JPH0717327A - Stop indicator for towed carriage - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a stop indicator, which can be put into operation easily at a low cost by means of a simple structure, for a towed carriage. CONSTITUTION:A drawbar bracket 3 is provided in the rear part of a towing vehicle 1, while a connecting shaft 5 is provided in the front part of a towed carriage 2 via a bracket 4. When the drawbar bracket 3 and the connecting shaft 5 are connected together, the towing vehicle 1 and the towed carriage 2 are connected to each other. A strap lamp 6 is arranged in the rear part of the towed carriage 2, a battery BATT is arranged in the lower part of the towed carriage 2, and a limit switch 7 is arranged in the bracket 4 respectively. When the brake is applied in the towing vehicle 1, the towed carriage 2 continues advancing because of inertia force. Then, the limit switch 7 is pushed by the tip part of the connecting shaft 5 to be turned on, and the strap lamp 6 is lighted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tow truck stop display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a towing vehicle is towed by a towing vehicle, a method of connecting the towing vehicle and the towing vehicle with a drawbar bracket and a connecting shaft has been widely used. For example, the applicant has proposed various traction devices using drawbar brackets, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 49-71920.

[0003]

Usually, the rear portion of the towing vehicle is provided with a stop lamp similar to that of a passenger vehicle. However, when the tow truck connected to the tow vehicle carries a large load, the stop lamp of the tow vehicle may be hidden by the load and may not be clearly seen from the rear.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, when a towing vehicle 51 and a towing vehicle 52, and a towing vehicle 53 and a towing vehicle 54 are connected by a drawbar bracket 55 and a connecting shaft 56, respectively, and run vertically. There is. In this case, if the load on the tow truck 52 is large, the tow truck 5 traveling in front of
The stop lamp 51a of No. 1 is hidden in the baggage, and as shown by an arrow C, the driver's line of sight of the towing vehicle 53 traveling behind is blocked. Therefore, the towing vehicle 51 traveling in front of
Even if the stop lamp 51a is turned on when the vehicle stops, the driver may not be able to see the stop lamp 51a well behind the vehicle.

Therefore, conventionally, a stop lamp is provided at the rear of the towing vehicle, and the stop lamp and the stop lamp of the towing vehicle are connected by a cable so that the stop lamp of the towing vehicle and the stop lamp of the towing vehicle can be interlocked. It is considered. However, in that case, the cable connecting the towing vehicle and the towing truck may be sandwiched between the drawbar bracket and the connecting shaft and broken. In particular, as shown in FIG. 7, when the towing vehicle 51 makes a right turn (also when making a left turn),
Since the connecting shaft 56 rotates with respect to the drawbar bracket 55, the cable connecting the towing vehicle and the towing truck may be caught and broken. Further, the towing vehicle and the towing truck are frequently connected and disconnected, but the cables must be connected and disconnected each time, which is not practical.

Therefore, it is possible to incorporate male and female connectors in the drawbar bracket and the connecting shaft, and to connect the stop lamps of the towing vehicle and towing truck to the connectors. In this case, since the male and female connectors are connected and the stop lamp of the towing vehicle and the stop lamp of the towing vehicle are connected only by connecting the drawbar bracket and the connecting shaft, the trouble as described above is not required. . However, if such a special connector is incorporated into the drawbar bracket and the connecting shaft, there is a problem in that the drawbar bracket and the connecting shaft need to be remodeled, resulting in a high cost.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a stop display device for a tow truck which has a simple structure and can be implemented easily at low cost. is there.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a stop indicator provided at a rear portion of a tow truck towed by a tow vehicle, and a stop indicator provided on the tow truck.
The gist of the invention is to include a detection unit that detects the braking of the towing vehicle and causes the stop indicator to display a stop display.

[0009]

Therefore, according to the present invention, a stop indicator is displayed on the tow truck stop indicator in response to the braking of the tow truck by a simple structure in which the tow truck side is provided with the stop indicator and the detection means. Can be done.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment embodying the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS.
It will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, a drawbar bracket 3 is provided at a rear portion of the towing vehicle 1, and a tow truck 2 is provided.
A connecting shaft 5 is provided on the front part of the via a bracket 4. The drawbar bracket 3 and the connecting shaft 5 are connected to each other, so that the towing vehicle 1 and the towing carriage 2 are connected to each other. Since the connecting structure between the drawbar bracket 3 and the connecting shaft 5 is known, the description thereof is omitted here.

A stop lamp 6 having a light bulb having the same structure as that used in a general passenger car is attached to a rear portion of the towing vehicle 2. A battery BATT is attached to the lower part of the tow truck 2 and a limit switch 7 is provided on the bracket 4. The stop lamp 6 and the limit switch 7 are connected in series to the battery BATT. When the limit switch 7 is turned on, the stop lamp 6 is turned on, and when the limit switch 7 is turned off, the stop lamp 6 is turned off. There is.

2 and 4 are enlarged plan views of a connecting portion between the bracket 4 and the connecting shaft 5. In addition, FIG.
5 is a side view of FIG. 5, and FIG. 5 is a side view of FIG. 4. The bracket 4 is composed of two oblong ring-shaped members 4a having the same size. The members 4a are opposed to each other with a predetermined gap, and the elongated holes 4b thereof overlap each other when viewed from the horizontal position. Each member 4a is fixed to the front portion of the tow truck 2 such that the short side of the ellipse is horizontal so that the center line that bisects the ellipse in the longitudinal direction is horizontal. On the other hand, the connecting shaft 5
Has a horizontal shaft 5a attached to its end and has a T-shape. The horizontal shaft 5a is fitted in the long hole 4b of each member 4a. Therefore, the connecting shaft 5 is movable in the front-rear direction with respect to each member 4a by the amount that the horizontal shaft 5a can be moved in the front-rear direction in the elongated hole 4b.

