Universal side impact auto puller

A universal side impact auto puller for facilitating pulling of a door post back into proper position after an auto accident. The universal side impact auto puller includes a main member having three substantially planar faces, opposite sides of each face being integrally joined to a respective one of said three faces such that said faces form a triangular wall. A pair of adapters are provided for engaging cutouts in said faces for coupling the main member to a door post of a vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to auto pullers and more particularly 
pertains to a new universal side impact auto puller for facilitating 
pulling of a door post back into proper position after an auto accident. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
The use of auto pullers is known in the prior art. More specifically, auto 
pullers heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of 
familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding 
the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been 
developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. 
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,335,533; 3,338,086; 3,879,814; 
4,770,025; 4,248,078; 5,535,973; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 311,316. 
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and 
requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new universal 
side impact auto puller. The inventive device includes a main member 
having three substantially planar faces, opposite sides of each face being 
integrally joined to a respective one of said three faces such that said 
faces form a triangular wall. Adapters are provided for engaging cutouts 
extending through the wall of the main member for coupling the main member 
to a door post of a vehicle. 
In these respects, the universal side impact auto puller according to the 
present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and 
designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily 
developed for the purpose of facilitating pulling of a door post back into 
proper position after an auto accident. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of auto 
pullers now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new 
universal side impact auto puller construction wherein the same can be 
utilized for facilitating pulling of a door post back into proper position 
after an auto accident. 
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described 
subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new universal side impact 
auto puller apparatus and method which has many of the advantages of the 
auto pullers mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a 
new universal side impact auto puller which is not anticipated, rendered 
obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art auto pullers, 
either alone or in any combination thereof. 
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a main member 
having three substantially planar faces, opposite sides of each face being 
integrally joined to a respective one of said three faces such that said 
faces form a triangular wall. A pair of adapters are provided for engaging 
cutouts in said faces for coupling the main member to a door post of a 
vehicle. 
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features 
of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that 
follows may be better understood, and in order that the present 
contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional 
features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which 
will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention 
in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its 
application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the 
components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the 
drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being 
practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood 
that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose 
of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon 
which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the 
designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the 
several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, 
that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions 
insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present 
invention. 
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent 
and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the 
scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar 
with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a 
cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of 
the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention 
of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to 
be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way. 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new 
universal side impact auto puller apparatus and method which has many of 
the advantages of the auto pullers mentioned heretofore and many novel 
features that result in a new universal side impact auto puller which is 
not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of 
the prior art auto pullers, either alone or in any combination thereof. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new universal 
side impact auto puller that may be easily and efficiently manufactured 
and marketed. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new universal 
side impact auto puller that is of a durable and reliable construction. 
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new 
universal side impact auto puller which is susceptible of a low cost of 
manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly 
is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby 
making such universal side impact auto puller economically available to 
the buying public. 
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new 
universal side impact auto puller which provides in the apparatuses and 
methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while 
simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated 
therewith. 
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new universal 
side impact auto puller for facilitating pulling of a door post back into 
proper position after an auto accident. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new universal 
side impact auto puller which includes a main member having three 
substantially planar faces, opposite sides of each face being integrally 
joined to a respective one of said three faces such that said faces form a 
triangular wall. A pair of adapters are provided for engaging cutouts in 
said faces for coupling the main member to a door post of a vehicle. 
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new 
universal side impact auto puller that is designed to engage all of the 
commonly found door post assemblies in vehicles both foreign and domestic 
to the United States. 
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a new 
universal side impact auto puller that provides a unique triangular shape 
to permit pulling from various directions to reposition a misaligned door 
post in a vehicle. 
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various 
features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with 
particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this 
disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating 
advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should 
be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there 
are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 6 
thereof, a new universal side impact auto puller embodying the principles 
and concepts of the present invention and generally designated by the 
reference numeral 10 will be described. 
