STRAIGHTENING BENCH FOR VEHICLE CHASSIS AND BODY, AND KITS FOR ANCHORING TO A VEHICLE CHASSIS

Abstract

The invention relates to a straightening bench for a vehicle chassis and body, characterised in that it comprises: a vehicle lift with four beams, including two longitudinal beams and two crossbeams interconnected in pairs, each of the two crossbeams being linked to two lifting columns. Also disclosed are means for fastening the vehicle to the longitudinal beams of the straightening bench, these fastening means being capable of attaching a vehicle resting on its wheels to the longitudinal beams.

Claims

1. Straightening bench for the chassis and body of a vehicle, comprising: An elevating platform comprising four beams, said four beams comprising two longitudinal beams and two cross beams connected in pairs, each of said cross beams being connected to two lifting columns, Means of attachment of the vehicle to the longitudinal beams of the straightening bench, in which said attachment means can be fixed to a vehicle placed on its wheels on said longitudinal beams.

2. Straightening bench according to claim 1, wherein said attachment means can be fixed to the vehicle main beams or main beam stiffeners.

3. Straightening bench according to either claim 1, comprising at least one straightening bracket, said straightening bracket being attached to one of said four beams by removable attachment means.

4. Straightening bench according to claim 1, wherein said beams are I-beams, the central part of said beams being sufficiently wide so that a tyre of said vehicle can roll on it and lateral parts through which holes are formed at regular intervals.

5. Straightening bench according to claim 4, wherein the removable attachment means of the straightening bracket include rods inserted in holes in one of said I-beams.

6. Straightening bench according to either claim 4, comprising three straightening brackets, each of said straightening brackets being fixed onto a different I-beam.

7. Straightening bench according to claim 6, wherein rails are fixed to said I-beams, the straightening brackets being capable of sliding on said rails.

8. Straightening bench according to claim 6, wherein each straightening bracket comprises three hydraulic rams, each of said rams being capable of sliding in one of the three dimensions in space.

9. Straightening bench according to claim 1, comprising a hydraulic ram fixed to one of said four beams, said ram being capable of applying a vertical force on a point of the vehicle within the perimeter defined by said four beams.

10. Straightening bench according to claim 1, wherein said lifting columns comprise worm screws.

11. Straightening bench according to claim 1, comprising an ultrasound reception device for an ultrasound vehicle chassis measurement system, said ultrasound reception device being fixed to at least one of the beams of the straightening bench.

12. Straightening bench according to claim 1, wherein a system for measuring the geometry of the vehicle wheels is integrated into said longitudinal beams.

13. Straightening bench according to claim 1, wherein said attachment means comprise a degree of freedom in rotation about a rotation axis parallel to the plane formed by said four beams.

14. Straightening bench according to claim 1, wherein said attachment means comprise a degree of freedom in rotation about a rotation axis perpendicular to the plane formed by said four beams.

15. Anchor kit to the chassis of a vehicle for attachment for fastening to a straightening bench, comprising: at least two rods, each rod comprising an anchor head for a jack support hole in said vehicle; at least one beam comprising two through holes, the distance between said two through holes being equal to the distance between the support hole of the front jack support and the support hole of the rear jack support of said vehicle, the diameter of said through holes being sufficient to enable passage of said at least two rods; attachment means to fix said at least one beam to at least two rods anchored to the chassis of the vehicle.

16. Anchor kit according to claim 15, wherein the at least one beam comprises means of varying the distance between said two through holes.

17. (canceled).

18. Attachment to fix a vehicle to a straightening bench comprising a rod a groove being machined at one end of said rod, said groove dividing the end of said rod into two legs, each of the two legs comprising a through hole, said two through holes facing each other and also comprising a first jaw, said first jaw being inserted in said groove, said first jaw comprising a through hole facing the through holes in the legs of said rod, and a second C-shaped jaw comprising a concave part, one leg of said rod being inserted in the concave part of said jaw, said jaws comprising a plurality of through holes facing each other in pairs, bolts being inserted in said through holes to fix the first jaw to said rod and to fix the second jaw to the first jaw.

