Patent Application
20060066075
The present invention relates to a towing apparatus for towing a wheeled vehicle behind another and especially to a trailer for towing one bicycle behind another.
Bicycling is becoming more and more of a family sport with relatively young children riding their own bicycles while accompanying their parents on designated bicycle lanes on streets or on bicycle trails. It is common for young children to tire before the grown-ups tire. As a result it is necessary to plan relatively short trips or provide some means to reduce the exertion required by a child during longer trips. To this end, several devices have been proposed to allow a child's bicycle to be towed behind an adult's bicycle. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,261,592; 5,749,592; and 6,050,580 which disclose the use of tow bars connected between the towed and towing vehicles. Such tow bars are designed to be connected between the bicycles before the ride begins and would be awkward to carry and install midway through a ride. In addition, some of the tow bar arrangements would not relieve the child in the towed bicycle from the task of steering his or her cycle. U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,582 discloses the use of a more rigid towing bar arrangement which lifts the front wheel of the towed bicycle off of the ground. Again, this arrangement does not readily lend itself to installation while on the road.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,578 (“'578 patent”) describes a bicycle trailer for towing a child's bicycle in which the front fork of the towed bicycle is attached to a pair of towing bars with the front wheel of the towed bicycle engaging the ground. A pair of small outrigger wheels, in the form of training wheels, extend on either side of the front wheel of a towed bicycle for stability purposes.
While the '578 apparatus is designed to accommodate a tired child during a ride it requires modification of the front fork of the bicycle to be towed. In addition, the small outrigger wheels would provide considerable friction with or without the towed bicycle in place.
There is a need for a vehicle towing trailer which overcomes the above disadvantages.
A bicycle trailer for supporting the front wheel of a towed bicycle, in accordance with the present invention, includes at least one, and preferably two, wheels and a frame defining a longitudinal axis supported at least in part by the wheel(s). The frame forms an elongated cradle or wheel well for receiving and supporting the front wheel of a towed bicycle above the ground. A tow bar extends forwardly from the cradle for connection to the towing bicycle. Preferably, the cradle includes at least two wheel engaging members for engaging and supporting the lower portion to the front wheel of a towed bicycle. The frame also preferably includes a pair of side support members carrying stub axles (on the two wheel arrangement) on which the trailer wheels are mounted for rotation about an axis perpendicularly oriented to the longitudinal axis. Stop members and vertically positioned stabilizer posts may be included in the frame to inhibit longitudinal and lateral movement of the towed bicycle, respectively, during a towing operation. The construction and features of the present invention may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the appended drawings where like components in the several figures are given the same reference numeral.
One preferred embodiment of a towing trailer 10, especially adapted to permit a child's bicycle 12 to be readily coupled to and towed by an adult's bicycle 14 during a ride without requiring any modification of the child's bicycle, is illustrated in
A pair of wheels 28, spaced, for example, about 12″ apart, are mounted on axle stubs 30 secured to respective side members 18 and 20 via brackets 32. The wheels rotate about an axis y-y perpendicularly oriented with respect to the longitudinal axis as shown in
The side frame members 18, 20 and the stop members 22, 24 define an interior opening 34 (
A tow bar 42 joined to the frame, i.e., to section 18a, extends forwardly for detachably connecting the trailer to a towing bicycle. While a single bolt/nut arrangement 44 is illustrated as the connecting system, any of several known connection systems may be used to secure the forward end of the tow bar to the towing bicycle.
For purposes of securing the front wheel 40 of a towed bicycle within the cradle or wheel well and for stabilizing the front wheel of a towed bicycle against lateral movement, an inverted u-bracket 46 is mounted or secured to the frame. The locking/stabilizing bracket 46 is formed of two lower fixed posts 46a which straddle the towed front wheel of a towed bicycle opening and extend upwardly from the one end of the side members, e.g., the front end as shown in the figures. Adjustable posts extend upwardly from the fixed posts to engage an upper portion of the front wheel of a towed bicycle. Preferably the upper posts include a cross bar to form an inverted u-shaped upper section 46b, the upper end of which extends above the anticipated axle 48 of a front wheel of a towed bicycle. As shown in
Referring now to
An alternative embodiment of the trailer is shown in
Referring now to
In operation the trailer is connected to the towing bicycle, e.g., to the frame adjacent the rear axle, at the beginning of the ride. When the child tires, his or her bicycle may be secured in the trailer by simply placing the front wheel of the bicycle in the cradle or wheel well and preferably secured therein by means of stabilized locking bracket or cable. The ride may then continue without requiring any further peddling or steering effort on behalf of the child. If the child later wants to ride, the child's bicycle can simply be removed and the trailer can be towed empty. While the term “child” has been used herein to designate a second cyclist, it is to be noted that the second rider can be an adult. It should also be noted that the trailer can be widened to accommodate multiple cradles or wheel wells. It should also be noted that while the preferred embodiments are directed to a bicycle, other wheeled vehicles may be accommodated by the trailer.
There has thus been described a simple and relatively inexpensive towing trailer which does not require any modification of the towed bicycle and allows the front wheel of the towed bicycle (or other vehicle) to be inserted into the trailer with a minimum effort. Various modifications or improvements will occur to those skilled in the art without involving any departure from the spirit and scope of my invention as spelled out in the appended claims.
