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New product advice needed, ouotes welcome.

michiganbuck

Diamond
Joined
Jun 28, 2012
Location
Mt Clemens, Michigan 48035
Here is my trailer hitch clip safety cover. I do have a patent on it. It is a deterrent to hitch clip failure and theft of the hitch ball arm with the addition of a padlock or a bolt and nut. With the use of a padlock, the lock is placed at the free side of the clip so avoiding bending the clip. I would like to seek a manufacturer. If successful it could be retailed in millions so a very completive MFG price is sought.
To use the clip in set it on the 5/8 pin, the clip pushed in place, the cover turned over the clip and the padlock installed
I am also seeking advice on product features. It can be made of Stainless steel. Or other steels and nickel-plated, or even galvanized. Hardness concerns are also an issue, not to avoid hacksawing but to better retain shape. Prototypes I have made from hardware store steel hold up pretty well for retaining shape.
My retail price target is $6 or so., perhaps $7 with a clear card package.

Yes,quotes are welcome

FIgure 3
US9796230B1 - Hitch clip lockable safety cover
- Google Patents


I know this is too small to see
https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/asset.php?fid=293753&uid=149117&d=1634041147
 
Can't you(or the competition) just have a bigger hole in the hitch pin, and put the padlock through that?
 
Actually kind of a clever idea, punch three holes and bend. Not so sure how secure. Digger's idea would work, simpler still would be a bolt cutter attack on the clip itself . Also might be possible to use all the clearance around the lock shackle to pull the clip out in spite of the "boot".

But none of that means some woud not buy it.
 
Most any security device is child's play to a machinist.
The advantage to mine is you still have the hitch pin and clip at hand if for some reason the lock should fail...and I think many people are more comfortable with a simple padlock.
key lock hitch pins sell from $10 to well over $100.

Yes, this device secures the hitch bar to the tow vehicle.
 
Mostly looking for thoughts about material choice. SS, compared to plated steel, nickel-plated, since, zinc copper for the brassy look or even galvanized. That is for manufacturing cost. Would SS by highly more expensive to make? To be made from standard bar stock cut to length, make the holes bend to shape. The 5/8 hole nee be in line so the hitch pin can go through.

Holes need size + .020, but the rest is not critical.
Material likely .100 to .125 x 1".
 
I bought a high quality lock and security chain -can't cut with bolt cutters.
But, a cut off wheel will be it's kryptonite.
That's the problem, if someone really wants it, their gonna get it. All we can do is slow them down.

4 seconds is hardly "Slowing them down" eh ?
 
These guys....

This Sure looks like a stamped part to me.
Sons Tool Inc. - Metal Stamping, Tooling - Woodville WI

For short a run, laser out the blanks.

Talk to a plating house about finish.
Bulk zinc should be pretty easy and cheap.
They will have suggestions.

Bending should be the easy part, some shop made fixture would be easy.
Or the stamping house can suggest tooling.

I'd start with lasering the blanks and some simple bending jig.
See how long before the revisions start.
Once you got KURT to carry it, then look into press tooling.
 
Interesting design. It would slow a thief down even more if made out of titanium 6Al4V. I am not trying to be a smart ass. Titanium is not fun to grind.
This would make the part more expensive but possibly more desirable.
 
I'm really not trying to be a dick....that device looks like just the thing you'd see at Home Depot or Northern Tool next to the trailer stuff. Better than nothing, but not terribly hard to defeat. That said, it also looks like an item that would sell millions because it appeals to the Home Depot/Northern Tool shopper. So...as a useful product, 3/10. As a moneymaker, 8/10.
 
Laser and bend out of stainless for the first run. Call FedTech in Minnesota, they'll do both at a fair price and answer any dumb questions you have along the way. You should get north of 1,000 yeild out of a single sheet.

Long term stamped galvanized steel is probably cheaper, but you want something in hand to start selling yesterday.

Laser has no tooling costs, so changing from run to run is free. And by using stainless you don't have that secondary processing. Ask for tumbling and you'll receive a finished product from FedTech.
 
trying to add the photo om my hitch clop cover

Here is a larger photo of my hitch clip safety cover.
I know the .075 radius is wrong and I did fix the to .80
Yes, I'm asking for manufacturing advice and a possible quote.
Thanks so far for the advice given.
Buck

JPG copy HC word doc copy doc10241024_1 - Copy.jpg
 
Not sure about the process you plan or are thinking about for the bending, but for wipe forming the min recommended radius for that stock thickness is .140"
 
4 seconds is hardly "Slowing them down" eh ?

Actually it would slow them down.
Anyone stealing a $30 trailer ball isn't going to discover its locked and then come back with an angle grinder. They would just move on to another truck that's not locked if they really wanted one.
Thieves are lazy, and its not worth the risk of getting caught for such a low value item. Trailer hitch thieves are looking for a quick grab.
Your reasoning is like saying that the windows in your house dont keep thieves out because they could smash them instantly with a rock.
Your angle grinder idea is true of most any padlock as well, so why lock anything?
Why lock your car doors? anyone could get in with a slim jim, right?
Put two identical bikes next to each other, one unlocked and one with a cheap chain that could easily be cut in 4 seconds with a grinder....which one do you think is more likely to get stolen?
We all know that any security measure can be defeated given enough time and tools, but that is not how things work in reality.
All that being said, I would not buy this product.
 
My hitch pin has a built in lock, kind of looks like an old school dumbbell. It looks well made and a good design and it wouldn't be easy to get in there and take a cutoff wheel to it. The lock is built in, and I doubt it still works.

That being said a hitch pin with a built in lock, while a very low end model can be had for as little as $11. To me I think that makes your idea something that might not sell. I definitely would do a low quantity test market even if it means the first batch is sold at a loss. You don't want to order 100k of these to get the price way down and find out they don't sell.
 
You have to make them cheap enough china can't afford to rip them off, at least initially. That suggests carbon steel with zinc plate. The padlock is the weak link, as it will quickly become locked solid from road dust, gravel, and corrosion. I see no reason to go to stainless.

You will have more money in the packaging than in the product.
 








 
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