JP3524168B2 - Trailer towbar device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a straight line connecting knuckle steering members arranged at both front and rear ends of each trailer having a knuckle steering mechanism for front wheels and rear wheels. More specifically, the present invention relates to a towbar device for a trailer that enables each trailer to be towed in both front and rear directions, and more particularly, to a device for semi-automating the connecting operation. 2. Description of the Related Art As a trailer to be pulled by a tone tractor, there is a trailer having front and rear knuckle steering mechanisms. In this type of trailer, knuckle steering members of the knuckle steering mechanism are provided at both front and rear ends. They can be connected to each other. The knuckle steering members are connected in a straight line via a towbar device, so that each trailer can be towed by the towing tractor in either the front or rear direction. At this time, the steering state is changed from the front trailer to the rear trailer. To be transmitted sequentially. Here, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a towbar device for connecting knuckle steering members in a straight line as described above is generally known. In this towbar device, a pair of left and right bearings a provided at a base end are pivotally supported around a horizontal axis with respect to a knuckle steering member (not shown), so that a tapered elongated plate whose tip can freely swing up and down. The main body is a pair of towbars b, and a short cylindrical peg c is fixed to the wide center end of the wide base end of each towbar b in a vertically penetrating state. Correspondingly, an engaging hole d into which a peg c of another tow bar b can be fitted is formed at the center in the width direction of the tapered tip of each tow bar b.
Further, in order to prevent the peg c fitted in the engagement hole d from coming off,
At the upper and lower ends of the peg c, a pin hole f into which a stopper pin e having a bent locking portion is inserted is formed penetrating in the lateral direction, and the locking portion of the stopper pin e is fitted. The mounting groove g to be formed is formed on the outer periphery in parallel with the pin hole f. [0004] A grip handle h is protruded near the center in the longitudinal direction of one edge of each tow bar b in the left-right direction, and a chain i connected to the stopper pin e is provided near the base end thereof. Has been fixed. [0005] In the conventional towbar device constructed as described above, as shown in FIGS.
d, the respective pegs c, c are fitted, and the pin holes f,
By inserting the stopper pins e and e into the f and mounting the pair of tow bars b and b vertically, they are linearly connected to each other, and as a result, the knuckle steering member at the front end of each trailer is The knuckle steering member at the rear end is connected linearly. In the towbar device according to the above-mentioned conventional example, the front and rear trailers are collectively arranged in a straight line to connect the towbars b at the rear end of the front trailer and the rear. The center line of the tow bar b at the front end of the trailer is made coincident, and both tow bars b, b are stacked up and down by operating each handle grip h, h, and each peg c, c
Must be fitted into the respective engaging holes d, d, and each stopper pin e, e must be attached to each peg c, c while maintaining this state, and the operation is extremely troublesome. In particular, when each trailer to be connected is left unattended, it is necessary to collectively arrange the trailers in a straight line, which requires a lot of work, and when the work place is inclined Has various problems that not only the work becomes difficult but also danger is involved. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a towbar device for a trailer in which connection work is semi-automated to improve workability and safety. In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a front knuckle steering member which is located at the center in the width direction and is provided at a front end thereof, and a rear knuckle steering member is provided at a rear end thereof. Targeting each trailer where members are protruded and connected back and forth,
In a trailer towbar device for connecting the front wheel knuckle steering member of the front trailer and the front wheel knuckle steering member of the rear trailer in a straight line, the towbar device is pivotably movable up and down with respect to the rear wheel knuckle steering member and the front wheel knuckle steering member. A pair of towbars are attached and held in a substantially horizontal posture by a spring-type stopper, overlapped up and down and connected to each other, and each towbar is protruded from the lower surface of its base end and is attached to the spring-type stopper. A resilient engagement piece,
