TARP TOW
It is connected to a lawn tractor or vehicle for towing any foldable sheet type material such as a tarp, (construction) plastic, or cloth across the ground to move large debris or material. This assembly contains multiple tubing, stabilizers, and hardware that allow a direct connection to a lawn tractor or a vehicle/ATV using a standard receiver type hitch. The sheet material is folded and then rolled onto the tarp connection tube and then attached to the tarp support tube. When towing, the clamping point gets tighter the harder you pull on it, making it a strong connection. Now the material is tightly gripped between these two tubes, which allow the use of any type of foldable sheet material for towing. This design eliminates the need to use any type of grommet load connection points within the sheet material that could be easily pulled out during heavy loads or use.
Latest Patents:
- Plants and Seeds of Corn Variety CV867308
- ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH THREE-DIMENSIONAL NANOPROBE DEVICE
- TERMINAL TRANSMITTER STATE DETERMINATION METHOD, SYSTEM, BASE STATION AND TERMINAL
- NODE SELECTION METHOD, TERMINAL, AND NETWORK SIDE DEVICE
- ACCESS POINT APPARATUS, STATION APPARATUS, AND COMMUNICATION METHOD
Inventor Date Patent No. Title:
Thompson 1996 U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,321 Tarp Harness Draft and Equalizer Assembly
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates to the moving of landscape and/or garden type material such as trees, branches, leaves, grass clippings, mulch, rocks, sand, snow, and other types of debris by loading them onto any foldable type sheet material that is directly attached to the rear of a lawn tractor or connected thru a standard receiver type hitch found on most vehicles and/or ATV's used for towing.
This invention makes it very easy to move large and awkward-sized loads of debris around obstacles and through difficult types of terrain. Also, loading debris onto the Tarp Tow is very simple because the attached sheet is at ground level and unloading it is just as easy. To unload, just grab one end of the rear corner of the sheet and pull it over itself until all the debris falls off the sheet as it flips over.
The Tarp Tow assembly contains six tubes, two stabilizer assemblies and the needed hardware. There are two main features in this invention. First, the assembly is attached directly to a lawn tractor or vehicle without the use of cables, chains, or ropes. Second, it has the ability to hold a foldable sheet by rolling it onto the tarp connection tube and then clamp it down to the tarp support tube within the assembly. This allows the use of any type of strong foldable sheet material to be used such as a tarp, tarpaulin, wire mesh, (construction) plastic, or cloth fabrics. This invention is different from others because it removes the need to use any grommets within the sheet as a load connection point for towing.
Thompson's device, which is patented under U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,321, can tow a tarp or tarpaulin by a draft bar unit. It can either be pulled by hand or by using mechanical towing equipment. His design requires the use of grommets within the sheet material as a load attach point to connect to his draft bar unit. As stated within Thompson Patent document, “the limit thereof being the strength of the tarp and grommets which interconnect the tarp to the flexible harness, per se.” This new invention is not limited by the strength of the grommets within the material because it does not require them at all as a connection point to the assembly for towing. This new invention allows the use of any foldable type sheet material, which his does not because it is limited to a grommet-type connection.
Thompson's device also uses a cable, chain, or rope to connect his assembly to the mechanical towing equipment. Because it is not directly attached to the mechanical towing equipment like this invention, if one of his connections fails, then his whole assembly can be slung back onto the driver and vehicle causing damage to either or both.
The Tarp Tow was created for the purpose of helping people move heavy loads of debris with their lawn tractor or vehicle/ATV and not be limited to using any special material such as a tarp with grommets. It also was designed, for strength and safety reasons, to be directly attached to the lawn tractor or vehicle without the use of any cables, chains, or ropes.
It also can be noted that a standard size trailer ball can be mounted into the spacer tube or the tarp support tube of the assembly, allowing a lawn tractor the ability to tow a trailer if needed.
