GB2292120A - Vehicle trailer including a collapsable boat. - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle trailer 1 comprises a wheeled chassis 2 and a trailer body 7 mounted on the chassis. The trailer body 7 comprises a base portion 12 supported by the chassis 2 and incorporating a load carrying space, and a lid portion 17 which is openable to provide access to the load carrying space. Furthermore the trailer body 7 is removable from the chassis 2 and is securable in a fully open position to form a boat having a hull in which the base portion 12 and the lid portion 17 form two portions of the hull. Means (Fig. 6) for supporting the trailer body 7 on the roof of a vehicle are disclosed as are various adapter bodies (Figs. 7 - 12) to enable the trailer to be used for carrying other types of load such as bicycles, canoes, jet-skis etc.. <IMAGE>

Description

"Vehicle Trailers" This invention relates to vehicle trailers, such as camping trailers or the like for towing behind a motor vehicle.

Camping trailers are known which are in the form of open topped, generally box-shaped bodies mounted on two or more wheels and which can be towed behind a motor vehicle for transporting camping equipment and other objects which cannot be accommodated within the vehicle itself. The equipment accommodated within such a trailer is generally covered by a tarpaulin, although such an arrangement suffers from the disadvantage that it is neither fully weatherproof nor particularly secure. Furthermore, once the trailer has been used for transporting the equipment to a destination, it has no further use and must therefore be temporarily stored until required for return transportation of the equipment. Furthermore such trailers are of very limited use to most users throughout most of the year.

It is an object of the invention to provide a novel vehicle trailer which has a variety of uses.

According to the present invention there is provided a vehicle trailer as defined in the accompanying claims.

Such a trailer may be used in conventional manner for transportation of camping equipment and other objects when towed behind a motor vehicle, but additionally the trailer body can be removed from the wheeled chassis for use as a boat. Thus the trailer has more than one use, and in particular is easily adapted for use as a small boat for fishing or other purposes, so that the cost of such a trailer can be more easily justified by the user by virtue of the increased use to which the trailer can be put.

The boat may optionally be provided with oars and/or an outboard motor.

Furthermore the trailer body may be replaced on the chassis by various specific adapter bodies adapted for carrying larger loads, such as bicycles, canoes, wind surfers, etc. The trailer body may also be fitted to a vehicle roof or upon a flat surface utilising a special surface mounting adaptor.

The trailer body may be both weatherproof and securely lockable to prevent equipment stored within the trailer from being stolen.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, a vehicle trailer in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1 and 2 show the trailer in the closed position and the partially open position respectively; Figures 3 to 5 schematically illustrate the manner in which the trailer body can be removed from the chassis and converted into a boat; Figure 6 shows a surface mounting adapter which may be mused for mounting the trailer body on a vehicle roof; Figures 7 to 12 show various adapter bodies which may be connected to the chassis in place of the trailer body; and Figure 13 shows a luggage rack which may be connected to the lid portion of the trailer body.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the vehicle trailer 1 comprises a generally Tshaped wheeled chassis 2 having two rear wheels 3, a front wheel 4 and a tow hitch 5 for connection to a tow bar (not shown) of a towing vehicle. In addition the chassis 2 is provided with mudguard supports 16 for supporting mudguards 6 above the rear wheels 3. A trailer body 7 is removably mounted on the chassis 2 by means of two locating pins 15 in the form of angled wedges attached to the chassis 2 and engageable within corresponding slots (not shown) in the bottom of the trailer body 7, and by means of a quick release connector 10 attached to the chassis 2 and incorporating a releasable securing pin extending through an aperture 10A (see Figure 4) in a bottom part of the trailer body 7.

The trailer body 7 comprises a base portion 12 supported by the chassis 2 and incorporating a load carrying space, and a lid portion 17 which is pivotally connected to the base portion 12 by a hinge 8 and which is pivotable between a closed position shown in Figure 1 and a partially open position shown in Figure 2. The lid portion 17 may be held in the partially open position by a hydraulic stay 11. The lid portion 17 closes off the load carrying space within the base portion 7 in weatherproof manner when in the closed position, and in addition the lid portion 17 may be securely locked in the closed position by a key-operated lock 18. When in the partially open position the lid portion 17 provides access to the load-carrying space for loading and unloading of stored camping equipment and the like.

The manner in which the trailer body 7 may be removed from the chassis 2 and converted into a boat by one-man operation will now be described with reference to Figures 3 to 5. Firstly, after unhitching of the trailer 1 from the towing vehicle, the complete trailer is tipped backward until the rear face of the trailer body 7 engages the ground, as shown on the left hand side of Figure 3. The securing pin of the quick release connector 10 is then withdrawn and the chassis 2 lifted so as to disengage the locating pins 15 from their corresponding slots in the trailer body 7, thus enabling the chassis 2 to be lifted by means of lifting handles 13 clear of the trailer body 7 and placed on the ground clear of the trailer body 7, as shown on the right hand side of Figure 3.