An engagement hole located at the distal end, a peg fitted into the engagement hole at the distal end of the towbar projecting upward from the top surface of the base end and overlapping with the pin, and prevented from falling off by a pin; A pair of left and right stoppers with guide slopes that guide the tip of another tow bar projecting downward from the lower surface of the toe bar and guided downward in the left-right direction by a guide slope and positioning and holding the same at the center of the lower surface of the base end; A key member facing the lower end of the toe bar of the other tow bar, which is pivotally attached to the engaging piece protruding from the lower surface of the end by a spring and is overlapped downward and positioned and held by the pair of guide inclined stoppers. Means to have. According to the towbar device for a trailer of the present invention employing such means, one of the towbar pivotally connected to the knuckle steering member at the rear end of the front trailer and the knuckle steering at the front end of the rear trailer are provided. The other towbar pivotally attached to the member is resiliently held in a substantially horizontal posture and is capable of swinging upward. Therefore, first, when connecting the front and rear trailers, for example, one of the towbars is rocked up and down to fit the peg on the upper surface of the base end of the other towbar into the engagement hole at the tip of the towbar. With a pin. Then, the front trailer is towed by a towing tractor or the like in a straight traveling state. Then, the one tow bar located above and the other tow bar located below rotate relatively so as to make a straight line around the peg fitted into the engagement hole, and the tip of the lower tow bar eventually becomes upper. Sliding on one guide slope of a pair of left and right guide slope stoppers protruding from the lower surface of the base end portion of the towbar, climbing over it, the key member of the upper towbar side faces the lower surface, and the lower towbar Prevent downward swing. In this manner, the tip of the lower towbar is positioned and held between the pair of stoppers with guide slopes, the upper and lower towbars overlap in a straight line, and the knuckle steering member at the rear end of the front trailer and the knuckle steering member at the front end of the rear trailer. Are connected in a straight line. An embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 3 shows each trailer 3 connected back and forth by the towbar device 1 of one embodiment and towed by the towing tractor 2. The trailer 3 includes left and right front wheels 5 and 5 and left and right rear wheels 6, which are rotatably and knuckle-steerably supported by a chassis frame 4.
The front wheel knuckle steering mechanism 7 and the rear wheel knuckle steering mechanism 8 are connected to each other via a cross rod 9 so as to operate jointly in opposite phases. In each of the trailers 3, a front wheel knuckle steering member 10 constituting a front wheel knuckle steering mechanism 7 is located at the center in the width direction and protrudes from its front end. Similarly, a rear wheel knuckle steering mechanism 8 is provided. Rear wheel knuckle steering member 1 to constitute
1 is located at the center in the width direction and protrudes from the rear end. In each of the trailers 3, the rear wheel knuckle steering member 11 at the rear end and the front wheel knuckle steering member 10 at the front end are connected in a straight line by the towbar device 1. Here, the towbar device 1 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, one tow bar 12 pivotally attached to the rear end of the rear wheel knuckle steering member 11 so as to be vertically swingable, and the rear wheel knuckle steering member 11 for holding the tow bar 12 in a substantially horizontal posture. A spring-type stopper 13 attached to the lower surface of the front wheel, the other tow bar 14 pivotally attached to the front end of the front wheel knuckle steering member 10 so as to be able to swing up and down, and a front wheel for holding the tow bar 14 in a substantially horizontal posture. The knuckle steering member 10 mainly includes a spring-type stopper 15 attached to the lower surface thereof. The spring-type stopper 13 is a stopper rod that is movable in the front-rear direction through front and rear support pieces 13b, 13c of a bracket 13a, which is fixed to the lower surface of the rear wheel knuckle steering member 11, and is substantially U-shaped in side view. 13d. The stopper rod 13d is prevented from falling backward by the nut 13e screwed to the front end thereof being locked to the support piece 13b, and the nut 1e screwed to the intermediate portion is provided.
3f and the coil spring 13 between the support piece 13b.
