Abstract:
An anti-theft device for a towed trailer vehicle wherein a pivotable cover housing is mounted to the tongue of the trailer in spaced relation to the socket lock mechanism of a conventional ball socket attachment of a trailer hitch bar. The protective housing adapts to all standard ball and socket arrangements, does not require extensive rework of the tongue of the trailer, has adequate securing means, is low cost, and provides anti-theft protection while the trailer is in tow, as well as when the trailer is parked and/or unhitched from the towing vehicle.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   None. 
   FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   None. 
   REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING 
   None. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention is a device for preventing theft of a towed trailer vehicle and, more specifically, a security device which is mounted to the end portion of the tongue of the trailer in spaced relation to the socket lock mechanism for the towing ball and is adapted to lock over the socket lock mechanism to prevent the detachment of an attached trailer vehicle. 
   The theft of trailer vehicles is a wide spread problem. Since most recreational vehicles are transported by trailer it is becoming increasingly common for unauthorized persons to steal these trailers by simply connecting their towing vehicle to the trailer hitch ball sockets and drive off with the recreational vehicles as mounted or stored on the trailer since they are often left unattended and unguarded for long periods of time. 
   Commonly, the trailer hitch coupling is not provided with a lock which will prevent unauthorized opening of the hitch mechanism and removal of the trailer from the draft vehicle. The prior art has disclosed the use of pad locks and special locks to attempt to provide a degree of security but these simple devices are no match for a thief with the proper tools to destroy or manipulate the lock to easily obtain access to the trailer and its cargo of recreational vehicles. 
   The prior art discloses selective inadequate solutions to similar problems. For example, Callison, U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,823, discloses the use of an external padlock construction attached to the underside of the tongue which provides a cover guard and is secured by a padlock to the tongue of the hitch to cover the conventional socket to which a ball of a trailer hitch on the towing vehicle attaches to prevent theft of an unattended trailer. To use the device, some modifications of the trailer tongue or coupler is needed, and the cover guard may need to be re-contoured to fit certain couplers. Unfortunately, the padlock offers little security against the use of a hacksaw to quickly remove the keeper member. 
   Dolan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,440, discloses a locking mechanism for a trailer coupler having a release handwheel to force the ball firmly into the socket. A retaining shelf formed with two openings, is hingedly attached to the trailer tongue and pivots the end portion to receive the periphery of the user manipulated handwheel to cover the ball. When the retaining shelf is pivoted, a locking flange attached to the tongue moves through a locking flange aperture so that a padlock may be attached through a locking aperture in the locking flange to secure the retaining shelf in place. The padlock is completely exposed and accessible for easy access and manipulation as set forth above. 
   Completely enclosing the ball socket has been attempted in the past. For example, Foster, U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,457, discloses a trailer hitch lock wherein a housing is arranged to enclose the ball socket and outer portions of the trailer hitch. The housing consists of a cover which is enclosed on the bottom by a base plate and a lock plate. A substrate towing ball is carried by the base plate with side plates welded thereto. The substrate towing ball is arranged for insertion into the ball socket of the hitch. Both the base plate and lock plate are moveable relative to the housing to allow the apparatus to be secured and removed from the hitch. The cover is pivotally mounted to the base plate. The lock plate holds a lock assembly to secure the pivotable cover to the housing side walls. 
   This type of trailer hitch lock obviously has very limited applications since today most ball elements of a hitch are permanently fixed to the tongue so that the trailer hitch lock of Foster could not be used since it allows no opening in the housing for a ball that is not removable from the tongue. 
