Abstract:
A foldable trailer is disclosed having the folding means provided by a winch that operates in conjunction with a lifting member enabling the trailer to be winched into an upright position for storage. The load bearing surface can be made of one section or two sections that fold together to allow for more compact storage. Through the lifting member the winch provides upward motion of the front of the load bearing surface while simultaneously causing the hingeably attached tongue to fold downward; continued winching will result in a vertically folded and storable position. The invention may be applied to a tilting trailer.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the filing date of previously filed provisional application No. 61/102,351, filed Oct. 2, 2008. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a folding trailer more particularly to a large trailer that an individual would find difficult to stand up into the vertical position. The assistance of a winch or jack is used to enable one person to easily store the trailer from the towed position to the stored position. Fold up trailers have been disclosed previously such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,362,316 and 5,924,836. The present invention addresses limitations of each of these and provides a novel solution to simplify construction and allow a large and heavy trailer to be folded into an upright stored position. 
     The invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,316 of Wright is most similar in structure to the present invention. A rear section of the load bearing surface folds over the axle to shorten the bed and the tongue portion folds downward as the trailer in moved into the vertical position. The tongue portion is itself foldable and rotatably connects to a point behind the rolling wheels of the trailer. This allows the operator to stand on the tongue while lifting the body of the trailer to take advantage of the weight of the operator in standing up the trailer. The limitations come as the mass of the trailer increase and the operator is no longer able to lift the trailer into the vertical position. In addition the tongue structure could be quite heavy and difficult to raise into the stored position. In fact most of the other prior art in this field relies on human power to lift the trailer into the vertical position. 
     A winch arrangement such as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,836 makes the stand up procedure very easy. But in this configuration, the load bearing surface in front of the trailer wheels must be made to have a “double joint” that would increase complexity and reduce the strength because of the reliance of pins or connectors to keep the load bearing section together during use. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a large or heavy trailer which will fold up easily into the vertical position and store in a small space. It is also an object to provide this same convenience in the fold up and storage of a tilting trailer. A winch in conjunction with a lifting member provides the force that articulates the trailer into the vertical or stored position. 
     Accordingly, the present invention describes a trailer with a load carrying deck, a pair of wheels and a tongue portion for connecting to a towing vehicle. The portion of the load carrying deck behind the wheels is foldable forward to make the deck shorter for easy storage. The tongue portion is pivotally attached to a point under the forward portion of the load carrying deck. 
     A winch is attached to the tongue portion of the trailer. To initiate the folding process, the cable or strap is run underneath the trailer and connected to a point near the axle. A vertically disposed lifting member is connected to the front of the load bearing surface over the cable and protrudes downward to point close to the ground. Tensioning the cable imparts an upward force on the lifting member which begins the upward folding motion of the trailer. As the winch continues to be tightened, the cable tension is directed more directly toward the axle thus pulling the axle and tongue together continuing the folding motion until the trailer is in the vertical position. Loosening the cable tension will allow the trailer to descend from the vertical position down until the lifting member comes in contact with the cable. Continued unwinding will lower the chassis gently to the level towing position. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a trailer according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2  shows a side elevation view of the trailer depicted in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  shows a side elevation view of the trailer depicted in  FIG. 1  as it begins the folding operation; 
         FIGS. 4 to 6  show a side elevation view of the trailer depicted in  FIG. 1  in various folding stages; 
         FIG. 7  shows a perspective view of a the trailer of  FIG. 1  in at the fully folded vertical position; 
         FIG. 8  shows a perspective view of a folded alternative embodiment; 
         FIG. 9  shows a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the lifting member; 
         FIG. 10  shows a perspective view of the alternative embodiment of  FIG. 9  with lifting member extended 
         FIG. 11  shows a perspective view of the alternative embodiment of  FIG. 9  in the vertical stored position; 
         FIG. 12  is a top view of the invention applied to a tilting trailer; 
         FIG. 13  is a perspective view showing the trailer of  FIG. 12  in the tilted position; 
         FIG. 14  shows the trailer of  FIG. 12  in the fully vertical stored position. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Describing the trailer in its preferred embodiment and referring particularly to  FIG. 1 , the trailer  10  has a load carrying deck or bed divided into a forward deck or bed portion  20  and a rear deck or bed portion  21  foldably divided at a location behind wheels  22 . Hinges  23  above the top of the deck surface allow the rearward portion  21  to be folded over onto the forward portion  20 . Rear deck portion  21  is provided with connection means  24  that corresponds to bracket means  25  on the forward deck  20  securing the forward and rearward decks together in the folded position for storage purposes. The trailer  10 , like most trailers, is equipped with a tongue member  27  protruding forward of the deck and generally perpendicular to the axle of wheels  22 . Tongue  27  also has hitch means  28  for connection to a towing vehicle. A standard retractable or swivel jack  29  with a wheel is provided to facilitate moving of the trailer when not being towed. A winch  30  is mounted to the upper surface of the tongue  27  with the mounted position of winch  30  shifted laterally to allow the cable or strap  43  to avoid interference with the tongue  27  when extended below the deck  20 , 21 . The winch  30  incorporates the standard cable  43  and hook  34  for connecting to and pulling cargo onto the load carrying deck  20 , 21 . The winch  30  will also be used to lift the trailer into the vertical stored position. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the tongue  27  is pivotally attached by bracket  40  to the underside and some distance behind the leading edge of forward deck  20 . A securing bracket  41  incorporates a removable bolt or pin that when removed allows the tongue  27  to rotate downward at bracket  40  for folding up the trailer. Small wheels  26  are provided on each side of the trailer near the rear of the forward deck  20  to facilitate the folding of the trailer and also allow the trailer to be moved while in the upright folded configuration. 
     A lifting member  31  is affixed by a pin or bolt to bracket  32  which is permanently attached at the forward central portion of forward deck  20 , aligned generally along a longitudinal line with the winch  30 . Lifting member  31  is provided with locating means  35  to position it in an upwardly extended position (as in  FIG. 1 ) or in a downwardly extended position (as in  FIG. 2 ). At the base of lifting member  31  is provided a guide  33  to keep the winch cable or strap  43  laterally located during the folding process. A cable attachment means  46  is provided at some point on the rearward underneath portion of forward deck  20 . In  FIG. 2 , the strap attachment means  46  can be a steel loop or metal plate with a hole welded to the wheel axle  45  (see  FIG. 7 ) generally aligned longitudinally with the lifting member  31  and winch  30 . 
     Referring particularly to  FIG. 2 through 6 , the folding process will be described in detail.  FIG. 2  shows the trailer in the configuration necessary to begin the folding process. The pin or bolt of securing bracket  41  is removed to allow the tongue  27  to pivot at bracket  40 . Lifting member  31  is moved from the upwardly extended position (in  FIG. 1 ) to the downwardly extended position (in  FIG. 2 ) and secured by pin or bolt means  35 . Rear deck portion  21  is folded up and over onto the front deck portion and secured by pin or bolt means at  24  and  25  ( FIG. 3  at  50 ). Winch cable  43  is extended underneath forward deck  20  such that it engages the downwardly disposed face of cable guide  33  at the base of lifting member  31 . Cable  43  is further extended rearwardly until hook  34  can engage attachment means  46  on axle  45 . 
