| 摘要 |
A tire carrier adapted with a bumper-mounted hinge plate housing a pivot rod having the lower portion of a generally inverted Ushaped tire mounting frame pivotably attached at the pivot rod is disclosed herein. A lower bracket extends vertically below the pivot rod and includes a pivotable connection point for rotatably housing a lower end of a gas cylinder. The upper end of the gas cylinder is rotatably mounted in an upper bracket which extends horizontally and toward the rear from a forwardly inclined top rail of the tire mounting frame. When in a normal upright position on a vehicle the gas cylinder is positioned vertically in a vertical plane located at the outer edge of a rear bumper of the vehicle. A spare tire to be carried is mounted on pivotably lug bolts which are rotatable about the upper portion of the tire mounting frame. A tire changing tool locks the pivot point of the hinge into an open horizontal position so that the carried spare can be removed from the tire mounting frame. The geometry of the hinge and gas cylinder mounting of this tire carrier invention provides a variable moment arm so that a variable counterforce is developed within the gas cylinder.
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