   Utman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,878, also disclosed a protective housing and padlock assembly for shielding a standard trailer coupler and protecting the padlock from excessive exposure to weathering and highway abrasions. The Utman et al. invention provides for a protective housing characterized as having a base plate portion and a cover plate portion defining a hollow structure open at one or both of its ends for being engaged over and around a trailer coupler and a padlock assembly associated therewith. The associated padlock assembly may comprise a separate standard padlock or a padlock incorporated into the assembly of the protective housing means. The hollow structure may be formed as an integral rigid structure from steel or other known materials which offer desired protection. The protective housing means includes a cutout slot formed in the forward edge of its base plate portion and extending rearwardly along the base plate portion for a sufficient distance to allow the protective housing to be slidably engaged and fitted over a variety of sizes and forms of standard couplers with the base plate portion being received under an actuating lever assembly associated with such standard couplers. The protective housing means further includes a bearing block or post rigidly affixed in its hollow interior to engage and fix the position of a sliding locking bar (which may be part of a standard bicycle lock) of the padlock assembly. The bearing block or post further functions to guide a U-shaped shackle portion of the padlock assembly into locking engagement with its locking bar portion. The arrangement is such that the movable portion of the padlock assembly fixes and secures the protective housing in place while it is carrying out its usual function of securing the lever arm of the coupler, and thus, no additional locking devices and keys are required for the use of the protective housing means. 
   Unfortunately, the protective housing of Utman et al. is bulky and complicated, as well as requires extensive rework of the tongue of the trailer in order to accommodate the welded construction of the housing and insure its proper functioning with the standard ball and socket arrangement. It is also subject to the same limitations as those described above with respect to the use of a padlock which is easily violated. 
   Accordingly, what is needed is a protective housing for shielding the standard trailer coupler which is simple to operate, adapts to all standard ball and socket arrangements including the socket lock mechanism to allow unobstructed access to secure the trailer to the hitch bar, does not require extensive rework of the tongue of the trailer, has adequate securing means, and is low cost and is constructed of few parts. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention is a relatively simple pivotable housing cover used in conjunction with a housing base which easily mounts to the tongue of any trailer to provide a protective housing so as to prevent tampering or theft of the trailered vehicle, whether while in tow or when the trailer is disconnected from the tow vehicle and in a parked condition. The housing base is adapted to mount directly to the tongue of the trailer in spaced relation to the ball pedestal mounted to the end of the hitch bar as well as socket lock mechanism. The housing base is directly attached to the tongue of the trailer by two threaded screws which are adapted to thread into two complementary threaded holes which must be tapped into the tongue of the trailer. The threaded screws are mounted in slots made within the housing base to provide sliding adjustment of the housing base relative to the spherical ball pedestal mounted at the end of the hitch bar as well as the socket lock mechanism so as to permit unobstructed access to the socket lock mechanism in order to secure the trailer to the hitch bar. One end of the housing base contains a through hole to which is mounted the pivoting housing cover. A hinge pin is press-fit into the through hole in the housing base. The ends of the hinge pin extend from the housing base sufficiently to mount into respective holes in each of the side walls of the U-shaped housing cover. By this arrangement the housing cover can pivot from an open position, which provides complete unobstructed access to a conventional socket lock mechanism, to allow a user to lock or unlock the trailer to/from a towing vehicle to a closed position such that the pivotable housing cover is cantilevered over the socket lock mechanism and associated conventional spherical socket housing which is locked onto the spherical ball member of the conventional ball pedestal attached to the hitch of the towing vehicle. When the cover is pivoted to a closed position, the cantilevered cover extends from its housing base to completely cover the socket lock mechanism and a key locking means is mounted between the housing base and the housing cover to prevent the cover from pivoting with respect to the housing base such that no access can be gained to the socket lock mechanism while the trailer is attached to the towing vehicle. 
