Abstract:
A wheel lifting device comprising a first portion and a second portion is disclosed. Each of the first portion and the second portion comprise a vertical member, a horizontal member, and a plurality of rotatatable devices coupled to and spaced apart laterally on the horizontal member. The horizontal member of the first portion is generally parallel to the horizontal member of the second portion and both horizontal members are generally perpendicular to a plane defined by the two vertical members.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is a non-provisional of U.S. Application Ser. No. 61/045,514 filed on Apr. 16, 2008, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This application relates to devices for lifting wheels. In particular, the application relates to devices for lifting large wheels such as dual tractor wheels. 
         [0003]    Dual tractor wheels can be extremely heavy and cumbersome. Removing and replacing the outside wheels on a tractor can take a significant amount of time that adversely affects productivity. Such wheels are often too heavy to be moved by a single person, and the size of such wheels can make them too cumbersome to be easily positioned. One solution to these problems is to lift the wheel with a hoist, so that a user can position the wheel for installation on a vehicle. Such hoists, however, have not provided adequate stability when lifting wheels. For example, the Wheel Clamp disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,334, provides contacts for only two points on an inside surfaces of the wheel rim. This may allow the tire to rotate about a vertical axis in relation to the wheel clamp. Also, the use of only two contact points places all of the load from the wheel&#39;s weight at those points. This loading can restrict the rotation of the bearings used for rotating the wheel when larger wheels are lifted. 
         [0004]    Accordingly, there is a need for a device that is capable of easily lifting large wheels. There is a further need for a device that can be used with large wheels while allowing for rotation of the wheel in the device while distributing the load of the wheel&#39;s weight. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    A wheel lifting device comprising a first portion and a second portion is disclosed. Each of the first portion and the second portion comprise a vertical member, a horizontal member, and a plurality of rotatatable devices coupled to and spaced apart laterally on the horizontal member. The horizontal member of the first portion is generally parallel to the horizontal member of the second portion and both horizontal members are generally perpendicular to a plane defined by the two vertical members. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a wheel lifting device. 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is an elevation view of half of the wheel lifting device of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is an elevation view of half of the wheel lifting device of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  2 , and  3 , a device  10  includes upper members  12   a  and  12   b , which cross each other. The device generally comprises two halves, that are designated with like reference numbers with components of one half being designated with ‘a’ and components of the other half designated with ‘b’. Coupled to each of upper members  12   a  and  12   b  are lower members  14   a  and  14   b.  Each of the lower members  14   a  and  14   b  are coupled to upper members  12   a  and  12   b  by couplings  16   a  and  16   b  respectively. Each of couplings  16   a  and  16   b  are coupled to upper members  12   a  and  12   b  and lower members  14   a  and  14   b  by fasteners  18  to form two rigid structures each comprising an upper member, a lower member and a coupling. Couplings  16   a  and  16   b  may be formed by overlapping portions of upper members  12  (portion  17 ) and lower members  14  (portion  19 ). Fasteners  18  may be bolts with nuts, screws, rivets or any other suitable fastener. Alternatively, an upper member may be welded to a lower member with or without a coupling. In yet other embodiments, the upper member and lower member may be formed as a single unitary body. 
         [0010]    Vertical members  20   a  and  20   b  may be coupled to lower members  14   a  and  14   b  at a plurality of points  22   a,    22   b,    24   a,  and  24   b.  In particular, the vertical members may be welded to the lower members at these points. In some embodiments, vertical members  20   a  and  20   b  are rods welded to lower members  14   a  and  14   b  at weld points corresponding to  22  and  24 . A pipe,  21   a  may be positioned around vertical member  20   a  between points  22   a  and  24   a.  The pipe may freely rotate around vertical member  20   a  such that a tire may be rotated when the device is in use. Horizontal members  26   a  and  26   b  are shown coupled to vertical members  20   a  and  20   b.  Alternatively, horizontal members  26   a  and  26   b  may be coupled to lower members  24   a  and  24   b.  Horizontal members  26   a  and  26   b  extent generally parallel to one another and perpendicular to a plane containing upper members  12   a  and  12   b  and vertical members  14   a  and  14   b.  Each of horizontal members  26   a  and  26   b  has two extensions  28  mounted thereto. Extensions  28  are separated laterally and a wheel  30  is mounted to each extension  28 . In other embodiments, bearings or other suitable rotatable devices may be used in place of the wheel. Extensions  28  extend inwardly form each half (‘a’ or ‘b’) towards the other. In some embodiments, extensions  28  may be removably coupled to horizontal members  26   a  and  26   b,  such as by use of pin  31  or other suitable coupling means. In these embodiments, the extensions and corresponding wheels may be removed to make positioning the device around a mounted wheel easier. 
         [0011]    When the two halves are assembled, the upper members  12   a  and  12   b  may be coupled at a pivot point  32  such that portions  34   a  and  34   b  of upper members  12   a  and  12   b  extend above pivot point  32 . A chain or other device may be coupled to portions  34   a  and  34   b  by fasteners  38   a  and  38   b.  Device  10  may be lifted by the chain  36 . 
         [0012]    The device  10  may be used to more easily lift a large wheel, such as a tractor dual tire and rim and position the wheel for placement on an axel. Wheel  40  includes a rim  42  having an inner surface  44 . Wheels  30  of device  10  contact surface  44  when device  10  is used to lift wheel  40 . When wheel  40  is lifted, for example by chain hoist, wheels  30  bear on surface  44  of rim  42 . Wheel  40  may be rotated around its axis to align lug holes with lugs for attaching wheel  40  to a vehicle. When wheel  40  is lifted, tension in the chain biases to two halves of device  10  inwardly against wheel  40 . When wheel  40  is lowered, the tension releases and device  10  may be removed. While chain hoist is shown mounted on a rail on a rafter, the device may be lifted with a wheel by a front end loader or other machine capable of positioning the device and wheel for installation or removal on a vehicle. 
         [0013]    Although a few exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, the present invention is not limited to the described exemplary embodiments. Instead, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made to these exemplary embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents. 
         [0014]    The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the description of the embodiments of the invention and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. 
         [0015]    Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
         [0016]    It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will be understood that relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures. 
         [0017]    Moreover, it will be understood that although the terms first and second are used herein to describe various features, elements, regions, layers and/or sections, these features, elements, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one feature, element, region, layer or section from another feature, element, region, layer or section. Thus, a first feature, element, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second feature, element, region, layer or section, and similarly, a second without departing from the teachings of the present invention. 
         [0018]    It will also be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Further, as used herein the term “plurality” refers to at least two elements. Additionally, like numbers refer to like elements throughout. 
         [0019]    Thus, there has been shown and described several embodiments of a novel invention. As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. The terms “having” and “including” and similar terms as used in the foregoing specification are used in the sense of “optional” or “may include” and not as “required”. Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the present construction will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and the accompanying drawings. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow. The scope of the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various embodiments described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims.