Abstract:
A trailer includes a convertible handle having a handle portion, the handle portion pivotally attached to a tongue portion, the handle portion having a first gripping portion end and a second clevis end and an intermediate pivot, the handle portion being pivotably shiftable about the pivot between a first disposition presenting the gripping portion end proximate an end of the tongue portion and a second disposition presenting the clevis end proximate the end of the tongue portion. A method of operating a trailer is further included.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/014,247, filed Dec. 16, 2004, and included herein in its entirety by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention generally pertains to a trailer. More specifically, the present invention pertains to a trailer with a convertible handle.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     It is common to attach a towed vehicle such as a trailer to a towing vehicle by use of a rigid member with an articulating connection at the points of attachment to the vehicles. Many methods are used for making the attachment. For example, heavy trailers are often connected with the pintle arrangement discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,585. Lighter trailers for highway use are often connected with a ball and hitch apparatus as shown U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,224.  
         [0004]     For still lighter towed vehicles, however, the connection is often simpler. Light utility trailers for off-highway use, such as a trailer for a garden tractor for example, are often connected with a simple pin connection. For instance, the pin connection can take the form of a rigid tongue member connected at one end to the towed vehicle and having a hitch consisting of a clevis at the other end. The clevis has a hole or aperture through each branch of the clevis. The towing vehicle is provided with a projecting tab at its rear side also having a hole or aperture through it. When the clevis end of the tongue is mated with the tab projecting from the towing vehicle, the holes can be aligned and a pin inserted to couple the two vehicles together.  
         [0005]     Tight maneuvering, especially backing, of a towed vehicle while connected to the towing vehicle is often difficult. Also, it is sometimes desirable to move a towed vehicle in places where the towing vehicle cannot go. Accordingly, it is sometimes necessary to manually pull and maneuver a towed vehicle. The apparatus used for connecting the tongue of the towed vehicle to the towing vehicle, however, is normally not conducive to gripping with the human hand. For that reason, various apparatus have been designed over time to provide detachable handles for use with a tongue of a towed vehicle.  
         [0006]     For pintle towed trailers, the handle described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,585 attaches to the pintle ring, allowing two persons to lift the tongue and maneuver the trailer. This device, however, is suitable only for pintle type connections.  
         [0007]     For lighter trailers using a ball and hitch, the handle of U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,224 can be attached to the tongue member, allowing one or two persons to lift and maneuver the trailer. The spring-loaded, twist-locking arrangement of this apparatus, however, requires the tongue member to have a somewhat large cross-section to accommodate the apparatus. Towed vehicles light enough to use a pin-connection type hitch generally do not use a tongue having a large cross section. Accordingly, such a handle is usually not suitable for use with a lighter towed vehicle.  
         [0008]     What is needed in the industry is a trailer with a convertible handle that readily converts from a graspable handle for manual pulling by a user to a clevis for ready coupling to a powered vehicle such as a lawn tractor or an ATV.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     The present invention substantially meets the aforementioned needs of the industry. The trailer includes a handle that is readily convertible from a disposition presenting a loop type handle, preferably with a grip, that may be readily grasped by a user for manual pulling the trailer to a disposition present a clevis for the ready coupling of the trailer to a vehicle by means of a clevis pin. Such convertible handle greatly enhances the utility of the trailer as compared to known trailers, being both readily manually and vehicle towed, as desired. Additionally all the components that enable both manual and vehicle towing are self contained with no component requiring separate storage in either of the towing configurations.  
         [0010]     The present invention is a trailer, the trailer including a convertible handle having a handle portion, the handle portion pivotally attached to a tongue portion, the handle portion having a first gripping portion end and a second clevis end and an intermediate pivot, the handle portion being pivotably shiftable about the pivot between a first disposition presenting the gripping portion end proximate an end of the tongue portion and a second disposition presenting the clevis end proximate the end of the tongue portion. The present invention is further a method of operating a trailer. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a trailer with a convertible handle according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is a top view of the convertible handle in a first configuration.  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the convertible handle in the first configuration.  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the convertible handle in a second configuration.  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  is a top view of the convertible handle in the second configuration.  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  is a top view of the convertible handle in an intermediate configuration.  
         [0017]      FIG. 7  is a top view of an alternative embodiment of the convertible handle. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0018]     The invention is a convertible handle, depicted generally at  10  in the figures, that is suitable for use with towing an object such as a trailer, as illustrated at  12  in  FIG. 1 . The trailer generally includes a chassis  13  and a bed  14  supported on the chassis  13 . The convertible handle  10  is adaptable for use in either a first configuration ( FIGS. 1-3 ) or a second configuration ( FIGS. 4-5 ).  
         [0019]     When in the first configuration, the convertible handle  10  is adapted for manually towing the trailer  12 . When in the second configuration, the convertible handle  10  is adapted for attachment to a towing vehicle such as a tractor. The convertible handle  10  is self contained, thereby permitting changes between the two configurations without the need to separately store parts that are not needed in one of the configurations.  
         [0020]     The convertible handle  10  generally includes a tongue portion  20  and a handle portion  22 . The handle portion  22  is preferably pivotally attached to the tongue portion  20  such that pivoting of the handle portion  22  with respect to the tongue portion  20  moves the convertible handle  10  between the first configuration and the second configuration.  
         [0021]     The tongue portion  20  has a first end  30  and a second end  32 . The first end  30  has a shaft  38  extending therefrom and is adapted for removably attaching the tongue portion  20  to a trailer, utility cart, or other towed vehicle  12 . The second end  32  preferably has a clevis  34  that is defined by a pair of branches  36 . Between the branches  36  a recess  39  is defined. Alternatively, the second end  32  may include only a single branch  36 .  
