Air bag jack
First Claim
1. An air bag jack comprising:
- an inflatable member made from a flexible, elastomeric material and having a wall with a substantially uniform thickness and having a top section, and a plurality of lower sections, all of the sections being integral with each other to form an airtight enclosure, the sections being nestable into the next lower section and each having a maximum base diameter smaller than the maximum base diameter of the section immediately below, the sections being joined to the next lower section by a neck portion;
a plurality of expandable elastic rings, each ring surrounding the neck portion of the flexible member between two adjacent sections and being of smaller diameter than the maximum base diameter of both of such two adjacent sections, said elastic rings expanding a controlled amount as the inflatable member is inflated for use to control elastic deformation of the inflatable member where the sections are joined thereby to provide yieldable size control for the adjacent sections as the member is inflated; and
means for introducing a pressurized fluid into the interior of said inflatable member.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An air bag jack comprising an inflatable member made of a flexible material with a uniform thickness having a top section and a plurality of lower annular sections. The sections sequentially taper in diameter and have a base diameter smaller than the base diameter of the section below forming a generally pyramidal shape enabling the sections to collapse within one another upon deflation into a compact form. The top and bottom annular sections have the ability to conform to the object being supported and the surface of the terrain that is being used. Further the top section'"'"'s top end wall has a concave surface preventing slippage during inflation. There are also a plurality of rings, one between each pair of adjacent sections extending around the outside of the jack to provide annular support for the wall section adjacently above. Each ring has a half-circle cross sectional configuration to prevent thinning of the inflatable member'"'"'s wall in the area of junction between sections. The jack is easily inflated by a 12 volt D.C. air pump powered from an automobile cigarette lighter.
-
Citations
6 Claims
-
1. An air bag jack comprising:
-
an inflatable member made from a flexible, elastomeric material and having a wall with a substantially uniform thickness and having a top section, and a plurality of lower sections, all of the sections being integral with each other to form an airtight enclosure, the sections being nestable into the next lower section and each having a maximum base diameter smaller than the maximum base diameter of the section immediately below, the sections being joined to the next lower section by a neck portion; a plurality of expandable elastic rings, each ring surrounding the neck portion of the flexible member between two adjacent sections and being of smaller diameter than the maximum base diameter of both of such two adjacent sections, said elastic rings expanding a controlled amount as the inflatable member is inflated for use to control elastic deformation of the inflatable member where the sections are joined thereby to provide yieldable size control for the adjacent sections as the member is inflated; and means for introducing a pressurized fluid into the interior of said inflatable member. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
Specification