Patent Application
20230364955
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The disclosure relates to locking devices and more particularly pertains to a new locking device for deterring theft of the trailer and damage to wiring of the trailer. The present invention discloses a locking device comprising a locking device for a trailer comprising a clamshell housing, which is positionable around a tongue of a trailer to cover a hitch ball receiver and a coupler of the trailer. First and second lock pieces are engaged to the clamshell housing to lock the clamshell housing.
The prior art relates to locking devices, which may comprise housings having one open side and hinged lids, or one open side, an open top, and hinged lids. Prior art locking devices also comprise devices that clamp to hitch balls, devices that comprise inner pieces with balls over which outer sleeves are positioned, and devices that can be bolted to tongues to cover hitch ball receivers. What is lacking in the prior art is a locking device for a trailer comprising a clamshell housing, which is positionable around a tongue of a trailer to cover a hitch ball receiver and a coupler of the trailer. First and second lock pieces are engaged to the clamshell housing to lock the clamshell housing.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a clamshell housing, which comprises an upper piece and a lower piece. The upper piece is configured to be positioned on an upper surface of a tongue of a trailer so that the upper piece covers the upper surface and a first section of opposed side surfaces of the tongue. A hinge is attached to and extends between the upper piece and the lower piece. The lower piece is hingable relative to the upper piece to cover a lower surface and a second section of the opposed side surfaces of the tongue. A first lock piece and a second lock piece are engaged to the upper piece and the lower piece, respectively, and are opposingly positioned to the hinge. The second lock piece is complementary to the first lock piece. When the clamshell housing is in a closed configuration, the second lock piece is positioned to engage the first lock piece to lock the clamshell housing in the closed configuration over a hitch ball receiver and a coupler of the trailer to deter theft of the trailer and damage to wiring of the trailer.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
As shown in
The lower piece 16 comprises a lower plate 52 and a pair of second bars 54. Opposing sides 56 of the lower plate 52 are separately equally to the opposed sides 46 of the upper plate 34. However, a rear edge 58 and a front edge 60 of the lower plate 52 are separated less than the forward edge 42 and the rearward edge 40 of the upper plate 34, thus the lower plate 52 is shorter than the upper plate 34. Each second bar 54 is positioned adjacent to a forward corner 62 and extends along a respective opposing side 56 of the lower plate 52 and past a rearward corner 64 of the lower plate 52. As shown in
A first lock piece 66 and a second lock piece 68 are engaged to the upper piece 14 and the lower piece 16, respectively, and are opposingly positioned to the hinge 28. The second lock piece 68 is complementary to the first lock piece 66. When the clamshell housing 12 is in a closed configuration, as shown in
In use, the clamshell housing 12 is positioned around a tongue 20 of the trailer 22, with the upper piece 14 covering the upper surface 18 of the tongue 20 and the coupler latch 50 inserted into the recess 48. The lower piece 16 is then hinged to bring the second lock piece 68 into position to engage the first lock piece 66, whereupon the clamshell housing 12 is locked in the closed configuration over the hitch ball receiver 70 and the coupler 72 of the trailer 22 to deter theft of the trailer 22 and damage to the wiring 74 of the trailer 22.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
