Abstract:
A motorcycle carrier attaches to a conventional trailer ball and supports a motorcycle front wheel for towing the motorcycle. The carrier resides approximately horizontally and provides a cradle for the motorcycle front wheel holding the front wheel, and motorcycle, in a vertical attitude. The carrier includes a downward facing mouth to place over the trailer ball. The mouth includes an aligning surface for cooperation with a flattened top surface found on known trailer balls. Retainers reside against surfaces of the trailer ball opposite the aligning surface to hold the ball in alignment with the alignment surface and thereby hold the position of the carrier on the trailer ball. Tie down straps may be used to further hold the motorcycle in a vertical attitude.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to motorcycle carriers and in particular to trailer hitch mounted motorcycle carriers. 
   Individual motorcycle riders and members of motorcycle clubs often desire to take weekend or cross country trips. While motorcycle quality and general dependability have dramatically improved in recent years, there remains a risk of breakdown. When such breakdown occurs, the motorcycle rider may be stranded far from repair facilities, food, and lodging. It is also undesirable to leave a motorcycle unprotected on a country road side because of the likelihood of vandalism and theft. 
   Given the size and weight of motorcycles commonly ridden on cross country trips, it is very difficult to transport such a disabled motorcycle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,985 for “Portable Motorcycle Carrier,” discloses a carrier which attaches to a receiver trailer hitch. Unfortunately, the carrier described in the &#39;985 patent is far too large to carry on a motorcycle, and the carrier is designed to carry all the weight of a motorcycle, which may have a severe negative impact on the handling of the vehicle it is attached to. Other known motorcycle carriers have the same difficulties. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention addresses the above and other needs by providing a motorcycle carrier which attaches to a conventional trailer ball and supports a motorcycle front wheel for towing the motorcycle. The carrier resides approximately horizontally and provides a cradle for the motorcycle front wheel holding the front wheel and motorcycle, generally with the assistance of two tie down straps, in a vertical attitude. The carrier includes a downward facing mouth to place over the trailer ball. The mouth includes an aligning surface for cooperation with a flattened top surface found on known trailer balls. Retainers reside against surfaces of the trailer ball opposite the aligning surface to hold the ball in alignment with the alignment surface and thereby hold the position of the carrier on the trailer ball. 
   In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a motorcycle towing system having a trailer ball and a carrier. The trailer ball is mounted to a tow vehicle and has a diameter D and a flattened top. The carrier is assembleable for use and disassembleable for storage. The carrier includes a nose piece, a rear piece longitudinally spaced apart from the nose piece, and laterally spaced apart side pieces connecting the nose piece to the rear piece and forming a tire opening. The tire opening has an opening width of approximately six inches and an opening length of approximately 15 inches for receiving a portion of a motorcycle front tire and not allowing the front tire to fall through the opening. The nose piece includes a downward facing mouth for receiving the trailer ball. The mouth includes a cylindrical horizontal cross-section, a ceiling at the top of the mouth, a flat hardened insert residing in the ceiling of the mouth to cooperate with the flattened top of the trailer ball, and a base at the bottom of the mouth. Two hardened shoulder bolts reside near the center of the mouth and have smooth shoulders protruding into the mouth at least half the diameter D of the mouth below the ceiling to retain the trailer ball in the mouth. Cooperation of the flat hardened insert with the flattened top of the trailer ball restricts the carrier from overly pitching and rolling on the trailer ball and holds the carrier in a generally horizontal attitude. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
     The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following more particular description thereof, presented in conjunction with the following drawings wherein: 
       FIG. 1  shows a tow vehicle with a carrier according to the present invention attached to a trailer ball carrying a front tire of a towed motorcycle. 
       FIG. 2  shows the carrier according to the present invention attached to the trailer ball and carrying the front tire. 
       FIG. 3  shows a known trailer ball. 
       FIG. 4  shows the trailer ball attached to a ball carrier. 
       FIG. 5A  shows a top view of the carrier according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 5B  shows a side view of the carrier according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 5C  shows a bottom view of the carrier according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 5D  shows a front end view of the carrier according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 6A  shows a cross-sectional side view of the carrier according to the present invention taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5A . 
       FIG. 6B  shows a cross-sectional side view of the carrier according to the present invention taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5A  with the trailer ball inside a mouth of the carrier. 
       FIG. 7A  is a top view of a second embodiment of the carrier according to the present invention, having lengthwise inserted retainers. 
       FIG. 7B  is an end view of a second embodiment of the carrier having the lengthwise inserted retainers. 
