Load hauling trailer assembly adapted for on and off road use

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention generally relates to recreational equipment and, more particularly, is concerned with a load hauling trailer assembly adapted for on and off road use.

[0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0005] All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) are currently employed in a wide range of recreational as well as business uses where it is desired to be able to quickly, easily and conveniently reach remote off road designation locations which are often inaccessible to other large vehicles. Typical recreational uses include fishing, hunting and camping whereas typical business uses include fencing and building construction by farmers and ranchers.

[0006] What is currently needed to extend and enhance the utility of ATVs for both recreational and business users is a versatile trailer that can be pulled by an ATV and is capable of hauling a considerable range of recreational and work gear that will be used at the destination location.

[0007] The present invention provides a load hauling trailer assembly designed to satisfy the aforementioned need. The load hauling trailer assembly of the present invention is adapted to be pulled by an ATV, as well as other vehicles, for both on and off road use.

[0008] Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a load hauling trailer assembly which comprises: (a) a towable mobile chassis; (b) a storage container body mounted on the mobile chassis and having an open top; (c) a top cover having an outer side and being mountable on the storage container body and movable between opened and closed positions relative to the open top of the storage container body; and (d) a carrier rack mounted on the outer side of the top cover and adapted to carry gear thereon when the top cover is mounted on the storage container body and moved to the closed position.

[0009] The present invention also is directed to a load hauling trailer assembly which comprises: (a) a towable mobile chassis including a longitudinally-extending frame structure having front and rear ends and opposite lateral sides, a pair of wheel subassemblies, and means mounted to and extending transversely of the frame structure for mounting the wheel subassemblies to the frame structure intermediately between the front and rear ends and outwardly of the opposite lateral sides of the frame structure, the means for mounting the wheel subassemblies to the frame structure including a suspension subassembly adapted to absorb impacts received by the wheel assemblies and a frame structure height adjustment subassembly coupling the opposite ends of the suspension subassembly to the wheel subassemblies; (b) a storage container body mounted on the mobile chassis and having an open top; and (c) a top cover having an outer side and being mountable on the storage container body and movable between opened and closed positions relative to the open top of the storage container body.

[0010] The present invention further is directed to a load hauling trailer assembly which comprises: (a) a towable mobile chassis including a longitudinally-extending frame structure having front and rear ends and opposite lateral sides: and a pair of wheels rotatably coupled to the frame structure intermediately between the front and rear ends and outwardly of the opposite lateral sides of the frame structure; (b) a storage container body mounted on the mobile chassis and having an open top, the storage container body including a bottom wall having opposite side edges and front and rear edges, a pair of opposite side walls connected to and extending upwardly from the opposite side edges of the bottom wall, and front and rear end wall connected to and extending upwardly from the front and rear edges of the bottom wall and extending between and connected to the side walls, the bottom wall, opposite side walls and front and rear walls together defining a storage cavity in the storage container body and the open top thereof, the storage container body further including a pair of opposite wheel wells recessed into the bottom wall and opposite side walls of the storage container body, the wheels of the wheel assemblies being at least partially disposed in the wheel wells of the storage container body; and (c) a top cover having an outer side and being mountable on the storage container body and movable between opened and closed positions relative to the open top of the storage container body.

[0011] These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

[0012] In the following detailed description, reference will be made to the attached drawings in which:

[0013] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a load hauling trailer assembly of the present invention hitched behind an all-terrain vehicle having a towable mobile chassis, a storage container body mounted on the mobile chassis, and a top cover with a carrier rack attached thereon mounted on and closing an open top of the storage container body.

[0014] FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a mobile chassis of the trailer assembly of FIG. 1.

[0015] FIG. 3 is a top plan view, on a reduced scale, of the mobile chassis of FIG. 2.

[0016] FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the mobile chassis of FIG. 3, showing a tongue structure of the mobile chassis in a deployed position and a non-use or storage position.

[0017] FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of a pair of wheel subassemblies and a resilient torsion bar suspension subassembly of the mobile chassis of FIG. 3 removed from an elongated frame structure of the mobile chassis.

[0018] FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the trailer assembly of FIG. 1 with the top cover removed from the storage container body of the trailer assembly.

[0019] FIG. 7 is a top plan view, on a reduced scale, of the trailer assembly of FIG. 6.

[0020] FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the trailer assembly of FIG. 7.

[0021] FIG. 9 is a rear end view of the trailer assembly as seen along line 9—9 of FIG. 7.