The trailer body 7 remains supported by its rear face on the ground, as shown on the left hand side of Figure 4, and it is then necessary for the trailer body to be lowered onto the ground so as to resume its original orientation, as shown on the right hand side of Figure 4. The lid portion 17 of the trailer body 7 is then placed in the partially open position shown in Figure 2, and the securing pin of the hydraulic stay 11 is removed prior to the lid portion 17 being moved into the fully open position, as shown in Figure 5, in which the lid portion 17 may be secured to the base portion 12 by means of attachment means (not shown).The attachment means may be in the form of one or more screwthreaded bolts projecting from the rear face of the base portion 12 and one or more wing nuts which may be screwed onto the bolts after they have been passed through one or more apertures in the rear face of the lid portion 17. When in use as a trailer the attachment means may be used for securing of a trailer board, incorporating the registration plate and lights, to the rear face of the base portion 12.

When the trailer body 7 is converted into a boat as shown in Figure 5, the boat is rendered buoyant by the fact that each of the base portion 12 and the lid portion 17 constitutes a separate waterproof bulkhead. The lid portion 17 constitutes a fore portion of the boat hull which may be provided with rowlocks (not shown) for one or more oars, and the base portion 12 constitutes an aft portion of the boat hull to which an outboard motor may be secured, if required. A separate mast and sail assembly may also be provided for detachable connection to the boat if required. As an alternative to the above described method, the trailer body 7 may be converted into a boat whilst still mounted on the chassis 2, in which case the chassis 2 can be used as a launching device for the boat.

After use the boat may be converted back to the trailer body and the trailer body may be re-fitted to the chassis 2, utilising the steps already described in the reverse order.

Instead of being mounted on the chassis 2, the trailer body 7 may alternatively be mounted on a surface mounting adapter 20 as shown in Figure 6 to enable the trailer body to be supported on the roof of a vehicle or on sole other substantially flat mounting surface, such as on the roof of a larger boat. The adapter 20 is provided with locating pins 15 and a quick release connector 10 similar to those provided on the chassis 2.

Furthermore various adapter bodies may be mounted on the chassis 2 in place of the trailer body 7 to enable the trailer to be used for carrying other types of load. Figures 7 to 12 show examples of such adapter bodies, each of which is provided with slots 14 for engagement with the locating pins 15 on the chassis 2, and an aperture 10A through which the securing pin of the quick release connector 10 on the chassis may be passed. Figure 7 shows an adapter body for carrying up to four bicycles at a time when fitted to the trailer chassis. Figure 8 shows an adapter body 40 for carrying sheet material, for example chip-board sheeting, when fitted to the chassis. Figure 9 shows a flat bed adapter body 50 for carrying irregular shaped objects, such as furniture, when fitted to the trailer chassis. Figure 10 shows an adapter body 60 for carrying up to six canoes or wind surfers when fitted to the trailer chassis. Figure 11 shows an adapter body 7 for carrying jet-skis when fitted to the trailer chassis. Figure 12 shows an adapter body 8 for carrying a motorcycle when fitted to the trailer chassis. The adapter body 80 is provided with a pivotable ramp 81 by means of which the motorcycle may be wheeled onto the adapter body.

Finally Figure 13 shows a luggage rack 90 which may be fitted to the lid portion 17 of the trailer body 7 to enable additional luggage to be carried on the top of the trailer.

Claims (12)

1. A vehicle trailer comprising a wheeled chassis and a trailer body mounted on the chassis, wherein the trailer body comprises a base portion supported by the chassis and incorporating a load carrying space, and a lid portion which is openable to provide access to the load carrying space, and wherein the trailer body is removable from the chassis and is securable in a fully open position to form a boat having a hull in which the base portion and the lid portion form two portions of the hull.

2. A vehicle trailer according to claim 1, wherein the lid portion is pivotally connected to the base portion so as to be pivotable between a closed position closing off the load carrying space and a partially open position providing access to the load carrying space.

3. A vehicle trailer according to claim 2, wherein a support stay is provided for holding the lid portion in the partially open position.

4. A vehicle trailer according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the lid portion is pivotally connected to the base portion so as to be pivotable through about 1800 into a fully open position in which the base portion and the lid portion form the two portions of the boat hull.

5. A vehicle trailer according to any preceding claim, wherein attachment means are provided for securing together adjacent ends of the base portion and the lid portion in order to rigidly hold the trailer body in the fully open position.

6. A vehicle trailer according to any preceding claim, wherein the base portion is adapted to form an aft portion of the boat hull and the lid portion is adapted to form a fore portion of the boat hull.

7. A vehicle trailer according to any preceding claim, wherein the trailer body is removably connected to the chassis by locating pins on the chassis which engage within slots in the base portion of the trailer body, and a quick release connector acting to secure the base portion to the chassis.

8. A vehicle trailer according to any preceding claim, further comprising an adapter body connectable to the chassis in place of the trailer body and adapted for carrying of a larger load.

9. A boat comprising a hull having two portions which are adapted to be rigidly secured together in a fully open position to form the boat hull, wherein the hull portions are capable of being folded together when not in use as a boat in order to form a base portion of a body incorporating a load carrying space and a lid portion which is openable to provide access to the load carrying space.

10. A vehicle trailer comprising a wheeled chassis, a trailer body removably mounted on the chassis, and a surface mounting adapter on which the trailer body is mountable when removed from the chassis to enable the trailer body to be supported on the roof of a vehicle or on some other mounting surface.

11. A vehicle trailer substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12. A boat substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.