Abstract:
An assist assembly for actuating the release handle of a pivoting landing leg and a heavy trailer and providing an assist in raising and lowering the landing leg between a horizontal transport position and a vertical ground support position. The assist assembly includes a pivoting handle having camming surfaces to raising the release handle to an unlatched position maintaining weight bearing engagement with the handle during movement between the positions.

Description:
This application claims the benefit under 35 USC 121 of U.S. Provisional Application Number. 60/390,080 filed on Jun. 20, 2002 in the name of Thomas M. Williams, Jr. and entitled “Snatch Bar for Manipulating the Release Handle on Jack Stands”. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to devices for supporting trailored loads and, in particular, a releasing device for easily and conveniently unlatching and maneuvering jack stands and steerable landing legs on heavy trailers. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Heavy duty trailers, such as those used by the military, have folding jack stands in the form of steerable landing legs for supporting the tongue of the trailer when not connected to the transport vehicle. In one such typical application, the M-149 Water Buffalo, a release handle with lock pins depending downwardly therefrom engage openings in the trailer to lock the landing leg in a raised position for towing by the transport vehicle. When the trailer is to be disconnected from the transport vehicle, the release handle is pulled upwardly to disengage the lock pins from the openings, allowing the landing leg to pivot downwardly to a vertical lowered position. The springs biasing the release handle are very strong requiring considerable strength for maintaining retraction thereby rendering the operating hand of limited assistance in retarding downward pivoting of the landing leg. 
   Inasmuch as it is not desirable to allow the landing leg to pivot downwardly freely, which could result in serious injury to legs and feet of the operator, a lower handle is provided on the foot of the landing leg for assisting the raising and lowering using the other hand of the operator. Single handed control, however, requires considerable strength and dexterity, even for the physically fit military personnel. Accordingly, injuries persist attributable to the lack of control in operating the landing feet on heavy vehicles. To overcome such hazards, generally two personnel are assigned to the task. 
   The military has sought to provide equipment that can be operated by a broad cross section of personnel. Preferably, the tasks could be performed by personnel in the 5 th  to 95 th  percentile. Current jack stands and landing legs designs cannot be operated this personnel range. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention provides an accessory that can be added, without modification, as an accessory to original or existing equipment on a wide range of heavy duty military trailers such as water carriers and ammunition carriers. The accessor increases operator control and operator safety during the raising and lowering of pivoting landing legs. The accessory includes a supplemental pivoting snatch bar that includes camming surfaces which engage release handle to unlock the landing leg and in combination with the exiting lift handle are used to distribute the forces required for the controlled pivoting of the landing leg between positions. 
   The invention is further characterized by a trailer having a landing leg pivotally supported and a trailer tongue and moveable between a horizontal raised position and a vertical lowered position wherein said trailer includes a shiftable release handle moveable between latched condition preventing movement of the landing leg from one of said positions and an unlatched condition permitting movement of the landing leg between positions, an assist device being provided for shifting the release handle comprising: a lever member pivotally supported on said trailer adjacent said release handle and moveable between a rest position and an actuating position, said lever member including camming surfaces engaging said release handle and effecting movement to said unlatched condition and stop surfaces maintaining a weight bearing engagement with said release handle for assisting pivoting said landing lead between said raised position and said lowered position. 
   Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide a landing gear assembly for heavy military trailers that is operable conveniently and safely by a single operator. 
   Another object is to provide an assist assembly for the steerable landing gear of a heavy trailer enabling operation by individuals in the 5-95 percentile range. 
   A further object is to provide a snatch bar for actuating the release handle of a steerable landing gear assembly that maintains a unlatched condition while providing a secondary assist handle during raising and lowering of the landing leg. 

