Kansas Jack, Inc.

Hein-werner Corporation

Leonard F Eck

Reinald D Liegel

Garry J Sabel

Charles E Naber

William K Hagerty

Lyle Horgen

Michael Lamb

A pull tower for pulling upon a chain and correcting damaged portions of a vehicle includes a combination chain height adjustment and pulley mechanism which is positioned on the tower and with a collar having opposite side plates facing opposite side surfaces of the tower. A front end of the mechanism includes a pulley over which a chain is trained and a front crossbar extending between the side plates and adjacent the tower front surface. The mechanism has a rear end including a rear crossbar spaced from the front crossbar to loosely straddle the tower and a U-shaped spring which extends between the rear crossbar and lugs which extend from the tower rear surface to urge the rear crossbar away from the tower. The mechanism provides an angled, wedging fit of the chain height adjustment and a pulley mechanism on the tower at selected higher locations. Preferably, the tower is mounted to a carriage movably positionable about a work rack, although it can be floor mounted if desired.

Pull tower for correcting vehicle damage

A side lifting jack having a pneumatically and hydraulically actuated lifting cylinder for raising a lift arm of the side lifting jack. The jack includes a hydraulic fluid reservoir and air pressure is supplied to the hydraulic fluid reservoir to cause hydraulic fluid to be delivered to the lift cylinder. A flow restricting device controls the rate of flow of hydraulic fluid into or out of the hydraulic cylinder and prevents sudden movement of the jack or sudden extension of the lift cylinder assembly in the event that the load on the lift jack is suddenly reduced or removed from the lift jack. The jack also includes a ratch and pawl arrangement to selectively prevent retraction of the piston of the hydraulic cylinder and lowering of the jack.

Pneumatic hydraulic side lifting jack

A vehicle repair and alignment rack for correcting and aligning misshapened vehicle frame and body portions comprises a rack structure having a vehicle supportive upper surface and a lower surface with opposite side rack portions having inner and outer flanges joined together to form a central opening, whereby a vehicle straddles the opening for work access to the vehicle underside. Front and rear supportive legs are affixed to the rack structure for elevation above a floor surface and have power fluid rams operatively connected thereto for folding the legs and lowering the rack structure to the floor to facilitate positioning a vehicle on the rack. Force supplying members are affixed to the rack structure and are easily movable therearound so that they can be selectively positioned to exert pulls on substantially any part of the vehicle. A front end of the rack structure is removable and replaceable so that the repairman has easy access to the lower front side of the vehicle, a common location for vehicle damage.

Vehicle repair and alignment rack

A relatively lightweight, rigid, mobile work rack for correcting and aligning misshapen vehicle frame and body portions comprises spaced, parallel beam members and a central open space for unhindered access which extends the entire length of the rack. Front and rear pairs of legs individually or in combination between pairs swing up and down to selectively lower the entire rack or to tilt either the front or the rear end. The legs are mounted so that the entire rack fully lowers to rest upon the work shop floor and raises to a handy working height. A locking arrangement permits elevation of the rack at intermediate heights. Force applying structures are also selectively mountable to the work rack at various areas about its periphery and are braced for pulls to repair damaged vehicles.

A connector for mounting a vehicle measuring system to a vehicle fixture hole includes spaced arms with projecting end lugs which evenly and symmetrically open and grip the material defining the hole so that the connector is centered with respect to the hole. Rotation of a thumb wheel operates a wedge arrangement to evenly spread the arms and securely tighten the connector to the material defining the hole. A bushing on the connector is connectible to the vechicle measuring system and is longitudinally adjustable to set a precise distance from the measuring system to the fixture hole.

Connector for a vehicle measuring system

An anchor stand supports a vehicle above a floor surface and connects to an anchor pot device installed in a floor. The anchor stand includes an anchor bolt and nut to longitudinally draw the bolt and securely attach the stand to the anchor pot. An adjustable clamp is mounted on an uppermost portion of the stand for selectively attaching the anchor stand to a vehicle frame. Various frame straightening tools are then used to correct damage or misalignment of body and frame members.

