GB2457426A

GB2457426A - Retractable trailer supports

Info

Publication number: GB2457426A
Application number: GB0723287A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Tim Hare; Michael Bull
Original assignee: Bradley Doublelock Ltd
Current assignee: Bradley Doublelock Ltd
Priority date: 2007-11-28
Filing date: 2007-11-28
Publication date: 2009-08-19
Also published as: GB0723287D0

Abstract

A jockey wheel is moved to a deployed position by pushing a plate 40 down. This causes a partially threaded collar 38 to move away from a thread on a shaft 22. When the wheel engages with the ground a winding handle 18 rotates the shaft 22 to cause further downwards movement and full engagement with the ground. When the pressure on the jockey wheel with the ground is released, a handle 32 is pulled to move the screw threads away from each other. A compression spring retracts the jockey wheel towards the housing 26 and at the same time or later the housing is biased by a torsion spring to cause the shaft 22 to extend horizontally.

Description

TRAILERS

The present invention relates to a retractable trailer suppor; arrangement and particularly, although not exclusively, to a retractable jockey wheel arrangement, which for example may be jockey wheel arrangement for a towable vehicle or the like.

It is common to have a jockey wheel arrangement attached to the front chassis, known as the A-frame, of a towable vehicle such as a trailer or caravan. The jockey wheel arrangement is extended to support the trailer when the trailer is not hitched to a towing vehicle, and raised when the trailer is hitched to a towing vehicle. The jockey wheel arrangement also aids manoeuvrability of the trailer when the trailer is unhitched.

Known jockey wheel arrangements for a towable vehicle such as a trailer include an outer tube which is fixed relative to a trailer chassis within which an inner tube is telescopically arranged. At its lower end, the inner tube is fixed relative to a jockey wheel and at its upper end is connected to a handle. The inner and outer tubes are interconnected by screw threads and arranged such that the inner tube can be extended from and retracted back into the outer tube by rotation of the handle, in order to move the jockey wheel up and down. This requires much effort on the part of the person operating the arrangement and takes some time.

it frequently occurs that operatives fail to wind the :ockey wheel up to a sufficient height. This can result in the jockey wieel being destroyed when the vehicle and trailer pass over a speed bump and can even lead to the trailer hitch being disconnected. Furthermore, the jockey wheel, even when raised to its full height remains below the frame of the trailer. Thus the frames are required to be at an elevation greater than would otherwise be the case.

It is an object of the present invention to attempt to overcome at least one of the above or other disadvantages.

An aim of the present invention is to provide an improved jockey wheel arrangement for supporting a trailer or similar wheeled vehicle.

In particular an aim is to provide a jockey wheel arrangement that can be deployed and stowed more easily and quickly than known jockey wheel assemblies.

According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus and method as set forth in the appended claims.

Preferred features of the invention will be apparent from the dependent claims, and the description which follows.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a retractable trailer support comprises a retractable trailer support arrangement including a housing arranged, in use, to be mounted on a trailer and a support moveable relative to the housing, between a deployed position in which support is provided for a trailer and a retracted position, the support being moveable towards the deployed position by relative sliding movement between the support and the housing during part of the movement and relative :cngitudinal and rotational movement between the support and housing during another part of the movement to the deployed position.

The present invention can be carried into practice in various ways but one example will now be described by way of example and with referenced to the accompanying drawings, in which:-Figure 1 is a view of the front of a frame 10 of a trailer (not shown) showing a jockey wheel 12 of a jockey wheel assembly in a lowered position; Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the jockey wheel 12 in a raised position; Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the jockey wheel when in a raised and stowed position; Figure 4 is a perspective view showing part of the jockey wheel assembly with the wheel in the raised position; Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the location of springs in the jockey wheel assembly; Figure 6 is a plan view of Figure 5 with parts removed; Figure 7 is a side view of cooperating screw threads, and Figure 8 is a view of the lower part of the assembly in a 3C partially lowered position.

The lowering of the jockey wheel will first be described.

A tube 14 is fast with a bracket assembly 16 with the tube extending above that assembly 16. At the top of the tube a handle 18 is releasably attached to the top of a rod 20.

The rod can rotate with the handle but is fixed in the longitudinal direction of the tube 14. The rod extends down, through the tube 14 and inside a hollow shaft 22 shown in Figure 4. The rod is of square section and this square section extends through a square recess (not shown) that is constrained to move with the shaft 22 such that rotation of the handle causes rotation of the shaft 22.