   
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective elevational view of a water trailer towed by a transport vehicle and provided with a snatch bar for the release hand of a a steerable landing leg; 
       FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of the water trailer with the landing leg in the raised position and the snatch bar in the release position; 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the water trailer with the landing leg in the lowered position; 
       FIG. 4  is a partial perspective view of the landing leg in the lower latched position; 
       FIG. 5  is a fragmentary cross sectional view showing the release handle in the upper latched condition; 
       FIG. 6  is a fragmentary cross sectional view showing the release handle in the lower latched condition; 
       FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the snatch bar assembly prior to mounting on the trailer; 
       FIG. 8  is a top view of the snatch bar assembly of  FIG. 7 ; 
       FIG. 9  is a side view of the snatch bar assembly of  FIG. 7 ; 
       FIG. 10  is a front view of the snatch bar assembly of  FIG. 7 ; 
       FIG. 11  is a partial perspective view showing the snatch bar prior to engagement of the release handle with the landing leg in the raised position; 
       FIG. 12  is a partial perspective view showing the snatch bar prior to engagement of the release handle with the landing leg in the raised position; and 
       FIG. 13  is a perspective view showing the snatch bar in the unlatched position with the landing leg in the raised position. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring to the drawings for the purpose of illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention and not for limiting same,  FIG. 1  shows a water trailer  10  carrying a water supply  12  on a support bed  14  and towed by a transport vehicle  16 . 
   The trailer  10  includes a tongue  20  having converging side beams  22  connected at the rear ends to the trailer chassis  14  and at the front ends to a hitch eyelet  24 . The eyelet  24  is releasably connected to a hitch hook  26  on the vehicle  16 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 2 , the tongue  20  on the trailer  10  includes a steerable, wheeled landing gear assembly  30  located longitudinally between the side beams  22 . The landing gear assembly  30  has a landing leg  32  that pivots under the control of a latch assembly  34  and a snatch bar assist assembly  36 , according to the invention, between a raised position as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  and a lowered position as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . 
   As additionally shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the landing leg  32  is provided with a pivoting wheel assembly  38  for supporting the trailer on site and accommodating manual movement of the trailer thereabout. 
   The landing leg  32  is provided with a rearwardly extending lower lift handle  40  at the lower end for assisting in the raising and lowering of the landing leg  32 . A jack mechanism operated by handle  41  functions in a conventional manner to vary the effective length of the landing leg for assisting unhitching and leveling of the trailer chassis. The trailer and landing gear assembly as described above are used in connection with M- 149  water carriers used by the military. Such landing gear assembly is also use on other military heavy vehicles. 
   The landing gear assembly  30  is provided with a pair of laterally spaced generally triangular braces  42  that are pivotally mounted at an upper end to a bracket assembly  44  connected to the side beams  22  of the tongue  12  at a horizontal, lateral pin connection  46  and pivotally connected at a lower end to the landing leg  32  at a horizontal, lateral pin connection  48 . The braces  40  link the movement of the landing leg  32  between the illustrated raised horizontal position and the lowered vertical position. 
   The latch assembly  34  selectively locks the landing leg  32  in either the raised position or the lowered position. The latch assembly  36  comprises a generally rectangular latch body  52  slidably supporting a handle  54 . The latch body  52  is fixed to the upper end of the leg  32  slightly above the upper pin connection  43 . 
   The lift handle  54  includes a U-shaped handle  60  having handle bar  62  with downwardly projecting arms  64  attached to a lateral base  66 . As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , a pair of laterally spaced cylindrical lock pins  68  are attached at upper ends to the base  66  and are slidably received in guide openings in the latch body  52 . The lock bolts  68  are normally biased to an extended position by springs, not shown. In the raised position, the latch body  52  overlies an upper lock plate  72  on the bracket  42 . The lock plate  72  includes a pair of vertical spaced passages  74  aligned with and into which the lock pins  68  are biased in the raised position to establish a locked condition for the landing gear assembly  30 . A lower transverse lock plate  75  includes a pair of horizontal spaced passages  76  aligned with and into which the lock pins  68  are biased in the lowered position to establish a locked condition for the landing assembly  30 . 
   The landing leg  32  may be conventionally manually lowered by an operator by upwardly pulling the handle  54  with one arm to withdraw the lock pins  68  from the upper lock plate  72 , simultaneously grabbing the lower handle  34  with the other arm and pivoting to the lower position, and releasing the handle  54  to allow the lock pins to register with the lower passages in the lower lock plate  75 . The landing leg is raised by a reversal of the foregoing steps. 
