Protective guard for a trailer hitch housing

The protective guard for protecting against damage to a vehicle during a trailer coupling operation includes an impact absorbing guard body covering at least a portion of the outer surface of the longitudinal end portion of a trailer hitch housing extending away from the trailer. The guard body includes a compressible, resilient material such that the guard body is capable of cushioning the impact of a vehicle with a trailer hitch housing. The guard body thereby protects the vehicle from inadvertent damage. The guard body includes a concave inner surface defining an arcuate slot extending inwardly into the guard body. The arcuate slot is adapted to receive an outwardly projecting, generally horizontal flange which extends about an exterior portion of the longitudinal end portion of the trailer hitch housing. The arcuate slot can be adhered to or frictionally engaged with the outwardly extending flange such that the guard body is secured to the longitudinal end portion of the trailer hitch housing and covers at least a portion of the outwardly extending flange. The guard body can also be comprised of a compliant material, such as an elastomeric material, capable of elastically deforming to a plurality of different shapes such that the compliant guard body can adaptively cover at least a portion of the longitudinal end portions of a number of trailer hitch housings having a variety of different shapes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for protecting 
against damage to vehicles during trailer coupling operations and, more 
particularly, to protective guards for protecting against damage to a 
vehicle during trailer coupling operations. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Trailers are commonly used for a wide variety of applications, such as 
house trailers and boat trailers. Trailers generally include a trailer 
hitch housing which extends longitudinally from the front end of the 
trailer. A trailer hitch housing typically includes a female coupling 
element defined by a surrounding metallic housing. The trailer hitch 
housing also generally includes a flanged portion extending outwardly from 
exterior portions of the longitudinal end portion of the trailer hitch 
housing which extends away from the trailer. While trailer hitch housings 
may have a variety of shapes and sizes due to the type and anticipated 
load requirements of the trailer, the longitudinal end portion of most 
trailer hitch housings, including the outwardly extending flange portion, 
of most trailer hitch housings are generally fairly similar, if not 
identical, among a large number of trailers. 
A trailer is conventionally hitched to a vehicle by raising the trailer 
hitch housing to a height which slightly exceeds the height of a 
corresponding male hitch, typically a ball-shaped hitch, that is mounted 
to or extends from the rear bumper of the vehicle. The driver of the 
vehicle can then back the vehicle toward the trailer while attempting to 
locate the hitch as near as possible to the female coupling element of the 
trailer hitch housing. However, the hitch and the trailer hitch housing 
and, in particular, the female coupling element of the trailer hitch 
housing cannot normally be seen by the driver during at least the final 
phase of the backing movement. Since the hitch and the trailer hitch 
housing are out of sight during the final phase of the backing movement, 
the driver may periodically stop the vehicle, walk behind the vehicle and 
observe the relative position of the hitch and the trailer hitch housing 
prior to further backing the vehicle. In order to properly align the hitch 
with the female coupling element of the trailer hitch housing, the driver 
may be required to stop the vehicle several times to observe the relative 
positions of the hitch and the trailer hitch housing, thereby frustrating 
the driver. 
In other instances, the driver of the vehicle can be guided by a spotter 
who stands in position to view both the vehicle's hitch and the trailer 
hitch housing. The spotter advises the driver, such as by hand signals or 
shouted advice, as to further movement which should be taken in order to 
properly align the hitch and the female coupling element of the trailer 
hitch housing. For example, the spotter may advise the driver to back the 
vehicle to the right or to the left relative to the trailer hitch housing 
in order to properly align the hitch and the trailer hitch housing. Even 
with the assistance of a spotter, however, the alignment of the hitch with 
the trailer hitch housing can be a time consuming and frustrating 
experience. 
Notwithstanding these precautions, such as periodically stopping the 
vehicle and observing the relative positions of the hitch and the trailer 
hitch housing or such as employing a spotter to advise the driver of 
further backing movements, the driver of the vehicle oftentimes continues 
to back the vehicle until the outwardly extending flanged portion of the 
trailer hitch housing contacts the bumper of the vehicle. For example, the 
spotter may fail to advise the driver to halt the vehicle until a time at 
which the driver is unable to halt backing operations prior to contacting 
the outwardly extending flange portion of the trailer hitch housing. 