By being provided with g, the g can be moved forward by a predetermined amount against the coil spring 13g. The spring-type stopper 15 is symmetrical with respect to the above-mentioned spring-type stopper 13, and penetrates through support pieces 15c and 15b before and after a bracket 15a fixed to the lower surface of the front wheel knuckle steering member 10. And has a stopper rod 15d movable in the front-rear direction. The stopper rod 15d is prevented from slipping forward by a nut 15e screwed to the rear end portion thereof being locked by the support piece 15b, and the nut 15e screwed to the intermediate portion.
f and the supporting piece 15b and a coil spring 15g
Is provided so that it can move backward by a predetermined amount against the coil spring 15g. The one tow bar 12 has a long plate-like shape at the base end on the rear wheel knuckle steering member 11 side and a narrow plate at the tip end, and has a rear end knuckle steering at the base end. A pair of left and right bearing members 16, 1 facing left and right sides of the member 11
6 are protrudingly provided. The bearing members 16, 16
However, the tow bar 12 is pivotally attached to the rear wheel knuckle steering member 11 via a pivot pin 18 having nuts 17, 17 screwed to both ends to prevent the tow bar 12 from swinging up and down. Has become. The center of rotation of the bearing members 16, 16 is offset upward from the upper surface of the towbar 12. On the lower surface of the base end portion of the tow bar 12, an engaging piece 19 is projected along the width direction thereof, and the outer surface of the engaging piece 19 is located behind the stopper rod 13d of the spring type stopper 13. By contacting the end, the tow bar 12 is elastically held in a substantially horizontal posture. The other tow bar 14 has the same structure as the one tow bar 12 described above, and a pair of left and right bearing members 16 at the base end thereof are connected to the front wheel knuckle steering member 10 via pivot pins 18. By being pivotally attached, the distal end portion can swing up and down, and the outer surface of the engaging piece 19 on the lower surface of the base end portion abuts on the front end portion of the stopper pin 15 d of the spring stopper 15. It is held in a substantially horizontal position. As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, a peg 20 is projected from the upper surface of the base end of each of the tow bars 12, 14 at the center in the width direction. This peg 2
Reference numeral 0 denotes a short columnar shape, and a pin hole 20a penetrating in the lateral direction.
And a large chamfer 20b is formed at the upper end. An engagement hole 21 having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the peg 20 is formed at the center in the width direction of the tip of the towbars 12, 14, and a chamfer 22 is formed on the periphery of the upper surface of the tip. The stopper pin 23 to be inserted into the pin hole 20a of the peg 20 is an insertion portion 23a having a sharp end at one end formed by bending a substantially square in a plan view.
On the other end side, a stopper metal 23c elastically held by a coil spring 23b is mounted so as to be able to advance and retreat.
The tip of c is in elastic contact with the peripheral surface of the insertion portion 23a. The stopper pin 23 is connected to the one bearing member 16 via a chain 24. As shown in FIG. 7, a pair of left and right guide inclined stoppers 25, 25 project from the lower surfaces of the base end portions of the tow bars 12, 14 at predetermined intervals. The stoppers 25 with guide slopes are composed of two triangular blocks having a substantially right-angled triangle in cross section. Stopper surfaces 25a, 25a facing each other in a narrowed U-shape and guide slopes 25b, 25b facing left and right outward, and the interval between the stopper surfaces 25a, 25a is tow bar. 1
The spacing between the end portions 2 and 14 can be positioned and held with some margin. A key member 26 is provided at one of the right and left ends of the engaging piece 19 protruding from the lower surface of the base end of the towbars 12 and 14 via a pivot pin 27 around the longitudinal axis. Being pivoted. The key member 26 is connected to the pivot pin 2.
7, a plate-shaped main body portion 26b extending along the inner surface of the engagement piece 19 and having a distal end gently bent toward the outer surface side of the engagement piece 19, and protruding from the hinge portion 26a. The main body portion 26b is disposed below the lower surfaces of the tow bars 12, 14 with a space slightly larger than the plate thickness of the tow bars 12, 14. In such a key member 26, a main body portion 26b is engaged by a coil spring 29 being stretched between a spring hook portion 26c and a spring hook pin 28 projecting from the one bearing member 16. The spring is biased so as to rotate away from the inner surface of the piece 19 toward the lower side of the peg 20. A grip bar 30 extending outward in the width direction is provided on one of the left and right peripheral surfaces of the tow bars 12 and 14.
Is protruding. Next, the operation of the towbar device 1 for trailer according to the present embodiment thus configured will be described.