Anchor stand

A wheel lift device for raising and supporting a wheeled vehicle such as an automobile, by engagement with a vehicle wheel thereof includes a lower support frame, casters, a carriage for engagement with the vehicle wheel, support struts connecting the carriage to the support frame and maintaining the carriage substantially parallel to a floor, and a mechanism for raising and lowering the carriage with respect to the support frame. The support frame and carriage engage the wheel by approaching the wheel along its path of roll, i.e. from a front or rear end of the vehicle. During this engagement, portions of the wheel lift device extend parallel to and on opposite sides of the wheel to lift the wheel and vehicle from a position where the vehicle is standing on a floor. A vehicle supported by the subject wheel lift devices in engagement with each wheel is readily adjusted for wheel alignment.

Wheel lift device

An adjustable carriage for mounting a measurement bar to a selected vehicle frame or body having locations corresponding to measurement points utilizes a carriage block sleeved about and slidably embracing the bar and has a clamp to secure the block at a selected location. An adjustable arm is mounted on the carriage block and has a socket affixing connectors which mount the bar from the vehicle. The arm is shiftable angularly to enable connection to the body at the proper points even though the points may be coarsely misaligned or deformed through damage.

Adjustable bar carriage for an alignment apparatus

An apparatus for detecting the alignment of the wheels of vehicles such as automobiles, truck tractors and trailers, includes an adjustable, wheel-engaging and target supporting structure mountable upon a vehicle wheel rim and has spaced arms extended laterally from cardinal points of the wheel. Indicia bearing targets respectively located on the arms provide scales for indicating the angular alignment of the vehicle wheels for conventional measurements such as caster, camber, toe-in, and steering axis cant. A sighting instrument establishes a line of sight parallel to and longitudinally spaced from the vehicle. The line of sight is directed toward a target and impinges upon a discrete mark on the scale thereof. Comparison of the points of impingement upon targets located at opposite cardinal points establishes angular relations therebetween which correspond to alignment measurements.

Line of sight wheel alignment apparatus for vehicles

A target structure for use with an alignment apparatus, such as a line of sight alignment apparatus for detecting the alignment of wheels of vehicles such as automobiles, truck tractors and trailers comprises an adjustable, wheel engaging and target supporting structure mountable upon a vehicle wheel rim. The target structure has an inner wheel mounting member with upper and lower arm members extending therefrom and engageable with the vehicle wheel rim. An outer target mounting member is pivotally connected to the inner wheel mounting member through coaxial center portions thereof for relative rotation of the outer target mounting member relative to the inner wheel mounting member. The outer target mounting member has spaced shaft members extended outwardly of the wheel and holding a plurality of targets at cardinal points around the wheel, the targets providing scales for determining the angular position of the vehicle wheels for conventional measurements such as caster, camber, toe and kingpin inclination. A sighting instrument establishes a line of sight parallel to and longitudinally spaced from the vehicle and which is directed toward a target and impinges upon a discrete mark on the scale thereof. Comparison of the points of impingement upon targets located at opposite cardinal points of the wheel establishes angular relations therebetween which correspond to alignment measurements.

Target structure for use with an alignment apparatus

An alignment checking and measuring apparatus for vehicle frame and body portions includes two or more measurement scale carriers which have connectors on opposite end portions thereof for attachment transversely to the vehicle. One of the measurement scale carriers has targets movably mounted on the end portions and another of the measurement scale carriers has sighting instruments, such as laser beam emitting instruments, mounted on the end portions. The measurement scale carriers are longitudinally spaced from each other. Longitudinally aligning the sighting instruments with the targets facilitates determination and correction of any damaged or misalignment condition in the vehicle frame and body. Comparison is made of the deviation, if any, in the parallelism of the lines of sight created by the longitudinally aligned targets and sighting instruments. Angular deviation of the lines of sight to symmetrical points on the vehicle frame and body tends to indicate damage or misaligned conditions.