Alternatively, a driver who has previously observed the relative positions 
of the hitch and the trailer hitch housing may improperly judge the 
remaining distance therebetween upon resuming backing operations such that 
the vehicle may contact the trailer hitch housing. 
While the contact between the bumper of the vehicle and the outwardly 
extending flange portion of the trailer hitch housing informs the driver 
of the vehicle that the hitch is aligned with or at least in the vicinity 
of the female coupling element of the trailer hitch housing, the contact 
also inevitably creates a dent or scratch in the bumper of the vehicle. 
Over time, and following repeated trailer hitch coupling operations, a 
number of dents or scratches can be created in the bumper due to repeated 
contact between the bumper of the vehicle and the outwardly extending 
flange portion of the trailer hitch housing. These dents and scratches not 
only are unattractive, but the dents and scratches also decrease the value 
of the vehicle. 
The amount by which such dents and scratches decrease the value of the 
vehicle has rapidly increased in recent years as the price of the vehicles 
which commonly tow trailers has risen. For example, sport utility vehicles 
which are oftentimes tow trailers can typically cost upwards of $20,000 
and, in many instances, upwards of $30,000. Accordingly, the cost of 
repairing or replacing a scratched and dented bumper of such sport utility 
vehicles is also relatively expensive. 
Due, at least in part, to the increasing cost of the vehicles which tow 
trailers, the owners of the vehicles have begun to retain or drive the 
vehicles for a longer period of time prior to reselling the vehicles and 
purchasing a new or a different vehicle. In turn, this increases the total 
number of dents and scratches which the bumper accumulates over the 
extended period of time in which the owner drives the same vehicle and 
tows trailers therewith. Accordingly, while the vehicle may have 
originally been relatively expensive, the vehicle can have a bumper with 
increased numbers of dents and scratches, therefore decreasing the 
attractiveness and value of the vehicle. 
The problem of bumper dents from trailers has been addressed in varying 
manners in an attempt to minimize the resultant bumper damage. In 
particular, various methods have been proposed to facilitate the coupling 
of a trailer hitch housing to a hitch. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 
5,114,170 to Joseph Lanni, et al which issued Jan. 29, 1991 and U.S. Pat. 
No. 5,080,386 to Joseph Lazar which issued Jan. 14, 1992. These trailer 
coupling devices are relatively complex, however, and require a number of 
components to be mounted either to the vehicle or to the trailer hitch 
housing. 
In addition, a hitch guard is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,012,797 to Jack 
F. Manting which issued Dec. 12, 1961 and is assigned to Manting Tool and 
Die Company. The hitch guard is adapted for attachment by a hitch to a 
rear bumper of a vehicle. The hitch guard includes an upwardly extending 
generally U-shaped rod connected to a baseplate which can be connected 
about the hitch. The U-shaped hitch guard is configured to receive the 
longitudinal end portion of the trailer hitch housing while preventing the 
hitch from various unintended contacts with other vehicles. For example, 
the hitch guard of the Manting '797 patent protects the hitch from 
unintended contact with another vehicle during parking or pushing of the 
vehicle. Accordingly, the hitch guard protects the hitch, but not 
necessarily the bumper from inadvertent damage. 
Finally, German Patent No. DE 3233813 to Gunter Biedenbach discloses a 
plastic covered foam pad for protecting a vehicle bumper. As disclosed in 
the German patent, the plastics covered foam pad can be mounted to a 
vehicle bumper, such as by plastic clips, in order to protect the bumper. 
However, the plastic covered foam pad of the Biedenbach '813 patent can 
remain affixed to the vehicle bumper, thereby also potentially harming the 
appearance of the vehicle. In addition, a trailer owner may have several 
vehicles with which to tow the trailer. In order to protect each of the 
vehicles' bumpers according to the Biedenbach '813 patent, the trailer 
owner must mount a plastics covered foam pad on each of the vehicles or 
shift the plastics covered foam pad from vehicle to vehicle so that the 
foam pad is mounted on the particular vehicle which is going to tow the 
trailer at any particular time. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved 
protective guard for protecting the bumper of a vehicle from inadvertent 
damage during trailer coupling operations. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a protective guard 
for a trailer hitch housing which does not mount on the vehicle and, 
consequently, does not affect the appearance of a vehicle. 
These and other objects are provided, according to the present invention, 
by a protective guard for protecting against damage to a vehicle during 
trailer coupling operations which includes an impact absorbing guard body 
for covering at least a portion of the outer surface of a longitudinal end 
portion of a trailer hitch housing extending away from a trailer. The 
guard body is formed of a compressible, resilient material, such as 
polyurethane, so that the guard body is capable of cushioning the impact 
of a vehicle with the trailer hitch housing. Accordingly, the vehicle and, 
more particularly, the bumper of a vehicle can be protected from 
inadvertent damage. 
In one advantageous embodiment, the guard body is a compliant guard body 
formed of an elastomeric material capable of elastically deforming to a 
plurality of different shapes. The plurality of different shapes into 
which the compliant guard body is capable of elastically deforming match 
respective ones of a plurality of different predetermined shapes of the 
outer surfaces of the longitudinal end portions of a plurality of trailer 
hitch housings. Accordingly, a single compliant guard body of this 
embodiment of the present invention is capable of adaptively covering at 
least a portion of the longitudinal end portions of a plurality of trailer 
hitch housings having a variety of different shapes. 
The guard body of this invention includes a concave inner surface having a 
shape and size which are selected to match the predetermined shape and 
size, respectively, of at least a portion of the longitudinal end portion 
of a trailer hitch housing. An arcuate slot is formed in the concave inner 
surface of the guard body and extends inwardly into the guard body from 
the inner surface thereof. The arcuate slot is adapted to receive at least 
a portion of an outwardly projecting, generally horizontal flange which 
extends about an exterior portion of the longitudinal end portion of the 
trailer hitch housing. 
In one embodiment, the arcuate slot has a predetermined width at least as 
small as the thickness of the outwardly projecting flange of the trailer 
hitch housing. Accordingly, the arcuate slot defined by the guard body of 
this embodiment is adapted to receive and frictionally engage at least a 
portion of the outwardly extending flange. As a result, the guard body can 
be frictionally secured to the longitudinal end portion of the trailer 
hitch housing and covers at least the longitudinally extending portion of 
the outwardly extending flange. The guard body is thus mounted in a 
position to cushion the impact of a vehicle with the trailer hitch housing 
and to protect the vehicle from inadvertent damage. 
The protective guard of one embodiment can include an adhesive disposed 
between the guard body and the outer surface of at least a portion of the 
longitudinal end portion of the trailer hitch housing. Accordingly, the 
arcuate slot need not frictionally engage the outwardly extending flange 
since the adhesive can secure the guard body of this embodiment to the 
trailer hitch housing. 
According to one embodiment, the impact absorbing guard body is capable of 
covering a predetermined arcuate portion of the outer surface of the 
longitudinal end portion of the trailer hitch housing. For example, the 
predetermined arcuate portion can define an arc angle of about 
180.degree.. Advantageously, the arcuate portion of the outer surface of 
the longitudinal end portion of the trailer hitch housing which the guard 
body is capable of covering is centered about the longitudinal axis 
defined by the longitudinal end portion of the trailer hitch housing. 
Accordingly, the protective guard can cushion the impact of a vehicle with 
a trailer hitch housing even in instances in which the vehicle is turned 
with respect to the trailer and, more particularly, with respect to the 
longitudinal axis defined by the trailer hitch housing. 
