Attachment for the ball head of a trailer coupling for coupling a coupling carrier

Abstract

The attachment includes a pivoting arm (4) which is hinged on a support arm (3) about a hinge (2). The one free end (5) of the support arm (3) forms a receiving opening, open on one side by the width of the neck of the ball head, with a spherical tight fit for the lower part of the ball head. Therefore, this free end (5) of the support arm (3) can be pushed laterally over the neck of the ball head. There are tensioning means (21, 22), whereby the end region of this support arm (3) can be braced with the zenith of the ball head in such a way that the lower spherical region of the ball head is braced with the spherical tight fit on the receiving opening. The free end of the pivoting arm (4) which can be swung out with respect to the support arm (3) supports a coupling head (14) for attaching a conventional coupling carrier for transporting bicycles. When the pivoting arm (4) is swung out, the rear region of the vehicle is released, with the result that the tailgate thereof can be swung open or its rear door can be swung open.

Description

Attachment for the ball head of a trailer coupling for coupling a coupling carrier

[0001] This invention relates to an attachment for the ball head of a vehicle's trailer hitch. This attachment allows a tow bar to be attached to this attachment, primarily for transporting bicycles. Of course, other goods or loads of all kinds can also be attached to it, such as ski racks, boxes, and other items. Such tow bar supports have been known for many years. They are clamped directly onto the tow bar's ball head using frictional engagement.

[0002] There are fold-down towbar carriers for bicycles. These can be folded down to make it easier to access the trunk of the vehicle without having to remove the carrier. These do not work with most vans and buses, meaning their rear doors cannot be swung open even when the towbar carrier is folded down. The disadvantage, therefore, is that in these and certain other vehicle types, it is impossible to swing the tailgate up or open the rear door. To do this, the towbar carrier must first be removed from the towbar. If it is loaded with one or two bicycles, this is even more of a hassle. The bicycles must first be unloaded from the towbar carrier and then the towbar carrier itself must be uncoupled from the towbar and removed.German utility model 20 2018 104 052 discloses a bicycle carrier adapter for attachment to a ball-head coupling of a motor vehicle. Despite its installation, it can still provide rear access to the vehicle by pivoting it away. A conventional locking or clamping coupling is provided for clamping the carrier element. is placed on a ball head of a ball-head coupling provided on a motor vehicle and clamped by means of a lever. A second support element 3 is rotatably connected to the first support element via a swivel joint and can therefore be pivoted away from the first support element by up to 92° to provide access to the rear of a vehicle.

[0003] Against this background, the present invention aims to provide an improved way of removing a tow bar carrier, with or without its load, from the rear of the vehicle with little effort, to such an extent that the loading area of ​​the vehicle is accessible by pivoting up a tailgate or opening a rear door. The attachment should be able to be clamped more securely to the trailer hitch of a vehicle in order to accommodate larger loads. Furthermore, the attachment should be specially designed to ensure that it can be securely mounted and protected against theft, and it should be able to be secured to the vehicle while driving in such a way that it cannot pivot out.

[0004] This object is achieved by an attachment for the coupling or ball head of a trailer coupling, for clamping onto this ball head and for receiving loads, wherein the attachment includes a pivot arm hinged about a vertical axis to a support arm, and wherein one free end of the support arm forms a receiving opening open on one side by the width of the neck of a ball head with a spherical fit for the lower part of the ball head, whereby this free end of the support arm can be pushed sideways over the neck of the ball head, and clamping means are provided, with which the end region of this support arm can be clamped to the zenith of the ball head so that the lower spherical region of the ball head is clamped to the spherical fit at the receiving opening, and which is characterized in that a support screw is provided inside the end region of the pivot arm,which is intended to end horizontally below the fitting on the neck of a clamped ball head, for adjusting the support arm on this neck and for ensuring a firm clamping of the attachment to the ball head of the trailer coupling.