Vehicle frame and body alignment apparatus

An anchor structure for exerting a pulling force against a vehicle structural member for straightening operations utilizes a lever arm including a bar member for positioning in an upright relationship and a base member affixed thereto. The bar member has an upper end portion, an intermediate portion and a bottom end portion and is of a rigid material to resist the bending forces applied thereto. The base member is affixed to the bottom end portion and extends laterally therefrom and permits the bar member to rock forwardly and rearwardly on a supportive surface. A lower attachment hook is secured to the lever arm generally at the bottom end portion for connection to a first anchor chain extending away from the lever arm in a direction opposite to a desired direction of pull and prevents movement of the base member outwardly of the first anchor chain. An upper attachment hook is secured to the lever arm at the intermediate portion for connection to a pulling chain extending away from the lever arm in a desired direction of pull whereby a pulling force is exerted on the lever arm to swing the upper end portion toward the pulling chain. The upper end portion is engaged with a vehicle structural member and exerts a pulling force thereon to either anchor a vehicle or to straighten bent vehicle structural members depending upon the extent of pulling force applied.

Anchor structure

A work rack structure for correcting and aligning misshapen vehicle frame and body portions comprises a rack structure having a vehicle supportive upper surface and a lower surface and with generally continuous front and rear end and opposite side rack portions having inner and outer marginal flanges and joined together to form a central interior opening whereby a vehicle straddles the opening for work access to the underside thereof. Front and rear supportive foot members are affixed to the rack structure for elevation above a floor surface, the rear supportive foot members being swingably mounted to the rack structure and having power fluid rams operatively connected thereto for folding the foot members and kneeling the rack structure to facilitate positioning of a vehicle thereon. A plurality of force applying members are affixed to the rack structure and are easily movable therearound so that they can be selectively positioned to exert force on substantially any part of the vehicle. The force applying members have locking pins for engagement with the rack structure and rollers which normally engage the inner and outer marginal flanges of the rack structure for translational movement thereon and when a pulling force is exerted by the force applying structure, the structure shifts upwardly relative to the rack structure and frictionally engages the inner and outer marginal flanges to prevent movement thereon.

Vehicle work rack structure

A radius plate structure for use in aligning a vehicle wheel resting thereon has a bottom plate member and an upper plate member positioned in overlying relation to the bottom plate member and connected thereto. A bearing cage is situated between the bottom plate member and the upper plate member and permits smooth rotational and translational movement of the upper plate member. The particular connection permits rotational movement while restricting translational movement to front to rear movement of the upper plate member relative to the bottom plate member. Rotation stopping connectors, such as a pin extending through an aperture and received in an elongate slot aligned front to rear, extend between the bottom plate member and the upper plate member and lock the upper plate member relative to the bottom plate member at a selected amount of rotation whereby only front to rear translational movement is permitted.

Radius plate structure

A vehicle axle straightening system for straightening a bent and twisted vehicle axle includes members engaging the axle to hold certain portions while forces are applied to the axle at portions spaced therefrom to bend and twist the axle to return same to its original orientation, the system particularly includes a pair of axle engaging assemblies each extending between and having opposite end portions thereof attached to respective anchors mounted in a floor and each assembly having a top member engageable with an upper surface of the vehicle axle thereby resisting upward movement of the respective engaged portion of the vehicle axle in response to an upwardly directed force by a force applying device extending between the floor and a selected portion of the vehicle axle and spaced from the axle engaging assemblies. The floor anchor for heavy truck axles has anchor sleeves or pots spaced along and secured to structural members which are in spaced parallel opposed relation and plates or webs connecting the opposed sleeves all set in a thick concrete floor. The vehicle axle straightening system includes an elongated bar positioned substantially normal to the vehicle axle and having a wrench portion at one end thereof engageable with the vehicle axle and adapted to twist same in response to a force applied to another end of the elongated member while the connections to the anchors hold down the axle. The vehicle axle straightening system includes a lever member having one end portion engageable with the upper surface of the vehicle axle and adapted to apply a downwardly directed force thereto in response to an upwardly directed force applied to another end portion of the lever member for moving same about a fulcrum in engagement with a lower surface of the vehicle axle.

Growing community of inventors

McPherson, KS, United States of America

Leonard F Eck