Abstract:
The invention relates to a release mechanism and device for collapsible telescoping members, such as a tow bar that can be collapsed for ease of storage when not in use. The invention relates to adjustable telescoping frame members for attachment and detachment regardless to load, e.g. to towed and towing vehicle devices regardless of vehicle static position relative to each other. In exemplary embodiments of the invention wherein the locking mechanism uses roller release members which can be lever actuated, the roller release member according to the present invention cooperate with the telescopic members and related elements such that to release the locking mechanism members, a lever is operated.

Description:
[0001]    The present application claims priority on Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/131,505 of the present inventor filed 9 Jun. 2008, and is incorporated herein. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to locking elements for telescoping elements, in particular, to the release members associated with the locking elements. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Telescoping members such as tow bars are known in the prior art which are arranged to be folded when not in use for storage purposes. Also, known tow bars include telescopically adjustable members which are secured by locking. However, in the prior art structures, there is considerable difficulty in releasing the locking mechanism for the tow bar members especially when the towed and towing vehicles are stopped at a position where there is a tension force on the tow bar members. In such a situation it is necessary to dismount the towing vehicle to manually force disengagement of the locking mechanism by utilizing a hammer or the like. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    The invention relates to a release mechanism and device for collapsible telescoping members, such as a tow bar that can be collapsed for ease of storage when not in use. The invention relates to adjustable telescoping frame members for attachment and detachment regardless to load, e.g. to towed and towing vehicle devices regardless of vehicle static position relative to each other. In exemplary embodiments of the invention wherein the locking mechanism uses roller release members which can be lever actuated, the roller release member according to the present invention cooperate with the telescopic members and related elements such that to release the locking mechanism members, a lever is operated. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         [0005]    These and further features of the present invention are better understood by reading the following Detailed Description, taken together with the Drawing, wherein: 
           [0006]      FIG. 1  is cut-away elevation of one embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is an elevation view of simplified embodiment of an alternate embodiment according to the present invention; 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the roller holder according to the embodiment of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0009]      FIG. 4-6  is an elevation view of the embodiment of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0010]      FIG. 7  is a plan view of an alternate embodiment according to the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 8  is an elevation view of the embodiment of  FIG. 7 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 9  is an elevation view of a further alternate embodiment according to the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 10  is an elevation view of a further alternate embodiment according to the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 11  is a cut-away elevation view of a further alternate embodiment according to the present invention; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 12  is a perspective view of a further alternate embodiment according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    The embodiments of the present invention include various arrangements telescoping elements that are to be locked into a specific relationship and selectably release therefrom. On example thereof includes a previously filed patent entitled ‘Tow Bar Assembly’, U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,278 incorporated by reference, which includes a locking member having two parallel rollers disposed between surfaces of the two telescoping members. In the present invention, the roller holder  300  pulled the rollers into the notch by a coil spring  306 , which fastened to a wire, shaped in a ‘U’ to the underside of the roller holder welded to the underside of top  301  of the roller holder, as in  FIG. 1 . The end of the coiled, wire spring  306  would fit in the ‘U’ at  290  and pull the two rollers down and in the notch, in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0017]      FIG. 2  shows an improved pry bar  315 . A rod  316  is bent substantially  90  degrees to form a fulcrum generally perpendicular to the tube  1  and having a handle  316  that runs generally parallel to the tube  1 , and the fulcrum portion is welded to plate  317 . The present roller holder  21  is shown in  FIG. 20 . The pry bar  315  allows room for a spring under the right side (above tube  1 ). 
         [0018]      FIG. 2  shows the new pry bar on an outer square tube  1 , with a notch  30  cut in it. An inner tube  2  is against the two rollers  17 A,  17 B in the notch  30 . The two rollers in  FIG. 2  are placed in the roller holder  21 , which are then placed in the notch, and prevent telescoping of inner tube  1  unless the rollers and the roller holder are pried out with the pry bar  315 . If one roller is turned, they both roll out of the notch relieving the forces of tubes  1  and  2  permitting the telescoping assembly to collapse. 
         [0019]    In  FIGS. 2 and 4  there is a rod  318  welded to pry bar  315  to take up excess space between the pry bar and the top of the roller holder cover  21 . 