When the trailers 3 are connected back and forth by the conventional towbar device, it is necessary to arrange the trailers 3 in a line in a straight line in advance. However, when the trailers 3 are connected back and forth by the towbar device 1 of this embodiment, The trailers 3 do not need to be arranged in a straight line, but may be arranged in a zigzag pattern. In order to connect the trailers 3 arranged in a zigzag manner or the like in a somewhat disjointed manner as described above, for example, one of the towbars 12 pivotally mounted on the rear wheel knuckle steering member 11 of the front trailer 3 is used. Engagement hole 21 at the tip
And a peg 2 on the upper surface of the base end of the other towbar 14 pivotally attached to the front wheel knuckle steering member 10 of the rear trailer 3.
Trailers 3 and 3 up and down to the position where 0 can fit each other
Closer. In this case, since the tow bar 12 is held by the spring-type stopper 13 and the tow bar 14 is held by the spring-type stopper 15 in a substantially horizontal posture, one of the tow bars 12 swings slightly upward while gripping the grip bar 30. Keep it. When the front and rear trailers 3 approach a predetermined position, the tow bar 12 is lowered, and the engaging hole 21 at the distal end thereof is fitted to the peg 20 projecting from the upper surface of the base end of the other tow bar 14. At this time, since the large chamfer 20b is formed at the upper end of the peg 20, the fitting operation can be performed relatively easily. In addition, tow bar 12 and tow bar 14
The bearing members 16 and 16 of which the rotation center is
14, the towbars 12, 1
4 is in a state where it is easy to overlap vertically. Subsequently, the engaging hole 21 of the upper towbar 12
The pegs 20 of the lower towbars 14 fitted into the tongues 14 are prevented from coming off by the stopper pins 23. That is, the insertion portion 23a of the stopper pin 23 is inserted into the pin hole 20a of the peg 20 while the stopper 23c is pushed in against the coil spring 23b.
Then, the stopper 23c is released. By doing so, the tip of the stopper pin 23c elastically contacts the peripheral surface of the insertion portion 23a, so that the stopper pin 23 is prevented from dropping off the peg 20 and reliably stops the peg 20 from falling off. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8A, the same operation is performed for each trailer 3, and the tow bar 14 pivotally attached to the front wheel knuckle steering member 10 of the leading trailer 3 is removed.
The towing tractor 2 is inserted through the engagement hole 21 at the tip end.
And the towing tractor 2 moves straight at a low speed.
By doing so, the leading trailer 3 is towed in the straight traveling state, and the trailers 3 behind it are also sequentially towed in the straight traveling state. Here, each towbar device 1 for interconnecting the front and rear trailers 3 is connected to one of the towbars 1 located above.
The tow bar 2 and the other tow bar 14 located below are relatively rotated about the peg 20 of the tow bar 14 fitted in the engagement hole 21 of the tow bar 12 so as to be aligned. Then, the tip of the lower towbar 14 is eventually connected to the upper towbar 12.
Between the stopper surfaces 25a, 25a of the stoppers 25, 25 with one of the pair of left and right guide inclined surfaces 25, 25 projecting from the lower surface of the base end portion of the guide slope 25. Is held in position. At this time, the distal end of the lower tow bar 14 slides smoothly on the guide slope 25b at the chamfered portion 22 on the peripheral edge of the upper surface. As described above, when the tip of the lower tow bar 14 slides on the guide slope 25b, the key member 26 installed on the lower surface of the base end of the upper tow bar 12 is moved.
