Portable trailer stands

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10065689-B2
Application number	US-201213715512-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 14, 2012
Priority date	Dec 14, 2012
Publication date	Sep 4, 2018
Grant date	Sep 4, 2018

Abstract

Example portable trailer stands for supporting parked trailers are disclosed herein. Some example portable trailer stands disclosed herein comprise two telescopic posts supporting a generally horizontal beam. Some examples include spring-loaded retractable wheels for selectively installing and removing the trailer stand from underneath a trailer left parked on a driveway. After being positioned under the trailer, the posts extend to lift the beam solidly up against the underside of the trailer. To accommodate conditions where the driveway is not parallel to the trailer's underside, some example posts can be lengthened independently and have angular play that allows the beam to tilt. In some examples, the horizontal axle of the trailer stand wheels is perpendicular to the beam so that the trailer stand can be readily installed from either the front or side of the trailer. Some examples have a kingpin-receiving groove in the beam or have some other kingpin-receiving feature.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A portable trailer stand to support a trailer parked on a driveway, the trailer having an underside, the portable trailer stand comprising:
a frame to provide the portable trailer stand with an adjustable height;
an elongate beam atop the frame, the beam to engage the underside of the trailer, the beam having a first end and a second end opposite the first end, a length of the beam between the first and second ends being substantially longer than a width of the beam, the beam defining a kingpin-receiving groove extending from the first end of the beam towards the second end, a length of the kingpin-receiving groove being greater than a width of the kingpin-receiving groove;
first and second jacks, the first and second jacks to vary the adjustable height of the portable trailer stand;
a rotatable shaft supported by the frame, the first jack including a first jackscrew, the second jack including a second jackscrew, the rotatable shaft coupled to the first jackscrew and the second jackscrew;
a disengageable coupling attached to the rotatable shaft, the disengageable coupling enables adjustment of the first jack independent of the second jack;
a block within the kingpin-receiving groove, the block to engage with a kingpin on the underside of the trailer when the portable trailer stand is supporting the trailer;
a trailer stand axle attached to the frame, the trailer stand axle positioned directly below a point on the beam that is closer to the block than to either of the first or second ends of the beam, a length of the trailer stand axle being substantially perpendicular to the length of the beam; and
a wheel mounted to the trailer stand axle.

2. The portable trailer stand of claim 1 , wherein the beam further defines a tapered lead-in surface at the first end leading to the kingpin-receiving groove.

3. The portable trailer stand of claim 1 , wherein the frame includes an upper portion and a lower portion, the beam being attached to the upper portion, the trailer stand axle being attached to the lower portion, and the upper portion being vertically movable relative to the lower portion.

4. The portable trailer stand of claim 3 , wherein the trailer stand axle is vertically movable relative to the lower portion.

5. The portable trailer stand of claim 1 , wherein the rotatable shaft is elongate in a direction corresponding to the length of the beam.

6. The portable trailer stand of claim 1 , wherein the adjustable height of the portable trailer stand at the first end of the beam is to deviate from the adjustable height of the portable trailer stand at the second end of the beam opposite the first end.

7. The portable trailer stand of claim 1 , wherein the frame is to be self-supporting on the driveway independent of the wheel.

8. The portable trailer stand of claim 1 , wherein the length of the beam is to span most of an overall width of the trailer.

9. The portable trailer stand of claim 1 , wherein the block is to center the kingpin approximately midway along the length of the beam when the kingpin engages the block.

10. A portable trailer stand for supporting a trailer parked on a driveway, the trailer having an underside that is not necessarily parallel to the driveway, the portable trailer stand comprising:
a first vertically elongate telescopic post, the first telescopic post including an upper section with an upper longitudinal centerline and a lower section with a lower longitudinal centerline, the upper section being telescopically coupled to the lower section with angular play therebetween, the angular play rendering the first telescopic post selectively configurable to an angled configuration and a straighter configuration, the upper longitudinal centerline being substantially collinear with the lower longitudinal centerline when the first telescopic post is in the straighter configuration, the upper longitudinal centerline being tilted relative to the lower longitudinal centerline when the first telescopic post is in the angled configuration;
a second vertically elongate telescopic post spaced apart from the first telescopic post;
an elongate upper support member connected to the first telescopic post and the second telescopic post, the upper support member having selective engagement and disengagement conditions with respect to the underside of the trailer, wherein an elongate length of each of the first telescopic post, the second telescopic post, and the upper support member is contained within a common vertical plane when the portable trailer stand is supporting the trailer, the upper support member including a kingpin-receiving groove extending through a length of the upper support member;
a block within the kingpin-receiving groove to stop passage of a kingpin through a full length of the kingpin-receiving groove; and
a wheel coupled to the first telescopic post and the second telescopic post via an axle defining an axis of rotation for the wheel, the axis of rotation being substantially perpendicular to the vertical plane when the portable trailer stand is supporting the trailer, the wheel engageable with the driveway.

11. The portable trailer stand of claim 10 , wherein the first telescopic post and the second telescopic post deviate in vertical length when the first telescopic post is in the angled configuration.

12. The portable trailer stand of claim 10 , wherein the first telescopic post and the second telescopic post are substantially equal in vertical length when the first telescopic post is in the straighter configuration.

13. The portable trailer stand of claim 10 , wherein the upper support member is a beam extending from the upper section of the first telescopic post to the second telescopic post.

14. The portable trailer stand of claim 13 , wherein the beam further defines a tapered lead-in surface leading to the kingpin-receiving groove.

15. The portable trailer stand of claim 10 , further including a first jackscrew disposed within the first telescopic post and a second jackscrew disposed within the second telescopic post.

16. The portable trailer stand of claim 15 , further including a rotatable shaft supported by the first telescopic post and the second telescopic post, the rotatable shaft being coupled to both the first jackscrew and the second jackscrew.

17. The portable trailer stand of claim 16 , wherein the upper support member is a beam extending in a longitudinal direction from the upper section of the first telescopic post to the second telescopic post, and the rotatable shaft is elongate in the longitudinal direction.

18. The portable trailer stand of claim 16 , further including a disengageable coupling attached to the rotatable shaft.

19. The portable trailer stand of claim 10 , further including an arm movable relative to the upper support member, the arm having a kingpin-receiving feature sized to engage the kingpin protruding downward from the underside of the trailer.

20. The portable trailer stand of claim 19 , wherein the arm is rotatable about a vertical axis.

21. The portable trailer stand of claim 10 , wherein the upper support member is a beam having a first end and a second end opposite the first end, the first end being attached to the upper section of the first telescopic post and the second end being attached to the upper section of the second telescopic post, a length of the beam being greater than a spacing of the first and second telescopic posts.

22. A portable trailer stand to support a trailer

Assignees

• Wiegel Aaron J
• Grant Donald P
• Dondlinger Jason
• Dibiase Joseph J
• Korman Jr Joseph
• Paruch Lucas I
• Snyder Ronald P
• Rite Hite Holding Corp

Inventors

• Wiegel Aaron J
• Grant Donald P
• Dondlinger Jason
• Dibiase Joseph J
• Korman Jr Joseph
• Paruch Lucas I
• Snyder Ronald P

Classifications

• B62D53/0864 Primary

  Dollies for fifth wheel coupling · CPC title

• B60D1/66 Primary

  Props · CPC title