   The protective housing cover also prevents unauthorized access to the conventional socket lock mechanism when the trailer is parked and/or is disconnected from the towing vehicle to prevent tampering or theft of the trailer and its contents. For this purposes a partial spherical ball member is securely mounted to a plate member. The partial spherical ball is mounted into the conventional interior spherical socket of the spherical socket housing and locked by the socket lock mechanism to hold the partial spherical ball member and plate member within the spherical socket housing and thereby prevent anyone from attempting to hook up the unattended trailer to a towing vehicle. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the invention with the protective cover housing securely locked to the housing base to prevent access to the socket lock mechanism mounted to the tongue of the trailer shown in hyphenated lines; 
       FIG. 2  is a side view of the invention wherein the protective cover housing is locked to its housing base with a key lock to prevent access to the socket lock mechanism to connect or disconnect from the spherical socket on the tongue of the trailer; 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the protective cover housing with the cover shown in the open position to allow access to the socket lock mechanism; and 
       FIG. 4  is a side view of the protective cover housing in the open, unlocked position. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   The invention is a device for preventing theft of a towed trailer vehicle in the form of a pivotable housing cover used in conjunction with a housing base which conveniently mounts to the tongue of any trailer with two threaded socket head screws to provide a protective housing so as to prevent tampering or theft of the trailer vehicle while in tow or when the trailer is disconnected from the towed vehicle and in a parked condition.  FIGS. 1-4  illustrates the protective housing  10  mounted to a trailer tongue  12  constructed in accordance with conventional fabrication techniques defining a generally rectangular cross-sectional U-shaped member having an upper surface  14 . The conventional trailer tongue  12  generally includes a spherical socket housing  16  which defines an interior spherical socket surface  18  adapted to mount to the spherical ball member  20  secured to a conventional hitch bar  22  of the towing vehicle. The socket lock mechanism  24  is mounted to the upper surface  14  of the trailer tongue  12  so as to provide convenient access by the user to the cam lever  26  and allow the user to latch and unlatch the spherical socket housing  16  to the spherical ball member  20  of the towing vehicle&#39;s hitch bar  22 . 
   The housing base  28  is adapted to mount directly to the upper surface  14  of the trailer tongue  12  in spaced relation to the socket lock mechanism  24  as well as in spaced relation to the interior spherical socket surface  18  as is conventional. The housing base  28  is spaced from the socket lock mechanism  24  to prevent a user from injuring his hand when the socket lock mechanism  24  is operated. The socket lock mechanism  24  is operative to lock the trailer tongue  12  of the trailer to the hitch bar  22  of the towing vehicle (not shown) by placing the spherical socket housing  16  over the spherical ball member  20  attached to the hitch bar  22  and thereafter pivoting the cam lever  26  of the socket lock mechanism  24  from an open position to a locked position as is conventional. The location of the housing base  28  is adjustable since the holes provided through the housing base  28  are in the form of slots  29  so that the threaded socket head screws  13  used to lock the housing base  28  to the trailer tongue  12  can be loosened and allow sliding adjustments of the housing base  28  relative to the location of the cam lever  26  of the socket lock mechanism  24  to adjust the position of the protective housing cover  30 , so that it cannot interfere or cause injury to a user&#39;s hand during the operation of the cam lever  26  while connecting or disconnecting the trailer. 
   The housing cover  30  is attached to the housing base  28  by the use of a pivot pin  31  mounted in a through aperture or hole  34  in the housing base  28  at one end thereof. A pivot pin  31  is press-fit into a through hole  34  of the housing base  28  and is a predetermined length so that a portion of the pivot pin  31  will extend beyond the side walls of the housing base  28  for receiving the housing cover  30 . The housing cover  30  is generally a U-shaped construction having a web member  30   a  with an extending wall flange  30   b  at each end thereof. One end  30   c  of the U-shaped construction is closed so that when the housing cover  30  is closed and locked, no access can be gained to the cam lever  26  of the socket lock mechanism  24 . To attach the housing cover  30  to the housing base  28 , the housing cover  30  has at one end thereof, a hole  44  in each wall of the pivoting cover housing  30 , which is mounted to the pivot pin  31  after the pivot pin  31  has been press-fit into the housing base  28 . The size of the hole  44  in the housing cover  30  is sufficiently greater than the diameter of the pivot pin  31  so as to permit a sliding fit to allow the housing cover  30  to easily pivot about the pivot pin  31  as will be described hereinafter. 
   The housing base  28  has a second through hole  46  at a front portion  47  thereof which is aligned with complimentary apertures  48  in the extending wall flanges  30   b  of the generally U-shaped housing cover  30 . The through hole  46  in the front portion  47  of the housing base  28  is adapted to have mounted therein a coupler trailer lock mechanism  52  consisting of a precision pin tumbler mechanism which extends completely through the apertures  48  of the housing cover  30 , as well as a through hole  46  of the housing base  28  so as to enable securing the housing cover  30  to the housing base  28  when the housing cover  30  is pivoted to its fully closed position as illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The coupler trailer lock mechanism  52  is a conventional pin tumbler mechanism available from Master Lock Company. 