The main body portion 26b is retracted to the inner surface side of the engagement piece 19 by engaging with the tip portion of the tow bar 14 below, and the tip portion moves over the guide inclined surface 25b and is positioned and held between the stopper surfaces 25a, 25a. Then, it faces directly below the lower surface of the tip of the tow bar 14 and prevents its downward swing. Thus, the pair of towbars 12 and 14 of the towbar device 1 are linearly overlapped vertically, and the rear wheel knuckle steering member 11 of the front trailer 3 and the front wheel knuckle steering member 10 of the rear trailer 3 are connected. They are connected in a straight line. In this embodiment, the tow bar 12 pivotally attached to the rear wheel knuckle steering member 11 of the front trailer 3 overlaps with the tow bar 14 pivotally attached to the front wheel knuckle steering member 10 of the rear trailer 3. FIG. 8
As shown in (b), the tow bar 12, 14 can be superposed on the tow bar 12 by reversing the vertical relationship of the tow bar 12 by the same operation. Although the present embodiment is applied to the connection of the trailers 3 having the cross rods 9, it is also applicable to the connection of the trailers 3 having no cross rods 9. As described above, in the present invention, when connecting the knuckle steering member at the rear end of the front trailer and the knuckle steering member at the front end of the rear trailer, first, for example, one of the tow bars is moved up and down. The peg on the upper surface of the base end of the other tow bar is fitted into the engagement hole at the tip of the toe bar, and the peg is prevented from coming off by a pin. Subsequently, the front trailer is towed by a towing tractor or the like in a straight-ahead state. By doing so, the one towbar located above and the other towbar located below rotate relatively so as to form a straight line around the peg fitted into the engagement hole,
Eventually, the distal end of the lower towbar slides over one of the pair of left and right guide sloped stoppers protruding from the lower surface of the base end of the upper towbar, and rides over it. The key member of FIG. In this manner, the tip of the lower towbar is positioned and held between the pair of stoppers with guide slopes, the upper and lower towbars overlap in a straight line, and the knuckle steering member at the rear end of the front trailer and the knuckle steering member at the front end of the rear trailer. Are connected in a straight line. That is, according to the present invention, the connecting operation between the knuckle steering member at the rear end of the front trailer and the knuckle steering member at the front end of the rear trailer is semi-automated.
It is not necessary to arrange the front and rear trailers on a straight line in advance, and the trailers arranged separately can be connected very easily with light work, and the workability and safety can be improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of a towbar device for a trailer according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of one embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of each trailer to which one embodiment is applied. FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of the tow bar in one embodiment. FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of a tow bar in one embodiment. FIG. 6 is an enlarged front view of the tow bar in one embodiment. FIG. 7 is an enlarged bottom view of the tow bar in one embodiment. FIG. 8A is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a use situation of an embodiment, and FIG. 8B is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of a use situation of an embodiment. FIG. 9 is a plan view of a conventional example. FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 9; DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Towbar device 2 Towing tractor 3 Trailer 4 Chassis frame 5 Front wheel 6 Rear wheel 7 Front wheel knuckle steering mechanism 8 Rear wheel knuckle steering mechanism 9 Cross rod 10 Front wheel knuckle steering member 11 Rear wheel knuckle steering member 12, 14 Towbar 13, 15 Spring type stopper 16 Bearing member 17 Nut 18 Pivot pin 19 Engagement piece 20 Peg 21 Engagement hole 22 Chamfer 23 Stopper pin 24 Chain 25 Stopper with guide slope 26 Key member 27 Pivot pin 28 Spring hook pin 29 Coil Spring 30 grip bar

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60D 1/01 B62D 53/00 B62D 13/00

Claims (1)

(1) A front knuckle steering member is provided at a front end of the vehicle, and a rear knuckle steering member is provided at a rear end of the vehicle. A towbar device for a trailer that connects a rear knuckle steering member of a front trailer and a front wheel knuckle steering member of a rear trailer in a straight line for each trailer to be connected, wherein the rear wheel knuckle steering member and the front wheel knuckle steering member A pair of towbars which are pivotally attached to each other so as to be swingable up and down, are elastically held by a spring type stopper in a substantially horizontal position, and are vertically connected to each other and connected to each other. An engaging piece projecting from the spring-type stopper and being engaged with the spring-type stopper, an engaging hole located at the distal end, and a distal end of another tow bar projecting upward from the upper surface of the proximal end and overlapping therewith. A peg which is fitted into the engagement hole and is prevented from coming off by a pin, and a distal end portion of another tow bar projecting from the lower surface of the base end and superimposed downward and guided in the left-right direction by a guide slope, the base end. A pair of left and right stoppers with guide slopes that are positioned and held at the center of the lower surface of the unit, and are pivotally attached to the engaging piece projecting from the lower surface of the base end by urging with a spring.
A towbar device for a trailer, comprising: a key member that is overlapped downward and faces the lower surface of the tip of another towbar that is positioned and held by the pair of stoppers with guide slopes.