Abstract:
A holder and method of use are provided for storing a ball mount having a stem and a ball supported on the stem in a ball hitch in which the stem is slidably received within a receiver supported on a vehicle. The holder includes a pocket for slidably receiving the stem therein and mounting means for mounting the pocket on a supporting surface of the vehicle, for example a side wall of a truck box. The use of a pocket with suitable mounting means for mounting to a supporting surface of the vehicle while securing the stem of a ball mount therein provides proper storage for ball mounts which are not in use. The result is that potentially damaging or annoying sliding movement of the ball mounts within a moving vehicle can be prevented.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a holder for supporting a ball mount of a ball hitch, in storage on a vehicle, in which the ball mount includes a stem normally slidably received within a receiver on the vehicle in use.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The use of ball hitches are well known towing various types of trailers from common road vehicles. Common sizes of ball hitches include 1⅞ inch, 2 inches and 2{fraction (5/16)} inches in outer diameter, however other sizes are also known. Typical ball hitches include a receiver which is mounted on a frame of the vehicle by bolting or welding and a ball mount which is selectively, slidably mounted within the receiver. The ball mount generally comprises a ball supported on a flat bar welded to a stem in which the stem is arranged to be slidably received within the receiver fixed on the vehicle. The stem may comprise a square tube or bar which is usually 2 inches by 2 inches in outer dimensions in cross section. A suitable locking pin is received within co-operating apertures in both the receiver and the stem of the ball mount for locking the ball mount within the receiver. In general, the different sizes of balls for ball hitches are provided mounted on their own respective stems so that the receiver only mounts one of the ball mounts therein at a given time. When the remaining ball mounts are not in use, they are typically stored in a truck box of a truck or in the trunk of a vehicle so as to cause potentially damaging and annoying sliding around of the ball mount during movement of the vehicles. Even when only one size of a ball hitch is required by a particular individual, it is typically recommended for safety to remove the ball mount from the receiver when not in use and thus proper storage of the ball mount is still required.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of storing a ball mount having a stem and a ball supported on the stem in a ball hitch in which the stem is slidably received within a receiver supported on a vehicle, the method comprising:  
           [0004]    providing a pocket for slidably receiving the stem; and  
           [0005]    mounting the pocket on the vehicle.  
           [0006]    The use of a pocket with suitable mounting means for mounting to a supporting surface of the vehicle while securing the stem of a ball mount therein provides proper storage for ball mounts which are not in use. The result is that potentially damaging or annoying sliding movement of the ball mounts within a moving vehicle can be prevented.  
           [0007]    The pocket is preferably mounted on the vehicle in an upright orientation. When the pocket is mounted in the box of a truck, the method preferably includes mounting the pocket spaced from an inner side wall of the box upon which the pocket is supported.  
           [0008]    The pocket may be mounted to the inner side wall of the box using existing fasteners and mounting apertures in the inner side wall of the box. When a mounting bracket is provided for mounting the pocket on the vehicle having a slot therein, the pocket is preferably mounted in a box of a truck by inserting a cap flange of the truck box into the slot in the mounting bracket.  
           [0009]    The pocket and mounting means for the pocket are preferably formed of a single sheet of material which is cut and folded.  
           [0010]    The pocket is preferably mounted spaced outwardly from a supporting surface of the vehicle upon which the pocket is mounted.  
           [0011]    According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a holder for a ball mount having a stem and a ball supported on the stem in a ball hitch in which the stem is slidably received within a receiver supported on a vehicle, the holder comprising:  
           [0012]    a pocket for receiving the stem; and  
           [0013]    mounting means for mounting the pocket on the vehicle.  
           [0014]    The pocket preferably includes an opening extending therethrough which has interior dimension of approximately 2 inches by 2 inches in cross section for mating with standard size ball mount stems.  
           [0015]    The holder according to claim 1 wherein there is provided a plurality of pockets supporting at spaced positions from one another by the mounting means.  
           [0016]    The pocket preferably includes an opening extending therethrough and tranverse locking apertures in opposed sides thereof for receiving a locking member transversely across the opening of the pocket.  
           [0017]    The mounting means may include a plate member having mounting apertures therein for receiving respective fasteners therethrough. The mounting means may further include a slot for slidably receiving a flange therein opposite the mounting apertures. The slot and the mounting apertures are preferably spaced apart and opposite ends of the pocket.  
