Trailer adapter hitch for a barrow

A trailer adapter hitch suitable for converting a manually operated two wheeled barrow to a two wheeled trailer for use with a motorized vehicle is the subject of the present invention. The trailer adapter hitch is generally linear in shape and is light weight, having a trailer hitch at one end for attaching to the pulling hitch of a motorized vehicle and means for attaching securely at two points on the frame of a two wheeled barrow.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to accessory equipment for lawn tractors and, more particularly, to an adapter designed to convert a manually operated barrow into a tow-behind trailer for use with a tractor.

2. Description of the Background

Two wheeled barrows and carts for manual pushing or pulling find many uses in residential and commercial settings. Indeed, mankind's earliest vehicles were single- and multi-wheeled barrows, and a great variety of these are used today for construction, lawn care, landscaping, etc. The predominant design of the common wheel barrow includes rearwardly extending and diverging handlebars, a single wheel positioned between the handlebars toward the front of the barrow, and two rear-mounted, vertical legs on which the barrow rests/balances when not in motion. Motion occurs when an operator, standing behind the barrow between the handlebars, lifts the handlebars and pushes/pulls the barrow. Variations on this basic design are found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,079 to Lehman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,171 to Porter, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,116 to Donze et al. While one advantage of this design is the ability to dump the barrow's contents forward or to either side, the fact that the operator must hold the handlebars in a raised position while walking forward/backward is problematic. When heavy loads are involved, the act of lifting and holding the legs off of the ground while moving the barrow subjects the operator to various forms of back injury.

There are alternative designs that place two wheels directly underneath the cargo receptacle or toward the back end of the barrow, with the legs up front. This way, the user need only balance the barrow instead of lifting. An operator moves (i.e. pushes/pulls) a barrow of this type by exerting downward force on the rearwardly extending handle assembly in order to raise the balancing legs off of the ground. The barrow is emptied by tilting or pivoting it forward on its legs to discharge the cargo over the front lip or leading edge. Examples of this concept are found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,501 to McChesney and U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,203 to Ballard. A further example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,319 by Kielinski.

These “rear wheel” or “balanced fulcrum” designs have become very popular in recent years because, unlike “front-wheel” barrows, the operator does not have to lift a significant percentage of the total weight of the barrow and cargo. Again, the center of the entire barrow/cargo combination can be located almost directly over the wheels. This makes the barrow much easier to use. However, users must still push or pull the barrow up or down hills and this can be a trying affair, especially with a heavy load.

Many homeowners who use such barrows also have a garden tractor on hand for mowing their lawn. Most conventional garden tractors are easily adaptable for transporting the same type of loads. Indeed, there are a variety of tow-behind carts that are commercially available and which incorporate an integral trailer hitch for coupling to a tractor. These tow-carts are excellent for towing a heavy load up or down hills via the tractor. However, the hitch is a dedicated tractor hitch and these carts cannot be operated manually and are thus unsuitable for smaller jobs such as moving items around in a garage. Thus, given a dual need to transport cargo manually and by motorized vehicle, it was heretofore necessary to keep and maintain two separate pieces of equipment, the barrow and the tractor-towed cart.

There would be a significant consumer demand for a device to serve both purposes, and specifically for an adaptable trailer hitch which would allow the homeowner to hitch a barrow to a motorized vehicle when needed for the extra pull, effectively converting the conventional two wheeled barrow into a tow cart for hauling by a motorized vehicle such as a garden tractor and avoiding the need for a separate tractor cart.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a trailer adapter hitch which can be easily attached to a two wheeled barrow in order to convert it to a two wheeled trailer suitable for use with a motorized vehicle.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a trailer adapter hitch which is compact and generally linear in design, to be stored conveniently in a minimum of space.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide a trailer adapter hitch which is light weight and easy to maneuver.

In accordance with the above stated objects, the invention is a trailer adapter hitch for removable attachment to a manual barrow for conversion thereof into a trailer for use behind a motorized vehicle such as a garden tractor. The preferred embodiment is shown for attaching a forward-dumping two wheeled barrow to an existing garden tractor tow hitch. The present device employs a convenient two point attachment for stable and secure mounting of the device.

By way of background, the forward-dumping two wheeled barrow has an axle or axle housing extending between its wheels, plus a safety bar (to prevent crushing of the fingers) extending down from the handlebars and conveniently positioned at a vertical distance above and behind the axle. These two features are used for the two-point-attachment of the trailer adapter hitch. The present device attaches to the axle housing (or axle) and to the horizontal portion of the safety bar, and extends a stem forward toward the tractor. The stem is hitched to the tractor, thereby allowing the two-wheeled barrow to function as a trailer for a lawn tractor. Alternately, the device can be easily removed by disconnecting the two points of attachment and the barrow can again be used manually.

The trailer adapter hitch is constructed of sturdy and rigid material such as aluminum or steel. It is predominantly linear in shape, and can be easily hand-carried and stored in a minimum of space.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is a trailer adapter hitch1designed to convert a manually operated barrow into a tow-behind trailer for use with a tractor.FIG. 1is a perspective view of a trailer adapter hitch1according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which is configured to couple a forward dumping barrow as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,715,775 (the description of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety) to a conventional tractor. Most manual barrows have a horizontal member (obscured inFIG. 1) such as an axle, axle bearings, or an axle housing extending horizontally between the wheels, which serves as a first mounting feature. For purposes of the present invention a secondary horizontal mounting feature is required, such as a safety bracket11(such as disclosed in the referenced '775 patent and as shown inFIG. 1) that is essentially a U-shaped bar extending downward from the handle to a cross-member that is spaced somewhat behind the axle. Other barrows may have horizontal struts extending between the support legs, or protruding down from the cargo well, which are equally well-suited. In any case two pre-existing structural features of the barrow are used to provide a two-point mounting for the present adapter hitch assembly1.

FIG. 2is a side perspective view of the trailer adapter hitch1as in FIG.1(shown upside down with respect to the barrow overhead). The trailer adapter hitch1generally comprises an elongated rigid strut2having a trailer hitch3at the forward end (such as a horizontal yoke as illustrated) and a transverse yoke4at the other end. The forward trailer hitch3here comprises yoke-extension formed by bending a section of metal into a U-shaped cross-section with two horizontal parallel plates5, the forward trailer hitch3being affixed by weldment, bolts, or the like to the rigid strut2. Parallel plates5are spaced apart vertically and open at the front to straddle the hitch plate of a standard lawn tractor. The horizontal plates5each having an aligned hole6to orient with the hole in the tractor's hitch plate and to allow securement via a hitch pin passed through the horizontal plates5and tractor hitch plate, thereby retaining the trailer hitch3on the tractor. One skilled in the art will appreciate that a variety of non-standard hitch plates or couplings can be found on tractors and other motorized vehicles and the trailer hitch3can easily be modified to hitch to any such vehicles, such modifications being considered within the scope and spirit of the invention.

The transverse yoke4at the other end of strut2likewise has a U-shaped cross-section, and the end of the rigid strut2is attached to the transverse yoke4by a weldment, bolts, or the like. The illustrated transverse yoke4opens downwardly when attached (here being shown inverted), but may alternatively be open upwardly.

As best seen inFIG. 3, the open trough of the U-shaped transverse yoke4slips over the barrow axle (or barrow axle housing as the case may be). The transverse yoke4is equipped with a locking mechanism to retain it on the barrow axle. An exemplary locking mechanism as shown inFIG. 2comprises a detent rod8slidably mounted in a generally square plate7that is bolted or welded to the bottom of the rigid strut2, near the transverse yoke4. A hole is formed in the plate7and in the extending portions of the transverse yoke4, with the holes being placed in alignment. The detent rod8is positioned in the three holes so that a forward length of the rod8spans the downward facing opening of the transverse yoke4. The rearward portion of the detent rod8extends from the transverse yoke4through the hole in plate7and continues for some distance beyond the plate7, as shown inFIG. 2. The first rod8is preferably formed with an integral collar9positioned between the transverse yoke4and the plate7to serve as a stop member, and is bent outward at the other end to provide a hand grip. A compression spring10is disposed around the first rod8behind the collar9and abuts the plate7to maintain the detent rod8in its locked position. The rod6is selectively urged across the opening of the transverse yoke4and/or manually drawn back (against the bias of a spring10) to unblock the transverse yoke4, thereby allowing insertion onto the axle of the barrow. When released the locking mechanism retains the axle within the transverse yoke4as shown inFIG. 1. Other embodiments of the invention are contemplated wherein any other suitable locking mechanism may be provided to retain transverse yoke4on the barrow axle.

As shown inFIG. 3, the rigid strut2is equipped with a post11affixed by welding or bolting to its top surface, at a point selected so that the post11will extend upward toward the second horizontal member (e.g., safety bracket) of the two-wheeled barrow. A hook member12comprises a plate13that is pivotally attached at the base of post11, plate13being formed with a hooked end15. The plate13conforms to post11and in this regard may be bent around it on two or three sides, but is forwardly open and free to pivot open and away from post11, or closed against post11. Plate13is defined by a hole near its proximal end for pivoting connection to the rigid post12by a pivot pin14, which passes through the hole. The post11preferably has corresponding holes appropriately positioned and aligned to receive the pivot pin14and retain the hook member12on the pivot pin14and in contact with the post11at the limit of its pivotal movement. The hook end15of hook member12is downwardly curved for engaging the second horizontal member of the two wheeled barrow, as shown inFIGS. 3 and 4. Moreover, the hook end15is positioned to close over the end of post11, thereby capturing the second horizontal member of the two wheeled barrow therein. The shaft13has an integral handle17extending from it in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the shaft13for withdrawing the hook member12. In addition, as shown inFIG. 2a lug16protrudes from the post11and passes through a hole in the plate13of the hook member12, and is anchored in post11. A compression spring18is mounted on the lug16(outside the hook member12) in order to provide a bias against the withdrawal of the hook member12. One skilled in the art will note that a suitable bias could also be achieved by an extension spring mounted on the other side of shaft13. In either case, by use of handle17the user can releasably capture the second horizontal member of the two wheeled barrow by releasing the hook end15over the end of post11.

To deploy the trailer adapter hitch1as shown inFIGS. 1–3, the user holds the rigid strut2behind the two wheeled barrow and draws the first rod8against the compression spring10to the extent necessary to unblock the transverse yoke4. The device is lowered so that the transverse yoke4descends onto the axle, axle housing or axle bearings, between the wheels. The first rod8is released allowing the compression spring10to bear on the collar9and thereby urge the first rod8across the opening below the axle, retaining the axle within the transverse yoke4. The user then withdraws the hook member12by pulling on handle17, and raises the device until the end of the post11comes in contact with the second horizontal member of the two wheeled barrow. The user releases the handle17to lock the hook member12around the second horizontal member. The hitch1may then be coupled to the tractor for use. The resulting two-point attachment is sturdy and secure, and can be used with the lawn tractor in the standard manner of a tractor pull-cart. Removal is easily accomplished by reversing the steps described for installation and the two wheeled barrow is again ready for use manually.

The trailer adapter hitch1as described above is compact and can be stored conveniently in a minimum of space. Moreover, it is economical and turns a barrow into a trailer for a fraction of the cost of the latter.