19. Kit for anchorage to the chassis of a vehicle comprising a first cross beam dedicated to the front part of the vehicle, a second cross beam dedicated to the rear part of the vehicle, the first beam comprising anchor parts to the chassis of the vehicle, the second beam comprising anchor parts to the chassis of the vehicle, each of said first and second beams comprising a rail, said anchor parts comprising a U-shaped part and a closing plate to fix said anchor parts around said rails by closing said U-shaped parts, said beams also comprising attachment parts comprising a U-shaped part and a closing plate to fix said attachment parts around said rails by closing said U-shaped parts, the attachment parts also comprising a clamping plate that can be clamped by the attachment plates of a straightening bench.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0060] These aspects and other aspects of the invention will be clarified in the detailed description of particular embodiments of the invention given with reference to the drawings in the figures, among which:

[0061] FIG. 1 is an elevation view of one embodiment of the straightening bench according to the invention;

[0062] FIG. 2 is a side view of an example embodiment of the straightening bench according to the invention;

[0063] FIG. 3 is a view of one embodiment of the attachment for fixing a vehicle to a straightening bench according to the invention;

[0064] FIG. 4 is a view of a U-shaped part for fixing the vehicle to the straightening bench;

[0065] FIG. 5 is a view of the beam of the anchor kit to the vehicle chassis according to the invention;

[0066] FIG. 6 is a rod with an anchor head for the anchor kit to the vehicle chassis according to one embodiment of the invention;

[0067] FIG. 7 is a rod with an anchor head for the anchor kit to the vehicle chassis according to another embodiment of the invention;

[0068] FIG. 8 is a view of an anchor kit according to another embodiment of the invention;

[0069] FIG. 9 is an elevation view of an embodiment of the straightening bench according to the invention comprising a straight edge acting as a reference for a chassis measurement system, plates to measure the suspension geometry and a measurement instrument for adjustment of the headlights;

[0070] The figures are not drawn to scale. In general, similar elements are denoted by similar references in the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENTS

[0071] FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 represent one embodiment of the straightening bench according to the invention. The straightening bench comprises four lifting columns 1, two cross beams 2b connected to the lifting columns 1, and two longitudinal beams 2a connected to the cross beams 2b and designed to hold the wheels of the vehicle to be repaired. Attachment means 4 of the vehicle to the longitudinal beams 2a of the straightening bench are present in order to fix the vehicle in place for straightening work. The straightening brackets comprise hydraulic rams to move in three dimensions in space and thus to enable straightening of the chassis or the body once fitted with chains or cables. The longitudinal beams 2a and cross beams 2b of the straightening bench are I-beams. The width of the central part of the longitudinal beams 2a is sufficiently large to support the tyre of the vehicle to be repaired. The lateral parts of the I-beams are provided with through holes formed at regular intervals. Such holes are used for the attachment of U-shaped parts 40 to which the attachments 4 are fitted, and also for the attachment of rails 5 along which the straightening brackets 3 can slide. The lifting columns 1 of the straightening bench are provided with worm screws. Moreover, the longitudinal beams 2a can slide along cross beams 2b, so as to adapt the spacing between the longitudinal beams 2a to the specific width of the vehicle to be repaired. The attachments 4 include a degree of freedom in rotation about a rotation axis 6 parallel to the plane formed by said four beams 2a, 2b. This degree of freedom makes it possible to maintain the attachment of the vehicle to the frame formed by the four beams 2a, 2b even when the vehicle chassis is raised at one location only and becomes oblique relative to said frame, for example when a wheel of the vehicle needs to be changed. For example, the vehicle can be raised in this way by a hydraulic ram fixed to one of said four beams 2a, 2b, said ram being capable of applying a vertical force on a point of the vehicle within the perimeter defined by said four beams 2a, 2b. Attachments 4 also comprise a degree of freedom in rotation about the rotation axis 7 perpendicular to the plane formed by said four beams 2a, 2b. In such an embodiment, the attachment means can be oriented along the axis of the main beams or the main beam stiffeners of the vehicle to be fixed to the straightening bench. Thus, cars with a streamlined profile and therefore non-parallel right and left main beam stiffeners can be fixed to the straightening bench according to the invention without difficulty.

