Patent ID: 7165477

Claim:
A tray for installing, on a tire mounted on a vehicle wheel, an oriented tire chain having side chains and cross chains, by a method in which the arms of a U-shaped installation tool are connected to the ends of the side chain at one end of the tire chain and, with the vehicle stopped with the tire on the tray, the tool is picked up, removed from the tray, and drawn circumferentially around the stationary tire with the chain trailing the tool and sliding over the surface of the tire, which tray comprises: a base having a longitudinal axis and, at opposite ends of that axis, a rear end and a front, entrance end; an exterior rear wall and exterior side walls projecting upwardly from the base; a plurality of vehicle supports projecting upwardly from the base and being spaced from each other and from the side walls so as to define longitudinal channels and transverse channels for receiving and confining laid-out side chains and cross chains, respectively; a well for receiving side chains and cross chains which have not been laid out; an interior wall projecting upwardly from the base; an upwardly facing compartment adjacent the well for receiving the U-shaped tool, protecting the tool from damage due to the weight of the vehicle, and allowing the tool to be grasped and pulled upward to remove it from the tray, which compartment has a bottom defined by the base and a side defined by the interior wall, the interior wall being located between the well and the compartment, so as to keep said chain which has not been laid out contained in the well and thereby prevent it from coming into the compartment during storage or handling of the tray.