           [0018]    When the pocket includes an opening extending therethrough in a longitudinal direction, the plate member is preferably generally parallel to the longitudinal direction.  
           [0019]    The mounting means preferably include first and second mounting brackets at opposite ends of the pocket, the mounting brackets being offset in lateral direction from the longitudinal direction of the pocket.  
           [0020]    The mounting means may be arranged for supporting the pocket in an vertical orientation or in a horizontal orientation in a truck box of a truck, but an upright orientation is preferred so that a locking pin is not always required to hold the stem of the ball mount within the pocket. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0021]    Various embodiments of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the holder.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the holder of FIG. 1.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the holder of FIG. 1.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the holder of FIG. 1 in a mounted position on a truck box.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIGS. 5 and 6 are isometric views of respective alternative embodiments of the holder. 
     
    
       [0027]    In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0028]    Referring to the accompanying drawings there is illustrated a ball mount holder generally indicated by reference numeral  10 . The holder  10  is generally intended for supporting a ball mount  12  of a ball hitch  14  therein when not in use, or for supporting auxiliary ball mounts having different size balls therein.  
         [0029]    The ball hitch  14  generally includes a receiver  16  in the form of a socket which is bolted or welded into place on a frame of a vehicle  18 . The ball mount  14  includes the ball  20  of the ball hitch which is mounted on a flat bar welded on the bottom side of a stem  22  of the ball mount. The stem  22  is typically of standard size being 2 inches by 2 inches square in cross section so as to be received within common sizes of receivers  16  in a slidable manner, in which the receiver similarly has an interior dimension that is 2 inches by 2 inches square in cross section. A locking pin  24  is provided which is arranged to be slidably received through respective transverse locking apertures  26  in both the stem of the ball mount and the receiver  16  for alignment when the stem is received within the receiver. The locking pin  24  ensures that the ball mount is restricted from further relative sliding to the receiver in a mounted in use position.  
         [0030]    The holder  10  is formed of a ⅛ inch thick metallic plate which is suitably cut and folded into a desired shape. The holder includes a main portion  30  which is flat and rectangular so as to act as a main frame of the holder. A pair of side portions  32  extend from opposing sides of the main portion  30  so as to be folded into respective square tubes defining two elongate pockets  34  forming openings extending in respective longitudinal directions between open ends  36  thereof. Each pocket  34  has interior dimensions which are approximately 2 inches by 2 inches square in cross section for receiving the stem  22  of the ball mount slidably therein. The pockets each include a respective longitudinal axis  38  extending in the longitudinal direction thereof between respective open ends  36 , which are oriented parallel and spaced apart from one another so that the spaced pockets  34  are joined by the main portion  30  of the holder which forms part of the mounting bracket for supporting the pockets on a supporting surface of a vehicle.  
         [0031]    Each pocket includes a pair of locking apertures  40  at spaced positions therein which extend through two opposing sides in each pocket in a direction transverse to the openings of the pocket extending in the longitudinal direction. Within each pocket the pair of apertures  40  in opposing sides thereof are aligned with one another for receiving a locking member  42  slidably therethrough perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction so that when a stem  22  of a ball mount is inserted into the pocket, the locking member  42  may be received within the transverse aperture  26  in the ball mount for selectively restricting sliding removal of the ball mount from the pocket of the holder  10 . The locking members  42  of the two pockets are joined by a plate  44  which is mounted perpendicularly to the locking members at one end thereof with the locking members being spaced apart on the plate  44  for alignment with respective spaced pockets  34 . One or both of the locking members  42 , when they are joined together, includes a suitable locking aperture  46  in a free end  48  thereof. The locking aperture in the free ends of the locking member  42  permit a suitable padlock to be received therein to selectively restrict sliding removal of the locking member  42  which in turn selectively restricts sliding removal of the ball mounts from the holder.  
         [0032]    A mounting bracket is provided at each of the opposed ends  36  of the pockets. The brackets include a top mounting bracket  50  and a bottom mounting bracket  52 . Both mounting brackets  50  and  52  include a first plate  54  which extends in the longitudinal direction of the pockets outward from opposed ends of the main portion  30  of the holder from a position between the pockets  34 . A second plate  56  projections outwardly from the first plate  54  of each mounting bracket at an incline away from the plane containing the longitudinal axis of both pockets while extending outward in the longitudinal direction. The free ends of the second plates  56  are thus arranged to be offset in a lateral direction from the longitudinal direction of the pockets in a same lateral direction as one another.  
