Trailer assembly and method
OwnerRalph E. Shoopinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An improvement on a towing assembly of a 5th wheel trailer and a pick-up truck which has a 5th wheel hitch in its bed. The improvement is a tapered, streamlined, aerodynamic extension at the front of the 5th wheeler trailer. In addition to reducing the power required to tow the trailer, increasing the fuel efficiency of the towing assembly, greatly increasing the towed stability of the trailer; the improvement adds to the storage and sleeping space available to users of the trailer. Access to the extension is available through a separate exterior access door as well as through the original front window opening of the trailer. The improvement is useful for both retrofit and original equipment purposes.
Claims7
In the combination of a pick-up truck having a 5th wheel hitch in its cargo bed and a 5th wheeler recreational vehicle trailer having a front end which extends above said cargo bed for coupling with said 5th wheel hitch to
- be thereafter towed by said pick-up truck, said 5th wheel hitch being conventionally positioned above the rear wheels of said truck, said coupling of said front end of said trailer with said hitch positioning said front end a significant distance behind the cab of said truck to produce a void behind said cab, said void producing a disruption of air flow between said cab and said front of said trailer, said disruption of air flow requiring more towing power from said truck at poorer fuel efficiency, the improvement comprising:
- extension means coupled to said trailer for extending said front end in a tapered configuration above said truck bed toward said truck cab and generally occupying said void for producing a generally streamlined air flow past said cab and over said trailer thereby reducing said towing power requirement and increasing fuel economy;
- and
- said extension means having a front face adjacent to the rear of said cab, said front face having a smaller cross section than that of the rear of said cab, whereby air flows smoothly past said cab and over said extension means.
A method for reducing airflow disruptions and producing streamlined air flows between the cab of a pick-up truck and the front end of a 5th wheeler recreational vehicle trailer, said truck having a 5th wheel hitch in the bed of the truck for coupling to and towing said 5th wheeler trailer, said method comprising the steps of:
- constructing a tapered extension and coupling it to the front end of a 5th wheeler trailer;
- extending said tapered extension above the bed of the pick-up truck having a 5th wheel hitch for towing said trailer;
- terminating said tapered extension in a front face adjacent the rear of the cab of said truck;
- and
- sizing the cross section of said front face to be less than that of the rear of said cab,
- where, by reason of the tapering of said extension and the adjacency of its front face to the rear of said cab, air flows smoothly past said cab and over said tapered extension and said trailer;
- and
- constructing said tapered extension to provide an enclosed interior thereto when coupled to the front end of said 5th wheeler trailer;
- and
- using said enclosed interior for at least one of storage and sleeping.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.