[0005] The figures show examples of such an attachment in various views. These designs are described in the The following description is based on these figures and their function is explained. It shows: Figure 1 : The attachment with the swivel-mounted Swivel arm, both made of circular tubes, seen from above, with the hinge in the foreground; Figure 2: The attachment with the swivel-mounted Swivel arm, both made of square steel tubes, with the free ends in the foreground; Figure 3: The attachment with the swivel arm that can be pivoted on the support arm, both consisting of circular tubes, seen diagonally from below; Figure 4: The free end of the support arm in a cutaway view; Figure 5: The free end of the support arm in a cutaway view, clamped onto the ball head of a trailer coupling; Figure 6: The free end of the support arm in a cut-away view, clamped onto the ball head of a trailer coupling, with the swivel arm swung closed; Figure 7: The attachment with the support arm swivelled up by 90° Swivel arm, with blinking into the swivel angle; Figure 8: The attachment with the support arm swivelled up by 90° Swivel arm, with external view of the swivel angle; Figure 9: The pivot hinge between the support arm and the pivot arm seen from the outside; Figure 10: The swivel hinge with the swivel arm that can be pivoted on the support arm and a safety lever seen from above; Figure 11: The attachment with the swivel arm pivotable on the support arm with a swivel lever for clamping the support arm with a coupling head, seen from the hinge side; Figure 12: The attachment with the swivel arm pivoted onto the support arm with a swivel lever for clamping with a coupling head, seen from the free ends of the support and swivel arm; Figure 13: The attachment according to Figures 11 and 12 seen diagonally from below; Figure 14: The attachment with the swivel arm pivoted 90° away from the support arm, seen diagonally from above; Figure 15: The attachment with the swivel arm pivoted 90° away from the support arm, seen diagonally from above, with the safety lever pivoted up; Figure 16: The attachment with the swivel arm pivoted towards the support arm and with the safety lever pivoted down and thus the swivel arm secured against pivoting out; Figure 17: The free end of the support arm seen from below, for sliding laterally onto a coupling head of a trailer coupling; Figure 18: The free end of the support arm shown cut open, after being pushed sideways onto a coupling head of a trailer coupling, before being tensioned; Figure 19: The free end of the support arm seen from below, with the clamping lever pivoted by 90° for clamping with the coupling head; Figure 20: The free end of the support arm seen diagonally from above, with the clamping lever in the clamping position; Figure 21: The free end of the support arm shown cut away, after it has been pushed sideways onto a coupling head and after it has been clamped to the support arm; Figure 22: The free end of the support arm seen from the open end, in the clamped position, with the swivel arm swung closed and secured; Figure 23: The free end of the support arm with the pivot lever in clamping position, locked and thus secured, seen diagonally from above. Figure 24: The attachment with the swivel arm pivoted approximately 15° away from the support arm; Figure 25: The front section of the swivel arm with the coupling head for clamping a coupling carrier on it; Figure 26: The front area of ​​the support arm with the closed safety device against the swivel arm swinging out when the swivel arm is swung out here; Figure 27: The front area of ​​the support and the swivel arm pivoted towards it with the safety device closed to prevent the swivel arm from pivoting away; Figure 28: The front area of ​​the support and the swivel arm pivoted towards it with the safety device closed to prevent the swivel arm from pivoting away, as in Figure 27, but shown enlarged; Figure 29: The locking mechanism of the safety device shown enlarged; Figure 30: A safety key to prevent the tightened grub screw in the nut from loosening, here pivoted away; Figure 30: The safety key according to Figure 30 is swivelled onto the hexagon of the grub screw and locked into place; Figure 31 : The wrench for tightening the hexagon screw placed on the hexagon screw; Figure 32: The wrench for tightening the hexagon screw placed on the hexagon screw shown in a section through the receiving area of ​​the support arm.

[0006] Figure 1 shows the entire attachment with the swivel arm 4 pivoted onto the support arm 3, whereby the support and swivel arm in this example are made of round steel tubes. At the free end 5 of the support arm 3, screws can be seen which serve as means 9 for clamping the attachment onto the coupling head of a trailer hitch, as will be shown and described later. The swivel arm 4 can be pivoted around the support arm 3 via a hinge 2 with a hinge axis 34, so that the swivel arm 4 can be pivoted outwards by 90° relative to the support arm 3. The hinge 2 and the end regions 35 of the free ends are steel structures pushed over the end regions of the support arm 3 and swivel arm 4 and clamped or welded to them. Steel parts or steel attachments 35 are made of high-strength, wear-resistant steel, for example, Hardox 450. Only such high-strength steel ensures sufficient stability of the attachment. The tubes are welded to the tube below using recesses in the sheet metal, i.e., oval holes in the end areas 25. This design proves to be practical and very stable for the production of the attachment. At the top of the free end of the pivoting arm 4, the arm carries a coupling head 14, onto which a conventional coupling carrier for carrying bicycles can be clamped. This carrier can carry one or two bicycles – up to a load of, for example, 65 kg. Of course, other goods or loads of all kinds can also be attached to such a clamped coupling carrier and thus transported, for example, ski racks, boxes, and other items. Such coupling carriers have been known for many years.Hanging downwards on this attachment you can see the electrical cable 55 with its plug 36 for the socket on the towing vehicle.

[0007] Figure 2 shows the attachment with the swivel arm 4 pivoted towards the support arm 3, viewed diagonally from above. Here, one can also see the hinge 2 with the hinge axis 34 and, at the free end of the swivel arm 4, the coupling head 14 for clamping a coupling carrier, while the free end 5 of the support arm 3 can be clamped onto the coupling head of a vehicle's trailer hitch. In this Figure 3, one can also see that the electrical cable 55 with the plug 36 runs in a channel 57 formed by the steel attachment 35 and the support tube 3, where it is well protected. The plug 36 is thus in the correct position and easily accessible for plugging into the socket on the towing vehicle. Here, the socket 56 with a hinged cover is mounted on the front of the swivel arm 4, to which the cable 55 leads, so that the plug of the coupling carrier to be clamped can be easily plugged in for its lighting.

[0008] Figure 3 shows the attachment according to Figure 1 in a view obliquely from below, with the parts already described as well as the open, free end 5 of the support arm 3 visible here. At this free end 5, a receiving opening 7 can be seen, on the upper side of which a spherical fit 8 is formed. This free end 5 of the support arm 3 can be pushed laterally over a coupling head via this receiving opening 7.

[0009] Figure 4 shows this free end of the support arm 3 in a cutaway view. This view shows the spherically shaped fit 8 above the receiving opening 7, which is intended for the lower area of ​​the coupling or ball head to be accommodated.

[0010] Figure 5 shows this free end 5 of the support arm 3 after it has been pushed sideways over a coupling head 1 of a vehicle's trailer hitch. This pushing on continues until the neck 6 of the ball head 1 of the trailer hitch comes to a stop on the support screw 12 in the form of a grub screw. This support screw 12 is screwed through a nut 20 which is located in a wall 19 in the free end of the support arm 3. From above, a clamping screw 16 leads through the support arm 3 to the ball head 1 as a clamping device 9. It is guided through a nut 17 which is firmly welded to the support arm 3. A lock nut 18 serves to secure the screw. This is screwed in with the hexagon screw head 15 and strikes with its lower end on top of the ball head 1 and is clamped by the same.As a result, the reaction force presses the snug fit 8 down onto the spherical area 11 of the ball head 1, and the support arm 3 of the attachment is thus firmly clamped to the ball head 1 and supported by the support screw 12 on the neck 6 of the ball head 1. The strength of the rearward clamping is achieved via the receiving opening and the spherical snug fit arranged therein, into which the ball head 1 is also forcefully pressed from above, and the support screw 12 is used for adjustment. Using the support screw 12, the attachment can therefore be adjusted to a ball head 1 so that it runs exactly horizontally when it is firmly clamped to the ball head 1.

[0011] In Figure 6, this free end 5 of the support arm 3 is shown clamped onto the ball head 1 of a trailer hitch, with the pivot arm 4 pivoted onto the support arm 3 and guided on the support arm 3 by a pawl 37 on the pivot arm, which is guided there through recesses 33 on the support arm 3. On top of the free end of the pivot arm 4 sits the coupling head 14 for clamping a conventional bicycle coupling carrier. In the version shown here, it sits exactly in the middle of the steel attachment 35 with respect to its width. And below, on the front side of the pivot arm 4, you can see the socket 56 for the plug of the coupling carrier to be clamped.

[0012] Figure 7 illustrates the purpose of this attachment. It shows how the swivel arm 4 can be pivoted 90° away from the support arm 3. When the attachment is clamped to a vehicle trailer hitch and a bicycle hitch carrier is clamped to the coupling head 14 on the swivel arm 4, this swivel arm 4 can be pivoted away from the support arm 3 as shown here, and thus pivoted 90° away from the rear of the vehicle. This frees up the rear of the vehicle so that its tailgate or rear door can be pivoted open. After the tailgate or rear door has been pivoted closed again, the swivel arm 4, together with the coupling carrier resting on it, can be pivoted back towards the support arm 3 and secured to the support arm 3 in this closed position. The vehicle is then ready again for the transport of bicycles on the hitch carrier.

[0013] In Figure 8, the attachment is shown again with the swivel arm 4 pivoted out by 90° from the support arm 3, this time with a view from the outside onto the swivel hinge 2, and here in a version with round steel tubes for the support arm 3 and swivel arm 4.

[0014] Figure 9 shows the pivot hinge 2 between the support arm 3 and the pivot arm 4, viewed from the outside, here obliquely from below. The pivot axis 34 of the hinge can be seen.

[0015] Figure 10 shows the pivot hinge 2 with the pivot arm 4 pivoted closed and a locking lever 26, viewed from above. This locking lever 26 forms a locking lug beyond its pivot point 27 (not visible here), which hooks below the extension 29 on the pipe clamp 30. When the locking lever 26 is pivoted upwards, this locking lug pivots away from under the extension 29 and the pivot arm 4 with its pipe clamp 30 can be pivoted away from the support arm 3. Before this can happen, however, the locking pin 28 must be pulled upwards against a spring force to release the hinge 2 for pivoting. Thus, the pivot arm 4 is doubly secured by the locking pin 28 and the locking lever 26 and its locking lug against unintentional pivoting of the pivot arm 4.

[0016] Figure 1 1 shows the attachment with the swivel arm 4 pivoted towards the support arm 3 with other clamping devices 9, that is to say with a different mechanism for clamping the support arm 3 with the ball head of a Trailer hitch of a vehicle. Tensioning is not achieved by means of a screw, but rather by means of a tensioning lever 21, which is located on top of the support arm 3 and can be pivoted about the pivot pin 22. The function of this tensioning lever 21 will be shown and explained in detail below.

[0017] Figure 12 shows the same attachment with the pivoted-in swivel arm 4 and this clamping lever 21 for clamping the support arm 3 onto a coupling head, this time viewed from the free ends of the support arm 3 and swivel arm 4. Here, a cam 25 can also be seen on the support arm 3, which protrudes through the end of the clamping lever 21 and serves to secure it so that it cannot be pivoted without being released. To pivot the clamping lever 21, the end of the clamping lever 21 must be elastically lifted slightly from the support arm 3 and can then be pivoted sideways via the cam 25.

[0018] Figure 13 shows the attachment with the swivel arm 4 pivoted in accordance with Figures 11 and 12, viewed obliquely from below, and in Figure 14 it is shown with the swivel arm 4 pivoted away by 90° from the support arm 3, viewed obliquely from above, with the coupling head 14 onto which a conventional coupling carrier can be clamped.

[0019] Figure 15 illustrates the manipulation required to pivot the free pivot arm 4 away from the support arm 3 of this attachment, into the position shown here, in which the pivot arm 4 is pivoted 90° away from the support arm 3. In this position shown here, the locking lever 26 is pivoted open. Before this locking lever 26 could be pivoted open as shown, the rotary pawl 32 was pivoted away from the hinge part 2, under which it previously rested, using the key 31. This subsequently enabled the pivoting up to the position shown here and subsequently the pivoting out of the pivot arm 4 into the position shown here.

[0020] In contrast, Figure 16 shows the attachment with the swivel arm 4 swung back in and the safety lever 26 swung down to prevent it from swinging out. When the safety lever 26 is swung down, a locking lug (not visible here) on the front end of the safety lever 26 swings under an extension 29 on the pipe clamp 30 on the swivel arm 4, thus securing the swivel arm 4 from swinging away from the support arm 3. The safety lever 26, in turn, is secured in this swung-down position by means of a rotary pawl 32 on the hinge part 2, by means of a pivot pin with a key. 31 . The key 31 can be removed and no one can then swing the safety lever 26 up from the support arm 3 without the key 31 and thus also cannot swing out the swivel arm 4.

[0021] To demonstrate how this version of the attachment according to Figures 11 - 17 is clamped to the coupling head of a vehicle's trailer hitch, Figure 17 shows the free end of the support arm 3 seen from below. Using this free end 5 of the support arm 3, the attachment can be pushed laterally onto a coupling or ball head and its neck of a vehicle's trailer hitch. In this view, you can see the spherical fit 8, on which the lower section of the ball head rests. Above it, you can see the clamping element 23, which is crescent-shaped here. In terms of its height, this clamping element 23 forms a wedge-shaped ramp, which pivots over the upper zenith of the ball head 1 and clamps it against the fit 8 on the underside of the ball head 1 as the thickness of the ramp increases.Below, you can see the support screw 12, which is guided through the nut 20, which is welded into the intermediate wall 19 on the support arm 3. This support screw 12 then rests on the neck of the ball head 1, thus supporting the support arm 3 and thus the entire attachment, including the pivot arm 4 hinged to it.

[0022] Figure 18 shows the free end of the support arm 3, shown in section, after it has been pushed sideways onto a coupling or ball head 1 of a trailer hitch. As can be seen, the neck 6 of the coupling head 1 strikes the support screw 12. With its lower spherical area 11, the coupling head 1 fits into the spherical fit 8. Above the coupling head 1, the clamping element 23 can be seen, which is connected to the pivot pin 22 and can be pivoted by pivoting the clamping lever 21 over the upper zenith 10 of the coupling head 1.