         [0033]    The top mounting bracket  50  includes two fingers  58  which lie in a common plane parallel to the longitudinal direction of the pockets. The fingers  58  are spaced apart sufficiently to receive a tongue  60  therebetween which lies parallel to the fingers while being spaced outwardly in a lateral direction from the plane containing the fingers so as to be sufficiently offset therefrom to define a slot to slidably receive a cap flange  62  of a truck box therebetween in a mounted position. The holder is thus suitably arranged for mounting within a truck box  64  of the type having side walls extending upwardly to a respective cap  66  which includes a cap flange  62  projecting downwardly from an inner side of the cap spaced upwardly from the floor of the truck box. The holder is mounted within the truck box by inserting the top mounting bracket  50  upward into engagement with the cap flange  62  so that the cap flange is received between the tongue  60  and the two fingers  58  while the pockets are offset laterally inwardly relative to the cap and side walls of the truck box.  
         [0034]    The bottom mounting bracket  52  of the holder includes a plate  68  having suitable apertures therein for receiving respective fasteners therethrough. The plate  68  lies parallel to a plane containing both pockets  34  therein for mounting against the side wall of the truck box along an inner surface thereof, while the pockets remain parallel and spaced outwardly from the side wall of the truck box. The apertures  70  in the plate  68  are spaced apart from one another a spacing equal to existing mounting holes  72  in current model Ford pick-up trucks which normally mount a tie mount in the truck box along an inner side wall of the truck box adjacent the rear tailgate thereof. The plate  68  is laterally offset and spaced outward from the plane containing the pockets  34  and containing the longitudinal axis of the respective pockets so as to ensure that the pockets are suitably spaced out from the inner side walls of the truck box to provide clearance for a ball mount received therein which extends upwardly beyond a cap of the truck box. The apertures  70  within the plate  68  are also spaced from the top mounting bracket  50  in the longitudinal direction of the pockets, a spacing equal to the vertical spacing between the cap flange  62  and the existing mounting holes  72  in current model Ford pick-up trucks.  
         [0035]    In use, the holder can be mounted on any type of vehicle by providing suitable mounting apertures in both the top and bottom mounting brackets. In a preferred embodiment when mounting in a truck box, the top mounting bracket preferably comprises the tongue and finger configuration described above for insertion of the cap flange  62  of a truck box therebetween. The bottom mounting bracket  52  may then comprise any arrangement of mounting plate with suitable apertures for receiving fasteners therethrough which is either oriented parallel to the longitudinal direction of the pockets offset in the same direction as the top mounting bracket from the plane of the pockets, or a plate which is oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the pockets for the intention of bolting to the floor of the truck box as shown in FIG. 5. When the plate is oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the pockets, the plate is preferably spaced from the top mounting bracket a spacing which is substantially equal to the spacing between the cap flange  62  and the floor  74  of a conventional truck box. In either embodiment installation first includes inserting the top mounting bracket over top of the cap flange at which point the bottom mounting bracket  52  can be bolted in place either to the inner side wall of the truck box or the floor thereof by drilling mounting holes if required. In either arrangement the pockets are oriented in a vertical configuration spaced inwardly from the top mounting bracket and the cap flange  62  to which it is mounted. Ball mounts may thus be stored therein by slidably receiving the stem portion into the respective pocket of the holder  10 . The holder may be used only for holding the ball mounts to prevent them sliding around in the truck box or the trunk of the vehicle, or the additional use of the locking member  42  may be employed for use of the holder  10  as an anti-theft device for ball mounts.  
         [0036]    In further embodiments, the pockets may be oriented in a horizontal configuration with the mounting brackets extending outwardly from opposing sides transversely to the longitudinal direction of the pockets as illustrated in FIG. 6. Also, the top mounting bracket may comprise a mounting plate having apertures therein for bolting to the cap flange by drilling suitable holes in the cap flange as required. When both the top and bottom mounting brackets comprises plates with bolt holes therein, the pocket can be mounted at any location along the side walls or floor of the truck box by drilling suitable holes to receive fasteners as desired.  
         [0037]    Since various modifications can be made to the invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without departing from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.