[0022] FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the storage container body and the top cover pivotally mounted thereon, without the carrier rack being shown on the top cover.

[0023] FIG. 11 is an enlarged side elevational and partially cross-sectional view of one of the wheel subassemblies of the mobile chassis as seen along line 11—11 of FIG. 3 so as to expose the resilient torsion bar suspension subassembly associated with the one wheel subassembly.

[0024] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the portion of the wheel subassembly and torsion bar suspension subassembly of FIG. 11.

[0025] FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the trailer assembly disposed in an upright storage position with the top cover opened to expose a multi-compartment storage unit inserted in the storage container body of the trailer assembly.

[0026] FIG. 14 is a side elevational view of the trailer assembly of FIG. 1 being shown with a boat mounted in inverted fashion on the top cover of the trailer assembly.

[0027] FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the trailer assembly having an alternative top cover mounted on the storage container body of the trailer assembly.

[0028] Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a load hauling trailer assembly, generally designated 10, of the present invention. The trailer assembly 10 is shown hitched behind a conventional all-terrain vehicle V for pulling by the vehicle V in both on and off road use. It should be understood that the trailer assembly 10 can also be hitched to and pulled behind an ordinary car or pickup truck.

[0029] Referring to FIGS. 1-9, the trailer assembly 10 basically includes a towable mobile chassis 12, a storage container body 14, a top cover 16, and a carrier rack 18. The container body 14 is mounted upon the mobile chassis 12 by conventional types of fasteners (not shown) or any other suitable means. The container body 14 has an open top 14A. The top cover 16 has an outer side 16A and is mountable on the container body 14 and movable between opened and closed positions relative to the open top 14A of the container body 14. In FIG. 1, the top cover 16 is shown after being moved to the closed position, whereas in FIG. 6 the top cover 16 has been removed from the container body 14 such that the open top 14A thereof is fully uncovered.

[0030] The carrier rack 18 is fixedly mounted on the outer side 16A of the top cover 16 and assumes a generally horizontal orientation in which the rack 18 is adapted to carry gear thereon when the top cover 16 is horizontally disposed on the storage container body 14 and moved to the closed position, as seen in FIG. 1. The carrier rack 19 particularly is adapted for hauling items such as bikes, enclosed storage rack, kayaks, canoe, surfboards, etc. The top cover 16 may also have built-in structural features adapted to haul items. For example, referring to FIG. 14, the trailer assembly 10 also can carry a boat B which can have complementary mounting structures built into it so as to fit with the built-in mounting structures on the top of the top cover 16.

[0031] More particularly, the towable mobile chassis 12 includes a longitudinally-extending frame structure 20 formed by pairs of parallel front and rear longitudinal members 22, 24 and front and rear cross members 26, 28 and middle cross members 30 extending between and interconnecting the pairs of front and rear longitudinal members 22, 24. The frame structure 20, so formed, has front and rear ends 20A, 20B and opposite lateral sides 20C.

[0032] Referring to FIGS. 2-4 and 6-8, the towable mobile chassis 12 also includes a tongue structure 32 attached to and extending forwardly from the front end 20A of the frame structure 20. The tongue structure 32 is attached to the front end 20A of the frame structure 20 so as to permit pivotal movement of the tongue structure 32 between a deployed position in which the tongue structure 32 is disposed in a generally coplanar relationship to the frame structure 20 and a storage position in which the tongue structure 32 is disposed in a generally upright transverse relationship to the frame structure 20. The tongue structure 32 is converted for moving from the horizontal deployed position to vertical storage position by removal of rear fasteners 32A such that the tongue structure 32 will then pivot about front fasteners 32B.

[0033] Referring to FIGS. 2-5, 11 and 12, the mobile chassis 12 further includes a pair of wheel subassemblies 34 and mounting means 36 mounted to and extending transversely of the frame structure 20 for mounting the wheel subassemblies 34 to the frame structure 20 intermediately between the front and rear ends 20A, 20B and outwardly of the opposite lateral sides 20C of the frame structure 20. Each of the wheel subassemblies 34 includes a swing arm 38 and a wheel 40. The swing arm 38 of each wheel assembly 34 have opposite ends 38A, 38B and is coupled at the one end 38A to the mounting means 36. The wheel 40 of each wheel assembly 34 is rotatably mounted to the other end 38B of the swing arm 38 of the wheel subassembly 34.

