GB2219265A

GB2219265A - Device for stabilising a trailer

Info

Publication number: GB2219265A
Application number: GB8812878A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hans Riehle
Original assignee: ORIS METALLBAU KG RIEHLE H
Current assignee: ORIS METALLBAU KG RIEHLE H
Priority date: 1987-01-30
Filing date: 1988-05-31
Publication date: 1989-12-06
Anticipated expiration: 2008-05-31
Also published as: DE3702699A1; SE462526B; FR2630974A1; SE8801888D0; NL8801144A; CH675858A5; FR2630974B1; GB2219265B; NL191675C; BE1002015A4; NL191675B; SE8801888L; GB8812878D0; DE3702699C2

Description

"' 9 -I-ú-&- 19265 Device for stabilising a trailer The invention relates

to a device for stabilising a trailer connected by a ball joint coupling to a motor' vehicle and comprising stabilising means connected to the coupling ball supporting ball neck of the ball joint coupling on the tractor vehicle and being guided between brake blocks exerting an adjustable braking force and disposed on a carrier connected rigidly to the tow bar of the trailer behind the ball cup of the ball joint coupling.

A device of this type which is known from DOS 2 317 878 has proved outstanding successful in practice but it cannot, however, fully meet the demands which have in very recent times been imposed on stabilising devices. For example, it is required that also trailers whose drawbar assumes an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of the tractor vehicle can be coupled and connected to the stabilising device, and also of trailers which are disposed above or below the level of the tractor vehicle and those which have wheels of different heights.

The present invention seeks to provide a stabilising device which satisfies these requirements.

According to the present invention, there is provided a device for stabilising a trailer connected by a ball joint coupling to a motor vehicle and comprising stabilising means connected to the coupling ball supporting ball neck of the ball joint coupling on the tractor vehicle and being guided between brake blocks exerting an adjustable braking force and disposed on a carrier connected rigidly to the tow bar of the trailer behind the ball cup of the ball joint coupling, wherein the stabilising means comprises a brake disc fixed on the ball neck so as to 'Lie in a generally horizontal plane, possibly through an adaptor, so that the ball neck protrudes through an opening in the brake disc and so that the coupling ball lies above the centre of the brake disc and wherein, on the tow bar of the trailer, a brake block provided on a fixed carrier bears on the brake disc from above while a brake block disposed on a pivotable carrier presses with an adjustable braking force on the underneath of the brake disc.

Advantageously, the brake disc may extend over a circumference of about 2800. Furthermore, there may be disposed on the brake disc, on both sides of its point of attachment on the ball neck, recesses located on an are and which extend substantially as far as a line which lies crosswise to the ball neck and extends to the centre of the brake disc so that per se unfavourably situated trailers can be coupled up and so that adequate elastically is offered by the brake disc.

A mechanical, pneumatic or hydraulic pressure element may engage the pivotable support of which the brake block presses against the underneath of the brake disc so that the necessary pressure applied.

force can be easily The pressure of the pressure element can advantageously be adjustable and may be preferably electronically regulated as a function of the travelling speed of the tractor vehicle and/or the total weight of the hauled load.

The pressure element may consist of a pistoncylinder unit have plate springs disposed between the piston and the cylinder, and the cylinder is articulated by an adjustable overall length on the pivotable carrier, while the piston, through an interposed linkage member articulated on the piston, comprises a shaft which engages a rectilinear link member having two extreme stepped positions for the shaft.

The shaft can be displaceable in the link member by means of a hand lever which is on the one hand longitudinally displaceable in a hinge portion engaging the shaft and is on the other adapted together with this hinge portion, to be positioned at a right-angle to the shaft.

il 1 1 Furthermore, the arrangement may be advantageously so contrived that in the operative' position of the pressure element, the point of articulation of the linkage member on the piston of the piston cylinder unit is in the upper dead centre position outside of the connecting line between the point of articulation of the cylinder on the pivotable support and the point of articulation of the linkage member on the shaft.