As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6, the universal side impact auto 
puller 10 generally comprises a metal generally triangular main member 12 
having three substantially planar sides 20, 30, and 40. Each planar side 
has a respective interior face 22, 32, and 42, and a respective exterior 
face 24, 34, and 44. 
The first one of the planar sides 20 has a generally round aperture 21 
extending through the first planar side between the interior and exterior 
faces 22 and 24. The side 20 further includes a chain slot 23 extending 
outwardly from the aperture. The aperture is designed for passing a chain 
5 through the aperture and the chain slot is designed for positioning a 
link 3 of the chain in the chain slot such that an adjacent link 7 in the 
chain is prevented from passing through the chain slot. Thus, the first 
side is designed for coupling to the chain to facilitate pulling of the 
main member using the chain. As seen in FIG. 6, the chain slot is 
particularly useful for pulling the main member forward or backward with 
respect to the orientation of the vehicle. 
The planar sides are integrally joined together to form a triangular 
perimeter wall 13 having open ends 15. The perimeter wall is designed for 
receiving the chain through the open ends for coupling a link of the chain 
to another link of the chain such that the chain is coupled to the main 
member to facilitate pulling of the main member using the chain to realign 
the door post of the vehicle. Thus, the structure of the present invention 
permits multiple methods of attaching a chain to facilitate use of the 
tool assembly. 
The second one of the planar sides 30 has a pair of door hinge slots 31 
extending through the second planar side between the interior and exterior 
faces 32 and 34. 
A pair of brackets 52 and 54 are designed for coupling to a respective one 
of the door hinge slots. Each of the brackets is designed for engaging a 
respective end of a door hinge 2 on a door post 4 of a vehicle 6. Thus, 
the tool assembly 10 is couplable to the vehicle door post to facilitate 
pulling the door post back into proper alignment after an accident. 
The third one of the planar sides 40 has a plurality of bolt slots 41 
extending through the third planar side between the interior and exterior 
faces 42 and 44. The bolt slots are configured such that the bolt slots 
are designed to be couplable to hinge bolts 8 on the door post of the 
vehicle. 
In an embodiment, the door hinge slots are coaxially aligned with respect 
to each other for permitting sliding of the brackets within the door hinge 
slots to accommodate coupling to door hinges having a range of hinge 
lengths. 
The plurality of bolt slots include a first bolt slot 53 having a 
longitudinal axis substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis of the 
third planar side. The plurality of bolt slots also include a second bolt 
slot 55 and a third bolt slot 56. The second and third bolt slots are 
angled with respect to each other such that respective longitudinal axes 
of the second and third bolt slots converge and intersect with each other 
and the longitudinal axis of the third planar side at a point. The angling 
is configured such that the bolt slots are designed for coupling to 
various bolt patterns used to attach door hinges to different vehicles 
whereby the tool assembly is designed for coupling to the door posts of 
different vehicles. 
Each one of the pair of brackets includes a first and a second planar 
flange, 62 and 64 respectively. The second flange extends orthogonally 
from a side 63 of the first flange. Each first flange includes a bolt hole 
66 extending through the first flange and each second flange includes a 
hinge post hole 68 extending through the second flange for attachment to a 
pin type hinge. The hinge post holes are alignable such that the hinge 
post holes are designed for engaging respective ends of the hinge post of 
a pin type hinge of the vehicle. A pair of bracket bolts 65 and a pair of 
bracket nuts 67 are used to secure the brackets to the hinge post and the 
main member. 
The bracket bolts are designed for insertion through the bolt holes and the 
hinge post slots to engage the bracket nuts whereby the second planar side 
and the brackets are coupled to each other upon tightening of the bracket 
nuts on the bracket bolts. Thus, the tool assembly is designed for 
coupling to an exposed hinge post to facilitate pulling of the hinge post 
outwardly with respect to the vehicle to realign the door post of the 
vehicle. 
As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the 
present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. 
Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and 
operation will be provided. 
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the 
optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to 
include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of 
operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to 
one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those 
illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are 
intended to be encompassed by the present invention. 
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the 
principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and 
changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired 
to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and 
described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may 
be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.