       FIG. 8  shows a cross-sectional side view of the carrier taken along line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 7A . 
       FIG. 9  shows the motorcycle starting up a ramp according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 10A  shows a side view of the ramp. 
       FIG. 10B  shows a top view of the ramp. 
   

   Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings. 
   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing one or more preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims. 
   A tow vehicle  12  with a carrier  16  according to the present invention carrying a front tire  14  of a towed motorcycle  10  is shown in  FIG. 1 . The rear of the motorcycle  10  is supported by the rear wheel  15  rolling on the street  11 . Tie down straps  13  are connected between the motorcycle  10  and the tow vehicle  12  to help hold the motorcycle  10  steady while being towed. 
   The carrier  16  is shown attached to a trailer ball  20  and carrying the front tire  14  in  FIG. 2  and a known trailer ball  20  is shown in  FIG. 3 . While the trailer ball  20  is shown attached to the ball carrier  30 , the trailer ball  20  may also be attached to a tow vehicle bumper, or to any suitably strong structure of the tow vehicle  12 . The carrier  16  is seen to be somewhat higher where the carrier  16  is supported by the trailer ball  20 . Although the carrier  16  is designed to reside horizontally, it is expected that the weight of the motorcycle  10  will bias the carrier  16  into a tail down attitude. Thus, the carrier  16  is expected to reside generally horizontal, but not perfectly horizontal. 
   The trailer ball  20  has a spherical portion with a diameter D, which diameter D is commonly approximately two inches, and a flattened top  22 . Other trailer ball diameters are known, and while a carrier made for a two inch diameter ball is preferred, any carrier constructed to hold the flattened top  22  of a trailer ball against a flat ceiling of a ball mouth (see  FIG. 6A ) to restrict the trailer ball from overly pitching and rolling in the mouth, and hold the carrier in a generally horizontal attitude, and made for use with any size trailer ball, is anticipated to come within the scope of the present invention. The trailer ball  20  has a threaded shank  24  for mounting. The vertical distance from a trailer ball waist  23  to the top  22  is a height H. 
   The trailer ball  20  is shown attached to a ball carrier  30  in  FIG. 4 . The trailer ball  20  is secured by a nut  28  and a washer  26  generally resides under the nut  28 . 
   A top view of the carrier  16  according to the present invention is shown in  FIG. 5A , a side view of the carrier  16  is shown in  FIG. 5B , a bottom view of the carrier  16  is shown in  FIG. 5C , and a front end view of the carrier  16  is shown in  FIG. 5D . The carrier  16  is made up of a nose piece  34 , a rear piece  36 , and side pieces formed by left front bar  38   a , left rear bar  38   b , right front bar  38   c , and right rear bar  38   d . The bars  38   a - 38   d  are disassembleably connected by carrier braces  40  on each side of the carrier  16  preferably using a total of eight screws  41 , four on each side. The carrier braces  40  are preferably “C” shaped and include upper and lower edges  40   a  and  40   b  which reside over and under the bars  38   a - 38   d  to resist miss aligning of the bars when weight is applied by the motorcycle  12 . 
   The nose piece  34  is connected to the bars  38   a  and  38   c  by three screws  35  on each side, and may be disassembled from the bars  38   a  and  38   c , but the nose piece  34  and the bars  38   a  and  38   c  are generally left as a single unit when stored. The rear piece  36  is connected to the bars  38   b  and  38   d  by three screws  37  on each side, and may be disassembled, but is generally also left as a single unit. The nose piece  34 , rear piece  36 , and side pieces create a tire opening  17  having a length L and a width W. The length L is preferably between approximately 13 inches and approximately 17 inches and more preferably between approximately 15 inches and approximately 17 inches and most preferably approximately 17 inches. While the carrier might be made longer to allow a longer opening length L, the added size of parts and weight may be undesirable. The width W is preferably approximately six inches. The leading edge of the tire opening  17  is formed by a downward and rearward sloping rear edge  34   a  of the nose piece  34  and the rear edge of the tire opening  17  is formed by a downward and forward sloping edge  36   a  of the rear piece  36 . 
   Because various motorcycles have various size front tires, the carrier may have a length and width different from the preferred length and width. Any carrier constructed to hold the flattened top of a trailer ball against a flat ceiling of a ball mouth to restrict the trailer ball from overly pitching and rolling in the mouth and holds the carrier in a generally horizontal attitude is intended to come within the scope of the present invention. 
