Land vehicles – Wheeled – Articulated vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-23
2001-08-28
DePumpo, Daniel G. (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Articulated vehicle
C033S286000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06279940
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the field of trailer hitch as generally and in particular to an apparatus for attachment to an existing trailer hitch which enables an operator of a vehicle to be used as a tractor for the trailer to guide the vehicle hitch male coupler into alignment with the corresponding female coupler on the trailer without the operator of the vehicle having to leave the driving position.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many types of trailer/tractor hitches are available in the prior art and, although the present disclosure will deal trailer hitches of the ball and corresponding mating hood variety, it is understood that the apparatus of the present invention is intended to be used generally on any style of trailer hitch device where the operator of the vehicle is generally unable to physically directly view the engagement of the hitch ball with the hood. Typically, the hitch ball is rigidly mounted to the tow vehicle below the line of sight from the vehicle operator sitting in the normal driving position because of the intervening tailgate on a pickup truck or tailgate on a van, or trunk on a conventional sedan car.
Because line of sight viewing of the actual engagement of a trailer hood over a vehicle mounted hitch ball is commonly unavailable, a vehicle operator has to estimate an approximate alignment of the hood with the ball and one or more times exit the vehicle to check the alignment so as to guide the vehicle to place the hitch ball generally vertically beneath the elevated trailer hood. Misalignment can often result in slight damage to the vehicle. Therefore, there exists a continuing need for a trailer hitch guide so that a vehicle operator can guide the hitch ball into a vertically aligned coupling position under a trailer drawbar mounted hood so that the hood may then be lowered into engagement with the hitch ball.
In the prior art of which applicant is aware, many attempts have been made to solve this problem. In particular, applicant is aware of following United States patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,621 which issued Sep. 23, 1997 to Lockwood for a Vehicle Alignment Device, U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,056 which issued Mar. 1, 1994 to Fath for a Trailer Hitch Guide, U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,590 which issued Oct. 9, 1990 to Davenport for a Trailer Hitching Apparatus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,176 which issued on May 19, 1987 to Sand for a Trailer Hitch Guide, U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,183 which issued Dec. 24, 1985 to Cook for a Trailer Hitch Guide, U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,302 which issued Oct. 18, 1977 to Campbell for a Trailer Hitch Guide Means, U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,056 which issued Mar. 15, 1977 to Christensen for Visual Guide Device For Hitching Vehicles, U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,328 which issued Feb. 18, 1975 to Alexander for a Trailer Hitch Guide, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,703 which issued to Voelkerding for a Trailer Hitch Guiding Device.
Typically in the prior art references, the devices provide a sight guide mounted in some fashion to the drawbar hood on the trailer and a corresponding sight guide mounted on the hitch ball or supporting frame on the vehicle. The sight guides are used for primary alignment of the ball and hood. Other devices, such as the Alexander trailer hitch guide, disclose bracketing the trailer hitch drawbar with indicators such as flags that indicate whether the drawbar is out of longitudinal alignment with the hitch ball as the vehicle is translated towards the trailer. Thus movement of the flag such as in the Alexander device, indicates that the trailer drawbar is contacting the flag and is thus out of alignment with the hitch ball. The prior art references all deal with various mechanisms for mounting the sighting and alignment indicators on the vehicle hitch ball or supporting frame.
It is an object of the present invention to improve on the requirement taught in the prior art of a sighting and alignment device that is to be mounted onto the vehicle. It is a further object to the present invention to provide a simplified device which allows for consistent and accurate alignment of the trailer drawbar hood over the hitch ball.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In summary, the trailer hitch coupling device in one embodiment of the present invention includes first and second elongate rigid members. The first member is mounted or mountable, by first mounting means, on a forward end of a trailer. Reference to “trailer”herein is not intended to be limiting, but rather is intended to include any wheeled device or object intended to be towed behind a vehicle where the coupling between the wheeled device and the vehicle includes a hitch ball on the vehicle and a correspondingly sized draw bar hood rigidly mounted on a drawbar or the like mountable to the wheeled device. The wheeled device may include a drawbar, drawbar jack or crank, or like rigid members including the frame of the wheeled device. The first member, when mounted on the forward end of the trailer, extends upwardly so that an upper end thereof enters a line-of-sight between the upper end of the first member and a vehicle operator sitting at controls of a vehicle being backed towards the forward end of the trailer.
The second member is mounted or mountable, by second mounting means, to generally the upper end of the first member so as to extend forwardly of both the first member and the forward end of the trailer towards a rearward end of the vehicle. A distal end of the second member, distal from the first member when mounted to the second member and closest to the rearward end of the vehicle is positioned so as to align with an alignment indicating first sticker mounted to the rearward end of the vehicle. The sticker is mounted in the line-of-sight from the vehicle operator and is aligned with, and adjacent to, the distal end of the second member when a hitch hood of the trailer is vertically aligned over a hitch ball on the vehicle.
When the vehicle is a van or sedan, the first sticker is mountable to a rear window. Advantageously, the sticker is translucent or transparent, and the distal end is positioned to be adjacent or contacting the sticker when the hitch hood is vertically aligned over the hitch ball.
When the vehicle is a pickup truck, the first sticker is mounted on an inner surface of the tailgate of the pickup truck. In this instance, the distal end is positioned to vertically align over the first sticker over an upper edge of the tailgate when the hitch hood is vertically aligned over the hitch ball.
In one preferred embodiment, the first and second members have longitudinal grooves. The first and second mounting means have flanges sized correspondingly to the grooves so as to snugly mate within the grooves. The first member may thus be rigidly mounted to the first mounting means and the first and second members to the second mounting means. In one aspect of the present invention, the first and second mounting means are clamps. In particular the first mounting means may be a first resilient snap clamp and the second mounting means may be a second snap clamp, for use when the first and second members are tubular shafts, the first and second snap clamps having resilient arms for snug resilient mating around the tubular shafts.
In a further aspect, the second snap clamps are a pair of “C”-shaped snap clamps mounted back-to-back and offset 90 degrees from one another about an axis through the second snap clamp and perpendicular to the first and second members. The first snap clamps may be a pair of “C”-shaped snap clamps mounted spaced apart on the forward end of the trailer, for example on the drawbar, drawbar jack or crank.
In one embodiment, a second sticker may be mounted to the distal end so as to be in opposed facing relation to the first sticker when the hitch hood is vertically aligned over the hitch ball. Advantageously, in this case the first sticker is transparent. In any event, it may assist in aligning and positioning the distal end of the second member into proximity, adjacency or contact with the first sticker if the vehicle operator can see through the first sticke
DePumpo Daniel G.
Edwards Antony C.
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