In a conventional arrangement the outer thread on the shaft cooperates with an internally threaded collar in the bracket assembly. Rotation of the handle 18 rotates the rod 20 which rotates the shaft 22 which is thus caused to be raised or lowered by cooperation with the threaded collar.

As shown in Figures 4 to 6, the bracket assembly comprises a plate 24 fast with the frame 10. A housing 26 is connected to the plate 24. An operating member 28 is slidably mounted in a recess 30 of the housing and is movable away from the plate 24 by pulling a handle 32.

The operating member 28 is biased towards the plate 24 by a compression spring 34. The threaded shaft 22 extends through an opening 36 in the operating member, which hole 36 is of greater diameter than the shaft 22. This allows the operating member to be pulled by the handle 32 to move away from the plate without the shaft 22 moving.

A partial collar 38 is formed on the operating member.

The collar 38 faces the plate 24 and is biased by the spring 34 into contact with the shaft 22. As seen in Figures 6 and 7, the collar 38 extends around a third of the diameter of the shaft 22.

In order to move the jockey wheel from the raised position shown in Figure 2 to the lowered position in Figure 1 an operative pushes down on a plate 40 that extends outwardly from the jockey wheel. This causes the jockey wheel to move down and causes the shaft to move down without rotation. This is effected as a result of the profile of the threads shown in Figure 7. As can be seen in that figure the downwardly facing surface 42 of the thread of the shaft 22 extends inwardly as does the downwardly facing surface 44 of the thread of the collar 38. Thus the downwards movement of the shaft 22 causes the threads of the collar to be repeatedly pushed away from the plate 24, against the bias of the spring 34, as the shaft moves down.

When the jockey wheel contacts the ground the operator can use the winding handle 18 to urge the jockey wheel down and raise the front of a trailer in a conventional manner.

The now upwards force on the shaft 22 causes the generally upwardly facing surface 46 of the shaft to engage with the generally downwardly facing surface 48 of the collar without exerting any or without exerting any significant force such as would further compress the spring 34.

To move the jockey wheel from the position shown in Figure 1 to the position shown in Figure 2 an operative winds the handle 18 in the opposite direction to take the load off the wheel 12. Then the handle 32 is pulled. The handle 32 can be retained in a partially withdrawn condition by pulling the handle 32 to cause a projection 33 on the inner portion of the handle to move through a slot in a first plate 35 and into an arcuate gap in a middle plate 37. The projection 33 then abuts an outer plate 39.

Turning the handle 32 holds the projection in a locked position by being biased against the outwardly facing surface of the inner plate to lock the threads away from each other. (Without partially relieving the load on the wheels, the handle is difficult to pull) . This moves the collar 38 out of engagement with the shaft 22 and the shaft 22 is free to move up within the tube. A compression spring 50, located within the fixed tube 14 and surrounding the shaft 22, acts between the housing 26 and a washer 52 to cause the immediate retraction to the raised position as soon as the handle 32 is moved to free the threads.

The housing 26 is rotatably mounted on the plate by an axle 54 that extends from the frame 10 through an opening in the plate 24. A preloaded torsion spring 55 surrounds the axle 54 and biases the housing 26 in an anticlockwise direction, when viewing Figure 5.

In the locked position of the handle 32 a pin 58 that holds the housing in a fixed rotation position is not completely withdrawn from an opening in the plate 24.

However, when the handle 32 is pulled further, the pin 58 is retracted completely from an opening in the plate 24 and the housing 26 is then free to pivot Ufltli the pin 58 locates in a further opening 60 in the plate. When the housing has pivoted through 90 the jockey wheel is in a raised and stowed position, as shown in Figure 3.

Accordingly, the retraction of the jockey wheel may be effected first, prior to movement of the jockey wheel to the stowed position by first moving the handle to the locked position and, after retraction, then further pulling the handle to move the housing to the stowed position.

Alternatively, by one pull of the handle 32 the spring 50 may retract the jockey wheel 12 towards the housing 26 and the torsion spring 56 may move the housing 26, tube 22 and jockey wheel 12 to the stowed position. The retraction and stowing movement may occur simultaneously.

As shown in Figure 8, a roller 90 is fixed to an arm 92 that is constrained to rotate with a pivot mounting 94 of the wheel. During retraction, the roller enters a slot 96 of the housing by abuting a downwardly facing surface 98 of the housing which is angled up towards the slot.