It is possible to dispose on the piston of the cylinder-piston unit an abutment so that in the top dead centre position of the cylinder-piston unit, a roller mounted on the shaft bears on the said abutment.

In order to be able to compensate for manufacturing tolerances and possibly wear on the brake blocks, the point of articulation of the cylinder of the cylinderpiston unit may be provided with an adjustable eccentric member on the pivotable support An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a ball joint coupling with a brake disc and, not coupled on, a drawbar of a trailer with the parts which co-operate with the brake disc, Fig. 2 shows the object according to Fig. 1 with the drawbar coupled to the ball joint coupling, and Fig. 3 shows a plan view in accordance with Fig. 2.

According to Fig. 1, there is a mounted on a ball joint coupling disposed at the rear of a motor vehicle, on the ball neck 2 which carries the coupling ball 1, a brake disc 3 which is secured by screw means 4 so that the brake disc points in a horizontal direction rearwardly. The ball neck 2 with the coupling ball 2 projects through a bore in the brake disc 3 which is of substantially circular construction and, as can be seen in greater detail from Fig. 3, extends over a circumference of substantially 2800. On both sides of the mounting point on the ball neck 2, there are provided on the brake disc 3 and extending along an arc, recesses 5 which extend lon.ritudinal substantially as far as a line 6 which lies crosswise to the ball neck and passes through the centre of the brake disc.

Mounted on the drawbar 7 of a trailer is a carrier 8 equipped with a downwardly directed brake block 9 and there is on the carrier 8 a carrier 10 pivotable on the carrier 8 about the axis 10a and comprising an upwardly directed brake block 11. The pivotable carrier 10 hangs downwardly. At the point of articulation 12 of the cylinder 13 of a pressure element 14 constructed as a cylinder-piston unit there is connected to the free end of the pivotable carrier 10 a pressure element 14, the piston of which is, through an interposed articulated linkage member 16, rigidly connected to a shaft 17 displaceable by means of a hand lever 21 in, disposed on the carrier 8, a substantially horizontal link member 18 having two downwardly stepped extreme positions 19, 20 for the shaft 17. The hand lever 21 is, on the one hand, adapted for displacement relative to a hinge member 22 (Fig. 3) fixed on the shaft 17 while on the other, it can be bent by this hinge portion out of a position at a right-angle to the shaft 17.

Plate springs are disposed in the pressure element 14, between the piston 15 and the cylinder 13. The effective length of the cylinder 13 is variable. For this purpose, the part of the cylinder which engages the point of articulation 12 can be adjusted by means of a screwthread and in relation to the rest of the cylinder. The point of articulation 12 is provided with an adjustable eccentric member.

When the drawbar 7 is not coupled up, all parts assume the position shown in Fig. 1. The shaft 17 rests in the extreme position 20 of the link member 18.

When the trailer is coupled to the tractor vehicle as shown in Fig. 2 and the coupling cup 23 provided on the drawbar 7 is locked onto the coupling ball 1, the outer region of the brake disc 3 is under the brake block 9 on -5the carrier 8. At the cylinder 13 of the pressure element 14, once the effective length of the cylinder has been aligned on the hauled load, using the marking 24 for different hauled loads, the hand lever 21 is used to lift the shaft 17 out of the extreme position 20, the shaft is then passed along the link member 18 and inserted into the extreme position 10 so that the pressure element 14 which is connected the shaft 17 applies the brake block 11 on the pivotable carrier 10 against the brake disc 3 opposite the brake block 9. Thereupon, the hand lever 21 rotates the linkage member 16 sufficiently that the point of articulation of the linkage member 16 on the piston 15 is in the top dead centre position. This position is secured on the piston 15 by an abutment 24 which bears on a roller 25 mounted on the shaft 17.

