Land vehicles – Wheeled – Articulated vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-11
2001-05-22
DePumpo, Daniel G. (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Articulated vehicle
C280S511000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06234510
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to trailer hitches, and particularly to a trailer hitch guide for guiding the tongue of a trailer over the trailer hitch in order to connect a ball and socket trailer hitch.
2. Description of Related Art
Trailer hitches commonly use a socket of the trailer tongue which mates with a ball on a tow bar attached to the towing vehicle to connect the trailer to the towing vehicle. The procedure usually involves jacking the trailer tongue so that the socket is above the horizontal plane of the ball and backing up the towed vehicle in order to align the ball to a position vertically under the socket, and lowering the socket to engage the ball. One of the problems frequently encountered is that the tow bar and the trailer tongue are not visible to the driver of the towed vehicle during the connection process. Consequently, it may take several attempts to properly align the ball and socket, requiring the operator of the towing vehicle to get out of the vehicle and walk to the rear each time and estimate the correction required to obtain the proper angle and distance.
A variety of trailer hitch guides have been proposed to make this process quicker and easier. U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,062, issued Apr. 22, 1975 to D.C. Miller describes a V-shaped towing guide attached to the hitch by vertical arms having a transverse mounted bolt and flexible chain partially wrapped around a support strut. The forces applied to the V-shaped guide are transferred to the towing vehicle by a transverse bar leaning against the license plate of the towing vehicle, or by a rope and vertical arms leaning against the bumper.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,438, issued Oct. 7, 1980 to W. L. Collins, shows a one-piece guide including a V-shaped guide at right angles to a plate having a hole so that the plate may be attached to a flat bumper or hitch bar by passing a mounting stud at the base of the ball through the hole in the plate. U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,184, issued Oct. 3, 1989 to R. C. Johnson, teaches a guide assembly with a base plate having a horizontal bottom plate and two vertical angled side walls, the bottom plate having a channel for receiving or sliding onto the base of a ball hitch. The guide also includes a stop plate with a back plate and 2 angled side walls which slide into a slot formed by the base plate, being secured by two inverted U-shaped flanges or brackets on the top edges of the side walls.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,392, issued Jun. 20, 1989 to T. N. Baskett, shows a V-shaped fence that attaches to a plate secured to the hitch by the ball, the fence being mounted to the plate by downwardly and rearwardly directed studs which removably fit openings in the plate. The plate includes projections that engage opposite sides of the hitch tube to add lateral stability to the plate. U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,196, issued Jul. 19, 1994 to R. Ricles, teaches a V-shaped guide having a central panel and 2 side panels extending farther down than the central panel in order to define a groove having the same width as the trailer hitch bar, the guide sliding between two vertical panels mounted on the hitch bar, the rear vertical panel being supported by a triangular wedge.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,630, issued Dec. 16, 1997 to Thompson, et al., describes a base plate attached to the tow bar by the ball hitch, the base plate having two vertical struts extending backwards and upwards from opposite sides of the base plate, and a socket extending between the struts. A guide plate with two angles plates and a center mounting portion mount in the socket by means of a tongue on the bottom of the center mounting portion. U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,232, issued Mar. 10, 1998 to T. R. Fleming, teaches a base plate with a channel member extending transversely mounted to the underside of the tow bar by a ball hitch. A V-shaped guide with a central alignment plate has flanges depending from the V-guide side panels, a key being inserted through the flanges and channel to secure the guide to the tow bar. The side panels have resilient urethane pads to protect the guide from the impact of the trailer tongue.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,256, issued Jul. 14, 1998 to T. V. Vass, shows a V-shaped plate having tubes on the side of the vertical side plates, a pin secured by a thumb screw extending through each side tube, the pin having another side tube welded at the bottom of the pin, the side tube receiving another pin secured by a thumb screw and welded at the end to another pin extending through reinforced holes in a mounting plate.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The trailer hitch guide includes a V-shaped fence removably attached to a base plate, the base plate being attached to a tow bar by means of a ball hitch. The V-shaped fence formed by a pair of plates defining a dihedral angle. The fence is temporarily and removably attached to the base plate by means of a pair of studs extending from the bottom edges of the fence plates. The base plate has a pair of elongated cylindrical tubes which define sockets into which the fence studs may be inserted. In a first embodiment, the base plate has a U-shaped member attached to the sides of the base plate with the crossbar in a plane vertically below the base plate, defining a rectangular collar in conjunction with the base plate having a perimeter slightly larger than the tow bar so that the collar slides over and encircles the tow bar. The elongated cylindrical tubes are attached to the sides of the U-shaped member. The collar prevents the guide from yawing around the base plate or rocking forwards and backwards as the socket on the trailer tongue pushes against the fence. In a second embodiment, the base plate is a flat plate having a notch defined in its back edge adapted for receiving the trailer hitch, the two elongated tubes depending from the bottom surface of the base plate. The fence is removed from the base plate after connection of the trailer hitch to allow unrestricted rotation of the hitch.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a trailer hitch guide for a ball and socket trailer hitch with a removable fence in order to permit the trailer tongue to freely rotate about the hitch ball after use of the guide.
It is another object of the invention to provide a quick and secure method for attaching the guide fence of a trailer hitch guide to the base plate in the form of studs extending from the bottom edges of the guide fence plates, the studs slidably engaging elongated cylindrical tubes attached to the base plate.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a trailer hitch guide which is of simple construction, providing low cost and ease in manufacturing.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a trailer hitch guide in which the guide base plate is prevented from yawing about the trailer hitch either by a collar disposed about the hitch, or by a notch defined in the base plate which received the hitch.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3765703 (1973-10-01), Voelkerding et al.
patent: 3879062 (1975-04-01), Miller
patent: 4226438 (1980-10-01), Collins
patent: 4840392 (1989-06-01), Baskett
patent: 4844496 (1989-07-01), Webb et al.
patent: 4871184 (1989-10-01), Johnson
patent: 5236215 (1993-08-01), Wylie
patent: 5330196 (1994-07-01), Ricles
patent: 5465992 (1995-11-01), Anderson
patent: 5503422 (1996-04-01), Austin
patent: 5529330 (1996-06-01), Roman
patent: 5549316 (1996-08-01), Jones
patent: 5697630 (1997-12-01), Thompson et al.
patent: 5725232 (1998-03-01), Fleming
patent: 5779256 (1998-07-01), Vass
patent: 5797616 (1998-
DePumpo Daniel G.
Peacock Myers & Adams
Victoria Varley
LandOfFree
Trailer hitch guide does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Trailer hitch guide, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Trailer hitch guide will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2559559