[0023] Figure 19 shows this free end of the support arm 3 empty and seen from below, with the clamping lever 21 pivoted by 90° for clamping the support arm 3 to the coupling head 1 . Here, one can see the clamping element 23 at the top, then further down the fit seat 8 and even further down the support screw 12, with its nut 20 and the intermediate wall 19, into which the nut 20 is welded. To the right of the support arm 3, one can see the clamping lever 21 , which in the position shown here has been swiveled by 90°, i.e. halfway on its 180° swivel between the loosened and the tightened state of the attachment.

[0024] Figure 20 shows this empty, free end 5 of the support arm 3, viewed obliquely from above, with the clamping lever 21 in the clamped position. The clamping element 23 is in the clamped position. It is shown in section and, if this free end were pushed over a coupling head, would press against the top of the coupling head and clamp it with the snug fit 8 further below.

[0025] This clamping position is shown in Figure 21, namely the free end of the support arm 3 cut open, after being pushed laterally onto a coupling head I and after its clamping with the support arm 3 of the attachment. The clamping lever 21 projects backwards here and is secured on the support arm 3. The clamping element 23 is rotated into its clamping position, i.e., it was pivoted with the ramp it forms over the upper zenith 10 of the coupling head 1 and clamped the coupling head 1 with the fit seat 8, which is located on its lower spherical area II. At the same time, the neck 6 of the coupling head 1 rests against the support screw 12. This ensures a firm clamping of the support arm 3, and thus of the entire attachment, with this coupling head 1 and its neck 6. The pivoting arm 4, with its coupling head 14, can accommodate a coupling carrier, which can then carry several bicycles. It can be pivoted away from the support arm 3, along with the bicycles, to provide access to the rear of the vehicle.

[0026] Figure 22 shows the free end of the support arm 3, seen from the open end 5, in the clamped position, with the pivot arm 4 pivoted closed. In this position, the pivot arm 4 is guided on the support arm 3 by means of the blade 37, which leads through the recesses 33 on the support arm 3. This stabilizes the attachment in this pivoted closed position of the pivot arm 4. This blade 37 also acts as an anti-theft device, because even if the tension is released with the clamping lever 21, the support arm 3 cannot be pulled off the coupling ball if the key 31, as shown in Figures 10 and 15, and its rotary pawl 32 are used to ensure that the safety lever 26 cannot be pivoted open, and thus the pivot arm 4 together with the blade 37 cannot be pivoted away from the support arm 3. The blade 37 prevents this. The clamping lever 21 is pivoted backwards into its clamping position and secured in this position. For this purpose, it was the pivoting movement, it was slightly elastically raised from the support arm 3 and could therefore be pivoted with its recess over the cam 25 and then elastically lowered over it. A special feature is that in this version of the attachment shown here, the coupling head 14 is not located in the center of the swivel arm 4 in relation to the width of the steel attachment 35 or in relation to the width of the swivel arm 4, but is arranged offset to the side. The coupling head 14 is therefore arranged further away from the support arm 3, whereby the distance to the ball head of the trailer coupling of the vehicle and also to the rear of the vehicle is increased and therefore more different coupling carriers can be clamped. This offset arrangement of the coupling head 14 enables the clamping of a large number of different coupling carrier systems, which is not always possible with a central arrangement.At the front, on the front side of the swivel arm 4, the socket 56 for the plug of the coupling carrier to be clamped is mounted for convenient access.

[0027] Finally, Figure 23 shows the free end 5 with the clamping lever 21 locked in the clamping position on the cam 25, as just described, here viewed diagonally from above onto the front free end of the support arm 3. Additionally shown here is a round steel bar 38, which is actuated by the safety lever so that it is pushed forward when the safety lever is swung down and its front end 39 engages a hole in the blade 37. It can also be a square bar that can be inserted into a corresponding recess. This additionally secures the pivot arm 3 against pivoting out. In this case, the blocking pin 28 on the hinge can be omitted.

