Implements or apparatus for applying pushing or pulling force – Vehicle attached jack – Screw actuated
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-17
2001-10-16
Eley, Timothy V. (Department: 3723)
Implements or apparatus for applying pushing or pulling force
Vehicle attached jack
Screw actuated
C254S418000, C254S424000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06302381
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF ART
This invention relates to jacks for pivotally mounting to and towing recreational vehicles such as trailers and boats, and more particularly, to a swivel jack for vertically repositioning a trailer tongue relative to a towing vehicle.
BACKGROUND
Support jacks have long been used to keep the trailer in a level position when the trailer is disengaged from the towing vehicle. Also, the support jack vertically repositions the trailer tongue so that it can be mounted onto a hitch of the towing vehicle. Oftentimes, these jacks are pivotally mounted onto the trailer tongue such that they can be pivotally moved to a horizontally stored position when not in use.
Various types of such trailer mechanisms are known in the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,125 (Ebey) discloses a swivel jack with two brackets. The first bracket is affixed to a jack housing and the second bracket is affixed to a trailer tongue. One of the brackets has a section that interlocks and slidably receives a lug extending from the other bracket. A second lug extends from one of the brackets and is slidably received through a notch in the other of the brackets. The second lug disengages from the notch and enables the first bracket to pivot about an axis extending through the first lug to a stored position. A lock mechanism selectively retains the first bracket in the stored position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,692 (Nudd, et al.) discloses another swivel jack assembly for use with a trailer tongue. A spacer is disposed between the tongue and housing brackets. The spacer includes clamping components which are assembled from the inner side of the tongue bracket. The swivel jack assembly includes a first bracket secured to the trailer tongue and a second bracket secured to the jack housing. A bolt extending through the housing bracket and the spacer enables the housing bracket to pivot relative to the tongue between an active position and a stowed position. In the active position, the jack extends vertically and is used to raise and lower the tongue. Once the tongue is coupled to the towing vehicle, the jack may be pivoted and moved to a stowed position alongside the tongue.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,605 (Sauber) discloses a pivotally rotatable trailer jack assembly. A horizontally disposed support member connects the jack to the trailer frame. A cylindrical bore in the support member receives a horizontally disposed sleeve rotatably fitted and axially restrained within the support member. A slidable latch selectively prevents the rotation of the sleeve within the bore. The jack is fixedly attached centrally to the outer end of the sleeve whereby the rotation of the sleeve within the bore defines a first jack upright position and second jack stowed position. The latch maintains both the jack positions. The latch is a slidable U-shaped plate having a handle portion at its top and which fits between the tubular outer member and the inner sleeve having a rectangular cross section.
While these swivel jack assemblies provide significant advantages over their prior art, a rotatable support arrangement for the trailer jack is needed that retains the jack firmly against the mounting bracket, that has a minimum amount of unwanted movement or excess pivoting when directed loads are applied, that minimizes any wobbling and eliminates any clatter during transport, and that reduces the likelihood of damage to the rest end during transport.
What is needed is enhanced bracketry, a swivel jack assembly that is easy to operate, that is economical to manufacture, that has but a few moving parts, that minimizes the time and effort to raise the jack rest end for transport. These and other advantages of the swivel jack assembly of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The swivel jack assembly of the present invention includes a tongue-mounting bracket that is secured to the trailer tongue and a jack-mounting bracket that is secured to the jack housing. The swivel jack raises and lowers the trailer tongue to facilitate hitching of the trailer tongue to a towing vehicle. The swivel jack assembly of the present invention is intended primarily for use with recreational vehicles such as boat and house trailers.
The preferred embodiment of the swivel jack assembly of the present invention comprises a tongue-mounting bracket, a jack-mounting bracket, a swivel connection, and a locking mechanism.
The jack-mounting bracket is affixed to the housing of a jack and the tongue-mounting bracket is affixed to the trailer tongue. The swivel jack assembly vertically positions a trailer tongue for mounting onto a hitch of the towing vehicle. The tongue-mounting bracket enables locking engagement onto a trailer tongue. The jack-mounting bracket enables locking engagement with a jack, the jack-mounting bracket including means for locking attachment to a jack.
The swivel connection enables the swivel jack assembly to pivot between an engaged upright position and a disengaged stowed position. The swivel connection comprises a pair of drawn cups, one cup integrally formed within each of the two brackets. Once properly aligned, the cups form a nesting relationship, one inside the other.
The swivel connection enables the jack to be easily pivoted between an active position and a stowed position. When in the active position, the jack extends vertically and can be used to raise or lower the tongue. After the tongue has been coupled to the towing vehicle, the jack can be repositioned into a stowed position. The swivel jack also includes a heavy-duty supporting caster wheel so that when the trailer is unhitched from the vehicle, the caster wheel facilitates movement of the trailer over the ground. The swivel jack assembly supports the tongue once the towing vehicle has been driven away.
The locking mechanism securely retains the jack-mounting bracket to the tongue-mounting bracket when the cup sections are nested together. The locking mechanism is in a secured position when the jack-bracket cup is nested within the tongue-bracket cup and the jack-mounting bracket is securely engaged to the tongue-mounting bracket in the upright engaged position.
For a more complete understanding of the swivel jack assembly of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings in which the presently preferred embodiments of the invention are shown by way of example. As the invention may be embodied in many forms without departing from spirit of essential characteristics thereof, it is expressly understood that the drawings are for purposes of illustration and description only, and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.
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Doigan Lloyd D.
Eley Timothy V.
Fulton Performance Products, Inc.
Wilson Lee
Zarins Edgar A.
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