Patent Application
20080292390
This invention relates to a coupler for securing a trailer to a towing vehicle, and more particularly to a gooseneck coupler having an anti-rattle device.
With the increased popularity of recreational vehicles, manufacturers are designing and building vehicles of varying proportions and features. While many recreational vehicles, or trailers, continue to be hitched to the rear end of a towing vehicle through a coupler on the trailer and a hitch on the towing vehicle, larger vehicles have been developed which include a portion extending over the back of the towing vehicle. Examples of such large vehicles include fifth wheel trailers which couple to a specialized hitch mounted within the bed of a pick-up truck and trailers incorporating a gooseneck coupler that is secured to a ball mounted inside the pickup truck bed, usually directly over the rear axle.
Typically, a gooseneck coupler includes a pair of telescoping tubes with a first tube being fixedly secured to a towing vehicle and the second tube being fixedly secured to a trailer. The first tube includes a pair of coaxially aligned apertures. Similarly, the second tube includes a pair of coaxially aligned apertures. The second tube telescopically slides over the first tube until the apertures of the second tube are in coaxial alignment with the apertures of the first tube or visa-versa. A cross-pin is then disposed through both pairs of apertures to couple the first and second tubes to one another thereby releasably coupling the trailer to the towing vehicle. The cross-pin may be held into place by a fastener such as a nut, cotter pin, or the like.
In use, the towing vehicle may encounter various road conditions, which may result in significant impact loading of the towing vehicle's rear axle that may be transferred through the vehicle's frame and associated componentry directly to the gooseneck coupler. This impact loading may cause elongation of one or both pairs of tube apertures. Over time, the elongation of these apertures will make it increasingly difficult to align and insert the cross-pin therethrough. In addition, portions of the tubes surrounding the apertures may crack, which may lead to tube fracture and failure. Moreover, the impact loading may cause cross-pin deformation, making it increasingly difficult to insert and remove the cross-pin from the apertures, and, over time, the cross-pin may fracture resulting in damage to the gooseneck coupler, towing vehicle, trailer and cargo.
Consequently, there exists a significant need for a more durable gooseneck coupler, which will better handle imposed vertical impact loading, and which will be relatively simple and cost effective to produce.
An embodiment of the present invention provides for a coupler. The coupler includes a first telescopic member having a first pair of coaxially aligned apertures, and a second telescopic member having a second pair of coaxially aligned apertures. The second pair of apertures is capable of coaxial alignment with the first pair of apertures during telescopic engagement between the first and second telescopic members. A pin member having a head is capable of insertion through the coaxially aligned first and second pairs of apertures. At least one of the second apertures is sized to receive the head there through to engage the first telescopic member.
The present invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the views and in which:
Referring first to
Referring now
The outer tube 34 may be fixedly secured to the trailer 16, typically the underside of the trailer overhang 24; alternatively, the outer tube 34 may be releasably coupled to the towing vehicle 10, typically within the truck bed 12. As best shown in
Additionally, the outer tube 34 may be reinforced about the second aperture 36 to distribute load from a nut 54, or other similar fastener, situated about the second aperture 36. For example, in one embodiment as illustrated in
A cross-pin 40 may be used to couple the inner tube 32 and outer tube 34 together. The cross-pin 40 may have any suitable cross-section such that the cross-pin 40 may extend through both pairs of apertures 36, 36a and 31 and washer 50. For example, the cross-pin 40 may have a circular cross-section, square cross-section, triangular cross-section, hexagonal cross-section, or the like. The cross-pin 40 may include a head 42. In one embodiment, the head 42 is located at a trailing end of the cross-pin 40; alternatively, the head 42 may be located on the cross-pin 40 between a trailing and a leading end 44. As previously mentioned, the first aperture 36a and head 42 may have complimentarily shaped cross-sections such that engagement of the head 42 within the aperture 36a prevents rotation of the cross-pin 40. For example, the head 42 may have a triangular cross-section, square cross-section, hexagonal cross-section, or the like.
The cross-pin 40 may also include a threaded portion 46 for threadably receiving a nut 54. In one embodiment, the threaded portion 46 is located at a leading end 44 of the cross-pin 40; alternatively, the threaded portion 46 may be located on the cross-pin 40 between a trailing end and a leading end 44. A nut 54 may threadably engage the threaded portion 46 to partially draw the cross-pin 40 through the apertures 36, 36a and 31 as well as hold the cross-pin 40 in place. However, it will be appreciated that any suitable fastener, such as a cotter pin or the like, may be used to hold the cross-pin 40 in place.
In use, the outer tube 34 and inner tube 32 are telescopically engaged whereby both pairs of apertures 36, 36a and 31 are coaxially aligned. The cross-pin 40 is inserted through both pairs of apertures 36, 36a and 31 such that the head 42 is received by the first aperture 36a and such that a leading end 44 extends through the second aperture 36 and washer 50. The nut 54 is threadably engaged with the threaded portion 46 of the cross-pin 40.
Rotation of the nut 54 in a first direction will cause the cross-pin 40 to move radially inwardly such that the head 42 is drawn into the first aperture 36a to engage and bias the inner tube 32 against an opposing interior side 33 of the outer tube 34 thereby providing substantial normal and frictional forces between the outer 34 and inner 32 tubes. These normal and frictional forces act to maintain the inner tube 32, both positionally and rotationally, within the outer tube 34. Consequently, impact forces may be transferred to the outer tube 34, not only through direct bearing of the cross-pin 40, but also through the normal and frictional contact between the outer tube 34 and inner tube 32 thereby reducing the amount of impact transferred to the apertures 36, 36a and 31 and cross-pin 40. Rotation of the nut 54 in a second opposite direction will cause the cross-pin 40 to move radially outwardly such that the head 42 is drawn away from the inner tube 32 thereby disengaging the inner tube 32 from the interior side 33 of the outer tube 34.
Having shown and described the preferred embodiment, further adaptations of the methods and systems described herein may be accomplished by appropriate modifications by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and principles of the present invention. Several potential modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be considered in terms of the following claims and is understood not to be limited to the details of the embodiment shown and described above.
