| CPC B62D 43/10 (2013.01) | 19 Claims |
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1. A spare tire storage assembly for a vehicle, the assembly comprising:
a cabinet and a drawer;
a top side of the cabinet being disposed in a common plane and being configured for fixed attachment to the vehicle, the cabinet extending parallel with a vertical axis of the cabinet downwardly from the top side to a bottom side of the cabinet;
the cabinet comprising an open front end and an opposite rear end, the front and rear ends of the cabinet being spaced apart from each other along a longitudinal axis of the cabinet being perpendicular to the vertical axis of the cabinet;
the drawer being insertable into the open front end of the cabinet to place the drawer into the cabinet, the drawer when inserted into the cabinet being movable with respect to the cabinet in a direction parallel with the longitudinal axis of the cabinet between an inserted position and an opened position, the drawer moving away from the rear end of the cabinet when moving from the inserted position towards the opened position and moving towards the rear end of the cabinet when moving from the opened position towards the inserted position;
the cabinet comprising spaced-apart left and right rigid side walls and a rear wall being disposed on the rear end of the cabinet attached to the left and right side walls, the left and side walls in a fixed relationship with respect to each other, each individual side wall of the left and right side walls extending a length in a direction parallel with the longitudinal axis of the cabinet from the front end of the cabinet towards the rear end of the cabinet, the left and right side walls being spaced apart from one another in a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, each individual side wall of the left and right sidewalls comprising a flat horizontal bearing surface extending longitudinally from the front end of the cabinet, the individual sidewall extending a fixed, predetermined distance vertically from the flat horizontal bearing surface to the top side of the cabinet along the entire length of the individual sidewall;
the drawer comprising a front panel, a tire tray, a left bearing member, and a right bearing member, the front panel being disposed on a front end of the drawer, the drawer extending to an opposite back end of the drawer, the front and back ends of the drawer being spaced apart from one another along a longitudinal axis of the drawer;
the front panel being disposed adjacent to a front end of the tire tray, the front panel being configured to abut against the side walls of the cabinet to define the inserted position of the drawer and to resist further movement of the drawer from the inserted position towards the back end of the cabinet;
the tire tray comprising a floor, a left side wall, a right side wall, and a back member, the floor being attached to the front panel, the floor extending from the front panel from a front side of the floor in a longitudinal direction parallel with the longitudinal axis of the drawer towards an opposite back end of the floor and extending along the front panel in a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the drawer between opposite left and right sides of the floor;
the floor comprising a flat rectangular tire support surface on an upper side of the floor, the flat rectangular tire support surface having a width and a length, the width spacing apart the left and right sides of the floor and the length spacing apart the front panel and the opposite back end of the flat rectangular tire support surface;
the left side wall of the tire tray extending vertically upwardly from the floor of the tire tray along the left side of the tire support surface, the right side wall of the tire tray extending vertically upwardly from the floor of the tire tray along the right side of the tire support surface, the back member extending along the back end of the tire support surface and having an upper side spaced vertically upwardly from the floor of the tire tray and extending along the back end of the tire support surface wherein the left side wall of the tire tray, the right side wall of the tire tray, and the back member of the tire tray are each spaced away from the upper end of the cabinet when the drawer is inserted into the cabinet;
when the drawer is in the inserted position the tire support surface faces towards the top side of the cabinet and is spaced vertically a distance below the top side of the cabinet, the length of the tire support surface between the front panel and the back member of the tire tray and the width of the tire support surface between the left and right side walls of the tire tray defining a maximum diameter of a tire that can be placed in the drawer entirely on the tire support surface that can be received within both the length and the width of the tire support surface, the vertical distance from the tire support surface to the top side of cabinet defining the maximum tire width that can be placed in the drawer on the tire support surface;
the left bearing member and the right bearing member of the drawer each being connected to the floor and conjointly movable with the floor during movement of the drawer between inserted and opened positions of the drawer, the left bearing member and the right bearing member being configured to cooperatively define a pivot axis extending parallel with the transverse direction of the floor, the pivot axis being parallel with the back side of the tire support surface and being spaced away from the front panel in the longitudinal direction of the drawer at least the same distance as the longitudinal distance of the back side of the tire support surface from the front panel;
when the drawer is in the inserted position, the drawer is supported against the support surfaces of the cabinet with the left bearing member engaged against the left support surface of the cabinet and the right bearing member engaged against the right support surface of the cabinet wherein the said drawer bearing members support the tire tray between the pair of side members of the cabinet with the tire support surface of the tire tray being spaced vertically a minimum first distance from the top end of the cabinet whereby the drawer can hold a tire inside the cabinet on the tire support surface having a maximum diameter and a maximum width;
when the drawer is in the extended position a front end of the drawer extends outwardly from the front end of the cabinet wherein the left and right bearing members of the drawer are engaged against the support surfaces of the right and left side walls of the cabinet; and
the drawer when in the extended position being pivotally movable with respect to the cabinet about the pivot axis defined by the left and right bearing members to pivot the front end of the drawer downwardly with respect to the cabinet and between the left and right sidewalls of the cabinet, whereby a tire having the maximum width and maximum diameter on the tire support surface can initially pivot downwardly with the drawer sufficiently to expose the tire for removal from the tire tray without a portion of the tire or the drawer extending beyond the top side of the cabinet.
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