[0028] The following figures show an alternative mechanism by which the pivot arm 4, when pivoted towards the support arm 3, can be secured to the latter, thus preventing it from pivoting away. For this purpose, a special mechanism 39 is mounted on the inner side of the support arm 3 at its front end, which forms a slot 40 for receiving the blade 37 on the freely pivoting pivot arm 4. A fork-shaped safety slide 41 is guided on the inner side of the support arm 3 so that it can be moved in translation. The pivot lever 46 further back is connected to the translationally movable safety slide 41 via a joint 47, so that the Safety slide 41 is pushed forward towards the receiving opening 7 when the pivot lever 46 in Figure 24 is pivoted downwards in a clockwise direction onto the Support arm 3 is pivoted away and then engages on the support arm 3 and the engagement is blocked with the key 31. At the front of the mechanism 39 one can see the two parallel ribs 44, 45 with the slot 40 formed between them. These two ribs 44, 45 each have a square hole in the upper and lower area, and the prongs 42, 43 of the fork-shaped safety slide 41 penetrate these holes when the safety slide 41 is pushed forward, i.e. each prong 42, 43 penetrates two consecutive square holes.

[0029] Figure 25 shows the front end of the pivot arm 4 with the ball head 14 on top of the pivot arm 4, for coupling a conventional coupling carrier. A blade plate 48 is mounted on the front end of the pivot arm 4, and on the inner side of this blade plate 48, an extension protrudes from it, forming a blade 37. This penetrates the slot 40 when the pivot arm 4 is pivoted onto the support arm 3, as described above. Above and below the blade 37, two square holes 49 and 50 are cut out of the blade plate 48. This part of the blade plate 48 also protrudes into the slot 40 when the pivot arm 4 is pivoted closed, and the square holes 47, 48 are then aligned with those in the ribs 44, 45.

[0030] Figure 26 shows the counterpart to the blade 37 at the front inner end of the support arm 3, namely the mechanism 39, which forms the receiving slot 40 for inserting the blade 37. This mechanism 39 encloses the previously described fork-shaped safety slide 41, whose two fork tines 42, 43 are inserted through the recesses in the two vertically extending ribs 44, 45 on the support arm 3. Each fork tine 42, 43 successively penetrates two square sockets. Of course, nothing is locked in this illustration; it merely serves to demonstrate the function. The locking mechanism is explained in the next figure.

[0031] This Figure 27 shows the situation when the swivel arm 4 was pivoted onto the support arm 3 and the blade 37, which tapers to a point at the front, penetrated the slot 40 and found a firm fit therein. One can see how the blade 37 protrudes beyond the slot and into the receiving opening 7 for the coupling head. In addition, when the swivel arm 4 is pivoted in this way, the two fork tines 42, 43 protrude within the slot 40 through the two square holes in the blade plate 48. Thus, the blade 37 is in this position shown here This prevents the attachment from being pulled away from the ball head even when the clamping screw is loosened. It is reliably secured against theft. Figure 28 shows the same thing from a slightly different angle. Furthermore, the swivel arm 4 is also secured against pivoting away from the support arm 3, as it is securely locked by this mechanism and the inserted fork-shaped locking slide 41.

[0032] Figure 29 shows this strong locking mechanism enlarged. Here, you can see the upper fork tine 42 penetrating three square holes. The first square hole is the one in rib 45, then it penetrates the upper square hole in blade plate 48, and then the square hole in the second rib 44. The same applies to the lower fork tine, not visible here.

[0033] Figure 30 shows an alternative design for tightening the screw for tightening the attachment on the ball head of a vehicle's trailer hitch. Here, a threaded nut 52 is welded firmly to the top of the support arm 3 as a socket for a grub screw 53. By turning the grub screw 53 with its hexagon head using a hexagon socket wrench, such as those used for wheel nuts, the grub screw 53 can be turned downwards in the threaded nut 52 and tightly tightened to the top of the ball head, whereby the lower side of the ball head is clamped into the spherical socket provided for it. To prevent the tightened grub screw 53 from accidentally coming loose, a hexagon wrench 51 is used, which is pivotally attached to the top of the support arm 3 by means of a rivet 54 and can be easily lifted.In the position shown in Figure 30, the hexagon wrench 51 is pivoted sideways away from the grub screw 53 to free up space so that the grub screw can be tightened or loosened as required.

