SAFETY DEVICE FOR A TRAILER HITCH AND COMBINATION THEREOF

Abstract

A safety device for attachment to a ball mount of a trailer hitch is provided, the safety device comprising: a tower, the tower including a housing, the housing including a front, a back and a central aperture; a tongue, the tongue slidably mounted in the housing normal to the tower and including a distal end, a proximal end, an underside, a top and at least two tongue apertures, the tongue apertures extending between the underside and the top; and a pin, the pin releasably retained in the central aperture and one tongue aperture to releasably retain the retention tongue in a position. A combination for retaining a trailer socket and a trailer hitch assembly are also provided. A method of releasably retaining a trailer on a trailer hitch is further provided.

Claims

1. A safety device for attachment to a ball mount of a trailer hitch, the safety device comprising: at least one tower, the tower including a housing, the housing including a front, a back and a central aperture; a tongue, the tongue slidably mounted in the housing normal to the tower and including a distal end, a proximal end, an underside, a top and at least one tongue aperture, the tongue aperture extending between the underside and the top; and a pin, the pin releasably retained in the central aperture and the at least one tongue aperture to releasably retain the retention tongue in an operational position.

2. The safety device of claim 1, wherein the housing is mounted proximate a top end of the tower.

3. The safety device of claim 2, further comprising a second tongue aperture, the second tongue aperture to retain the retention tongue in a retracted position.

4. The safety device of claim 3, wherein the distal end of the tongue is housed substantially within the housing in the retracted position.

5. The safety device of claim 4, wherein the distal end of the tongue is coterminous with the front of the housing in the retracted position.

6. The safety device of claim 5, wherein the proximal end of the tongue is coterminous with the back of the housing in the operational position.

7. The safety device of claim 6, wherein the tower further includes a right leg and a left leg, each leg for attaching to a side of the ball mount.

8. The safety device of claim 1, further comprising a tether, the tether releasably retaining the retention tongue to the tower.

9. A combination for releasably retaining a trailer, the combination comprising a ball mount, a ball mounted on the ball mount, the ball including a central axis, a top and a horizontal axis of rotation, and a safety device, the safety device mounted on the ball mount proximate the ball and comprising: a tower, the tower including a housing, the housing including a front, a back and a central aperture; a tongue, the tongue slidably mounted in the housing normal to the tower and including a distal end, a proximal end, an underside, a top and at least one tongue aperture, the tongue aperture extending between the underside and the top; and a pin, the pin releasably retained in the central aperture and the at least one tongue aperture to releasably retain the retention tongue in an operational position.

10. The combination of claim 9, wherein the distal end of the tongue is aligned with the central axis of the ball in the operational position.

11. The combination of claim 10, wherein the tower includes a right leg and a left leg, the legs attached to the ball mount such that the tongue is in parallel relation to the ball mount.

12. A trailer hitch assembly, the assembly comprising a ball mount, a ball mounted on the ball mount, the ball including a central axis, a top and a horizontal axis of rotation, a socket, the socket rotatably mounted on the ball and including a top, and a safety device, the safety device mounted on the ball mount proximate the ball and comprising: a tower, the tower including a housing, the housing including a front, a back and a central aperture; a tongue, the tongue slidably mounted in the housing normal to the tower and including a distal end, a proximal end, an underside, a top and at least one tongue aperture, the tongue aperture extending between the underside and the top; and a pin, the pin releasably retained in the central aperture and the tongue aperture to releasably retain the retention tongue in a position, including an extended position and a retracted position.

13. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the distal end of the tongue is aligned with the central axis of the ball in the extended position.

14. The assembly of claim 13, wherein the distal end of the tongue is substantially housed in the housing in the retracted position.

15. The assembly of claim 14, wherein the distal end of the tongue is coterminous with the front of the housing in the retracted position.

16. The assembly of claim 15, wherein the top of the socket and the underside of the tongue define a space of about 5 mm to about 10 mm when in the extended position.