[0072] FIG. 3 shows details of an embodiment of the attachment used to fix the vehicle to the straightening bench. The attachment comprises a rod 10 with a groove 11 machined at one of its ends. The groove 11 divides the end of the rod 10 into two legs 12a and 12b, each of the two legs having a through hole 13a and 13b, the two through holes 13a and 13b facing each other.

[0073] The attachment also comprises a first jaw 14, said first jaw 14 being inserted in the groove 11 of the rod 10. This first jaw is provided with a through hole 15 facing the through holes 13a and 13b of the legs 12a and 12b of said rod 10. The through holes 13a and 13b of the rod 10 and the hole 15 in the first jaw are used to fix the first jaw to the rod 10, for example using a nut and a bolt with appropriate dimensions (not shown).

[0074] The attachment also comprises a second C-shaped jaw 16 comprising a concave part 17, a leg of said rod 12a being inserted in the concave part 17 of the second jaw 16. The jaws 14 and 16 also comprise a plurality of through holes 18 and 19 facing each other in pairs. These through holes 18 and 19 are used to fix the first jaw 14 to the second jaw 16, for example using nuts and bolts with appropriate dimensions (not shown).

[0075] Such an attachment is found to be particularly effective for fixing to a main beam stiffener (=underbody rabbet) of a vehicle since said rod can be mounted free to rotate on a beam of the straightening bench beam according to the invention, so that the jaws 14 and 16 can be oriented along the axis of the main beam stiffeners of the vehicle to be fixed to the straightening bench. Thus, cars with a streamlined profile and therefore non-parallel right and left main beam stiffeners can be fixed to a straightening bench without difficulty using attachment means according to the invention. Furthermore, the possibility of varying the orientation of the jaws relative to the axis defined by the through holes 13a and 13b formed in the two legs 12a and 12b of the rod 10 can be used to fix the vehicle to the straightening bench even when the vehicle chassis is raised at a single location. In order to facilitate this rotation, a space 20 is provided on the second jaw between the rod 10 and the first jaw 14 and the chamfers 21.

[0076] Furthermore, due to the particular design of the attachment according to the invention and due to their facing through holes 18, 19, said first and second jaws 14 and 16 can be moved towards each other while remaining parallel by screwing of the bolts and nuts, to maximise the area of the clamping zone and the clamping force between the two jaws and therefore the reliability of the fastener according to the invention. This effect is not observed for fasteners according to prior art for which the clamping zone is the result of rotation rather than translation of the first and second jaws. In order to further reinforce this parallelism, advantageously tapped through holes 22 can be present in the first or the second jaw in order to hold threaded rods that push against the opposite jaw until the required parallelism is reached.

[0077] The rod 10 is advantageously threaded (not shown). In this way, it can easily be fixed to an I-beam of the straightening bench according to the invention, at the required height. The U-shaped part 40 represented in FIG. 4 can easily be fixed to the I-beams of the straightening bench according to the invention due to its lateral parts 41 in which through holes 42 are formed. There is a slot formed in the central part 43, that can contain the rod 10 that is fixed to it by a nut. The slot also provides a degree of lateral freedom to fix the rod at the required location.