         [0020]      FIG. 5  shows the external view of the roller holder when in the locked position. When the rollers will be pried out of the notch, which is the storage position, the handle  316  and the pry plate  317  will be substantially parallel with outer tube  1 , making the latch compact and neat looking. 
         [0021]    In  FIG. 6 , the spring  346  pushes the pry bar  315  down and on the rollers and, because of the angle, it keeps tension on the smaller roller  17 A so the roller holder  21  doesn&#39;t tip or jiggle. The pry bar&#39;s tension keeps the back of the roller holder  21  down on stop  353  and thus keeping the rollers in-line between the telescoping elements  1 ,  2 , urging the roller holder counter clockwise. Typically, the roller holder  2  is substantially parallel to the tube  1 . 
         [0022]    Referring to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , plate  317  can be one plate or it can be two side by side. If it&#39;s two side by side, one would likely be wider, assume the wider one 1¼″ wide and the other ½″ wide. The exemplary wider plate  350  would pry the rollers out of the notch, the exemplary narrower plate  351  is used to adjust the movement of handle rod  316 . 
         [0023]    In one embodiment, if handle rod  316  extends down to much (substantially parallel to tube  1 ) or plate  317  turns clockwise to the right to much, the rollers can slip out between the plate  317  and the back of the notch in outer tube  1 . To prevent this, the pry plate  351  is bent down at the right so the right side of the pry bar hits outer tube  1  and limits clockwise movement of the pry bar, so the rollers cannot exit the notch, releasing the whole roller holder from the telescoping assembly. 
         [0024]    Pry plate  350  can also be bent under the roller holder at  350 , to take up excess space between the pry bar and the inside top of the roller holder cover  21 . 
         [0025]    The dual pry plates side by side make it easier to adjust the movement of rod handle  316  at the right, and also eliminated rod  318  in  FIG. 20  that took up the excess space between the pry bar and the top of the roller holder cover  21 . 
         [0026]    When the smaller pry plate does the adjusting of the movement of rod handle  316 , an exemplary embodiment goes along side of the spring  346 , not on spring  346 , which is an improvement because the adjustment relative to the tube  1  is more precise than stopping the movement by contacting the spring  346  as the spring height (at the contact point) can vary. 
         [0027]    Spring  346  in  FIG. 6  lifts the right side of the pry plate  317 , which drops and urges the left side of the pry plate down on the roller(s) pushing and retaining the rollers in the notch  30 . 
         [0028]      FIG. 5  provides the spring  346  extending to the right of the pry bar. The roller holder doesn&#39;t move the rollers into the notch as the pry plate does that. The leaf spring  346  is much easier to make than a coil spring, and because there is more room, at the right, the spring can be larger and be made of mild steel, and be welded, which makes manufacturing easier. 
         [0029]    In  FIG. 6  spring  346  is mounted to outer tube  1  with weld  347 . Spring  352  can also be two lesser springs, so if one failed the other would hold the rollers in. 
         [0030]    In  FIG. 6  pry rod  316  goes through a retainer such typically comprising washers  348  in the embodiment of  FIG. 6 , one on each side of the pry plate(s) to position them. Washers  348  are welded to outer tube  1 . 
         [0031]    In  FIG. 6  a bushing tube  349 , that is smaller than outer tube  1 , but larger than inner tube  2 , is welded to outer tube  1  with weld  352 , to hold inner tube  2  and inner tube stub  355  that are welded together, from movement to the left. 
         [0032]      FIG. 7  is a top view of the  FIG. 20  roller holder and  FIG. 6 . The top of the roller holder has been left off to show the pry plate&#39;s relationship to the rollers. Notice pry rod (handle)  316  is off to the side so doesn&#39;t touch the top of outer tube  1 . The pry plates  350 ,  351  are shown as the same size, but usually the plate that pries the rollers out would be wider and/or stronger. In this drawing pry plate  351  is the adjusting pry plate and has an allen screw  356  to adjust the movement of pry rod  316 , typically extending through the pry plate towards the tube  1 . The left side would touch the left roller. The left side of pry plate  350  would pry the rollers out against the roller holder cover that isn&#39;t shown. In  FIG. 6 , the right end of pry plate  351  is bent to adjust the movement of pry rod  316 . With the allen screw option in  FIG. 7 , this bend isn&#39;t needed. 