17. A method of modifying a trailer hitch, the trailer hitch including a ball mount, a ball mounted on the ball mount, the ball including a central axis, a top and a horizontal axis of rotation, a socket, the socket rotatably mounted on the ball and including a top, the method comprising attaching a safety device to the ball mount, the safety device comprising: a tower, the tower including a housing, the housing including a front, a back and a central aperture; a tongue, the tongue slidably mounted in the housing normal to the tower and including a distal end, a proximal end, an underside, a top and at least two tongue apertures, the tongue apertures extending between the underside and the top; and a pin, the pin releasably retained in the central aperture and one tongue aperture to releasably retain the retention tongue in a position.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising aligning the distal end of the tongue with the central axis of the ball.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising adjusting the tower such that the top of the socket and the underside of the tongue define a space of about 5 mm to 10 mm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0060] FIG. 1 is a schematic of a prior art trailer hitch connection.

[0061] FIG. 2A is a perspective view of the safety device of the present technology.

[0062] FIG. 2B is a side sectional view of the tongue and pin and the placement of the tongue in the extended position relative to the ball.

[0063] FIG. 3A is a partially exploded top view of the tower and ball hitch.

[0064] FIG. 3B is a side view of a leg of the tower of the safety device of FIG. 2A.

[0065] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of FIG. 2A in the retracted position.

[0066] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of FIG. 2A.

[0067] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another alternative embodiment of FIG. 2A.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0068] Except as otherwise expressly provided, the following rules of interpretation apply to this specification (written description, claims and drawings): (a) all words used herein shall be construed to be of such gender or number (singular or plural) as the circumstances require; (b) the singular terms a, an, and the, as used in the specification and the appended claims include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise; (c) the antecedent term about applied to a recited range or value denotes an approximation within the deviation in the range or value known or expected in the art from the measurements method; (d) the words herein, hereby, hereof, hereto, hereinbefore, and hereinafter, and words of similar import, refer to this specification in its entirety and not to any particular paragraph, claim or other subdivision, unless otherwise specified; (e) descriptive headings are for convenience only and shall not control or affect the meaning or construction of any part of the specification; and (f) or and any are not exclusive and include and including are not limiting. Further, the terms comprising, having, including, and containing are to be construed as open ended terms (i.e., meaning including, but not limited to,) unless otherwise noted.

[0069] To the extent necessary to provide descriptive support, the subject matter and/or text of the appended claims is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0070] Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. Where a specific range of values is provided, it is understood that each intervening value, to the tenth of the unit of the lower limit unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, between the upper and lower limit of that range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range, is included therein. All smaller sub ranges are also included. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges are also included therein, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range.

[0071] Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the relevant art. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can also be used, the acceptable methods and materials are now described.

[0072] A prior art trailer hitch draw bar, generally referred to as 10 is shown in FIG. 1 and includes a ball mount 12 with a square cross-section to fit into a receiver on a vehicle trailer hitch. An aperture 13 is has threads 14 in the ball mount 12 accepts a threaded bolt 16 of the ball 18. The ball 18 is sized to be retained in the socket 20 which is at the end of the tongue 22 of the trailer. The socket has a top 24. The ball has a central axis 30, a horizontal axis of rotation 32 and a top 34. As would be known to one skilled in the art, there are also drop hitches. The relationship between parts of the hitch and parts of the present technology are the same for a drop hitch as for a straight hitch.

[0073] As shown in FIG. 2A, a safety device, generally referred to as 40 has a tower 50 that is sized to attach to the ball mount 12. The tower 50 has a right leg 52 and a left leg 54 and a housing 56 therebetween, spaced above the ball mount 12, at or proximate the top 57 of the tower 50. The housing 56 slidably retains a retention tongue 58. The housing 56 includes a top 66 with a central aperture 60 that accepts a pin 62, a front 64, a back 65, a bottom 67 and a channel 68 therebetween. As shown in FIG. 2B the retention tongue 58 includes at least two tongue apertures 70 to provide at least two positions of the retention tongue 58. The tongue apertures 70 align with the central aperture 60 and are sized to accept the pin 62. The underside 72 of the retention tongue 58 is proximate the top 34 of the ball 18 to define a space 76. Returning to FIG. 2A, the retention tongue has a distal end 78, which may be curved and a proximal end 80. As shown in FIG. 2B, the pin 62 has a distal aperture 84 sized to releasably retain an R-clip 86.