[0078] FIG. 5 represents the beam 50 of the anchor kit according to the invention that will cooperate with the anchor rods 60 and 70 represented in FIGS. 6 and 7. Therefore this beam 50 has two holes 51 and 52 formed in it that can hold the anchor rods 60 and 70 after these rods have been inserted in the jack support holes of a vehicle. Therefore the spacing D between the holes 51 and 52 must correspond to the distance between the jack support holes of the vehicle. Considering that this distance varies from one vehicle model to another, the beam 50 in the anchor kit according to the invention advantageously comprises means of varying the distance between the through holes 51 and 52. In the embodiment represented in FIG. 5, the beam 50 is composed of two beams 53 and 54 solidarised to each other by attachment means 55 and 56, so that the length of the beam 50 can be adjusted by varying the overlapping portion of the beams 53 and 54. However, other means could be used to make the same beam 50 adaptable to different vehicle models, for example such as a beam 50 made in a single part through which through holes are formed at different intervals corresponding to standard dimensions of vehicles to be fixed to the straightening bench. To fix a vehicle to the straightening bench, a beam 50 will be anchored to the left front and rear jack holes, while another beam 50 will be anchored to the right front and rear jack holes, after which said beams 50 can be used as a support to hold attachments of the straightening bench, and particularly jaws that will be able to firmly clamp said beams 50.

[0079] Therefore FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 represent two embodiments of the rods 60 and 70 used in the anchor kit according to the invention for the chassis of a vehicle. The rods 60 and 70 have different anchor heads 61 and 71 that correspond to different embodiments for use with different vehicle models. Not all vehicle models have identical jack support holes and therefore rods with adapted anchor heads are necessary.

[0080] FIG. 8 represents beams 81, 82 for another embodiment of an anchor kit according to the invention. Such an anchor kit comprises beams 81, 82 that in this case are cross beams, one beam 81 being dedicated to the front part of the vehicle and another beam 82 to the rear part.

[0081] The beam 81 comprises anchor parts 83 that can be fixed to the vehicle chassis, advantageously using screws fixing the front cradle to the chassis to the vehicle, while the beam 82 comprises anchor parts 84 that can be fixed to the vehicle chassis, advantageously using screws fixing the rear axle of the vehicle to the vehicle chassis. Each of the beams 81 and 82 also comprises a rail 85. Each of said anchor parts 83 and 84 comprises a U-shaped part 86 free to slide on the rails 85, and also a closing plate 87 to fix said parts 83 and 84 to the rails 85, closing said U-shaped parts 86. Holes are formed in the closing plates 87 to fix the closing plates to rods 88 rigidly attached to lateral parts of U-shaped parts 86. The rods 88 may for example be threaded and fixed to the clamping plates 87 by means of bolts. The beams 81 and 82 also include attachment parts 89 (not shown on the beam 81 in FIG. 8) to hold attachments to the straightening bench, for example as described in FIG. 3. Such attachment parts 89 also comprise a U-shaped part 891 and a closing plate 892. The attachment parts 89 also include a clamping plate 893 that can be clamped by attachments of the straightening bench. Therefore, in this type of anchor kit, it is found that the anchor parts 83 and 84 are designed to be adapted to a specific vehicle model or even a category of models, while the rails 85 and attachment parts 89 can be used universally regardless of the model of the vehicle to be straightened Furthermore, the space between the anchor parts 83, 84, and the space between the attachment parts 89, can be fine adjusted by the operator, and are free to slide on the rail 85 before attachment, in order to adapt to specific features of the repaired vehicle and the straightening bench used. The anchor kit disclosed below is particularly advantageous due to its ease of assembly and the small number of parts to be designed specifically for a given vehicle model. As explained above, the rails 85 and the attachment parts 89 are universal and can be used regardless of the model of the vehicle to be fixed, which gives an indisputable economic advantage.

[0082] It is important to note that the different anchor kits for fixing to the chassis of a vehicle illustrated by FIG. 5-8 or the attachment described in FIG. 3 can equally well be used in combination with the straightening bench according to the invention and with any other type of straightening bench disclosed in prior art or more generally any other apparatus that has to be fastened to the chassis of a vehicle.

[0083] FIG. 9 represents an embodiment of the straightening bench according to the invention comprising a straight edge 90 acting as reference for a chassis measurement system, said straight edge 10 being fixed between said longitudinal beams 2a by means of cross beams 91 connecting the longitudinal beams 2a in pairs, plates 92 to measure the suspension geometry on the longitudinal beams 2a and a measurement instrument 93 for adjustment of the headlights on the front cross beam 2b of the straightening bench.