In the vehicle repair business, a damaged or in-need-of-repair vehicle is usually brought to a vehicle body shop or the like for corrective measures. Vehicle bodies and frames come in different shapes and sizes, from the smallest foreign made vehicles to pick-up trucks. To repair such vehicles, the vehicle repair facility must have available a repair system, usually called a "rack" or a "frame pulling" bench. Such situation can be expensive and can take up precious space in a vehicle repair facility. Many different types of repair systems are available from the in-ground type such as described in this Applicant's assignee's predecessor's U.S. Pat. Nos.: 3,754,427 and 3,869,767, the walk-through type described in this Applicant's assignees' predecessor's U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,783, the 360.degree. oval type rack described in this Applicant's assignee's predecessor's U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,335 and variants of such system manufactured by this Applicant's assignee or others.
The principal problem with such range of devices is that none can be economically or ergonomically efficient for various types of vehicle repair jobs. The above cited patents describe, respectively, repair racks and systems that lay on a surface or set in a surface such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,754,427 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,767, or a rack that the operator can walk under the vehicle being supported by the rack system such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,783 or a rack that provides for applying a force to a vehicle mounted on such rack from any point around (360.degree.) the vehicle, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,335. An operator of a vehicle repair facility would have to have all three types of repair systems and their associated parts to accommodate all types of vehicle repairs. Such a situation is not economically feasible nor usually possible because of space restraints in the repair facility.
The present invention provides a single system to accommodate the various types of vehicle repair situations. The present invention provides a multi-modular vehicle repair system comprising a vehicle repair frame, a vehicle restraint removably mounted on the vehicle repair frame and a force device associated with the vehicle repair frame. Additionally, the present invention provides vehicle repair modules that can be attached to or associated with the vehicle repair frame. Such vehicle repair modules includes a frame support module, a lift module and a ramp module. Each of those modules can be of different types to accommodate the varying conditions of vehicle repair encountered by the vehicle repair facility operator.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds