Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to motor vehicles and more particularly to methods and apparatuses for mounting accessory power units in motor vehicles. 
     Utility company, construction, tree service, and other similar light and medium-duty trucks, including vans are often fitted with hydraulic lifts or other devices powered by an internal combustion engine of the trucks. One of the best selling vehicles for such applications is a FORD® truck, for example with a FORD® 250-550 Direct Injected Intercooled Diesel. FORD® trucks, like most motor vehicles, are produced in assembly plants and subsequently modified by truck service centers. Truck service centers currently mount accessory hydraulic pumps by use of accessory mounting kits which utilize many non-FORD® parts, including additional pulleys, complex brackets, extra belts in non-standard positions and shaft extensions. One example of such a conventional mounting system is the FMK 66-2 Belt Kit, for 1999 FORD® produced by CW Mill Equipment Co., Inc. of Sabetha, Kans. The CW Mill installation kit calls for more than 30 different parts, many non-standard. Installation of the CW Mill kit requires removing the alternator, removing the power steering pump, removing and replacing the power steering pump bracket, pulling and reinstalling the power steering pump pulley, adding a second drive belt and bolting a special pulley to the harmonic balancer, and numerous other operations. New trucks usually come with a manufacturer&#39;s warranty, and the current truck engine accessory mounting systems with extra non-standard parts and non-standard belt positions may void the engine warranty, thus leaving the installer and the mounting kit manufacturer at possible liability for the engine warranty voided by the installation. This added risk is passed on to the customer in the form of a high installation charge. The manufacturer&#39;s warranty, particularly on the engine, is very important to dealers, repairmen and customers because the cost of major engine repairs is high. For engine repairs, trucks with current accessory kits installed may have to be taken to a particular service center that handles that particular mounting kit, especially in view of the above noted warranty risks. That service center may not be nearby when the truck engine needs servicing. The complexity of current accessory mounting kits requires a substantial amount of labor for installation, such as for example about 6-8 hours, which adds further cost to the initial installation and any subsequent repair. 
     There is a need for an accessory mounting system that minimizes the use of non-standard parts and which minimizes the chance of voiding an OEM engine warranty. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In an exemplary embodiment, a method of installing a belt-driven accessory on a truck engine is provided which utilizes a simple special bracket and existing OEM parts. A typical situation where that might be desirable is in a truck having a hydraulic lift (not shown) needing a hydraulic fluid pump. The installation of the belt-driven accessory is done by use of a conventional dual alternator mounting modified by substituting for one of dual alternators a special mounting bracket adapted to attach to both the belt-driven accessory and one of the dual alternator mounts. The installation places the pulley of the accessory in the position where an alternator pulley would normally have been. This makes the addition of a hydraulic pump less complicated and can be done with all OEM parts except the adapter, adapter bolts and accessory. The manufacturer&#39;s warranty should thus be unaffected and the installation time and cost are reduced from current systems. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of an exemplary truck engine with a standard FORD® dual alternator installation; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of the exemplary truck engine of FIG. 1 with one of the dual alternators removed; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective exploded view of the engine of FIG. 2 with an exemplary accessory mounting bracket installation; and 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternative exemplary curved accessory mounting bracket. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     “OEM” means a motor vehicle part that is manufactured to the specifications of the original equipment manufacturer. Normally this means the part is made by or for the original equipment manufacturer. FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of an exemplary conventional truck engine  100  with a standard FORD® OEM dual alternator installation  102  including a first standard alternator  104  and an optional second alternator  106 . All parts in FIG. 1 are OEM. Standard alternator  104  is mounted on a standard alternator-power steering bracket  108  and affixed to bracket  108  by three alternator bolts  112 . Optional alternator  106  is mounted on an optional alternator bracket  110  and affixed to bracket  110  by three alternator bolts  112 . Bracket  110  is, in turn, affixed to the front  114  of block  116  of engine  100 . A flexible belt or chain (not shown) is subsequently placed around a crankshaft pulley  118 , a pulley  120  on alternator  104  and a pulley  122  on alternator  106  to power alternators  104  and  106 . The belt or chain may also power other components such as an air conditioning compressor  124  and a power steering pump  126 . 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of engine  100  with alternator  104  removed from bracket  108  in preparation for installation of an alternate exemplary mounting adapter and accessory (described below). The simplicity of this removal is apparent. As in FIG. 1, all parts are still OEM. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective exploded view of engine  100  with exemplary optional alternator bracket  110 , but with a belt-driven hydraulic pump  300  mounted on an exemplary accessory adapter  302  by two accessory mounting bolts  304 . Adapter  302  is, in turn, mounted on bracket  108  by three adapter mounting bolts  306 , which are configured to thread into three bolt holes  308 ,  310 , and  312  already existing in OEM bracket  108 . It will be understood that pump  300  and adapter  302  could instead be mounted on optional bracket  110  in place of optional alternator  106 . If adapter  302  is mounted on bracket  110 , standard alternator  104  is be mounted on bracket  108 . It is preferred to place pump  300  and adapter  302  on bracket  108  to allow any hydraulic hoses and fittings to be more easily installed. The exemplary installation of FIG. 3 shows the simplicity of the mounting in contrast with the prior art C.W. Mill installation. The only non-OEM parts in FIG. 3 are bracket  302 , bolts  304  and  306 , and pump  300 . Pump  300  has a pulley  314  that would be driven by a standard serpentine belt (not shown) in similar fashion to the manner in which pulley  120  was driven. Pulley  314  is aligned with pulleys  118  and  122 , since pulley  314  occupies the space previously occupied by pulley  120 . 