This is a description of the Tarp Tow invention with all the parts within the assembly that can be used to attach to a lawn tractor's rear mount or be connected to a standard receiver type hitch mount. The material size, hole, and hardware locations are not limited to what is listed below. The Tarp Tow materials and hardware can increase or decrease in size depending on the load requirement of the tractor or vehicle the tarp tow is being installed onto. The Tarp Tow Build of Material (BOM) for a lawn tractor is shown under item numbers 1-24 on sheet 2,
The first parts of the BOM for a lawn tractor are items 1 or 11 shown in
The next parts are used to hold and to clamp the sheet material within the assembly. They are shown in
The standard receiver type hitch mount is shown in
Assembly of Invention with Hardware
The tractor main support tube shown in
Next the spacer tube (item 11) has two plastic end caps (item 10) installed into each end and then it is centered between the two bolts (item 4) and pushed flush against the tractor main support tube (item 1) as shown in
Next in
The tarp connector tube (item 18) has two plastic end caps (item 10) installed into each end and then it is centered onto the top of the tarp support tube (item 21) as shown in
Next is an example on how to fold a sheet (item 26) correctly to install it onto the tarp connection tube (item 18). The sheet (item #26) must be folded to allow the tarp connection tube to roll the material onto itself and also keep the outer hole locations open to allow for installation as shown in
Now take the tarp connection tube (item 18) and lay it onto the folded sheet (item 26) as shown in
Now with the sheet (item 26) attached to the tarp connection tube (item 18), install this assembly onto the tarp support tube (item 21) with the two bolts (item 19) and wing nuts (item 20) as shown in
The assembly also has a secondary mount method that connects it to a vehicle or an ATV that has a standard receiver type hitch mount (item 32) for towing as shown in
Take the receiver adapter tube (item 27), and slide it into the standard receiver type hitch (item 32) on the vehicle as shown in
Next you take the complete assembly with the omitted parts and install the two ⅝″ bolts (item 29) and two washers (item 30) into the top center thru holes that are in the tractor main support tube (item #1) and the spacer Tube (item 11) as shown in
The last feature that this assembly can do is that a standard trailer ball (item 33) and its' hardware can be installed into the center thru hole in the spacer tube (item 11) or the tarp support tube (item 21) as shown in
Claims
1. The Tarp Tow assembly (items 1-24) can be directly connected to a lawn tractor or used in other devices for holding or clamping down any type of foldable sheet material (item 26) within the assembly for loading, holding, supporting, and transporting outdoor debris or material across the ground:
- a) A tractor main support tube (item 1) is connected to a lawn tractor's rear receiver plate or hitch mount (item 25) by using a bolt (item 5), washers (item 6), lock washer (item 7), and nut (item 8) to hold them together;
- b) Two clevis pins (item 2) installed in the top side of each end of the tractor main support tube (item 1), that are held in place by two hair pin cotters (item 9), which are used to limit side to side movement during operation;
- c) A spacer tube (item 11) with end caps (item 10), and a tarp support tube (item 21) with end caps (item 10), that both get connected to the tractor main support tube (item 1) by using two bolts (item 4), and four washers (item 3), two lock washers (item 24), and two nuts (item 25) to hold them together;
- d) Two eye bolts (item 12) are installed into the back side of the tarp support tube (item 21) using two washers (item 22), lock washer (item 16), and nut (item 17) at each location. Two eye bolts (item 14) are mounted into the rear frame of a lawn tractor (item 25) using two fender washers (item 15), lock washer (item 16), and nut (item 17). A turnbuckle (item 13) is connected at both locations of the eyebolt (item 12) and (item 14) that is used for load transfer from the Tarp Tow assembly to the lawn tractor frame;
- e) A tarp connection tube (item 18) with end caps (item 10), that gets clamped together to the top of the tarp support tube (item 21) by using two bolts (item 19), and two wing nuts (item 20) thru each ends of the tarp connection tube (item 18) and the tarp support tube (item 21).
2. A Tarp Tow assembly (items 1, 3-8, 10-11, 21, 23-24) of claim 1 using a secondary connection method (items 27-31) is used to adapt and connect to a vehicle or ATV using a standard class receiver type hitch for towing (item 32):
- a) A receiver adapter tube (item 27) and support adapter tube (item 28) that is used as an adapter for connecting into a standard receiver type hitch (item 32);
- b) The spacer tube (item 11) and tarp support tube (item 21) connects to the support adapter tube (item 28) by two bolts (item 29), four washers (item 30), two lock washers (item 7), and two nuts (item 31).
3. A Tarp Tow assembly (items 1-24) of claim 1 wherein any foldable type sheet material (item 26), that can be folded and rolled onto the tarp connection tube (item 18), and held down against the tarp support tube (item 21), using two bolts (item 19) and two wing nuts (item 20), within this assembly to be used for towing or other purposes.
4. A Tarp Tow assembly (items 1-24) of claim 1 wherein a standard trailer ball (item 33), can be installed into the spacer tube (item 11) or the tarp support tube (item 21) center thru hole using a bolt (item 5), two washers (item 6), and lock washer (item 7) for use to tow a trailer using a lawn tractor.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 14, 2013
Publication Date: Sep 18, 2014
Applicant: (Piney Flats, TN)
Inventor: Mark Edward Arnurius (Piney Flats, TN)
Application Number: 13/830,768