Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Camper
Utility Patent
1999-01-12
2001-01-02
Dayoan, D. Glenn (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Camper
C296S167000, C108S132000, C108S062000, C108S147200
Utility Patent
active
06168227
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camper stand which can be used to support a camper, of the type carried on the bed of a pickup truck, above the ground for a relatively long duration.
2. Description of the Related Art
Campers are mobile living quarters that are generally transported on the beds of trucks. Campers are used mainly for recreational purposes and provide living quarters for people engaged in outdoor recreational activities such as camping and hunting. Campers are designed to remain on the truck bed during transportation and during use, however, campers are removable from the truck bed. At times it may be desirable to remove the camper from the truck bed, for example, when using the truck for other purposes or when putting the camper in storage.
Telescoping jacks attached to each corner of the camper are commonly used to lift the camper off of or to lower the camper onto the truck bed. These telescoping jacks are designed to temporarily support the camper at a certain height above the height of the truck bed while the camper is being mounted onto or dismounted from the truck bed. These telescoping jacks are not sturdy enough to support the weight of the camper for long periods of time or to allow the camper to be used while not mounted to the bed of a truck. Further, campers generally have uneven bottoms and cannot be placed directly on the ground without some supporting base.
In the past, camper owners have resorted to stacking concrete blocks or using saw horses to support their camper while the camper is dismounted from the bed of their truck. These methods of supporting the camper require the camper owner to maintain a supply of concrete blocks or several saw horses at the site where the camper is to be stored while dismounted from the truck bed. Such measures may be practicable near one's home base, but concrete blocks or saw horses are not normally available at remote camp sites, and carrying concrete blocks or saw horses in the camper or truck at all times takes up valuable storage space.
For the aforementioned reasons, various portable camper supports have been proposed in the art. Examples of such portable camper supports appear among the references discussed below. Other references cited below are intended to illustrate the state of the art of camper supports.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,561, issued to Richard L. Boysen on Jan. 27, 1998, shows a bumper mounted camper stand. The camper stand of Boysen is designed to be attached to the rear bumper of the vehicle carrying the camper when the stand is not in use. The camper stand of Boysen replaces only the two front telescoping jacks and does not relieve the load on the rear telescoping jacks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,656, issued to Robert M. Frisby on Feb. 13, 1996, shows a camper jack stand system composed of jack stands designed to fit the feat of the conventional telescoping camper jacks to thereby provide a larger contact surface area between the telescoping jacks and the ground. The jack stand system of Frisby does not relieve the load on the telescoping camper jacks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,352, issued to Jesse L. Long on Aug. 29, 1995, shows a plurality of height-adjustable jack stands that can be used to support a camper. The jack stands of Long are not designed for convenient storage aboard the camper or the vehicle transporting the camper. Therefore, the jack stands of Long cannot be conveniently carried with the camper at all times so as to be available even at remote camp sites. Further, each of the jack stands of Long is a unit separate from the other jack stands, making the system of Long susceptible to toppling as a result of lateral loads such as those encountered in a high wind.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,744, issued to James D. Baker, Jr. et al. on Feb. 9, 1988, shows a camper stand in the form of a rectangular frame having four legs. The camper stand of Baker, Jr. et al. is capable of quick disassembly into four elongated frame members. The camper stand of Baker, Jr. et al. does not have folding legs and is not designed for permanent attachment to the camper.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,726, issued to Wolfgang Artweger et al. on Feb. 9, 1982, shows telescoping jacks for lifting a camper from a vehicle. The distance between the front jacks of Artweger et al. can be adjusted so as to allow the feet of the front jacks to be positioned wider apart, thus giving greater stability to the camper while it is dismounted from the truck.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,502, issued to Dale L. Bargman, Jr. on Feb. 8, 1972, shows a cross-drive for simultaneously raising or lowering a pair of the telescoping camper jacks. Bargman, Jr. does not relate to a device for supporting a camper above the ground on a long term basis.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,635,366, issued to John N. Dodgen on Jan. 18, 1972, shows a combined jack and tiedown system for a camper. A crossbar extends between the feet of each pair of jacks. The crossbar passes underneath the bed of the truck. When the jacks are fully raised, the truck bed is gripped between the crossbar and the camper thus holding the camper on the truck bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,462,123, issued to Joseph E. Oliver on Aug. 19, 1969, shows a jacking system for use with a collapsible camper. The jacks of Oliver are fixed relative to the top portion of the camper. The feet of the jacks in Oliver are lifted off the ground by raising the entire top portion of the camper.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,409,154, issued to Reed Rasmussen on Nov. 5, 1968, shows camper support legs which are pivotally attached to the vertical sides of the portion of the camper which fits between the wheel wells. The rear legs are fixed in length and have wheels that contact the ground. The front legs are telescoping and act as jacks to raise the front of the camper bottom above the level of the truck bed. Hand cranked pinion attached to the rear of the truck bed engage racks attached to the bottom of the camper and are used to pull the camper onto the bed of the truck.
U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 364,978, issued to Bryan W. Smith on Dec. 12, 1995, shows a height adjustable bar supported by a pair of legs. The bar has a pair of contact pads upon which the bottom of the camper can rest. The bottom of each leg is provided with a ground contacting foot in the form of a length of C-shaped cross section beam. Gussets reinforce the attachment of each leg to its respective foot.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Specifically, none of the above inventions and patents provide a camper stand having the combination of characteristics including being permanently attachable to a camper, being capable of supporting a camper for prolonged periods of time without taking up valuable storage space within the camper or the vehicle carrying the camper, being retrofittable to existing campers, and achieving all the foregoing characteristics without subjecting the vertical walls of the camper to excessive stresses.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a camper stand with folding legs which can be used to support a camper of the type carried on the bed of a pickup truck or other vehicle. The camper stand includes a pair of elongated frame members mounted in parallel to the bottom of a camper. A pair of leg assemblies are pivotally supported intermediate the elongated frame members. Each leg assembly includes a crossbar, a pair of outer sleeves attached to the crossbar, and a pair of telescoping members with each telescoping member being positioned at least in part within a respective one of the outer sleeves. Each telescoping member has a plurality of holes, a selected one of which is engaged by a pin passing through the respective outer sleeve to fix the length of each leg at the desired length. Each leg assembly is fixed in the unfolded or extended position by a pair of detachable braces. The leg assemblies are folded to lie flat against the bottom of the camper to permit the camper to be mounted on the b
Dayoan D. Glenn
Litman Richard C.
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