     The use of bracket  302  permits a simple method of installing belt-driven accessory  300  on truck engine  100 . A typical situation where that might be desirable is in a truck having a hydraulic lift (not shown) needing hydraulic fluid pump  300 . Conventional dual alternator mounting  102  is modified by substituting for one of the two alternators  104 , 106  adapter  302  adapted to attach to both accessory  300  and one of the dual alternator mounts  106 ,  108 . Adapter  302  makes the addition of a hydraulic pump an easy assembly using all OEM parts except adapter  302 , adapter bolts  306  and accessory  300 . One exemplary accessory installation method is to order a truck with a dual alternator installation  102 . The standard alternator  104  is then be removed in conventional manner by loosening or removing the serpentine belt (not shown) from alternator  104 , unbolting bolts  112 , and lifting alternator  104  out of bracket  108 . Accessory  300  is bolted to adapter  302  using two accessory mounting bolts  304  and adapter  302  and accessory  300 , as a unit, are mounted in bracket  108  by three adapter mounting bolts  306 . Adapter  302  is configured to align pulley  314  in the same plane as was pulley  120 . Two 3.5″ diameter back idler pulleys (not shown) are replaced by two 3″ diameter OEM back idler pulleys to help compensate for the increased size of pulley  314  relative to pulley  120 . The drive belt is then tightened back in position except that now it passes around pulley  314  rather than pulley  120 . The hydraulic hoses (not shown) are installed to connect pump  300  to whatever device is to be powered. Using adapter  302 , the total installation time for pump  300  on engine  100  is reduced to about 1 hour. 
     Adapter  302  is one of many possible configurations specially shaped to match brackets  108  and  110 . In this exemplary embodiment adapter  302  is made by forming a rectangular ¼″ or thicker steel plate into a channeled or recessed configuration with a flat base  322 , two inclined transitions  314  and  316 , and two flat wing portions  318  and  320 . Base  322  is a flat rectangular steel plate. Transitions  314  and  316  are two inclined steel plates integral with and extending upwardly and outwardly from opposite edges of base  312 . Wing plates  318  and  320  are two flat steel plates integral with and extending outwardly from opposite outer edges, respectively of transitions  314  and  316 . Wing plate  318  has two holes configured to match holes  308  and  310  of bracket  108 . Wing plate  320  has one hole configured to match hole  312  of bracket  108 . Base  322  has two holes  330  and  332  configured to match two similar holes (not shown) in the bottom of accessory  300  and to receive bolts  306 . Adapter  302  is thus configured to allow accessory  300  to be attached to bracket  108  in substitution of alternator  104 . Transitions  314  and  316  cause base  322  to be depressed relative to wing plates  318  and  320  so that base  322  can fit into a depression in bracket  108 . This allows accessory  300  and adapter  302  to be mounted onto bracket  108  without accessory  300  interfering with closing of the hood (not shown) of the truck (not shown) in which engine  100  is located. Adapter  302  could alternatively be mounted in optional bracket  110  in place of alternator  106 , but, where accessory  300  is a hydraulic pump, that is less desirable since it is much harder to route hydraulic lines under engine  100  than above engine  100 . 
     Adapter  302  can be modified if needed to fit a different alternator or accessory-mounting bracket. For example, base  322 , transitions  314  and  316 , and wing plates  318  and  320  can be curved, shortened, lengthened, thickened or thinned if that fits the shape of the mounting bracket  108  better. 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing one such alternative exemplary adapter  400 . Adapter  400  has a vertically curved base  401  and two vertically curved transitions  402  and  403  connecting base  401  to horizontally curved wing plates  405  and  406 , and baseplate  401  has a horizontally curved rear portion  404 , all with the purpose of minimizing the amount of metal and eliminating sharp corners. 
     Exemplary adapter  302  is customized for a 1997-2000 7.3 liter FORD®, INTERNATIONAL®, or NAVISTAR® diesel engine using only OEM components. If the accessory mounting bracket for any vehicle engine is different from those three, then the shape of adapter  302  would be modified to adapt. Likewise, if the accessory fastener portions are studs rather than bolt holes, are different in number than two, are spaced or sized differently, or are recessed or extended, the base could be modified within the scope of the appended claims to adapt to such modifications. 
     While the invention has been described in terms of various specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims.

Technology Category: 2