Vehicle frame alignment apparatus
First Claim
1. A vehicle frame alignment apparatus comprising a pair of substantially parallel tracks upon which a vehicle may rest, at least one transversely extending beam suspended beneath said tracks, said beam being longer than the spacing between said tracks and having an upright pillar at each end thereof, said pillars being respectively on opposite sides of said pair of tracks and provided with anchorage means for attachment of straining members for applying a plurality of variously directed loads to said vehicle, said beam being suspended beneath said tracks by a pair of suspension units, each suspension unit comprising a top and bottom carriage each having rollers and mutually interconnected by a substantially vertical shaft so as to be relatively rotatable about the axis of said shaft, each of said tracks having fixedly associated and extending substantially parallel therewith a pair of longitudinally extending track rails spaced one from the other along which the rollers of said top carriage ride, said transverse beam having fixedly associated and extending substantially parallel therewith a pair of longitudinally extending beam rails spaced one from the other and bearing upon the rollers of said bottom carriage over which said beam rails ride, the rollers of said top carriage supporting said beam for movement longitudinally of said tracks, the rollers of said bottom carriage supporting said beam for transverse movement relative to said tracks, the rotational mounting of said carriages permitting the beam to pivot in a generally horizontal plane as the opposite ends of said beam are moved to different relative positions along said tracks, and locking means for locking said beams in each of said positions.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle frame alignment apparatus comprising a pair of substantially parallel tracks upon which a vehicle may rest, at least one transversely extending beam suspended beneath the tracks, the beam being longer than the spacing between the tracks and having an upright pillar at each end thereof, the pillars being respectively on opposite sides of the pair of tracks and provided with anchorage means for attachment of straining members for applying a plurality of variously directed loads to the vehicle, the beam being suspended beneath the tracks by a pair of suspension units, each suspension unit comprising a top and bottom carriage mutually interconnected by a substantially vertical shaft so as to be relatively rotatable about the axis of the shaft, each of the tracks having fixedly associated and extending substantially parallel therewith a pair of longitudinally extending track rails spaced one from the other along which top carriage rides, the transverse beam having fixedly associated and extending substantially parallel therewith a pair of longitudinally extending beam rails spaced one from the other and bearing upon the bottom carriage over which the beam rails ride, the arrangement thereby permitting the beam to move transversely, longitudinally and rotationally with respect to the tracks, and means for locking the beam with respect to the tracks.
16 Citations
13 Claims
- 1. A vehicle frame alignment apparatus comprising a pair of substantially parallel tracks upon which a vehicle may rest, at least one transversely extending beam suspended beneath said tracks, said beam being longer than the spacing between said tracks and having an upright pillar at each end thereof, said pillars being respectively on opposite sides of said pair of tracks and provided with anchorage means for attachment of straining members for applying a plurality of variously directed loads to said vehicle, said beam being suspended beneath said tracks by a pair of suspension units, each suspension unit comprising a top and bottom carriage each having rollers and mutually interconnected by a substantially vertical shaft so as to be relatively rotatable about the axis of said shaft, each of said tracks having fixedly associated and extending substantially parallel therewith a pair of longitudinally extending track rails spaced one from the other along which the rollers of said top carriage ride, said transverse beam having fixedly associated and extending substantially parallel therewith a pair of longitudinally extending beam rails spaced one from the other and bearing upon the rollers of said bottom carriage over which said beam rails ride, the rollers of said top carriage supporting said beam for movement longitudinally of said tracks, the rollers of said bottom carriage supporting said beam for transverse movement relative to said tracks, the rotational mounting of said carriages permitting the beam to pivot in a generally horizontal plane as the opposite ends of said beam are moved to different relative positions along said tracks, and locking means for locking said beams in each of said positions.
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10. A vehicle frame alignment apparatus comprising a pair of substantially parallel track means adapted to support a vehicle,
at least one transverse beam means disposed beneath said track means, said beam means being longer than the spacing between said track means and having a force producing means disposed adjacent at least one end thereof for applying forces to said vehicle, said beam means being suspended beneath said track means by first and second suspension means, each said suspension means comprising connecting means and first and second vertically spaced apart roller means mounted on said connecting means, at least one of said first and second roller means being mounted on said suspension means for rotation about a substantially vertical axis, each of said track means having associated therewith a first track which extends longitudinally and is spaced from the track on the other track means, each of said first roller means being disposed on one of said first tracks, said transverse beam means having surface means defining a second track extending substantially parallel therewith, said second track bearing upon the second roller means over which said beam means is mounted for movement on said second roller means, said first roller means mounting said beam means for movement longitudinally of said track means, said second roller means supporting said beam means for transverse movement relative to said track means, the rotational mounting of at least one of said first and second roller means on said connecting means permitting the beam means to pivot in a generally horizontal plane as the opposite ends of said beam means are moved to different relative positions along said first tracks, and means for locking said beam means in said relative positions.
Specification