Patent ID: 8393655

Claim:
A safety catch for holding a trailer gate or door in a closed position relative to the body of the trailer, said trailer including a primary gate closure mechanism by which the trailer gate is fully secured in the closed position, the safety catch comprising: a catch hinge mounted on an inner surface of the body of the trailer, said catch hinge having a mounting face that is generally perpendicular to the trailer gate; a latch mounted on the trailer gate; and a catch having a main body extending rearwardly from a pivot point coupled to the catch hinge to a catch end adjacent said trailer gate, said catch end having a hook that curves in a direction away from said catch hinge mounting face, said catch being pivotally coupled to the catch hinge and biased away from said mounting face by a spring mechanism positioned between said mounting face and an adjacent side of said catch main body, said adjacent side being opposite a direction of said hook; said catch, under the biasing force of the spring mechanism, being configured to automatically engage the latch when the trailer gate is moved toward the closed position, said engagement of the catch with the latch holding the trailer gate in a substantially closed position so that an operator can secure the gate closure mechanism without having to physically hold the gate closed; and said catch main body including an arm that extends outwardly from said adjacent side and then rearwardly, a length of said arm being such that an end part of the arm passes through an aperture in a back wall of the trailer so as to be accessible to an operator from outside the trailer by the gate, the operator exerting outward force on the arm to pull the catch away from and out of engagement with the latch to open the gate.