Self-tightening snow chain and methods of use

摘要

Self-tightening snow chain for attachment to a vehicle wheel to provide traction. The preferred self-tightening snow chain includes a traction cable and a tensioning device including a housing having a top including a set of housing teeth, a bottom and at least one aperture; a lever interconnected to the housing; a ratchet spool within the housing having a set of ratchet teeth that mate with the housing teeth and a channel between upper and under surfaces to receive a cord that is interconnected with the ratchet spool; a tension spring that places a bias on the ratchet spool toward a wind-up direction; and a wave spring. A preferred tensioning device includes a cord sub-unit having two knobs, one on each end, and a grommet encircling the cord. A method of assembling the tensioning device is also disclosed.

主权项

1. A tensioning device for placing tension on a snow chain for attachment to a wheel of a vehicle to provide traction, the tensioning device comprising:
a housing including:
at least one aperture;a top having a set of housing teeth; anda bottom having an inside and the inside having a top surface;an actuating lever pivotally interconnected to the housing;a cord; a ratchet spool including:
an upper surface and an under surface;a set of ratchet teeth on the upper surface, the ratchet teeth constructed and arranged to mate with the housing teeth; anda channel in which sufficient space is provided to receive the cord between the upper surface and the under surface; the cord being interconnected with the ratchet spool;a tension spring interconnected with the ratchet spool, the tension spring constructed and arranged to place a bias on the ratchet spool in a wind-up direction; anda wave spring positioned between the top surface of the inside of the housing bottom and the under surface of the ratchet spool to bias the ratchet spool in the direction of the housing teeth; wherein the tensioning device can be interconnected with the snow chain so that the tensioning device can secure the snow chain to the wheel; wherein the actuating lever has an up position and a down position, the actuating lever having a cam that extends away from the point at which the actuating lever pivots with respect to the housing, wherein the cam holds the ratchet spool in a down position when the actuating lever is in an up position and the ratchet spool is in an up position when the pivotal actuating lever is in a down position.