The carriers 8 and 10 likewise form a brake caliper which is actuated by the hand lever 21. When the brake caliper is open, the brake disc 3 automatically fits under the brake block 9 as the drawbar 7 is coupled up. When the brake caliper is closed, the brake blocks 9, 10 exert such friction on the brake disc 3 that snaking movements of the trailer can be reliably absorbed. In addition, by reason of the brake disc 3, the vertical thrust forces on the coupling ball 1 are distributed over the axles of tractor vehicle and trailer. No jack knifing effect occurs at the coupling point. Fig. 3 which shows an extreme position of the drawbar in broken lines, indicates the possible extreme positions of the drawbar of the trailer in relation to the tractor vehicle, without the brake disc constituting an obstacle.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A device for stabilising a trailer connected by a ball joint coupling to a motor vehicle and comprising stabilising means connected to the coupling ball supporting ball neck of the ball joint coupling on the tractor vehicle and being guided between brake blocks exerting an adjustable braking force and disposed on a carrier connected rigidly to the tow bar of the trailer behind the ball cup of the ball joint coupling, wherein the stabilising means comprises a brake disc fixed on the ball neck so as to lie in a generally horizontal plane, so that the ball neck protrudes through an opening in the brake disc and so that the coupling ball lies above the centre of the brake disc and wherein, on the tow bar of the trailer, a brake block provided on a fixed carrier bears on the brake disc from above while a brake block disposed on a pivotable carrier presses with an adjustable braking force on the underneath of the brake disc.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the brake disc extends over a circumference of about 2800.

3. A device according to claims 1 or 2, wherein there are on the brake disc on both sides of the mounting point on the ball neck and situated on an are, recesses which extend substantially as far as a line which extends crosswise to the ball neck and through the centre of the brake disc.

4. A device according to claims 1, 2, or 3, wherein a mechanical, hydraulic or pneumatic pressure element engages on the pivotable carrier of which the brake block presses on the underside of the brake disc.

1 Y

5. A device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the pressure of the pressure element is adjustable.

6. A device according to claims 1 to 5, wherein the pressure of the pressure element is adapted to be regulated as a function of the travelling speed of the tractor vehicle and/or the total weight of the load hauled.

7. A device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the pressure element consists of a cylinder-piston unit with plate springs disposed between the piston and the cylinder and wherein the cylinder is articulated by an adjustable overall length on the pivotable carrier, while the piston, through an interposed linkage member articulated on the piston, comprises a shaft which engages a rectilinear link member having two extreme stepped positions for the shaft.

8. A device according to claim 7, wherein the shaft is displaceable in the link member by means of a hand lever which is on the one hand longitudinally displaceable in a hinge portion engaging the shaft and is on the other hand adapted, together with this hinge portion, to be positioned at a right-angle to the shaft.

A device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein when the pressure element is in the operative position, the point of articulation of the linkage member on the piston of the piston-cylinder unit is in the upper dead centre position above the connecting line between the point of articulation of the cylinder on the pivotable support and the point of articulation of the linkage member on the shaft.

10. A device according to claim 7, 8, or 9, wherein there is disposed on the piston of the cylinder-piston unit an abutment and, in the upper dead centre position of the cylinder-piston unit, a roller mounted on a shaft bears on the said abutment.

11. A device according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the point of articulation of the cylinder of the cylinder piston unit on the pivotable support is adapted to be adjustable by means of an eccentric member in order to accommodate wear in the brake blocks and in order to compensate for manufacturing tolerances.

12. A device according to claim 6 or any one of claims 7 to 11 when dependent thereon, wherein the pressure of the regulating element is adjustable electronically.

13. A device for stabilising a trailer connected by a ball joint coupling to a motor vehicle, substantially as described herein with reference to, and as illustrated in the accompanyi-ng drawings.

Published 1989 atThe Patent Office. State House, 68,171 HighHolborm, London WCIR 4TP. Further copies maybe obtainedfrOmThePatentofneeSales Branch, St Mary Cray, Orpington, Kent BR5 3RD. Printed by Multiplex techniques ltd, St Mary Cray, Kent, Con- 1187