     To begin the folding movement as shown in  FIG. 3 , winch  30  is cranked and tension is increased on strap  43 , and resulting upward force is imparted to the lifting member  31  raising the forward portion of front deck  20 . Tongue  27  will rotate about the attachment bracket  40  as the rearward portion of the trailer is drawn forward rolling on wheels  22 . Continued cranking of the winch  30  will result in further rising of the lifting member  31  until strap  43  is substantially linear as shown in  FIG. 4 . Because of the elevated position of the front of forward deck  20  and the downward disposition of tongue  27 , continued cranking of the winch  30  will result in continued lifting of forward deck  20  and thus lifting member  31  above strap  43  and the articulating of the trailer into an even more folded configuration. Referring to  FIG. 5 , as the forward deck  20  reaches a more vertical position the small wheels  26  affixed to the rear portion of forward deck  20  make contact with and roll along the ground. An alternative configuration is contemplated that has the rear folding deck  21  and forward deck  20  divided along a longitudinal line within the circumference of the road going wheels  22  so that the rear of the trailer in the folded configuration would never make contact with the ground, thus obviating the need for small wheels  26 . Continued cranking brings the tongue  27  and forward deck  20  into a substantially more vertical position as shown in  FIG. 6  until the desired vertical position is reached. By lifting on the tongue  27  the trailer may then be rolled along the ground on wheels  26  to a desired storage location. A caster  61  ( FIG. 6 ) may be added to the portion of tongue  27  where it contacts the ground to allow easier movement in the folded position. 
     To facilitate good stability in the vertical position as well as overall height of the folded trailer, the final vertical position for storage ( FIG. 7 ) may be determined by adjusting the length of tongue  27  and the location of pivot  40 . The location of the hinged connection between decks  20 , 21  will also be factors in the balance and height of the folded trailer. 
     In  FIG. 8  an alternative configuration of the present invention is conceived where there is no separation of the deck into front and back portions. The one-piece deck  75  and tongue  76  may be folded into the vertical position (as shown in  FIG. 8 ) by a winch and a lifting member. 
     The embodiment shown in  FIGS. 9 through 11  is an alternative configuration for the present invention. The trailer embodiment in  FIG. 9  is substantially the same as in  FIG. 1  with the addition of a front section  70  that incorporates lifting member  73 . A front rail section  70  is common on most trailers to help keep cargo on the trailer as well as provide additional structural support for the deck. In relation to the present invention, the front rail section  70  is pivotally attached along a transverse axis by hinges  71  to the front edge of forward deck  20 . Protruding from the lower face of front section  70  is an offset member  72  that extends downward to a point just below the bottom of forward deck  20 . A lifting member  73  is affixed to the lower end of offset member  72  and extends rearwardly parallel to forward deck  20 . Lifting member  73  is located close to the bottom of deck  20  so that maximum ground clearance may be maintained. The length of lifting member  73  is slightly less than the distance from the lower face of deck  20  to the ground. A cable guide  74  is affixed to the end of lifting member  73 . Referring particularly to  FIG. 10 , rotation of the rail section  70  onto forward deck  20  causes lifting member  73  to rotate into a downwardly vertical orientation with the cable guide  74  near the ground. In this position, the cable  43  may be attached to the appropriate points necessary for folding of the trailer. Cranking of the winch  30  puts upwards force on lifting member  73  which is resisted by the transfer of this force through the hinges  71  onto the upper surface of forward deck  20 . The process of folding the trailer is the same as described for the preferred embodiment. In this embodiment no pin or bolt is necessary to affix the lifting member  73  in the position for folding. As seen in  FIG. 11 , the front rail section  70  remains parallel to forward deck  20  and thus a minimal profile is maintained for vertical storage. 
       FIGS. 12 through 14  show the present invention applied to a tilting trailer of the type with a pivoting perimeter frame with the wheel spindles offset toward the front of the trailer. In particular,  FIG. 12  shows a trailer with wheels  81  affixed by spindles  90  to a u-shaped perimeter frame  82  that is pivotally attached on each side toward the rear of forward deck  83 . The front of perimeter  82  is provided with means  88  for attaching to the forward portion of deck  83  (shown at  89 ). 
       FIG. 13  is the trailer of  FIG. 12  shown in the tilted configuration. This titling allows cargo such as motorcycles or ATVs to be loaded easily without the use of ramps. The winch  30  can be used to assist in pulling loads onto the load carrying deck  20 . When the trailer is used to haul loads, the lifting member  31  is in the up position. 
       FIG. 14  shows a tilting trailer with a perimeter frame in the upright folded position. The procedure for folding the trailer is the same as for the preferred embodiment described previously. The only additional step is to be sure that the perimeter frame  82  is fixed to front deck  20  by attachment means  88 .