TRAVEL HOME WITH CAR-TOP HITCH

• US 3,770,297 A
• Filed: 11/18/1971
• Issued: 11/06/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/1971
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Robert G. Quick
• Original Assignee: Robert G. Quick
• Inventors: Quick, Robert G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Friaglia, Leo
• Application Number:
  US05/199,920
• Time in Patent Office: 719 Days
• Field of Search: 280/423R,426,421,15C 296/23B,23C,23MC,23R,23D
• US Class Current: 280/423.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60D 1/06 Ball-and-socket hitches , e.g. constructional details, auxiliary devices, their arrangement on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60D 1/488 mounted directly to the chassis of the towing vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60P 3/34 the living accommodation being expansible, collapsible or capable of rearrangement B60P3/38 takes precedence; tents supported at least partially by vehicles E04H15/06
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 280/901 Adaptation of nonspecialized vehicles to semitrailer tractors

Abstract

A car-towed trailer has its foreportion segmented in three horizontally extending sections, the two lower sections being telescopically slideable up into the top section by hydraulic means so as to overlie the tow-car which has an ear at each side projecting up through the roof at the back of the driver'"'"''"'"'s seat. The bottom telescoping section has a pendant hitch tube oscillatably secured thereto and rotatably secured to an underlying crossbar having a pair of forwardly projecting ears at each side adapted to extend along each side of a car-roof ear and be secured thereto by a clevis pin through the ears. The rear portion does not telescope and has wheels rearward of the foreportion spaced from the connected tow-car so that the tow-car can be driven forward or backed under the overlying foreportion. Support legs attached to the upper foreportion section may be folded up into hidden position at each side while traveling or folded down and hydraulically extended to support the foreportion when the tow-car is unhitched. The trailer-supported hitch crossbar has a pendant headed stud extending down through slots in one end of each of two forwardly extendable alignment arms whose forward ends carry pendant pins insertable in holes in a cross plate between the car-roof ears, the arm slots being of such length as to move the trailer foreportion transversely for guiding the ears into position when the car is moved toward the trailer.

Claims

1. In combination, a tow-car having its sides reinforced for supporting a portion of a hitch substantially midway between front and rear wheels, the car-supported hitch portion having a transversely extending reinforcement member above the car roof and aligned ear portions projecting upward from the side reinforcements, the ear portions being secured to the member ends and projecting thereabove, and a trailer having a foreportion and a rear portion;

the foreportion of the trailer having upper, middle and lower horizontally extending sections, the middle and lower sections being adapted to telescope up and lock within the upper section;

the rear portion of the trailer having a set of trailer wheels rotatably secured thereto at its forward end, the rear portion being coextensive in height with the foreportion the upper section being integral with the rear portion;

a hitch portion secured pendant from the botton of the foreportion when the sections are telescoped and locked together;

the trailer hitch portion including a normally transversely extending cross member and a pendant tube, the tube being secured to the foreportion bottom and adapted to pivot from side to side with respect to the bottom, the cross member being rotatably secured to the tube And having a pair of spaced ears at each end adapted to lie on either side of the aligned ears of the car supported hitch portion, the aligned and spaced ears having registering holes therethrough and pin means for pivotally securing the ears together;

the tow-car being spaced from the trailer hitch portion when the foreportion sections are telescoped together and the hitch portions are engaged;

whereby side sway and wind-buffeting are reduced and the weight of the foreportion is distributed to all four wheels of the tow-car when the trailer is towed, and whereby pivotal connections between car and trailer about three different mutually perpendicular axes are provided while traveling and the car and trailer are mutually supporting when the car and trailer become jackknifed.

2. The combination of a tow-car having its sides reinforced for supporting a portion of a hitch substantially midway between front and rear wheels over its roof, the car supported hitch portion having a longitudinally disposed ear at each side of the car projecting from the side reinforcement through the roof, the ears being connected by a transversely extending reinforcement member;

and a trailer having a foreportion and a rear portion, the foreportion of the trailer having upper, middle and lower horizontally extending sections, the middle and lower sections being adapted to telescope up and be locked within the upper section, the rear portion of the trailer having a set of wheels rotatably secured thereto at its forward end, the rear portion being coextensive in height with the foreportion and the upper section being integral therewith;

the lower section having a floor reinforced by at least two spaced transverse members adapted to overlie the car when the sections are telescoped, the floor pendently carrying a normally vertically disposed tube, the upper end of the tube being secured between the two transversely extending spaced members by a longitudinally extending pin through the transverse members and the tube, a hitch cross member having a bearing at its center to which the tube lower end is rotatably secured, the hitch cross member having a pair of forwardly projecting ears at either end adapted to receive therebetween a respective one of the upwardly projecting ears of the tow-car, the ears being adapted to be oscillatably secured together by a clevis pin through each pair of ears and the ear therebetween;

whereby the hitch with clevis pins in position has a transverse horizontal axis of pivot at the connection between the ears, a fore and aft horizontal axis of pivot at the tube to floor connection, and a vertically extending pivot at the tube and hitch cross member connection about which the tow-car has a 360* range of possible angularity with respect to the trailer for flexibility while traveling and for resistance to overturning when car and trailer are turned perpendicular to one another.

3. The tow-car and trailer combination defined in claim 3 wherein the floor-supported tube has a sleeve secured therearound, the sleeve having a substantially rigid member extending transversely from either side, the outer end of each rigid member being connected to one end of a shock absorber, the other end of each shock absorber being connected to a respective side of the overlying foreportion of the trailer for damping the side sway of the trailer about the longitudinally extending pin through the hitch tube.