Accordingly, if the wheel is not correctly orientated when the handle is operated, the roller 90 abuts a part of the surface 98, which causes the wheel to rotate towards the correct orientation wherein the roller locates in the slot 96. When the roller is located in the slot the wheel is fixed in its angular position and is forced to face upwardly, as shown in Figure 3, when in the stowed position. This is advantageous as, if the wheel is incorrectly aligned, the wheel may abut the frame 10 or other parts as the assembly rotates towards the stowed position. Furthermore, the wheel may be difficult to rotate to a correct upwardly facing position when stowed.

To move the jockey wheel to the lowered position from the stowed position, the handle 32 is pulled to retract the pin 58 from the opening 60 and the housing 26 is rotated, against the action of the torsion spring, to the position shown in Figure 2. Then the operative pushes down on the plate 40 as previously described.

Advantageously the trailer support arrangement herein described allows a user to quickly deploy the jockey wheel from a stowed position to the deployed position. This is because the majority of the movement to deploy the jockey wheel is a sliding motion. Furthermore the jockey wheel can be retracted by operating a handle. Thus the manual intervention of the operator in retracting the jockey wheel is reduced. Also, the arrangement ensures that the jockey wheel is correctly stowed, since in order to achieve this, all that is required is for the operator to operate the handle.

The trailer support arrangement is also stowed substantially above the lower edge of the trailer frame 10 due to the rotation of the housing. Accordingly, the stowed jockey wheel is less likely to be in the way and also less likely to be damaged when the trailer is pulled over kerbs or bumps or the like. Furthermore, the roller and surface 98 ensure that the wheel is correctly orientated in the upwardly facing position so again, the wheel is less likely to be damaged.

Attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with chs specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) , and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly scated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features