[0034] Figure 31 shows the situation when the grub screw 53 is fully tightened. Here, the locking hexagon wrench 51 has been pivoted around its rivet 54 over the grub screw 53 and then lowered over it, so that the hexagon wrench 51 engages over the hexagon of the grub screw 53. In this position of the locking hexagon wrench 51, the grub screw 53 can no longer rotate. Figure 32 shows this secured grub screw 53 with the attached The locking hexagon key 51 is also shown in a section through the receiving area 7 of the support arm 3. Index 1 ball head, coupling head 2 Hinge between the swivel arms 3, 4 3 Support arm, can be clamped onto the ball head 1 4 Swivel arm, pivoting on the support arm 3 5 Free end of the first support arm 3 6 Neck of the ball head 1 7 Receiving opening at the free end of the support arm 3 8 Spherical fit at the receiving opening 7 9 Clamping device for clamping the ball head with the attachment 10 Zenith of the ball head 1 1 Spherical lower area of ​​the ball head 1 12 Support screw 13 Free end of the swivel arm 4 14 Ball head coupling on top of the swivel arm 4, for coupling a coupling carrier 15 hexagon screw head 16 steel screws to 15 17 Welded screw nut 18 Lock nut for securing 19 Wall on swivel arm 3 20 Screw nut welded to support arm 21 Clamping lever on the support arm for clamping with ball head 1 22 Swivel bolt for clamping lever 21 23 Clamping element on the pivot pin 22 24 End area of ​​the clamping lever 21 25 cams on support arm 3 26 Safety lever on support arm 3 27 Horizontal axis for safety lever 28 locking bolts 29 Extension on pipe clamp 30 pipe clamps 31 keys 32 Swivel latch on the key bolt 33 recesses for blade 34 Hinge axis 35 steel attachments at the free end of the swivel arms 36 plugs for the socket on the vehicle 37 Blade at the free end of the swivel arm 4 38 Round steel on the side of the support arm 3 39 Mechanism in the front lateral inner area of ​​the support arm 3 40 Slot for the blade 37 41 fork-shaped safety slide 41 42 upper fork tines 43 lower fork tines 44 front rib 44 45 posterior rib 46 safety lever 47 Swivel hinge for safety lever 46 48 blade plate 49 Upper square hole in blade plate 48 50 50 Lower square hole in blade plate 48 51 Security hexagon wrench 52 Welded threaded nut 53 Grub screw with hexagon head in the nut 52 54 rivets for pivoting safety hexagon key 55 electrical cables for lighting 56 Socket on the front of the swivel arm 57 Channel for electrical cables

Claims

AMENDED CLAIMS received by the International Bureau on 4 May 2025 (04.05.2025) 1. Attachment for the coupling or ball head (1) of a trailer coupling, for clamping onto this ball head (1) and for receiving loads, wherein the attachment includes a pivot arm (4) hinged about a vertical axis (2) on a support arm, and wherein one free end (5) of the support arm (3) forms a receiving opening (7) open on one side by the width of the neck (6) of a ball head (1) with a spherical fit (8) for the lower part (11) of the ball head (1), whereby this free end (5) of the support arm (3) can be pushed sideways over the neck (6) of the ball head (1), and clamping means (9; 16, 23) are provided, with which the end region of this support arm (3) can be clamped to the zenith (10) of the ball head (1) in such a way that the lower spherical region (11) of the Ball head (1) is clamped to the spherical fit (8) on the receiving opening (7), and wherein a support screw (12) is provided inside the end region (5) of the support arm (3),which is intended to end horizontally below the snug fit (8) on the neck (6) of a clamped ball head (1), for adjusting the support arm (3) on this neck (6) and for ensuring a firm clamping of the attachment with the ball head (1) of the trailer coupling, characterized in that its clamping is realized either A) by means of a hexagon grub screw (53) which sits in a threaded nut (52) which is welded to the top of the support arm (39) and the clamped hexagon grub screw (53) can be secured by a hexagon wrench being pivotably and liftably connected to the support arm next to the grub screw (53) by means of a rivet (54), so that the hexagon wrench (51) can be lowered over the clamped hexagon of the grub screw (53) and locked with it, or B) that the clamping means (9; 16, 23) have a clamping lever (21 ) on the support arm (3) of the attachment,which is pivotable about a pivot pin (22) firmly connected to it, the pivot axis of which is offset from the zenith of the ball head (1 ), wherein at the front end of the pivot pin (22) there is a clamping element (23) firmly connected to it, which forms a ramp which, when pivoting, increases, Pressure force on the upper zenith (10) of the ball head (1 ) can be pivoted up, for clamping the lower spherical area (1 1 ) of the ball head (1 ) with the spherical fit (8), and the clamping lever (21 ) can be secured in the clamped position of the clamping element (23) on the support arm (3).

2. Attachment according to claim 1, characterized in that in variant B) the clamping element (23) is a sickle lying parallel to the pivoting plane of the clamping lever (21) with a wedge-shaped increasing thickness, which can be pivoted onto the upper zenith (10) of the ball head (1) when the clamping lever (21) is pivoted, and the clamping element (23) thus simultaneously clamps the spherical fit (8) to the lower spherical region (11) of the ball head (1).

