Hitch-mounted fold-out camper
A modular fold-out camping unit so designed as to be carried largely by a vehicle's hitch receiver for transportation while independently supported to the ground with height adjustable legs while in use. The standard is comprised of a, largely hitch supported, load-carrying base plate, supported by a regular or extended hitch arm, creating the floor, or part of the floor, of the camper, with optional additional floor boards attached with hinges as to be unfolded into an extended floor area whereupon an enclosure in form of a semi permanent tent structure is erected.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a camping unit solely or partly built on and supported by a vehicle hitch arm connected to a vehicles regular hitch receiver. More specifically, the present invention relates to a modular camping shell utilizing a vehicle hitch receiver and/or the bumper of a vehicle as its sole support for transportation but can be used either connected or disconnected from the vehicle while in use (unfolded).
2. Description of Prior Art
Previous proposals have been patented in which existing interior and/or exterior space of a vehicle has been extended to accommodate a sleeping area. Applicant is aware of the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
While these proposals address certain similar problems, particularly those related to lack of sleeping space in today's vehicles, they are all merely an extension of the vehicle's interior and/or exterior and can not be used independently of the vehicle. Also when compacted they all reside within the boundary of the vehicle significantly altering the available interior and/or exterior space of the vehicle as to negatively effect the function, economy and comfort of said vehicle.
No prior art is known, however, for a hitch-mounted camping devise that is carried on a vehicle hitch-arm, without additional support of wheels like in a trailer, but can be used independently of the vehicle when unfolded.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe principal object of the present invention is to provide a fold-out living area supported and carried in its folded state by a hitch receiver and in its unfolded state by the means of height adjustable fold-out legs to the ground. In brief summary, the present invention overcomes the aforesaid problems of the prior art by providing an independent camping unit utilizing the carrying capability of a standard hitch receiver used for pulling campers, trailers, and such (without removing the function of the hitch) or alternately, in case no hitch receiver is available, clamped to a vehicle's bumper or frame. The fold-out floor sections, comprised of one or more sections, as well as the tent, mattresses and bedding accessories are all contained within the present folding camper. This invention comprises an expandable, substantially rigid floor section made of one or more floor boards hinged together in such way that they can either be unfolded to create an elevated floor space large enough for a living space or folded to fit on a vehicle's hitch arm. The releasable boards allow the user to add or take away sections depending on the circumstances. On this floor space is a tent semi-permanently mounted in such way to be easily erected when unfolding the floor boards. These floor-boards are further supported to the ground by means of expandable legs in such way that when unfolded, this camping unit is totally self-supported and can consequently be disconnected from the vehicle creating a vehicle-independent camper unit similar to a wheeled camper. In its folded (collapsed) state these floor sections will create a hard shell that crates the interior and tent part of the camper. The support legs are concealed within the floor sections in the collapsed state. It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a device that is of a simple, inexpensive construction. Another object is to provide such device in a lightweight form that can be disassembled as a unit or in parts for storage. Consequently the tent is removable with the means of snaps and each floor section can be disconnected as an item for storage.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from the detail description taken with reference to the accompanying drawings.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention and the advantages thereto, reference is now made to the following Description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawing in which:
The preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in connection with the above-mentioned drawings. Refer now to
While not in use as a camper the floor sections can all be disassembled as single floor sections and reassembled in the home to be used as a regular everyday bed or a guest bed. In this sample, floor boards [
Refer now to
Step 1. [FIG. 5] Remove the cover. The interior of the Camper” can now be seen with, in this case, the folded mattresses (17) and tent poles (35).
Step 2. Unfold the “Legs” (9) on the rear vertical floor board (12) and swing the unit backward until the “Legs” rest on the ground as in (FIG. 6).
Step 4. Do the same with floor board (13) and lower it to the ground. [FIG. 7].
Step 5. Again do the same with floor board [
While in its folded state the whole unit can be folded back, as illustrated in [FIG. 9], to be able to access the vehicle's back door. This is accomplished by adding a hinged swing arm [
The forgoing description of the preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not only by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.
