Locks – Special application – For portable articles
Patent
1997-04-24
1999-02-23
Boucher, Damell M.
Locks
Special application
For portable articles
280507, 70 14, 70232, 70258, 70DIG57, E05B 6900
Patent
active
058732713
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to devices for securing trailers and more particularly to devices for attachment to the hitch portion so a trailer.
Large trailers, such as those used for transporting boats, are expensive and thus liable to be stolen, particularly when unattached to a vehicle. However, even when attached to a vehicle, there is little to prevent unauthorised removal. Trailer locking devices have been proposed which either prevent unauthorised removal from a vehicle or attachment to a vehicle, ie they lock the trailer on the vehicle or of the vehicle. However, existing devices are not able to lock the trailer on and off the vehicle. Thus, it is necessary to have two separate locking devices or otherwise leave the trailer vulnerable to theft at some stage. Furthermore some trailer locks are not particularly secure.
In an attempt to provide an alternate lock to the prior art, the present invention provides a trailer lock which may, in preferred embodiments, lock the trailer when connected and disconnected from a tow vehicle. Accordingly, in one broad form the invention is a locking device for a trailer hitch of the ball and socket type, the locking device comprising an upper jaw and a lower jaw; shaft means interconnecting the two jaws together for reciprocal movement relative to each other; and, locking means for securing the two jaws at a selected distance apart wherein, in use, the jaws are lockable about the socket portion of the hitch to prevent unauthorised removal of the trailer.
Preferably, the locking device is lockable on the hitch when the trailer is both mounted on and dismounted from a tow bar on a tow vehicle.
Preferably, the locking device further includes an auxiliary locking member movable between first and second operative positions, whereby, in the first operative position, the device may be locked on to a hitch when attached to a tow bar, and in the second operative position, when locked to an unattached trailer hitch, the auxiliary locking member extends into the socket of the hitch.
More preferably, in the second operative position the auxiliary locking member is received in a recess or aperture in the lower jaw and extends toward the upper jaw.
In a preferred form, the recess or aperture is sized to receive a tow ball shaft and/or nut when the auxiliary locking member is in the first operative position.
In an alternate broad form, the invention provides a locking device for a trailer having first and second operative modes, in the first operative mode, the device being adapted to lock onto an unattached trailer hitch and prevent mounting of the hitch to a tow bar; and in the second operative mode the device being adapted to lock onto a trailer hitch/tow bar when the trailer hitch is mounted on the tow bar and prevent removal of the hitch from the tow bar.
Preferably, in the first operative mode the device has an auxiliary member adapted to extend into the socket of the hitch.
The invention shall be better understood from the following description of a non-limiting embodiment and the drawings, in which.
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 shows a partial cross-section of the embodiment of FIG. 1 when in a configuration used to lock a trailer mounted on a tow vehicle's tow bar.
FIG. 3 shows a partial cross-section of the embodiment of FIG. 1 when in a configuration used to lock a trailer not attached to a tow vehicle.
Referring to the drawings, the locking device 10 comprises a lower jaw 11 and an upper jaw 12. The lower jaw 11 has a generally planar upper surface 13. Extending upwardly from and substantially normally to the upper surface 13 there is provided a barbed shaft 14, preferably of a hardened steel.
The shaft 14 is received in a blind bore 16 in the lower jaw 11 and is secured thereto by any conventional means. This may be by way of a grub screw or lock pin 18, soldering, brazing or other known methods. Preferably, the shaft 14 is a press fit in bore 16 and is secured by a press fitted lock pin received in bore 17.
The upper jaw 12 is
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