Patent ID: 8517346

Claim:
A stowage apparatus for use in a vehicle, comprising: a spare tire having a hub-facing central portion defining a central wheel aperture and a plurality of lug apertures; a hoisting device mountable to the vehicle; a tether having a first portion and a second portion depending from the hoisting device; a coupling member attached to the first portion of the tether and configured to releasably attach the tether to the hub-facing central portion of the spare tire; and a removable guard including an outer portion with a movable portion defining and surrounding a central aperture, the removable guard positioned such that the central aperture is concentric with the central wheel aperture and the outer portion at least partially covers each of the plurality of lug apertures to prevent the second portion of the tether from entering any of the plurality of lug apertures when the hoisting device raises the spare tire, the movable portion being movable between a flat configuration in which the central aperture has the first size that is too small to permit passage of the coupling member, and an outwardly extended configuration in which the central aperture has the second size that permits passage of the coupling member.