         [0033]    In the embodiment shown, the spring  346  is not just a spring, it is a roller lock retaining the rollers and holder together with the telescoping tubes. When the leaf spring is put under the pry plate, it lifts the right end of the pry plate, locking the rollers from coming out of the entire telescoping member latching assembly. The spring  346  locks the rollers and roller holder in the notch by sufficiently tilting the pry plate enough to the left and down, bringing the left side of the pry plate down on the rollers, so the rollers can&#39;t get out of the notch unless either the spring is removed or the pry plate is bent. With the embodiment shown, removal of the rollers and holder from the assembly requires only to remove the tack weld on the spring to remove the roller holder. By having more room for the spring  346  as a leaf spring as shown, the leaf spring can be soft mild steel and still be springy enough, and can be fastened by being welded, whereas spring steel can&#39;t be welded and still have spring resilience. 
         [0034]    In  FIG. 8 , pry plate  350  would be the widest and strongest to pry the rollers out. It has a sharp bend at the left to take the place of the rod  318  in  FIG. 19 . Pry plate  351  is straight at the left to touch the smallest roller, but bent at the right at  351  to limit the movement of both pry plates because they would both fasten to pry rod  316 . Spring  346  could be under either pry plate, but would likely be under pry plate  350 , so the right bend of pry plate  351  (or adjusting screw  356 ) could rest on outer tube  1 . 
         [0035]    In  FIG. 9 , the pry plate that pries the rollers out is welded ( 366 ) to the side of pry rod  316  and ends there. The furthest away, adjusting pry plate  351  is also welded to pry rod  316  and is bent at both ends to touch the roller at the left and limit pry plate movement at the right. The spring would have to be positioned under pry plate  351 . 
         [0036]      FIG. 10  shows a pry plate embodiment wherein the pry plate  350  is also the extended handle that pries the rollers out. Pry rod  316  is smaller and has been shortened and is not bent to make a handle. The pry plate  350  is welded to the pry plate  350  and goes through washers not shown that are welded to outer tube  1 , to position both pry plates. Pry plate  351  is the adjusting pry plate and does not fasten directly to rod  316 , but fastens to the prying pry plate  317 . When the pry plate is the handle as in  FIG. 10 , and is on top of outer tube  1 , the handle cannot be parallel with outer tube  1  when the rollers are out of the notch and the tow bar is in the storage position. As seen in  FIG. 9  and  FIG. 10 , the handle of pry plate  350  must be high enough off of tube  1  to lift the rollers off of inner stub tube  355 . When stub  355  moves right the rollers fall on inner tube  2 , lifting handle  350  up. 
         [0037]    An alternative embodiment includes a strip of metal (not shown) from inner stub  355  in  FIG. 23  to the left end of the tube, the roller wouldn&#39;t fall down on inner tube  2  and the pry plate handle wouldn&#39;t lift as high in the storage position, alleviating the need to grind a ramp on the inner stub  355  so the rollers can slide up on it. 
         [0038]    Referring to  FIG. 11  comprising a combination spring and cover  426  urges pin  409  into hole  410 , and covers up the latch assembly. A plate  427  is welded to the outer tow bar member  2 , preventing the pin plate  420  from moving upwards (disengaging the pin  409 ) when pressure is exerted from inner member  1 . Exemplary plate  426  is also wider than pin plate  420 , and the corners of plate  426  are hammered to curve them down preventing side movement (generally perpendicular to the length if tube  2 ) of pin plate  420 . 
         [0039]    As shown in the further embodiment of  FIG. 12 , the plate  426  could also include a middle of pin plate  420 A slotted at the right end, and have a ‘T’ iron  430  fit in the slot  432  of the plate  420 A, and welded to outer member  2  preventing upward and sideways movement of plate  20 . Further embodiments include a plate  426  comprising a short square tube bigger than outer member  2 . 
         [0040]    The spring/cover  426  is bent at point  428  to prevent it from hitting plate  427  when pin  409  drops in hole  410  (locking the members  1 ,  2 ). Spring/cover  426  is bent at point  429  to provide spring resilience. The longer plate  426  is typically the softer the metal can be in spring  427 . As it is shown, the metal could likely be the least expensive and easiest steel to work with, e.g. mild steel. 
         [0041]    Further modifications and substitutions made by one of ordinary skill in the art are within the scope of the present invention which is not to be limited, except by the claims which follow.