   The springs biasing the locking bolts have substantial compression requiring considerable force to withdraw. The need to maintain the extended position of the handle while simultaneously lowering the landing leg requires considerable strength and dexterity and effectively eliminates the contribution of one arm. If errors occur and the landing leg falls freely down, there is a risk of personal injury to the operator. 
   These difficulties are overcome by the snatch bar assembly  36  as shown in  FIGS. 7 through 10  which may be furnished as an accessory for either original or existing equipment and does not require modification of the existing landing gear assembly components. 
   The snatch bar assembly  36  includes a generally U-shaped snatch bar  80  that is pivotally carried on laterally spaced adapter brackets  82 . The brackets  82  include planar bases  84  surrounded at the bottom and one end by an outwardly turned reinforcing flange  86 . The brackets  82  include opening  88  for attachment at existing bolt  89  ( FIG. 11 ) to the sides of the braces  42  on the landing leg  32 . The snatch bar  80  includes a transverse handle  90  and a pair of laterally spaced arms  92 . The lower ends of the arms  86  include arcuate slots  94  and a pointed pivot foot  96 . The arms  92  are pivotally attached to the adapter brackets  82  at the slots by fasteners  98  to establish a transverse pivotal connection. The shanks of the fasteners are carried in the slots  87  and allow initial free movement of the snatch bar  80  in impacting the lift handle as described below. 
   The handle  90  is located substantially beyond the handle  54 . A pair of forwardly projecting cam  100  are attached at the middle of each arm  92  by transverse stop legs  102 . The cams  100  have a pointed frontal entry nose  110  having an upwardly inclined camming surface  112 . As the snatch bar  80  is pivoted and slammed toward the handle  54 , the camming surface  98  engages the bottom surface and upon further movement progressively raises the handle  54  to withdraw the lock pins  68  from the operative lock plate. The snatch bar  80  is further pivoted until the stop legs  102  engage the side arms of the handle. At this position, the latch assembly is in the unlatched condition and the snatch bar is in leverage load transfer relationship with the handle. To controlledly lower the landing leg  32 , the operator maintains force on the snatch bar  80  with one hand while grasping the lower handle  40  with the other hand. Accordingly, the operator is able to apply torque, with significant moment arms, at two locations to resist the downward force to the landing leg. First, the torque applied at the snatch bar  80  has a substantial moment arm about bracket pivot connection and pivot foot  96 . Second, the torque applied at the lower handle has a substantial moment arm about the upper pivot connection on the landing leg. Further, inasmuch as the operator does not need to worry about maintaining extension of the locking handle, both arms may be dedicated to the controlled and safe lowering of the landing gear. At the lowered position, the snatch bar  80  is reversely pivoted to disengage the cam arms from the locking handle thereby allowing the handle to retract and the lock pins  68  to enter the lower lock plate to maintain the lower latched condition. The snatch bar  80  is reversely impacted to disengage from the handle  54  and lowered to rest against the base leg at a lowered position. 
   To raise the landing leg  32 , the above steps are reversed. After establishing a hitched condition with the transport vehicle in conventional fashion, the snatch bar  80  is raised upwardly and slammed against the latching handle whereupon the cams engage the handle to withdraw the lock pins  68  and unlatch the landing leg  32 . With one arm the operator continues to raise the snatch bar handle applying force about the connection  92 , and pulls the lower handle  34  with the other hand applying force about the connection  46 . When the landing leg reaches the raised position, while maintaining a lifting force on the lower handle  34 , the snatch bar  80  is reversely slammed to disengage the cam from the handle and allow the lock bolts to enter the lock plate and establish the raised latched condition. The snatch bar  80  is folded atop the landing leg for storage during transport. 
   Having thus described a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will now be appreciated that the objects of the invention have been fully achieved, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the sprit and scope of the present invention. The disclosures and description to be illustrative and are not in any sense limiting of the defined solely in accordance with the following claims.