         [0022]     The branches  36  each have a first clevis pivot aperture  40  and a second clevis locking aperture  42  formed therein. The first clevis pivot apertures  40  are preferably axially aligned and are used for pivotally mounting the handle portion  22  with respect to the tongue portion  20 . The second clevis locking apertures  42  are preferably axially aligned and are used for retaining the handle portion  22  in a stationary position with respect to the tongue portion  20 .  
         [0023]     The handle portion  22  has a first end  50  and a second end  52 . The first end  50  (as most clearly illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 3 ) has a gripping region  54  that permits a person to hold on to the handle portion  22 . The gripping region  54  preferably has a loop configuration.  
         [0024]     The gripping region  54  is preferably oriented substantially transverse to the shaft  38 . A gripping area  56  on gripping region  54  is preferably substantially straight to facilitate holding handle portion  22  in a person&#39;s hand. To enhance the ability to hold handle portion  22 , the gripping area  56  is preferably covered with a resilient foam material  58 .  
         [0025]     The second end  52  preferably has a clevis  60  that is defined by a pair of branches  62  (as most clearly illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 ). Between the branches  62  a recess  64  is defined. The branches  62  each have a clevis aperture  66  formed therein. The clevis apertures  66  are preferably co-axially aligned. Alternatively, the second end  52  may include only a single branch  62  depending on the towing vehicle to which the convertible handle  10  is to be attached. The single branch  62  may captured between a clevis mounted on the towing vehicle  
         [0026]     At an intermediate position on the handle portion  22 , a pivot aperture  63  is formed therein. The handle portion  22  may be pivotally coupled to the tongue portion  20  by bringing the clevis pivot apertures  40  into registry with the pivot aperture  63  and inserting a pin  70  therein. See  FIG. 3 . The handle portion  22  also preferably includes a locking aperture  68  formed therein between the pivot aperture  63  and the first end  50 .  
         [0027]     The convertible handle  10  preferably includes at least a pair of attaching pins  70 . A first attaching pin  70  pivotally attaches the handle portion  22  to the tongue portion  20 , as noted above. A second attaching pin  70  extends through the tongue portion  20  and the handle portion  22  to retain the handle portion  22  in a stationary position with respect to the tongue portion  20 . A third attaching pin  70  may be retained in apertures  41  and utilized to attach the clevis  60  to a towing vehicle, as depicted in  FIG. 1 . Inclusion of the third pin  70  makes the convertible handle  10  more self contained, in that the means for coupling the handle  10  to the towing vehicle are also included and such means may be readily stored on the handle  10  when the handle  10  is in the configuration presenting the gripping portion  54 , as depicted in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0028]     An exemplary attaching pin  70  has a first end  72  and a second end  74 , as most clearly illustrated in  FIG. 4 . At the first end  72 , a head  76  is provided that is larger than the apertures in the tongue portion  20  and the handle portion  22 . At the second end  74  of the attaching pin  70 , a cotter pin hole  80  is preferably formed therein. When the attaching pin  70  is inserted through the tongue portion  20  and the handle portion  22 , it is retained in place by the head  76  and a cotter pin  82 , which is inserted through cotter pin hole  80 . Other types of commonly used pins with retainers may be used as well.  
         [0029]     In operation, the convertible handle  10  is oriented in the first configuration by orienting the second end  52  of the handle portion  22  away from the tongue portion  20 . One of the attaching pins  70  is extended through the first clevis apertures  40  and the pivot aperture. The cotter pin  82  is then extended through the cotter pin hole  80 .  
         [0030]     In this configuration, the handle portion  22  is pivotable with respect to the tongue portion  20  from the first configuration ( FIGS. 2-3 ) to an intermediate configuration ( FIG. 6 ) and then to the second configuration ( FIGS. 4-5 ).  
         [0031]     When the handle portion  22  is oriented in the first configuration, one of the attaching pins  70  is extended through the second clevis apertures  42  and the clevis aperture  64  and one of the cotter pins  82  is extended through the cotter pin hole  80  to retain the handle portion  22  in the first configuration.  
         [0032]     When it is desired to change the convertible handle  10  to the second configuration, the cotter pin  82  is detached from the attaching pin  70  and the attaching pin is removed from the second clevis apertures  42  and the clevis aperture  64 . The handle portion  22  is then rotated with respect to the tongue portion  20  so that the first end  50  is oriented away from the tongue portion  20 .  
         [0033]     The attaching pin  70  is then extended through the second clevis apertures  42  and the locking aperture  68  and one of the cotter pins  82  is extended through the cotter pin hole  80  to retain the handle portion  22  in the second configuration.  
         [0034]     While the gripping region  54  is illustrated as being a loop with both ends attached to the handle portion  22  in most of the figures, the concepts of the present invention are adaptable for use in with other configurations of the gripping region  54  such as a loop with only one end attached to the handle portion  22 , as illustrated in  FIG. 7 .  
         [0035]     It is contemplated that features disclosed in this application, as well as those described in the above applications incorporated by reference, can be mixed and matched to suit particular circumstances. Various other modifications and changes will be apparent to those of ordinary skill.  
         [0036]     While the trailer with convertible handle of the present invention has been shown and described in detail, the invention is not to be considered as limited to the exact forms disclosed, and changes in detail and construction may be made therein within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit thereof.