The concave inner surface of the guard body can also define at least one 
recessed portion and, more typically, a plurality of recessed portions 
extending inwardly into the guard body from the inner surface of the guard 
body. In this embodiment, the plurality of recessed portions can define a 
plurality of ribs extending between respective ones of the plurality of 
recessed portions. The recessed portions defined by the concave inner 
surface of the guard body enhance the compressibility of the guard body by 
permitting the outer surface of the guard body to flex inwardly so as to 
further cushion the impact of a vehicle with a trailer hitch housing. 
Accordingly, the protective guard of the present invention effectively 
protects the vehicle from inadvertent damage occasioned by impacting a 
trailer hitch housing, such as during trailer coupling operations. 
Therefore, the bumper of the vehicle will not be marred, such as by being 
scratched or dented, and the resulting appearance of the vehicle will be 
maintained, thereby protecting the investment of the vehicle's owner. 
Additionally, the protective guard of the present invention is simple to 
install on the trailer hitch housing. By mounting the protective guard on 
the longitudinal end portion of a trailer hitch housing, the towing 
vehicle need not be modified so that the appearance of the vehicle is 
adversely affected. In addition, the protective guard of the present 
invention is adapted to mate to conventional trailer hitch housings and, 
consequently, does not require a specially designed trailer hitch housing. 
The protective guard also does not limit the hitches to which the trailer 
hitch housing can mate. Thus, the owner of the towing vehicle need not 
purchase a different hitch or otherwise exchange parts in order tow a 
trailer having a protective guard of the present invention mounted thereto 
.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with 
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of 
the invention is shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many 
different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments 
set forth herein; rather, this embodiment is provided so that this 
disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope 
of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like 
elements throughout. 
Referring now to FIG. 1, a trailer hitch housing 10 having a protective 
guard 12 according to one embodiment of the present invention secured 
thereto is illustrated. The protective guard includes an impacting 
absorbing guard body 14 for covering at least a portion 16 of the outer 
surface of a longitudinal end portion of the trailer hitch housing which 
extends away from the trailer. As illustrated in more detail in FIG. 2, 
the longitudinal end portion of the trailer hitch housing includes an 
outwardly projecting, generally horizontal flange 18 extending about an 
exterior portion thereof. 
While the protective guard 12 of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 
and 2 in conjunction with a trailer hitch housing 10 having a 
predetermined shape and size, the protective guard and, in particular, the 
impact absorbing guard body is preferably capable of elastically deforming 
to a plurality of different shapes to thereby adaptively cover at least a 
portion of the longitudinal end portions 16 of a plurality of trailer 
hitch housings having a variety of different shapes and sizes as explained 
in detail hereinafter. 
The impact absorbing guard body 14 is preferably comprised of a 
compressible, resilient elastomeric material, such as polyurethane of 
various forms, such as TENPREME.TM. polyurethane, rubber, silicone 
elastomers, artificial rubbers including EDPM and other olefin-based 
elastomers, and the like. The elastomeric material forming the guard body 
of one embodiment preferably has a Shore hardness of between about 40 
durometers and about 90 durometers and, more preferably, has a Shore 
hardness of between about 60 durometers and about 65 durometers. In one 
advantageous embodiment, the guard body is comprised of a compressible, 
resilient material which does not significantly degrade upon exposure to 
ultraviolet light and which is relatively insensitive to temperature 
fluctuations. In other words, the compressible, resilient material which 
forms the guard body is preferably capable of weathering an outdoor 
environment without significant degradation. One such exemplary material 
from which the guard body can be formed is TENPREME.TM. polyurethane. In 
addition, the guard body can be formed by molding and, more preferably, by 
injection molding. However, other methods of forming the guard body of the 
present invention can be employed without departing from the spirit and 
scope of the present invention. 
