) with wire rope (10) to withstand 800Kgf minimum load whereas forthe spare wheel (3') static load is approximate 35Kgf and lesser.

[0030] The spiral drum (11) is driven by the latter via a torque arm (17) reductiongear mechanism being moved by eccentric bush (12) gear shifting concept. This helpsthe hoisting wire rope (10) during clockwise motion of the fitment shaft (7) and unwoundthe spare wheel (3') from interface by anti-clockwise motion of the fitment shaft (7).

[0031] In preferred embodiment, the fitment shaft (7) is provided with over-ridetorque control mechanism. Specifically, a clutch mechanism with slipping type detent isadded between the spring plate (15) and eccentric bush (12) part. The spring plate (15)is having detent locking with the eccentric bush (12) detent tapper hole interface (23)and the detent starts slipping from one detent hole to another. This spring plate (15) isdirectly coupled with fitment shaft (7) with square hole interface (15'). The spring plate(15) detent location changes in eccentric bush (12) from one hole to anther during over-ride condition clack type of sound felt by operator.

[0032] The operator is well aware about the fitment and torque reached as perspecified limit, so further abuse on mechanism can be avoided and it save time of theoperator. The over-ride torque value for clutch slippage achieved through detentinterface design (23), detent height (24) and detent profile (25) with spring plate (15)and eccentric bush (12) material stiffness. The same detent load may be achieved throughperipheral leaf spring elements with detent mechanism.

[0033] The fitment shaft (7) includes a push nut (22) is rigidly fixed thereto andmakes sandwich joint between spring plate (15) and eccentric bush (12). The push nut(22) having tapper lock lugs (34) prevents push nut (22) to move back on fitment shaft(7) during long life working of the winch mechanism. The case of wire rope (10) iscompletely out from spiral drum (11) interface, where wire rope (10) end locking withspiral drum (11) with trunnion (29) part. The trunnion (29) part forms rotation joint withspiral drum (11) and during complete wire unwound condition the trunnion stopped bywinch housing rib trunnion stopper (30). These trunnion stopper (30) restricts thetrunnion (29) to move (rotate) further spiral drum (11). Apparently, the trunnion stopper(30) stops the wire rope (10) movement at dead stop location. However, if the operatorunknowingly rotates the fitment shaft (7) to unwound wire rope further, the torqueincreases sharply and the clutch mechanism starts slippage in detent interface (23) atpredefined torque limit. The winch housing (13) has strength to withstand the abuse loadduring over-ride torque abuse action with unexpected vibrations.

[0034] The wire rope (10) has to absorb the entire lifting force in the region of itsdeflections, which is either an extraordinarily massive dimension requires guide tube orthere is a risk that the guide tube (9) kinks, trunnion (29) separate from wire rope (10),retainer pin (21) come-out from wire rope (10) under the lifting load, making the sparewheel (3') winch unusable. The replacement wheel winch according to the presentembodiment is much more compact in its packaging space as per images given. Thedesign of wheel winch according to the invention can be manufactured and assembledmore cost-effectively.

[0035] In an embodiment of the present invention, the secondary safety foraccidental wheel assembly fall is ensured by additional cable safety wire rope cable (35).The safety wire rope cable (35) is attached with the bracket (5) and connects with wheelrim (3) by screw fit / thread fit to ensure secondary level safety during accident wheelfall condition. The safety wire rope cable (35) is designed to accommodate withinavailable space with coiled form or routed form with detachable design feature.

[0036] The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intendedto be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise forms disclosed, andobviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching.The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles ofthe present invention and its practical application, and to thereby enable others skilled inthe art to best utilize the present invention and various embodiments with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is understood thatvarious omissions and substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstancesmay suggest or render expedient, but such omissions and substitutions are intended tocover the application or implementation without departing from the scope of the presentinvention.

Claims

1. A spare wheel winch system (100) with override torque control mechanism, the system (100) comprising: a winch (1) configured within a housing (13) and fastened to the underside of the vehicle floor (2), the winch (1) rotatable about a vertical center axis (16); a spiral drum (11) mounted within the housing (13) for winding a wire rope (10), the spiral drum (11) and the wire rope (10) parked inside spiral grooves (14) driven by a vertically oriented fitment shaft (7), with its upper end portion passing through the vehicle floor (2) into the vehicle interior through a reduction gear housed in the housing (13), wherein the wire rope (10) passes through flexible tube (9) till a mount bracket (5) and connects to spare wheel (3'); at least three stoppers (6) configured underside the vehicle floor to rest the spare wheel (3') when pulled providing torque on the fitment shaft (7) clutch mechanism thereby slipping at detent interface (23); and trunnion element to avoid over travel of the wire rope (10) from the spiral drum (11) interface.

2. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reduction gear is an eccentric bush (12) to lock spiral drum (11) with torque arm (17) mechanism.

3. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reduction gear comprises an override torque control mechanism to set the fitment torque for complete unwound and wound wire rope (10) till the spare wheel (3') is attached with vehicle.

4. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein for over-ride torque generates clack type noise by slipping a detent system between a spring plate (15) and eccentric bush (12) from one detent hole to anther detent interface (23) with clack noise.

5. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fitment shaft (7) is configured to rotate in clockwise for tire (4) loading and anticlockwise direction for tire (4) unloading.

6. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reduction ratio of the reduction gear made between the spiral drum (11) and a torque arm (17) is greater than 1:12.

7. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein fitment clamp force between spare wheel (3') and the stopper (6) is ensured by override clutch system with defined torque and a spring (20).

8. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein spiral drum (11) is driven via the torque arm (17) reduction gear mechanism being moved by eccentric bush (12).

9. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the winch (1) comprises a wheel carrier assembled on swivel washer to allow swivel movement during fitment of the spare wheel during wire rope movement during loading and unloading of wheel rim (3).

10. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mounting bracket (5) connects with a wheel rim (3) by secondary safety wire rope cable (35) for accidental wheel fall condition.