| 摘要 |
A bumper mounted spare wheel carrier for pickup trucks or other vehicles for normally supporting a spare wheel in a generally vertical position behind and primarily above the bumper and swingable about a horizontal axis to a position where the wheel rests upon the ground to permit opening of a tailgate or door blocked by the wheel in its normal position. An elongate arm is pivotally mounted at one end upon a mounting bracket adapted to be attached to the bumper of a vehicle. An inclined armrest fixedly mounted on the bracket establishes a normal rest position of the arm in which the arm is inclined upwardly to one side of its point of pivotal attachment to the mounting bracket. Spare wheel mounting means are located upon the arm approximately midway of the length of the arm, the arm being of a length such that the end of the arm remote from the pivot projects radially beyond the periphery of a wheel mounted upon the wheel mounting means. A latch is provided for latching the arm in its normal wheel carrying position against the armrest, the latch including a latch actuator accessible at the remote or outer end of the arm. A lock assembly for locking the wheel in place on the carrier includes an angle member of "L" -shaped transverse cross-section having a stud receiving bore through one web by means of which the angle member is clamped against the wheel by the wheel retaining nut on the stud. A retainer member of sheet metal or similar material is formed with a closed loop dimensioned to loosely surround the nut, while a tangentially projecting arm portion integral with the loop lies against the other web of the angle member. Aligned bores through the arm portion and other web of the angle member provide a means whereby the retainer member may be padlocked to the angle member, the loop portion surrounding the nut and prohibiting access to the nut flats thereby to prevent removal of the nut without first removing the retainer member.
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