disclosed in this specification (including any

accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A retractable trailer support arrangement including a housing arranged, in use, to be mounted or. a trailer and a support moveable relative to the housing, between a deployed position in which support is provided for a trailer and a retracted position, the support being moveable towards the deployed position by relative sliding movement between the support and the housing during part of the movement to the deployed position and height adjustment means arranged to alter the height of the trailer when the support engages the ground.
2. An arrangement as claimed in claim 1 in which the is height adjustment means comprises power height adjustment means.
3. An arrangement as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the height adjustment means comprises relative rotational movement between the support and housing being arranged to cause relative longitudinal movement.
4. An arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim in which the support includes a foot member arranged to be engaged by an operative in order to move the support towards the deployed position during relative sliding movement between the support and the housing.
5. An arrangement as claimed in claim 3 or 4 in which the support includes a winder arranged to cause the relative longitudinal and rotational movement of the support towards the operative position.
6. An arrangement as claimed in claim 5 in which the winder is located at an upper region of the arrangement.
7. Ar. arrangement as claimed in claim 5 or 6 in which the winder is detachable from the arrangement.
8. An arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim in which, during movement towards the deployed position, the support is arranged to move towards and engage with the ground by sliding movement with the height adjustment means being arranged to be effected after the engagement with the ground in order to move the support into a fully deployed position.
9. An arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim including releasable locking means which in the locked position prevent relative sliding movement between the support and housing.
10. An arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim including first and second cooperating screw threads, one associated with the support and the other associated with the housing, the first screw thread extending only part of the way around the second screw thread with the screw threads being moveable relative to each other in a direction transverse to the direction of relative sliding movement.
Il. An arrangement as claimed in claim 10 in which the first screw thread is associated with the housing.
12. An arrangement as claimed in claim 10 or 11:n which the first and second screw threads are arranged to move away from each other during at least part of the relative sliding movement.
13. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 10 to 12 in which the first and second screw threads are arranged to move towards each other during at least part of the relative sliding movement.
14. Ar, arrangement as claimed in claim 12 and 13 in which the first and second screw threads are arranged to move repeatedly towards and away from each other during relative sliding movement.
15. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 10 to 14 in which at least one of the screw threads includes a downwardly facing surface that is inclined with respect to the direction of sliding movement towards the deployed position.
16. An arrangement as claimed in claim 15 in which the downwardly facing surface in inclined at an angle to the direction of sliding movement at an included angle to the direction of sliding movement of less than 80 or 60 or 50 or more than 20 or 30 or 40 and preferably in the region of 55°.
17. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 10 to 16 in which at least one of the screw threads includes an upwardly facing surface that is inclined with respect to direction of sliding movement towards the deployed posi: iOfl.
18. An arrangement as claimed in claim 17 in which the upwardly facing surface is inclined at an inclusive angle to the direction of sliding movement to the deployed position of less than 80 or GO or 50 or more than 20 or 30 or 40 and is preferably in the region of 45°.
19. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 15 to 18 in which the upwardly facing surface of one screw thread is urged against the downwardly facing surface of the upper screw thread during movement towards the deployed position whereby the screw threads are caused to move away from each other.
20. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 10 to 19 in which at least one of the screw threads includes an upwardly facing surface that has more of an inclusive angle to the direction of sliding movement than the downwardly facing surface of that screw thread.
21. An arrangement as claimed in claim 20 in which the upwardly facing surface in inclined at more than 70 or more than 80 or more than 85° to the direction of sliding movement.
22. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 10 to 21 n which at least one of the screw threads includes a downwardly facing surface that has more of an inclusive angle:0 the direction of sliding movement upon the upwardly facing surface of that screw thread.
23. An arrangement as claimed in claim 22 in which the upwardly facing surface is inclined at an angle of greater than 70 or greater than 80 or less than 90°.
24. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 10 to 23 in which the screw threads are biased towards each other in a direction transverse to the direction of sliding movement.
25. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 10 to 24 including an operating member arranged to move the screw threads away from each other.
26. An arrangement as claimed in claim 25 in which the operating member is manually operable.
27. An arrangement as claimed in claim 25 or 26 in which when the operating member moves the screw threads away from each other, the support is capable of sliding in the opposite direction to that which it slides towards the operative position, towards the retracted position.
28. An arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim in which the support is biased in a direction opposite from the direction of sliding movement to the deployed position.
29. An arrangement as claimed in claim 28 when dependent upon any of claims 25 to 27 in which, when the operating member moves the screw threads away from each other the support is arranged to slide automatically towards the retracted position.
30. An arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim in which the housing is arranged, in use, to be moveabie between an operative position, in which the support can move to the deployed position, and a stowed pOSItlOn in which movement of the support relative to the housing is unable to move the support to the deployed position.
31. A retractable trailer arrangement including a housing arranged, in use, to be mounted on a trailer and a support moveable relative to the housing between a deployed position in which support is provided for a trailer and a retracted position, the housing being arranged to be moved between an operative position in which the support is able to be moved into the deployed position and a stowed position in which movement of the support relative to the housing is unable to move the support to the deployed position.
32. A housing as claimed in claim 31 including a releasable lock which, when released, enables movement of the housing to the stowed position.
33. An arrangement as claimed in claim 32 in which the releasable lock is arranged to retain the housing in the stowed position.
34. An arrangement as claimed in claim 32 or 33 in which the releasable lock is arranged to automatically engage when the housing is in the operative position or the stowed position or both.
35. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 32 to 34 in which the releasable lock is biased to a locked position or positions.
36. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 31 to 35 including lock deploy means movable between a first position in which movement of the support towards the retracted position is inhibited and a second position in which movement towards the retracted position is permitted, the lock deploy means being able to be retained in the second position without the housing being able to be moved to the stowed position.
37. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 31 to 36 comprising first release means being operable to first permit the support to move towards the retracted position and second release means being operable to subsequently permit the support to move towards the stowed position.
38. An arrangement as claimed in claim 37, in which the first and second release means are effected by movement of a common member.
39. An arrangement as claimed in claim 38 in which the movement of the common member has a first extent to release the first release means and a further extent to release the second release means.
40. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 31 to 39 including means arranged to allow movement of the support away from the deployed position which means are also arranged to release the housing from the operative position.
41. An arrangement as claimed in claim 40 including first and second cooperating screw threads, one associated with the support and the other associated with the housna, the first screw thread extending only part of the way around the second screw thread with the screw threads being moveable relative to each other in a direction transverse to a direction of sliding movement of the support towards a deployed position with means for moving the screw threads in a direction transverse to the direction of sliding movement to allow movement of the support away from the deployed position those means comprising the same means that release the housing from the operative position.
42. Apparatus as claimed in claim 41 including a pin arranged to be released from a recess which, when released, allows movement of the housing from the operative position.
43. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 31 to 41 in including biasing means arranged to bias the housing towards the stowed position.
44. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 31 to 41 in which the support is arranged, in use, to be moved towards the deployed position by relative sliding movement between the support and the housing during part of the movement to the deployed position and relative translational and rotational movement between the support and the housing during another part of the movement to the deployed position.
45. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 31 to 44 in which the direction of relative sliding movement between the support and the housing in the stowed position of the housing is transverse to the vertical such as, for example, being horizontal.
46. An arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim in s which the support includes a wheel at a lower region.
47. An arrangement as claimed in claim 46 in which the wheel is pivotally mounted on the support about an upwardly extending axis when the support is in the deployed position.
48. An arrangement as claimed in claim 47 in which movement of the support to the retracted position is arranged to receive movement at the wheel at a fixed angular orientation about what is the upwardly extending axis in the deployed position.
49. An arrangement as claimed in claim 48 including cooperating members, one constrained to move with the wheel towards the retracted position and being rotatable with the wheel about the upwardly extending axis and the other being arranged to be fixed relative to the trailer, the cooperating members including at least one surface at an angle other than 0 and 90 to the direction of movement towards the retracted position whereby the members are arranged to cooperate with each other to cause rotation of the wheel about the upwardly extending axis.
50. Apparatus as claimed in claim 49 in which the cooperating members are arranged to cause said rotatlonal movement and to retain the wheel at the fixed angular orientat ion.
51. A trailer including a trailer support arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim.
52. A trailer as claimed in claim 51 in which the reiatve longitudinal and rotational movement of the support towards the deployed position is arranged to transfer part of the weight of the trailer to the support
53. A trailer as claimed in claim 52 in which the longitudinal and rotational movement of the support towards the deployed position is arranged to lift part of the trailer.
54. A method of operating a retractable trailer support is comprising sliding a support relative to a housing towards a deployed position and subsequently adjusting the height of the trailer when the support engages the ground.
55. A method as claimed in claim 54 comprising adjusting the height by rotating the support to cause longitudinal movement of the support relative to the housing.
56. A method as claimed in claim 54 or 55 comprising effecting the sliding movement towards the deployed position by a user pushing their foot down on a foot plate.
57. A method as claimed in either of claims 55 or 56 comprising pushing the support down with that pushing movement causing the sliding movement with normally cooperating screw threads associated with the housing and support not cooperating as screw threads with the screw threads subsequently cooperating to cause the rotational and translational movement.
58. A method as claimed in claim 57 in which, when the s support is pushed down, the threads push against each other to cause relative movement of the threads away from each other.
59. A method as claimed in any of claims 54 to 58 comprising sliding the support during at least part of the movement of the support from the deployed position to the retracted position.
60. A method as claimed in any of claims 54 to 59 comprising the support being unable to slide towards the retracted position until at least some of the load on the support has been relieved.
61. A method of operating a retractable trailer support comprising moving a support relative to a housing on the trailer between a deployed position in which support is provided for the trailer and a retracted position and moving the housing on the trailer from an operative position, in which the support can be moved to the deployed position to a stowed position in which the support can not be moved to the deployed position.
62. A method as claimed in claim 61 in which the housing pivots between the operative and the stowed position.
63. A method as claimed in any of claims 54 to 62 comprising moving the housing from an operative pcstion, n which the support can be moved to the deplcyed.position, to a stowed position in which the support can not be moved to the deployed position.
64. A method as claimed in claim 63 comprising an operative at least partially relieving the load on the support when the support is in the deployed position and then operating a single member to cause sliding movement of the support towards the retracted position and movement of the housing towards the stowed position.
65. A method as claimed in Claim 64 comprising biasing means causing the movement of the support towards the retracted position and biasing means causing movement of the housing towards the stowed position.
66. A method as claimed in any of claims 61 to 65 comprising first moving the support to the retracted position and then moving the support to the stowed position.
67. A method as claimed in any of Claims 61 to 66 comprising releasable locking means being automatically engaged when the housing is in the stowed position to prevent the return of the housing towards the operative position.
68. A method as claimed in any of claims 61 to 67 comprising causing a jockey wheel to rotate to a fixed position about what is an upwardly extending axis when the 3C support is in the deployed position as the support moves towards the retracted position.
69. A method as claimed in any of claims 61 to 68 in which a wheel of the support is arranged to be held in the stowed position such that an upwardly extending axis about which the wheel rotates when in the deployed position is at a lower elevation in the stowed position than the centre of the wheel.
70. A method of operating a retractable trailer support apparatus when using apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 47.