   The present invention is a relatively simple theft deterrent housing cover  30  used in conjunction with the housing base  28  to provide a protective housing  10  so as to prevent tampering or theft of a trailer vehicle, whether while in tow or when the trailer is disconnected from the towing vehicle and/or in a parked condition. 
   In operation, when it is desirous to use the trailer for whatever activity, the trailer tongue  12 , by its socket locking mechanism  24 , is secured or coupled to the hitch bar  22  by actuating the socket lock mechanism  24  and raising the cam lever  26  to an upward position which allows the spherical ball member  20 , mounted to the end of the hitch bar  22 , to be received and secured within the interior spherical socket surface  18  of the spherical socket housing  16 . Thereafter, the cam lever  26  of the socket lock mechanism  24  is moved to a lower position so as to lock the trailer tongue  12  to the hitch bar  22  of the towing vehicle. During this activity, the housing cover  30  is pivoted to the open position which allows unimpeded access to a user to connect or disconnect a trailer to the towing vehicle since the cantilevered housing cover  30  and housing base  28  are both conveniently spaced from the cam lever  26 , the likelihood of injury to a user&#39;s hand by manipulating the cam lever  26  is completely eliminated. 
   To prevent access by anyone to the socket lock mechanism  24 , while the trailer is in use, the anti-theft housing cover  30  is pivoted from its open position as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  to a closed position, shown in  FIG. 2 , such that the pivotal housing cover  30  completely covers and cantilevers the socket lock mechanism  24  and associated cam lever  26 . The coupler trailer lock mechanism  52  is then mounted in the apertures  46  and  48  of the housing base  28  and respective extending wall flange members  30   b  and locked with a key to secure the protective housing cover  30  in place. Note that in this position, the movement of the trailer with respect to the hitch bar  22  and towing vehicle is in no way affected and does not in any way interfere with the cornering of the trailer with respect to the towing vehicle. Also, by the housing cover  30  completely cantilevering over the cam lever  26  and socket lock mechanism  24 , it is not possible to unlock the coupler trailer lock mechanism  52  from the towing vehicle. When it is desirous to unlock the trailer from the towing vehicle, the coupler trailer lock mechanism  52  is opened with the key lock to remove the pin lock mechanism from the pivotal housing cover  30  and its associated housing base  28 , so that the pivotal housing cover  30  can be pivoted to an upward position as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  thereby allowing unimpeded access to the user to the cam lever  26  of the socket lock mechanism  24  in order to unlock the trailer tongue  12  from the spherical ball member  20  to remove the trailer from the hitch bar  22  and associated towing vehicle. Once the trailer is removed from the towing vehicle, the protective housing  10  also prevents unauthorized access to the conventional socket lock mechanism  24  when the trailer is parked and/or is disconnected from the towing vehicle so as to prevent tampering or theft of the trailer and its contents. For this purpose, a partial spherical ball member  54  is mounted to a support plate member  56 . The partial spherical ball member  54  is thereafter mounted into the conventional interior spherical socket surface  18  of the spherical socket housing  16  of the trailer tongue  12  and the cam lever  26  is actuated to a downward position in order to trap the partial spherical ball member  54  within the interior spherical socket surface  18  as is conventionally accomplished when the trailer is attached to the hitch bar  22  of the towing vehicle. After the socket lock mechanism  24  is operated to a locked position by the cam lever  26 , the protective housing cover  30  is pivoted to a downward position and thereafter, the coupler trailer lock mechanism  52  is inserted into the apertures  46 ,  48  of the housing base  28 , as well as those of the housing cover  30  and locked into place with the key. By locking the partial spherical ball member  54  and associated support plate member  56  into the spherical socket housing  16 , this completely prevents the trailer tongue  12  of the trailer from being mounted to anything and as a result, it is not possible to hook up the trailer tongue  12  to any towing vehicle using the standard tongue and ball arrangement as discussed herein. Accordingly, the use of the partial spherical ball member  54  and support plate member  56  completely prevents any attempt to hook up to the unattended trailer and thwart any attempt to the unauthorized use of the trailer. 
   While the present invention has been described in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is apparent that other forms could be adopted by one skilled in the art. In other words, the teachings of the present invention encompass any reasonable substitution or equivalents of the claim limitations. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the following claims.