Claims
1. A modular hitch-mounted fold-out camper comprising:
- a base plate that forms a first floor section of the camper, said base plate being horizontally mountable to a vehicle hitch arm;
- at least one additional floor section hingedly connected to the base plate by quick release hinges so as to rotate from a vertical position when stored to a horizontal position when deployed;
- a plurality of fold-out legs connected to each floor section for holding the floor section in an elevated horizontal position level with the base plate; and
- an enclosure structure attached to the base plate and the floor section that forms a tent-like enclosure over the floor section when erected.
2. The modular hitch-mounted fold-out camper of claim 1 wherein a plurality of additional floor sections are hingedly connected to each other, such that a leading edge of each floor section is hingedly connected to a trailing edge of an adjacent floor section, whereby the plurality of floor sections form an elevated floor area when folded out from the base plate.
3. The modular hitch-mounted fold-out camper of claim 2 further comprising a plurality of removable hinges that connect the floor sections, said hinges being removable to disconnect the floor area from the base plate, and to disconnect floor sections from the floor area.
4. The modular hitch-mounted fold-out camper of claim 1 wherein the enclosure structure is manufactured from a soft-sided material.
5. The modular hitch-mounted fold-out camper of claim 1 wherein the enclosure structure is manufactured from a hard-sided material.
6. The modular hitch-mounted fold-out camper of claim 1 wherein the enclosure structure is manufactured from a combination of soft-sided and hard-sided materials.
7. The modular hitch-mounted fold-out camper of claim 1 wherein the enclosure structure is removable from the base plate and floor section.
8. The modular hitch-mounted fold-out camper of claim 1 further comprising a light bar/license plate holder for supporting tail lights and holding a license plate when the floor section is in the vertical stored position.
9. The modular hitch-mounted fold-out camper of claim 1 further comprising an extended vehicle hitch arm that extends from the vehicle to a position beyond the base plate, the extended hitch arm including a ball-mount for attaching a trailer behind the camper when the floor section is in the vertical stored position.
10. The modular hitch-mounted fold-out camper of claim 9 further comprising a light bar/license plate holder for supporting tail lights and holding a license plate when the floor section is in the vertical stored position, said light bar being attached to a back end of the extended vehicle hitch arm.
11. The modular hitch-mounted fold-out camper of claim 1 further comprising an extended vehicle hitch arm that extends from the vehicle to a position beyond the base plate, the extended hitch arm including a hitch-receiver in a back end for receiving an additional hitch arm.
12. The modular hitch-mounted fold-out camper of claim 1 wherein the base plate is hingedly connected to the vehicle hitch arm by a transverse hinge at a back edge of the base plate so that the camper and base plate are rotatable as a unit when the floor section is in the vertical stored position, so as to rotate the unit outward and downward from the vehicle in order to provide access to a rear door of the vehicle.
13. A modular fold-out camper mounted on a vehicle comprising:
- a base plate that forms a first floor section of the camper, said base plate being horizontally mountable to a frame of the vehicle;
- at least one additional floor section hingedly connected to the base plate by removable hinges so as to rotate from a vertical position when stored to a horizontal position when deployed;
- a plurality of fold-out legs connected to each floor section for holding the floor section in an elevated horizontal position level with the base plate; and
- an enclosure structure attached to the base plate and the floor section that forms a tent-like enclosure over the floor sections when erected.
14. A modular fold-out camper mounted on a trailer comprising:
- a base plate that forms a first floor section of the camper, said base plate being horizontally mountable to a frame of the trailer;
- at least one additional floor section releasably and hingedly connected to the base plate by hinges comprising hinge sections that can be disconnected so as to rotate from a vertical position when stored to a horizontal position when deployed;
- a plurality of fold-out legs connected to each floor section for holding the floor section in an elevated horizontal position level with the base plate; and
- an enclosure structure attached to the base plate and the floor section that forms a tent-like enclosure over the floor sections when erected.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Jan 20, 2003
Date of Patent: Aug 2, 2005
Assignee: Frederick R. Bauer, Jr. (Winona, MN)
Inventor: Ronny Bernt Karlsson (Chandler, TX)
Primary Examiner: Kiran Patel
Attorney: Merchant & Gould P.C.
Application Number: 10/349,439