Land vehicles – Wheeled – Articulated vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-25
2001-07-24
DePumpo, Daniel G. (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Articulated vehicle
C280S446100, C280S486000, C188S11200R
Reexamination Certificate
active
06264228
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is generally directed to systems for automatically applying the brakes of a vehicle being towed in response to forces developed between the towed vehicle and a towing vehicle and, more particularly, to a braking system which is incorporated with a hitch ball assembly adapted to be installed within a conventional receiver extending from a towing vehicle and wherein the hitch ball assembly is moveable relative to the receiver to thereby apply tension to a cable connected between the hitch ball assembly and a brake pedal of the towed vehicle.
HISTORY OF THE RELATED ART
Whenever a vehicle is being towed, the towing vehicle must absorb the momentum of the towed vehicle during braking. This additional force which must be absorbed by the brake system of the towing vehicle not only greatly reduces the life span of the braking system of the towing vehicle but also has an immediate effect on the safety and control of both the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle as the effective braking distance is increased. Also, in emergency braking situations, the amount of force applied between the towed vehicle and the towing vehicle along the hitch tongue and the hitch ball assembly is such that the towing vehicle may tend to jack-knife relative to the towing vehicle thus resulting in a potentially hazardous situation.
The problems relating to the wear and tear on a vehicle's braking system are even greater in those situations where the towing vehicle is normally used in a towing capacity, such as when a mobile home is utilized to tow a personal automobile or other vehicle which is used when the mobile home is parked.
A number of systems have been developed for automatically activating the brakes of a towed vehicle in response to changes in velocity between the towed vehicle and the towing vehicle such when the brakes of the towing vehicle are applied or such as when the towed vehicle applies a force toward the towing vehicle when both vehicles are moving downhill. In a number of such automatic braking systems, specialized tow bars connect the hitch ball of the towing vehicle with a hitch mount secured to the towed vehicle. Such specialized tow bars include spring or other tensioning devices for developing a force along a cable which extends from the tow bar to the brake pedal of the towed vehicle, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 2,575,183 to Mettetal, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 3,318,422 to Frescura and U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,167 to Hendrix. Unfortunately, such tow bar devices are rather complex and expensive. Also, such tow bars are not readily storable in conventional vehicles and are thus not utilized in many instances. Further, many of the tow bars which are currently in use are conventional tow bars which do not incorporate a braking feature.
To allow conventional tow bars to be used in automatic braking systems for a towed vehicles, U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,768 to Hendrix discloses a hitch ball assembly designed to be mounted to a conventional receiver with the hitch ball assembly being connected to a conventional tow bar. The hitch ball assembly includes a mechanism for applying tension to a spring and cable which are connected to the brake pedal of the towed vehicle. The patent includes a pulley system mounted within the hitch ball assembly and about which the cable is wrapped such that tension is applied to the cable by the relative movement of the pulley assembly within the hitch ball assembly in response to a force applied by the towed vehicle toward the towing vehicle. The hitch ball brake assembly further includes a shock absorber which is connected to the pulley means to thereby moderate the movement of the pulley system relative to the housing of the hitch ball assembly.
With the system disclosed in the hitch ball braking assembly of the patent to Hendrix, the braking cable must be wrapped about the pulley assembly and must move relative to the pulley during use. Under such conditions, it is not possible to readily inspect the condition of the cable at the point of engagement with the pulley system and any misplacement of the cable or wear and tear on the cable is not readily discernable to the vehicle operator.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed to a hitch ball vehicle brake assembly which includes a housing which is adapted to be received within a conventional hitch receiver which is fixedly mounted to a vehicle for purposes of towing another vehicle. The housing includes upper, lower and opposite side walls which define an interior chamber with a pair of aligned slots being provided in the opposite side walls for purposes of receiving a mounting pin by way of which the housing is connected to the conventional receiver in such a manner that the housing may slide relative to the connecting pin within the receiver. Mounted within the chamber is a shock absorber including a cylinder portion for retaining a fluid or other shock absorbing resistance member and a forwardly extending ram. The cylinder is fixed to the housing so as to move with the housing relative to the receiver. The forward portion of the ram is connected to a yoke or base of a plunger which extends toward the rear of the housing and which plunger is pivotally connected at its outer end to a brake lever which has a free end which extends through an opening in the top wall of the housing and is pivoted relative to the opening in the top wall of the housing. A spring or other resilient device is mounted within the housing so as to normally urge the brake lever toward a non-braking position rearwardly of the housing. The ram and base of the plunger are engaged by the mounting pin so as to be retained stationary relative to the receiver. A hitch ball mounting plate is mounted to the lower wall of the housing and extends forwardly thereof for purposes of receiving a conventional hitch ball.
To connect the brake lever to a brake pedal of a towed vehicle, an opening is provided in the free end of the lever to which one end of a brake cable is connected. The cable extends from the lever to a remote end which is adapted to extend through a small opening in the fire wall of the towed vehicle after which the end is secured to the brake pedal such that when the lever is pivoted to apply tension to the brake cable, the cable will apply the brake in a conventional manner to thereby activate the braking system of the towed vehicle.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide an automatic braking system for applying the brakes of a towed vehicle when a force is applied by the towed vehicle relative to the towing vehicle to thereby reduce the wear and tear on the braking system of the towing vehicle as well as to provide for increased safety by decreasing the braking distance when the towing vehicle has applied its brakes and to also prevent over-heating of the towing vehicle braking system.
It is also an object of the invention to provide an automatic braking system for connecting a towed vehicle to a towing vehicle where physical control of the brake pedal of the towed vehicle is achieved by a spring loaded brake lever which is moved to apply or release brake pressure against the resistance of a shock absorber fixedly mounted within a housing slidably moveable within a conventional hitch receiver of the towing vehicle.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an automatic braking system associated with a hitch ball mount assembly which is adapted to be used between a conventional hitch receiver associated with a towing vehicle and a conventional tow bar for towing a towed vehicle and wherein the size of the hitch ball and brake assembly allows the assembly to be easily and compactly stored when not in use.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an automatic braking system for use between towing and towed vehicles wherein a shock absorber member is mounted within a hitch ball assembly to provide a damper between a hitch ball and a brake activating lever associated with the hitch ball assembly associated with the braking
DePumpo Daniel G.
Dowell & Dowell , P.C.
Nite Shift Auto
LandOfFree
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