Patent Application
20100108448
The present invention relates generally to various wheel chocking apparatus designed to be secured to motor vehicles and or trailer wheels to prevent movement and theft. Devices in the field at present range in complexity from elaborate government style “Denver Boot” (U.S. Pat. No. 2,960,857) type systems to simpler yet lacking in function locking chock type devices like those found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,072. These mentioned devices, and all in between fail to adequately address the combined need for strength, convenience and practical security.
The present invention relates to a dramatically improved and simplified embodiment of a lockable wheel chocking device that can be installed quickly and easily to a motor vehicle, unattended trailer, aircraft, or ATV, to name a few. The present invention utilizes non-obvious geometric principles to drastically minimize the size and amount of materials required to effectively chock and securely lock a trailer or vehicle.
The present invention is further designed for convenient handling and storage so as to increase the likelihood that the device will be used regularly and consistently. As a practical matter, any and all towed trailers need to have at least one wheel chocked before decoupling from the tow vehicle to prevent it from surging forward or backward possibly causing bodily injury, or damage to the tow vehicle or surrounding property. The present invention is the first of its kind to offer a truly practical, convenient solution to the mandatory need to chock a trailer tire, while at the same time providing a safety and anti-theft solution by preventing the accidental, or purposeful removal of the wheel chock.
Prior devices, some of which were mentioned above, and as mentioned here have numerous shortcomings. These prior devices have proposed various solutions relating to the immobilizing of vehicles and trailers with cumbersome locking devices that lack the general strength required, are heavy, or are overly complicated and impractical to use on a regular basis. One such example found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,070 issued Feb. 14, 1989 to Bohler. The Bohler patent, a complex locking wheel chock is taught in order to immobilize a vehicle wheel that utilizes a vast number of parts and has a frail locking means. These fatal flaws make it disadvantageous for any real practical use or meaningful commercial application. Another example of a vehicle immobilizing device is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,724 issued Mar. 17, 1987 to Raine. This device suffers the same drawbacks and limitations as that of Bohler. Still yet another device is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,121 issued Aug. 11, 1992 to Leonard. Leonard's device is very similar to that of U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,072 issued Sep. 23, 1975 to Shafer. It too suffers the same drawbacks found in that of the Shafer. Both devices are bulky and lack the innovative design necessary to achieve a practical combination of usability and strength with the fewest amount of required parts. Yet still another device as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,275 issued Feb. 23, 1999 to Lukich, Shows a wheel locking device having an elongated handle attached to the middle of the straight portion between the locking arms. While this device approaches a usable size, its cumbersome locking mechanism makes it expensive to manufacture as well as difficult to and slow to install. Further the elongated center mounted handle ads bulk and a lever arm that can be use to defeat the device. Most importantly, this device lacks the utility of the present invention due to the fact that the long handle prevents the device from being used as reliable wheel chock. The handles length causes it to slide with unpredictable behavior when rotational forces are applied by a wheel. These mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, together with the difficulty in retailing these products due to their large size, weight, and general bulk, make them difficult to package and impractical to display in a retail environment. For these reasons, all the known prior art have never achieved any real commercial success.
Due to the draw backs noted in the prior known art, there remains a strong need for an improved locking wheel chock device that is easy and functional to use both as a security anti-theft device and as a useful and reliable wheel chocking device. The device detailed in the present invention not only accomplishes these long felt needs, but further provides the major benefits of being easy, and inexpensive to manufacture, along with being cost effective to ship, and display easily at the retail level.
It is now proposed, in accordance with the present invention, to eliminate the known wheel lock drawbacks found in the existing prior art, by providing a locking wheel chock that is not only strong and secure that functions flawlessly as both a security anti-theft device, but also as a safe and efficient wheel chock.
It is another object of the invention to provide a product that is easy to store and use on a regular basis by the public, and is further easy to ship, and display at the retail level. Still further it is an important object of the present invention to provide a product that is inexpensive and easy to manufacture.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily appreciated and understood from consideration of the following detailed descriptions of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention when taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Details of this invention are described in connection with the accompanying drawings where like parts bear similar reference numerals in which:
Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like numbers refer to like parts,
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Although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that changes in the details of the preferred and modified forms of the inventions structure may be made without departing from the inventions spirit and scope thereof. Additionally it should be appreciated that the present invention is defined by the following claims construed in light of the prior art so that modifications or changes may be made to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention without departing from the inventive concepts contained herein.