   The mouth  45  extends through a mouth extension  42  attached to the bottom of the nose piece  34  by four screws  43 . Ramp pivot openings  46  are provided at the rear of the side pieces  38   b  and  38   d  for attachment of a ramp  60  (see  FIGS. 9 ,  10 A, and  10 B). In other embodiments the nose piece  34  and the mouth extension  42  are a single piece. The mouth  45  generally has the shape of a vertical cylinder, but may have some rounding of the edge of the ceiling  45   a  as long as a flat portion remains to contact the flattened top  22  of the ball  20 . 
   A cross-sectional side view of the carrier  16  taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5A  is shown in  FIG. 6A . The carrier  16  is preferably made of a light weight material such as aluminum, and a flat hardened insert  50  resides in a ceiling  45   a  of the mouth  45 . While the bottom surface of the insert  50  has a required shape for cooperation with the trailer ball  20 , the top surface of the insert  50  may have any shape suitable to position the insert  50  in the ceiling  45   a  of the mouth  45 . The insert  50  is preferably attached by two screws  51 . Two retainer passages  44  reside towards the bottom of the mouth  45 . The mouth  45  has a mouth base  45   c  and a mouth center  45   b  between the mouth base  45   c  and the ceiling  45   a.    
   A cross-sectional side view of the carrier  16  taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5A  with the trailer ball  20  inside a mouth  45  of the carrier  16  is shown in  FIG. 6B . The flattened top  22  (see  FIG. 3 ) of the trailer ball  20  resides against the ceiling  45   a  of the mouth  45 . Retainers  44   a  reside in the retainer passages  44  under the waist  23  (see  FIG. 3 ) of the trailer ball  20 . The retainers  44   a  thus retain the ball  20  in the mouth  45  and in particular the flattened top  22  of the ball  20  against the ceiling  45   a  and thereby resist pitch or roll of the carrier  16  with respect to the ball  20  and hold the carrier  16  in a generally horizontal attitude. 
   A top view of a second embodiment of the carrier  16   a  according to the present invention having lengthwise inserted retainers is shown in  FIG. 7A , an end view of a second embodiment of the carrier  16   a  having the lengthwise inserted retainers is shown in  FIG. 7B , and a cross-sectional side view of the carrier  16   a  taken along line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 7A  is shown in  FIG. 8 . The second embodiment of the carrier  16   a  is very similar to the carrier  16  with the differences being that the nose piece  34   a  of the carrier  16   a  includes a mouth extension while the mouth extension  42  is bolted or otherwise attached to the nose piece  34  of the carrier  16 , and the retainer  44   a  resides along the length of the carrier  16   a  not across the width as in the carrier  16 . Either embodiment of the carrier may include a single piece or multi piece nose piece, and a carrier constructed in either manner is intended to come within the scope of the present invention. 
   The carrier  16   a  further includes the lengthwise running retainers  44   a . The positioning of the retainers  44   a  in the carrier  16   a  is otherwise similar to the positioning for the carrier  16 , and any carrier including retainers residing below the waist  23  of a trailer ball to retain the flattened top  22  of the trailer ball  20  against the ceiling  45   a  and resist pitch or roll of the carrier with respect to the ball and hold the carrier in a generally horizontal attitude, is intended to come within the scope of the present invention. 
   The motorcycle  10  starting up a ramp  60  according to the present invention is shown in  FIG. 9 , a side view of the ramp  60  is shown in  FIG. 1A , and a top view of the ramp  60  is shown in  FIG. 10B . The ramp  60  is attached to the rear of the carrier  16  by ramp fasteners  61  engaging the ramp pivot opening  46  (see  FIG. 5B ) and ramp attaching features  70  on a forward end of the ramp  60 . The fasteners  61  are preferably shoulder bolts to allow the ramp  60  to freely pivot about the fasteners  61 . The ramp  60  is detachably attachable to the carrier  16  to facilitate positioning the front tire  14  in the tire opening  17 . The ramp  60  preferably comprises three approximately 12 inch long sections  60   a ,  60   b , and  60   c  which join end to end to form an approximately 36 inch long ramp  60 . The sections  60   a ,  60   b , and  60   c  are preferably joined by pairs of ramp braces  64  on opposite sides of the ramp  60 . The sections  60   a ,  60   b , and  60   c  are shallow channels approximately six inches wide and approximately one inch deep. The braces  64  have an “L” shaped cross-section and reside on the outside and under the sections  60   a ,  60   b , and  60   c . Each of the ramp braces  64  is attached to the sections  60   a ,  60   b , and  60   c  by four horizontal machine screws  66  and four vertical screws  68 . 
   While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.