Vehicle lift and tow bar

A hydraulic vehicle lift and tow bar mounted at the rear of a tow truck which has a beam supporting two frames that are placed under a pair of wheels of the vehicle to be towed. A hydraulic cylinder raises the beam to lift the towed vehicle. The frames are pivotedly mounted to allow turning during towing and to permit them to be folded back against the beam during storage. The beam telescopes to reduce the distance it protrudes behind the truck when not in use.

The present invention is a hydraulic vehicle lift and tow bar for a tow 
truck. 
As presently designed, most tow trucks require somewhat awkward handling 
and positioning to affix the vehicle to be towed to the truck and lift one 
end of it from the ground. Generally, a hoist must be attached to the 
vehicle to lift it up and the towing bar is attached in some manner to the 
axis of the vehicle. Usually the towing bar of fixed length is pivotedly 
mounted to the tow truck and folded upwardly when not in use. 
The present invention proposes a lift and tow bar that much simplifies the 
work of the operator to engage the vehicle to be towed. Generally, the 
device of this invention comprises frames that can be slid under the 
wheels of the vehicle to be towed, or alternatively the vehicle to be 
towed can be pulled thereon. These frames are attached to a beam or tow 
bar which is raised hydraulically by the tow vehicle to lift the wheels of 
the towed vehicle and place the towed vehicle in a position to be towed. 
Nothing more is required. The operation to engage and lift the towed 
vehicle is quite simple and straight forward, and can be done quite 
rapidly. 
In brief compass, the present invention is a vehicle lift and tow bar which 
consists of a telescoping beam having at the outer end a wheel carrier to 
engage the wheels of a vehicle to be towed. The other end of the 
telescoping beam is attached to the underside of the frame of the towing 
vehicle or truck and is adapted to be raised and lowered hydraulically. 
The wheel carrier is pivotedly mounted at the outer end of the telescoping 
arm of the telescoping beam for rotation in a horizontal plane and the two 
frames that engage the wheels of the towed vehicle are pivotedly mounted 
to rotate in vertical planes from a forward locked use position to a 
position approximately 180.degree. therefrom for storage. This pivotal 
mounting permits the wheel carrier to be folded back against the 
telescoping beam with the wheel carrier frames thereover and the beam 
retracted so that the lift and tow bar does not protrude excessively from 
the rear of the towing vehicle when not in use. 
In use, the tow truck is positioned in front of the pair of wheels of the 
vehicle to be towed with the lift and tow bar in the lowered position and 
with the wheel engaging frames in their use position. The towing vehicle 
is then backed up to push the frames under the wheels of the vehicle to be 
towed. Alternatively, the towing vehicle can have a winch and cable which 
can be used to pull the towed vehicle up on to the frames and to hold the 
towed vehicle in position during travel.

DESCRIPTION 
In the drawings, a telescoping beam is generally indicated at 10 which beam 
has an outer casing 11 in which an arm 12 slides in and out. The casing 
and arm are preferably rectangular in cross section for reasons of 
strength and orientation. The end of the casing is attached by a pivotal 
mounting 13 to the frame of a tow truck, preferably at axle height. The 
rear end of the tow truck is indicated by shadow outline 14. The beam 10 
is capable of being lifted and lowered hydraulically by hydraulic pistons 
15 and 16. It can be pinned in the raised storage and/or tow position by 
pin or latch 23 extending through the beam and into the frame of the 
truck. 
Inner arm 12 ends in a pivoted mounting 21 adapted to rotate generally in a 
horizontal plane. The outer end of arm 12 is preferably bent as shown to 
be generally parallel to the ground. Mounting 21 carries an axle or rod 20 
to which are attached wheel carrying frames 19. The frames in use are in 
the position shown by the solid lines in FIG. 1 and when retracted to the 
storage position are in the position shown by the shadow outlines 40. Pin 
or latch 22 is used to lock the frames in either position which are 
approximately 180.degree. apart. 
Inner arm 12 telescopes into outer casing 11 and while this can be done 
manually with inner arm 12 being locked into position by means of latch 
18, this reciprocating action is preferably accomplished via a hydraulic 
cylinder 17 within the beam with latch 18 being used to lock the beam in 
either its extended or retracted positions so as to obviate the need to 
keep pressure in hydraulic cylinder 17. 
As shown in FIG. 3, the wheel carrier can be rotated 90.degree. out of its 
use position so that the axis of axle 20 and the longitudinal axis of beam 
10 are parallel. The wheel carriers 19 can when positioned as shown in 
FIGS. 1 and 2 be turned up over beam 10 for storage and the beam can be 
raised by hydraulic cylinder 15 and 16 and locked in the position shown by 
the shadow outlines 41 in FIG. 1 with latch 23 being used to retain it in 
that position to relieve the load on hydraulic cylinder 16. 
To use the lift and tow bar, the tow truck is positioned in front of the 
vehicle to be towed so that the wheel frames 19 will be aligned with the 
front or rear pair of wheels of the vehicle to be towed. Beam 10 is 
lowered by means of hydraulic cylinders 15 and 16, mounting 21 is rotated 
to place the frames in line with the towed vehicle's wheels, the frames 19 
are flipped over to the use position from their closed position and 
hydraulic cylinder 17 is operated to extend inner arm 12. If the 
positioning is proper, the action of hydraulic cylinder 17 can drive 
frames 19 under the wheels of the vehicle to be towed. If this is not 
sufficient, truck 14 may be backed to push frames 19 under the wheels or a 
winch and cable on truck 14 can be used to pull the towed vehicle up onto 
the frames 19. 
Having positioned the wheels of the vehicle to be towed on frame 19, 
hydraulic cylinders 15 and 16 raise beam 10 so that the wheels of the 
vehicle to be towed are raised into a towing position. Latch 23 may be 
used to lock beam 10 to the frame of the vehicle so that the cylinders 15 
and 16 do not have to be kept under pressure.