A limit switch 7 is provided at the front of the tow truck 2.
Is fixed, and the switch piece 7a projects between the respective members 4a. The limit switch 7 is turned on / off according to the movement of the horizontal shaft 5a in the front-rear direction. That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when the horizontal shaft 5a moves rearward (toward the trolley 2 side), the switch piece 7a is pushed by the horizontal shaft 5a and the limit switch 7 is turned on. Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, when the horizontal shaft 5a moves forward (tow vehicle 1 side), the horizontal shaft 5a and the switch piece 7a are separated from each other, and the limit switch 7 is turned off.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, when the towing vehicle 1 moves forward in a state where the towing vehicle 1 and the towing vehicle 2 are connected, the connecting shaft 5 and the horizontal shaft 5
a moves together with the towing vehicle 1 to the front. Then, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the horizontal shaft 5a and the switch piece 7a are separated from each other, the limit switch 7 is turned off, and the stop lamp 6 is turned off. Then, the horizontal axis 5a is attached to each member 4
The horizontal shaft 5a and each member 4a are integrally moved to the front by being locked to the front end of the elongated hole 4b of a. Therefore, the tow truck 2 is towed by the tow vehicle 1 and moves forward.

At this time, even if the towing vehicle 1 brakes and suddenly decelerates, the towing vehicle 2 continues to move forward due to inertial force. Then, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the switch piece 7a is pushed by the horizontal shaft 5a, the limit switch 7 is turned on, and the stop lamp 6 is turned on.

Therefore, even when a plurality of towing vehicles 1 pull the towing trucks 2 and run vertically, the driver of the following towing vehicle 1 looks at the stop lamp 6 of the leading towing truck 2. Therefore, it is possible to determine the braking of the preceding towing vehicle 1.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the inertial force of the towing vehicle 2 during braking of the towing vehicle 1 is used to turn on the limit switch 7 provided on the towing vehicle 2 side by the connecting shaft 5, The stop lamp 6 provided at the rear of the towing vehicle 2 is turned on.

Therefore, in this embodiment, since the cable connecting the towing vehicle and the towing truck as described above is not provided,
As a matter of course, there is no problem such as disconnection of the cable.

Further, the bracket 4 and the connecting shaft 5 are easy to manufacture because they have a simple structure, and can be easily attached to the existing tow truck 2 without major modification. Further, no modification is required for the towing vehicle 1. Therefore, the present embodiment can be carried out cheaply and easily as compared with the method of incorporating the special connector into the drawbar bracket and the connecting shaft as described above.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but may be carried out as follows. 1) A small generator driven by the wheels of the tow truck 2 is attached to the lower part of the tow truck 2. Then, the battery BATT is charged by the generator. Alternatively, the stop lamp 6 is directly turned on by the generator.

2) The drawbar bracket side of the connecting shaft 5 and the drawbar bracket 3 are replaced with an appropriate connecting mechanism. 3) Replace the limit switch 7 with a proximity switch.
Then, when the towing vehicle 1 is braked, the horizontal switch 5a approaching the towing vehicle 2 is detected by the proximity switch, and the stop lamp 6 is turned on. Alternatively, when the towing vehicle 1 is being braked, a part of the vehicle body of the towing vehicle 1 approaching the towing vehicle 2 is detected by the proximity switch and the stop lamp 6 is turned on.

4) Replace the stop lamp 6 with a type with other electrical light emitters (eg light emitting diodes) rather than a type with a light bulb. 5) Replace the bracket 4, the connecting shaft 5, and the horizontal shaft 5a with a piston mechanism. That is, the bracket 4 is replaced with a cylinder, and the connecting shaft 5 is fitted into the cylinder as a piston. However, the cylinder and the connecting shaft 5 should be prevented from coming off. Then, a limit switch 7 is provided at the bottom of the cylinder, and the limit switch 7 is turned on / off by the tip of the connecting shaft 5 to turn on the stop lamp 6 as in the above embodiment. In this case, since there is no risk of the connecting shaft 5 swinging when the towing vehicle is braked, the limit switch 7 operates more reliably. Further, the connecting shaft 5 is the drawbar bracket 3
Since it is held at the connecting position even when it is detached from the device, it is not necessary to lift the connecting shaft 5 every time it is connected, and the work can be performed smoothly.

6) Replace the limit switch 7 with a spring rod type limit switch. Then, set the spring part of the spring rod type limit switch to the horizontal axis 5
Attach to a. In this case, the stop lamp 6 can be lighted sensitively to the braking of the towing vehicle 1.

7) The above 1) to 6) are appropriately combined and carried out.

[0025]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, there is an excellent effect that it is possible to provide a stop display device for a tow truck which can be inexpensively and easily implemented with a simple structure.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Towing vehicle, 2 ... Towing vehicle, 6 ... Stop lamp as stop indicator, 7 ... Limit switch as detecting means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A stop indicator provided on a rear portion of a tow truck towed by a tow vehicle, and a stop indicator provided on the tow truck that detects braking of the tow vehicle and causes the stop indicator to perform a stop display. A stop display device for a tow truck, comprising: a detection means.