DISPOSITIF ANTI-BATTEMENT AXIAL POUR ATTELAGE DE REMORQUE A RECEPTACLE

ANTI-WOBBLE DEVICE FOR RECEIVER-TYPE TRAILER HITCH

Abrégé anglais

A sleeve shim for use with receiver-type trailer hitches that comprise a
receiver
tube and a mount for reducing wobbling and seizing, the sleeve shim defining a
mount-receiving end for receiving the mount and a leading end for leading it
into
the receiver tube, wherein the sleeve shim has a thickness adapted for the
sleeve shim to telescope snugly with the mount and the receiving tube, and
wherein the sleeve shim prevents mount-to-receiving tube contact and is made
of
non-rusting material.

Revendications

What is claimed is:
1. A sleeve shim for use with receiver-type trailer hitches that comprise a
receiver tube and a mount for reducing wobbling and seizing, the sleeve shim
defining a mount-receiving end for receiving the mount and a leading end for
leading into the receiver tube,
wherein the sleeve shim has a thickness adapted for the sleeve shim to
telescope snugly with the mount and the receiving tube, and
wherein the sleeve shim prevents mount-to-receiving tube contact and is
made of non-rusting material.
2. The sleeve shim of claim 1, wherein the non-rusting material is a non-
ferrous
metal.
3. The sleeve shim of claim 1, wherein the non-rusting material is a plastic.
4. The sleeve shim of claim 1 further comprising a slot in its bottom wall,
parallel
to its longitudinal axis, for minor adjustments of the girth of the sleeve
shim.
5. The sleeve shim of claim 1 further comprising cross-pin holes and aligning
means for aligning said cross-pin holes with cross-pin holes of the mount and
cross-pin holes of the receiver tube.
6. The sleeve shim of claim 5, wherein the aligning means is a handle.
7. The sleeve shim of claim 6, wherein the handle is achieved by curling a
projection part of a wall of said sleeve shim.
8. The sleeve shim of claim 7, wherein the wall is a top wall.
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9. The sleeve shim of claim 5, wherein the aligning means is a stopper mounted
on top of the mount such that when the cross-pin holes of the shim and the
cross-pin holes of the mount are aligned, it engages an edge of the sleeve
shim inhibiting the mount from further insertion into the sleeve shim.
10. The sleeve shim of claim 1, wherein the leading end comprises a cut-off
corner for facilitating the insertion of the sleeve shim into the receiver
tube.
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Description

CA 02512381 2005-07-12
ANTI WOBBLE DEVICE FOR RECEIVER-TYPE TRAILER HITCH
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to receiver-type trailer hitches, and more specifically
to a
device for eliminating rattling due to movement of connecting parts in the
hitch.
s BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In receiver-type hitches, in order to avoid seizing of the mount inside the
receiver
tube, the mount and receiver tube are adapted to engage each other loosely-
the receiver tube is made wider or the mount is made narrower. Due to the
receiver tube receiving the mount non-frictionly, there will consequently
result a
io wobbling movement between the mount and the receiver tube causing
vibrations
and rattling noises.
Various devices and methods have been invented to deal with this problem.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,656 issued May 7, 2002, to
Johnson, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,989 issued August 22, 2000, to Linger, U.S.
is Pat. No. 5,988,667 issued November 23, 1999, to Young; U.S. Pat. No.
6,010,143 issued January 4, 2000, to Stein; U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,938 issued
October 17, 2000, to Speer; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,539 issued April 7, 1998,
to
Kravitz.
Although these devices and methods inhibit wobble movement of the mount
2o inside the receiver tube, they all require a considerable amount of skill
and effort,
and they are all time consuming. Therefore, there is a need for an easy-to-
use,
quick-to-install, anti-wobble receiver-type trailer hitch device.
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CA 02512381 2005-07-12
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In response to this need, the present invention provides a sleeve shim for use
with receiver type trailer hitches that comprise a receiver tube and a mount
for
reducing wobbling and seizing, the sleeve shim defining a mount-receiving end
s for receiving the mount and a leading end for leading into the receiver
tube,
wherein the sleeve shim has a thickness adapted for the sleeve shim to
telescope snugly with the mount and the receiving tube, and wherein the sleeve
shim prevents mount-to-receiving tube contact and is made of non-rusting
material.
io The present invention provides the advantage of inhibiting wobbling
movement of
the mount inside the receiving tube without requiring much effort or time to
install.
The present invention also provides the advantage preventing the seizing of
the
hitch components.
is Other advantages will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention, its organization, construction and operation will be best
understood by reference to the following detailed description taken into
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
2o Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
Figure 2 shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention.
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CA 02512381 2005-07-12
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The following description shows only preferred embodiments of the present
invention. Various modifications are apparent to those skilled in the art
without
departing from the scope of the present invention, which is only limited by
the
s appended claims. Therefore, the embodiments shown and described are only
illustrative, not restrictive.
Also, throughout the following description, specific details are set forth in
order to
provide a more thorough understanding of the invention; the invention,
however,
may be practiced without these particulars. In other instances, well-known
io elements have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily
obscuring of the invention.
Referring to Figure 1, there is illustrated in a perspective view, an anti-
wobble,
anti-seizing receiver-type trailer hitch arrangement (generally indicated by
reference numeral 100) in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the
is present invention. The hitch arrangement includes a receiver tube 102,
which is
usually attached to the towing vehicle, a sleeve shim (sometimes referred to
hereinafter as "shim") 103, and a mount 101. The mount 101 and the shim 103
telescope with the receiver tube 102, which is hollow. (Specifically, the
mount
101 inserts into the shim 103, which inserts into the receiver tube 102).
2o A portion of the top wall of the shim 103 can be curled to form a handle
109. (Of
course, other types of handles may be used.) The handle 109 is utilized while
inserting the mount 101 into the shim 103 to align the holes 105 and 104, and
it
also allows the user to hold the mount 101 and the shim 103 in place-that is,
against a xial s tiding movement w hich would d isalign t he h oles 105 a nd
104-
2s while pushing the shim 103 and the mount 101 into the receiver tube 102.
When
holes 106, 104 and 105 are all aligned, a conventional cross pin (not shown)
is
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CA 02512381 2005-07-12
inserted through the holes 106,104,105 to hold the three components
102,103,101 together.
Figure 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention. (Like parts have
been given the same reference numerals.) In this embodiment, a stopper 209 is
s used instead of a handle to align the holes of the shim and mount 104,105:
the
stopper 209 is mounted on top of the mount 101 such that when the holes of the
shim and mount 104,105 are aligned, it engages the edge 201 of the shim 103
(i.e., d1=d2 in Figure 2) inhibiting the mount 101 from further insertion into
the
shim 103. Also, while pushing the shim 103 and the mount 101 into the receiver
io tube 102, the stopper 209 prevents the shim 103 from sliding backwards-in
the
direction opposite to the insertion direction-on the mount 101.
To inhibit wobbling, the thickness of the shim 103 is adapted so that the
mount
101, the shim itself 103, and the receiver tube 102 telescope snugly. The shim
is
made of a non-rusting material such as non-ferrous metal (or any other non-
is metal material such as plastic), and prevents mount-to-receiving tube
contact.
Since the mount 101 and the receiving tube are usually made of metals that
rust,
doing so-preventing mount-to-receiving tube contact-prevents rust buildup,
which in turn prevents seizing.
To facilitate the involved insertions, the shim 103 may comprise a slot 110 in
its
2o bottom wall, parallel to its longitudinal axis, for minor adjustments of
the girth of
the shim. For example, the shim 103 may be adapted to receive the mount 101
loosely. Once the mount 101 is easily inserted (due to the "loosenessness")
into
the shim 103, the slot 110 would allow the user to push on the sidewalls of
the
shim 103 inwardly causing the shim to snugly hug the mount 101 before
insertion
2s into the receiver tube 102, where the three components 101,103,102 would
telescope snugly. Reciprocally, the mount 101 and the receiver tube 102 may
also be fitted with longitudinal grooves for furthering the insertion of the
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CA 02512381 2005-07-12
components 101, 103, 102. The shim 103 may also have a cut-off corner 108 to
facilitate its insertion into the receiver tube 102.
A conventional trailer ball 107 is attached to the other end of the mount 101-
the
non-inserted end. While the preferred embodiment of the instant invention is
s described in reference to a ball mount 101, it can be used without
adaptation or
with modification in conjunction with a variety of mounts such as hitch
mountable
bicycle carriers, ski carriers, utility shelf carriers, truck ramps, truck-bed
extensions, and other devices mountable to a receiver tube 102 of a receiver-
type trailer hitch.
io Other embodiments and uses of the invention will be apparent to those
skilled in
the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention
disclosed herein. The spec~cation and examples should be considered
exemplary only and do not limit the intended scope of the invention.

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