[0034] The mounting means 36 includes a torsion bar suspension subassembly 42 and a frame structure height adjustment subassembly 44. The torsion bar suspension subassembly is adapted to absorb impacts received by the wheels 40 of the wheel assemblies 34. The frame structure height adjustment subassembly 44 couples the opposite ends of suspension subassembly 42 to the wheel subassemblies 34.

[0035] More particularly, the suspension subassembly 42 includes a transverse tubular torsion member 46, an elongated rigid bar member 48 and a plurality of elongated impact absorbing members 50. The tubular torsion member 46 is attached to and extends transversely of the frame structure 20 intermediately between the front and rear ends 20A, 20B of the frame structure 20. Also, the tubular torsion member 46 has opposite ends 46A and a plurality of wall portions 46B angularly displaced from one another. The rigid bar member 48 extends through the tubular torsion member 46 and has opposite ends 48A extending from the opposite ends 46A of the tubular torsion member 46. Also, the rigid bar member 48 has a plurality of longitudinal side portions 48B angularly displaced from one another and extending between the opposite ends 48A of the bar member 48. The elongated impact absorbing members 50 each is made of a yieldably resilient deformable material and extends through the tubular torsion member 46 and between the tubular torsion member 46 and a respective one of the longitudinal side portions 48B of the bar member 48 such that the wall portions 46B of the tubular torsion member 46 are spaced radially outwardly from and in a non-contacting relationship with the side portions 48B of the bar member 48. The impact absorbing members 50 are thereby adapted to resiliently and yieldably resist rotation of the bar member 48 relative to the tubular torsion member 46 due to impacts received by the wheels 40 of the wheel assemblies 34. The bar member 48 specifically is rectangular in cross-section and each of the longitudinal-side portions 48B is a substantially flat side surface of the bar member 48.

[0036] The frame structure height adjustment subassembly 44 couples the opposite ends 48A of the bar member 48 to the wheel subassemblies 34. The frame structure height adjustment subassembly 44 includes a pair of height adjustment plates 52 each disposed adjacent to one of the swing arms 38 of the wheel assemblies 34. The adjustment plates 52 extend transversely of and are respectively rigidly attached to the opposite ends 48A of the bar member 48 of the suspension subassembly 42. The adjustment plates 52 also are respectively rotatably connected to the one ends 38A of the swing arms 38 at locations offset from where the adjustment plates 52 are attached to the bar member 48. Also, the adjustment subassembly 44 includes means in the form of holes 54 in the plates 52 and pins 56 insertable through selected pairs of the holes 54 for releasably interengaging each of the swing arms 38 with one of the height adjustment plates 52 at selected one of a plurality of vertical positions for placing the frame structure 20 at a selected height relative to the wheels 40 of the wheel assemblies 34 and the ground surface.

[0037] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 6-10, the container body 14 includes a bottom wall 58, opposite side walls 60 and front and rear end walls 62, 64. The bottom wall 58 has opposite side edges and front and rear edges. The opposite side walls 60 are connected to and extend upwardly from the opposite side edges of the bottom wall 58. The front and rear end walls 62, 64 are connected to and extend upwardly from the front and rear edges of the bottom wall 58 and extend between and are connected to the side walls 60. The bottom wall 58, opposite side walls 60 and front and rear end walls 62, 64 together define a storage cavity 66 in the container body 14 and the open top 14A thereof. Also, the container body 14 further includes a pair of opposite wheel wells 68 recessed into the bottom wall 58 and opposite side walls 60 of the container body 14. The wheels 40 of the wheel assemblies 34 are at least partially disposed in the wheel wells 68 of the container body 14. The wheel wells 68 permit a reduction in the overall width of the trailer assembly 10 so that it can be pulled behind an ATV, as well as a car or pickup truck. The top cover 16 preferably is pivotally hinged along an upper edge of one of side walls 60 of the container body 14 and latchable along an upper edge of the other of the side walls 60 of the container body 14.

[0038] Referring to FIG. 13, the assembly 10 may also include an arrangement or unit of storage shelves 70 disposable in the storage cavity 66 between the front and rear end walls 62, 64 of the compartment body 14 such that when the trailer assembly 10 is placed in a vertical orientation the unit of storage shelves 70 are disposed in horizontal orientations and one above the next.

[0039] Referring to FIG. 15, instead of a hinged top cover 16 the trailer assembly 10 can also employ a flexible cover 72 fittable and lockable onto the open top 14A of the trailer body 10 for closing the same.

[0040] It is thought that the present invention and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely preferred or exemplary embodiment thereof.