Communications: electrical – Land vehicle alarms or indicators – For trailer
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-19
2004-03-30
Tweel, John (Department: 2632)
Communications: electrical
Land vehicle alarms or indicators
For trailer
C200S061440, C280S432000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06714124
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to impact warning systems for truck and trailer combinations, and more particularly to a system for warning the driver of a pick-up truck should the front section of a fifth wheel trailer pivotally supported on a hitch mounted in the bed of the truck approach a point of impact with the cab of the truck during a turning maneuver of the truck and trailer.
BACKGROUND
Over the last several decades, campers and travel trailers have become quite popular with those individuals who enjoy traveling but wish to avoid the inconveniences and well known problems of trying to find available and affordable hotel/motel accommodations at the right locations and at the right times, of locating safe and clean eating and rest facilities along the road, and of having to pack and unpack clothing, food and other personal items on a daily basis. Use of a camper or travel trailer provides individuals with a convenient, affordable, safe and comfortable home away from home wherever they may decide to go, wherever they may choose to stop or camp for sightseeing or rest, whatever the purpose of the trip or however long or short the trip—whether to enjoy an overnight visit to a local lake or forest for fishing or hunting or undertake an extended tour.
Until recent years, the most common travel trailer has been the type which is simply hitched behind and pulled by an automobile or other vehicle. During recent years, however, the combination of a pick-up truck with a fifth wheel trailer has proven to be an increasingly popular and growing alternative. For essentially the same amount of usable interior space, a pick-up truck with a fifth wheel trailer will provide a shorter overall length than the combination of a truck or automobile and the usual pulled travel trailer. Any overall length reduction, of course, will provide distinct advantages not only because of better stability on the road at various speeds and under various road and environmental conditions, but because of increased ease of handling while trying to jockey back and forth into or out of a tight parking area or navigate around a sharp corner.
As is well known to those in the art, in equipping a pick-up truck with a hitch suitable for receipt of the kingpin of a fifth wheel trailer, the hitch must be mounted in the truck bed ahead of the truck's rear axle. Otherwise, if the hitch should be mounted over or to the rear of the rear axle, the weight placed on the hitch by the front section of the trailer will tend to lift the front wheels of the truck off of the road surface and thus cause loss of traction or otherwise interfere with steering ability of the truck, particularly in going over a dip or bump. Any such loss of steering traction, of course, would result in unacceptable safety concerns.
In pick-up trucks with relatively long beds, the necessary positioning of the hitch forwardly of the rear axle normally is not a problem. In the case of a truck with a short bed, however, a complication often will develop as the space forwardly of the hitch may not be sufficient for the front section of the trailer to rotate without impacting on the rear of the truck cab during a sharp turn of the truck-trailer unit. Particularly, in trying to navigate a sharp curve or to jockey a truck and attached fifth wheel trailer back and forth into or from a limited space under poor light conditions, the driver of a short-bed pick-up may not realize that the front section of the trailer is in imminent danger of striking the cab until after a strike and resultant damage to the cab and perhaps also to the trailer have occurred.
While an experienced truck driver might be expected to be cognizant of and thus on guard against an inadvertent impact of the type described above, unfortunately even the experienced truck/trailer owner or user can find it quite difficult to observe the position of the front section of the trailer closely enough to prevent any possible impact with the cab while simultaneously trying to watch both sides of the truck and trailer to avoid trees, buildings, moving people or animals, or other vehicles in trying to back from or enter a tight area or navigate a sharp turn. And for a new or inexperienced driver, such circumstances would almost be assured of generating a problem. Unfortunately, for this reason, many a trip or outing has suddenly and expensively been spoiled.
Short bed trucks are now quite popular as they not only will provide a shorter and more maneuverable vehicle but permit use of an extended cab without an increase in overall vehicle length. Few such trucks are believed purchased specifically for use with a fifth wheel trailer, and even where such use may be anticipated many purchasers do not seem to be aware of the potential trailer impact problem involving a short bed truck. Thus, the problem of potential impact damage when a short bed pick-up truck is combined with a fifth wheel trailer is likely to continue occurring with a high percentage of such trucks.
The above discussed problem of accidental impact between the front section of a fifth wheel trailer and the cab of a pickup truck has been recognized in the past by those in the field, and several proposals have been made for its solution. Examples of such proposed solutions include mechanisms for moving the weight bearing hitch point for the trailer back and forth in the truck bed in response to the need for space during turns, and for shifting the weight bearing point of the hitch rearwardly of the rear axle using a beam or arm projecting rearwardly over the axle. For various reasons, however, none of these prior proposals have met with any significant commercial acceptance or success. Accordingly, until development of the present invention, no truly satisfactory solution to the above discussed impact problem has been advanced.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a system which is usable with any pickup truck to warn the driver of the truck if the front section of a fifth wheel trailer hitched to the bed of the truck is approaching a point of impact with the cab of the truck during a turning maneuver of the truck.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a warning system of the type described hereabove comprised of components which are readily mounted on any pickup truck at the time a fifth wheel trailer is hitched to such truck and which are readily removed from the truck when the trailer is unhitched from the truck, yet which may be left on the truck after removal of the trailer without danger of damage either to the components or the truck.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a warning system of the type described hereabove comprised of components which may be moved between and mounted on various pickup trucks and which are readily adjustable to assure effective operation when used with various trailers having front sections of various sizes and configurations.
An additional objective of the present invention is the provision of a warning system of the type described above which is simple in design and structure, is inexpensive to produce and maintain, is easy and convenient to use, and is rugged and reliable in operation.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following summary and description of the preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As pointed out hereabove, it is difficult to use one of today's short bed pickup trucks to haul a fifth wheel trailer without running the very real danger of damaging either or both the back of the cab and/or the front section of the trailer as a result of impact between the cab and front section as the unit is maneuvered through sharp turns or into or out of limited spaces. Not only is this currently a real problem, but with the growing popularity of short bed pickup trucks and the increasing use of fifth wheel trailers for travel and camping purposes, the p
Frantz Thomas E.
Tweel John
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