3. Attachment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in variant B) of a clamping lever (21), the same can be secured in the clamped position of the clamping element (23) on the support arm (3) by the end region (24) of the clamping lever (21) being elastically liftable away from the support arm (3) in the final phase of its pivoting for clamping and being lockable in the clamped position by elastically relaxing it with a cam (25) on the support arm (3).

4. Attachment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on the inside of the support arm (3), opposite the pivotable pivot arm (4), a fork-shaped safety slide (41) is arranged so as to be translationally displaceable, which is articulated to a safety lever so that by pivoting the same, the fork-shaped safety slide can be pushed towards the front end of the support arm (3), and its two fork tines lying one above the other penetrate into matching square holes in ribs, between which a slot (40) is formed for receiving a blade (37), wherein the fork tines also penetrate square holes which penetrate in the blade plate on the pivot arm (4).

5. Attachment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a support screw (12) for supporting and adjusting the attachment is screwed into a thread in the wall (19) on the support arm (3) and can be secured in its rotational position with a nut (20).

6. Attachment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the free end (13) of the pivotable pivot arm (4) carries a ball-head coupling (14) at the top and the pivot arm (4) can be clamped or clicked together on the support arm (3) in the pivoted-in state to prevent it from pivoting out, so that its upper ball-head coupling (14) can be used to couple a coupling carrier.

7. Attachment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the support arm (3) and pivot arm (4) are each formed by a steel tube with a circular cross-section or by a square steel tube, and steel attachments (2, 35) with an angular cross-section are pushed onto both ends (5, 13) of which and are clamped to the steel tubes in a tensile and torsion-resistant manner, are plug-welded by means of oval holes in the steel attachments (2, 35) or are welded via seams.

8. Attachment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pivot arm (4) can be secured in the pivoted-in state by a securing lever (26) being articulated on a horizontal axis (27) on the support arm (3) and being able to be pivoted up and down about this axis, wherein this securing lever (26) in the pivoted-out state strikes with a latching lug (28) in front of its pivot axis (27) under an extension (29) on a pipe clamp (30) on the pivot arm (4) and the end of the securing lever (26) can be secured against pivoting up with a key (31) with key bolt and rotary pawl (32) on the support arm (3).

9. Attachment according to claim 8, characterized in that the support arm (3) has, along its side facing the pivot arm (4), a round steel bar (38) or square bar which is guided parallel to the support arm (3) and which can be pushed forwards by pivoting down the safety lever (26) so that its front end (39) engages in a bore or recess in the blade (37) on the pivot arm (4), as additional security against unintentional pivoting of the pivot arm (4) from the support arm (3).

10. Attachment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the coupling head (14) on the swivel arm (4) is laterally offset with respect to the width of the swivel arm (4) and further away from the support arm (3) is arranged, whereby the distance to the coupling head of the vehicle's trailer coupling is increased and thus more different coupling supports can be clamped. 11 . Attachment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the steel attachments (35) on the support arm (3) and pivot arm (4) are made of a high-strength, wear-resistant steel, namely Hardox 450. DECLARATION REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 19 (1) D1: AU 202 166 247 A1 and D2: 2020 18 104 052 U1 show similar attachments that have a swivel arm that can be pivoted away from a support arm. D3 DE 93 11 905 U1 shows, in Figure 6, a support screw for supporting the support arm below the ball of the trailer coupling head at its neck. For clamping the attachment to the trailer coupling head, Figures 2-4, 6, and 8 of D3 93 1 1 905 U1 show a steel screw that presses the ball head from above and is secured in the clamped position with a lock nut. The clamping by means of a grub screw and its special securing with a hexagon wrench pivotably attached to the support arm via the grub screw according to the original claims 3 and 4 is nowhere to be found in the prior art, just as the solution with a clamping lever according to the original patent claims 5 and 6, as stated in the written decision. The independent claim was therefore amended by replacing the original characterizing part with the contents of claims 3 and 4 as the first variant A and the content of claim 8 as the second variant B. These are new and inventive variants of bracing the attachment to the trailer coupling head and securing this bracing for safe transport of the loaded attachment. The original claims 3, 4, and 5 were therefore deleted, and the remaining dependent claims were renumbered and their references adjusted as follows: The amended claim 2 corresponds to the original claim 6. Amended claim 3 corresponds to original claim 7. Amended claim 4 corresponds to original claim 2. Amended claim 5 corresponds to original claim 9. Amended claim 6 corresponds to original claim 10. Amended claim 7 corresponds to original claim 11. Amended claim 8 corresponds to original claim 12. Amended claim 9 corresponds to original claim 13. Amended claim 10 corresponds to original claim 14. Amended claim 11 corresponds to original claim 15.

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