By being formed of a compressible, resilient material, the guard body 14 is 
capable of cushioning the impact of a vehicle 20 with at least one trailer 
hitch housing 10. In particular, a vehicle can be backed toward the 
trailer hitch housing as illustrated in FIG. 1. Preferably, the vehicle is 
backed toward the trailer hitch housing until a hitch 22, secured to the 
bumper 24 of the vehicle, is aligned with a female coupling element 
defined by the trailer hitch housing. Since the impacting absorbing guard 
body of the protective guard 12 of the present invention covers the 
portion of the outer surface of the longitudinal end portion 16 of the 
trailer hitch housing which the bumper of the vehicle may contact during 
trailer coupling operations, any impact of the vehicle with the trailer 
hitch housing will be cushioned. Therefore, the protective guard of the 
present invention protects the vehicle and, in particular, the bumper of 
the vehicle from damage due to the impact. Accordingly, the bumper of the 
vehicle is not marred, such as by denting or scratching, and the 
appearance and value of the vehicle is not impaired by the impact of the 
vehicle with the trailer hitch housing. 
Advantageously, the guard body 14 is a compliant guard body formed of an 
elastomeric material capable of elastically deforming to a plurality of 
different shapes. The plurality of different shapes of the compliant guard 
body match respective ones of a plurality of different predetermined 
shapes of the outer surfaces of the longitudinal end portions 16 of a 
plurality of trailer hitch housings 10. Accordingly, the compliant guard 
body is capable of adaptively covering at least a portion of the 
longitudinal end portions of a plurality of trailer hitch housings having 
a variety of different shapes. A single protective guard can therefore 
cover at least a portion of the longitudinal end portions of a number of 
trailer hitch housings having different shapes. The guard body can be 
adapted to elastically deform to a plurality of shapes in various ways, 
such as by selecting the wall thickness, the specific elastomeric material 
and the degree of curvature of the guard body (typically 180.degree. or 
less), so that the guard body can match the various spherical curvature 
portions of a plurality of trailer hitch housings. 
The guard body 14 includes an exterior surface 26 as illustrated in FIGS. 2 
and 3 for contacting the bumper 24 of a vehicle 20 during trailer coupling 
operations to protect the vehicle from inadvertent damage. The guard body 
also includes a concave inner surface 28 having a shape and a size which 
are selected to match the predetermined shape and size, respectively, of 
at least a portion of the longitudinal end portion 16 of the trailer hitch 
housing 10. 
The guard body 14 of the present invention covers the longitudinal end 
portion 16 of the trailer hitch housing 10 since it is the longitudinal 
end portion which typically causes or creates the damage to the bumper 24 
of the towing vehicle 20. In addition, even though trailer hitch housing 
can have a variety of different shapes and configurations depending upon 
the type and load requirements of the trailer, the longitudinal end 
portions of each of these trailer hitch housings are generally similar, if 
not identical. Thus, the protective guard 12 of the present invention can 
minimize, if not eliminate, damage which would have been caused by a 
number of different types of trailer hitch housings without requiring a 
substantial change to the trailer hitch housing and without any change to 
the bumper or to the hitch 22. 
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the impact absorbing guard body 14 includes an 
arcuate slot 30 formed in the concave inner surface 28 of the guard body 
and extending inwardly to the guard body from the inner surface thereof. 
The arcuate slot is adapted to receive and cover at least a portion of the 
outwardly extending flange 18. 
As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the arcuate slot 30 of the impact 
absorbing guard body 14 of one embodiment has a predetermined width W 
which is at least as small as the thickness T of the outwardly projecting 
flange 18. Thus, the guard body and, more particularly the sidewalls 
defining the arcuate slot will frictionally engage at least a portion of 
the outwardly extending flange so as to secure the guard body to the 
longitudinal end portion 16 of the trailer hitch housing 10. Although the 
predetermined width of the arcuate slot of this embodiment is at least as 
small as the thickness of the outwardly projecting flange, the arcuate 
slot defined by the guard body can receive the outwardly extending flange 
due, at least in part, to the compressible and resilient material forming 
the guard body which allows the guard body to flex and to thereby widen 
the arcuate slot to receive and frictionally engage the outwardly 
projecting flange. 