[0074] As shown in FIG. 3A, the tower 52 is retained on the ball mount 12 with bolts 88, each with a washer 90 and lock nut 92. As shown in FIG. 3B, in one embodiment, the tower 52 includes a plurality of threaded side apertures 94 to threadedly accept the bolts 88. The plurality of side apertures 94 allows for adjustment of the height of the tongue 58 relative to the ball 18.

[0075] As shown in FIG. 4, the tower 52 is welded to the ball mount 12 with welds 102 (ball mount not shown). The retention tongue 58 is in the retracted position, generally referred to as 110. It can be seen that the trailer can be raised and lowered as needed to place the socket 20 on the ball 18, as the tongue 58 is retracted. The distal end 78 is substantially coterminous with a front 64 of the housing 56.

[0076] As shown in FIG. 5, in an alternative embodiment, the tower 52 is angled to align with a drop hitch 112. The retention tongue 58 has a single tongue aperture 70. As the retention tongue 58 abuts the drop hitch 100, it is not moveable into a retracted position. A tether 71 releasably attaches the retention tongue 58 to the tower 52.

[0077] As shown in FIG. 6, in another embodiment, the towers 200 are mounted to a raised hitch 202, such as would be used for a light vehicle or an all terrain vehicle.

[0078] Returning to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the retention tongue 58 is in the extended position, generally referred to as 120. In this operational position 120, the proximal end 80 of the retention tongue 58 is substantially coterminous with the back 66 of the housing 56. The distal end 78 of the retention tongue 58 is directly over the central axis 30 of the ball 18 and is about 5 mm above the top 34 of the ball 18. Without being bound to theory, this placement achieves three goals: 1. The socket 20 has limited upward travel before striking the tongue 58, hence there is insufficient space for it to disengage; 2. In the event of hard braking or uneven terrain, the trailer and hence the socket 20 is able to pitch in relation to the towing vehicle and hence the ball 18, without becoming jammed; 3. The socket 20 can rotate about the horizontal axis 32 on the ball 18, unimpeded by the safety device 50.

[0079] To assemble, the tower 50 is placed such that the distal end 78 of the retention tongue 58 is directly over the central axis 30 of the ball 18 when in the extended position. A thin layer of cardboard or the like, sized to be slightly thicker than the thickness of the socket, is placed between the top 74 of the ball 18 and the underside 72 of the tongue 58. The tower height is then adjusted such that the retention tongue 58 and ball 18 hold the cardboard in place. The cardboard is then removed and the space of about 5 mm to about 10 mm is defined. This space is sufficient to allow the socket 20 to move up and down a very small amount and to rotate freely. The tower 50 is either welded in place or is held in place by the bolts 88. The retention tongue 58 can be moved between the extended position 120 and the retracted position 110 simply by removing the R-clip 86 from the pin 62 and extracting the pin 62 from the central aperture 60 and tongue aperture 70.

[0080] The device 40 is preferably made of steel. The tower 50 is about 150 mm tall, about 42 mm wide and about 51 mm long. The legs 52, 54 are each about 9.5 mm thick. The tongue 58 is about 9.5 mm thick, about 38 mm wide, about 90 mm long and has apertures that are about 10 mm in diameter. The top is about 9.5 mm thick, 42 mm wide and about 51 mm long.

[0081] While the particular device has been illustrated and described in detail with the help of drawings and foregoing descriptions, such an illustration and description is to be considered as exemplary and not restrictive in character, and is to be understood that it is the presently preferred embodiments of the present technology and is thus representative of the subject matter which is broadly contemplated by the present technology, and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the disclosure are desired to be protected.