The protective guard 12 of one embodiment of the present invention includes 
an adhesive disposed between the guard body 14 and the outer surface of at 
least a portion of the longitudinal end portion 16 of the trailer hitch 
housing 10. Upon curing of the adhesive, the protective guard is secured 
to the trailer hitch housing regardless of whether the arcuate slot 30 
frictionally engages the outwardly extending flange 18. Thus, while the 
protective guard can include both a guard body having an arcuate slot 
having a predetermined width W at least as small as the thickness T of the 
outwardly projecting flange and an adhesive for further securing the guard 
body to the trailer hitch housing, the protective guard can include an 
adhesive for securing the guard body to the trailer hitch housing even 
though the arcuate slot has a predetermined width which is greater than 
the thickness of the outwardly projecting flange. 
As illustrated in FIG. 4, the impact absorbing guard body 12 of one 
embodiment is capable of covering a predetermined arcuate portion of the 
outer surface of the longitudinal end portion 16 of the trailer hitch 
housing 10. In one advantageous embodiment, the arcuate portion defines an 
arc angle 32 of about 180.degree.. As also illustrated in FIG. 4, the 
longitudinal end portion of the trailer hitch housing can define a 
longitudinal axis 34. In this embodiment, the predetermined arcuate 
portion of the outer surface of the longitudinal end portion of the 
trailer hitch housing which the guard body is capable of covering can be 
centered about the longitudinal axis. By covering those portions of the 
longitudinal end portion of the trailer hitch housing which extend about 
90.degree. in each direction from the longitudinal axis defined by the 
trailer hitch housing, the vehicle 20 is protected from inadvertent damage 
due to impact of the vehicle with the trailer hitch housing, even in 
instances which the vehicle is turned with respect to the trailer and, 
more particularly, with respect to the longitudinal axis defined by the 
trailer hitch housing. 
In addition to the arcuate slot 30, the concave inner surface 28 of the 
guard body 12 can define at least one recessed portion 36 extending 
inwardly into the guard body from the inner surface thereof. As 
illustrated in FIG. 3, the at least one recessed portion can include a 
plurality of recessed portions extending inwardly to the guard body from 
the inner surface thereof. As also illustrated in FIG. 3, the plurality of 
recessed portions can define a plurality of ribs 38, such as a plurality 
of orthagonally-oriented ribs, extending between respective ones of the 
plurality of recessed portions. 
Due to the recessed portions 36 defined by the concave inner surface 28 of 
the protective guard 12, the compressibility of the guard body 14 is 
enhanced. In particular, the recessed portions extending inwardly into the 
guard body from the inner surface thereof permit the exterior surface 26 
of the guard body to flex inwardly, into a corresponding recessed portion, 
upon contact, such as upon impact, with a vehicle 20. In addition, the 
recessed portions can receive or be filled with adhesive during the 
process of securing the protective guard to the longitudinal end portion 
16 of a trailer hitch housing 10 such that the adhesion of the protective 
guard to the trailer hitch housing can also be enhanced. 
Accordingly, the protective guard 12 of the. present embodiment effectively 
protects a vehicle 20 from inadvertent damage occasioned by impacting a 
trailer hitch housing 10, such as during trailer coupling operations. 
Therefore, the bumper 24 of the vehicle will not be marred, such as by 
being scratched or dented, and the resulting appearance of the vehicle 
will be maintained, thereby protecting the investment of the vehicle's 
owner. 
In addition to protecting against damage to a vehicle 20 during trailer 
coupling operations, the protective guard 12 of the present invention can 
remain secured to at least a portion of the longitudinal end portion 16 of 
the trailer hitch housing 10 after the vehicle is unhitched and driven 
away from the trailer hitch housing. Thus, the protective guard does not 
affect the appearance of the towing vehicle. In addition, the protective 
guard can also prevent injuries to an individual walking near the trailer 
hitch housing who contacts or bumps into the longitudinal end portion 
thereof. In particular, the individual walking near a parked trailer may 
inadvertently contact the longitudinal end portion of a trailer hitch 
housing, such as with their shin. However, the protective guard of the 
present invention can cushion the impact of the individual contacting the 
trailer hitch housing and, in many instances, protect the individual from 
any resulting injury. 
In the drawings and the specification, there has been set forth preferred 
embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, 
the terms are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for the 
purpose of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the 
following claims.