FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a trailer-mounted telescope.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Telescopes must be transported to remote viewing locations away from the bright lights of the city. While medium-size telescopes may be transported in components, which are removed from the trailer for assembly on site, this is not practical with large telescopes. When a telescope gets beyond a certain size, it must remain on the trailer and be moved from a transport position to a viewing position. The trailer bearing the telescope is towed behind a vehicle at highway speeds to a viewing site, with the trailer in the transport position. Upon arrival at the viewing site, the telescope is moved to the viewing position. A drawback with this is that movements of persons and equipment on the trailer cause vibrations, which can adversely affect viewing through the telescope.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION What is required is a trailer-mounted telescope which is less susceptible to vibrations originating from the trailer.

According to the present invention there is provided a frailer-mounted telescope which includes a support platform having ground engaging wheels. A vertical opening is provided through the support platform. A telescope is carried by the platform and positioned over the opening. A telescope support extends through the opening. The telescope support is movable between a transport position and a supporting position. In the transport position, the telescope support depends from beneath the platform. In the supporting position, the telescope support engages the ground and supports the telescope in a position raised above and independent of the platform, thereby isolating the telescope from vibrations caused by movement of persons or equipment on the support platform. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features of the invention will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to in any way limit the scope of the invention to the particular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein: FIGURE 1 is a side perspective view of the trailer mounted telescope showing details shown of the observing chair FIGURE 2 is a side perspective view of the trailer mounted telescope showing details of the telescope FIGURE 3 is a block diagram of the drive system.

DETATT ,F,D DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The preferred embodiment, a trailer-mounted telescope, will now be described with reference to FIGURES 1 through 3.

Drive System Requirements

Telescope: Azimuth A + Altitude B axis will be driven by heavy duty, high resolution, digitally controllable hydraulic motors. Variable rate to allow for guiding, slewing, and tracking. Must be reversible. Ultra high resolution encoders communicate with the CPU to provide real time altitude and azimuth coordinates. This enables BINO-BOT to access software data base of stars, and non-stellar objects. Observer may store additional targets in user defined target file. The drive system will require a (GPS) global positioning receiver. The telescope needs to be totally isolated from the trailer and man-lift assembly, in order to provide steady images, so relative position sensors will have to be optical or magnetic. Mechanical limit switches will have to be used in combination with the non- vibration translating sensors, for safety's sake.

Man -Lift: Azimuth axis C to be driven by heavy duty, high resolution, digitally controllable hydraulic motor. Variable rate, and reversible. Hydraulic boom altitude cylinder D must be heavy duty and digitally controllable, as well as the two observer chair cylinders; the boom extension cylinder E, and chair recline cylinder F. All 4 axis of the man lift must be encoded and will communicate real-time position information to the CPU. The computer must constantly monitor the observer / telescope relative position. Mechanical limit switches must be used to prevent observer / telescope collisions.

Trailer And Mount: The entire weight of the telescope is to bear on a retractable tripod, by using hydraulic cylinders. Mount jack cylinder G lifts mount turntable for observing, or retracts and lifts tripod off ground for transport. Tripod legs must be able to extend outward for additional stability. Gyroscope is to be used to communicate with extension / leveling cylinders H, I, J to maintain level mounting. The entire weight of the man-lift, observer, and trailer will bear on a static jack on the trailer hitch, and two retractable hydraulic jacks, K, L, at the rear of the trailer. These jacks may also be included in the gyroscope auto-level system.

Mechanical Description

The BENO-BOT Mobile Observatory is an ergonomic design approach towards a trailer-mounted Newtonian Binocular Telescope.

Observer sees images formed by optics L + R. CCD or hi resolution video may be selected by deflecting optical axis with tertiary mirrors.

Observing chair trim controls 1 , allow observer to trim chair extension and height for comfortable view through eyepieces. Actuates extension cylinder E, altitude cylinder D, and chair recline cylinder F. Chair / telescope relative position constantly maintained by proximity sensors OTRP and RPS. Targeting joystick 2 allows observer to slew, aim, and track telescope onto target. Actuates telescope az motor A in conjunction with azimuth ring motor C at same rate, with Left / Right inputs. Joystick actuates telescope alt motor B in conjunction with man-lift boom alt cylinder D, boom extension cylinder E, and observing chair recline cylinder F, with Up / Down inputs. Chair / telescope relative position remains aligned. Observing chair has hinges 3 at the shoulder, hip, and knee that allow recline position relative to altitude. Observing chair moves along track 4 that attaches to end of telescoping boom 5. Telescoping boom is attached to tongue 6, which is also support for man-lift cylinder D. Man-lift az ring 7 is held captive by ring retaining wheels 8. Man-lift az motor C is attached to one of three ring retaining wheels. Az ring has load bearing wheels 9. Entire man-lift assembly attaches to trailer with ring retaining wheels at 10. Telescope mount turntable 12 goes through trailer deck hole 11. As a result, the telescope is totally isolated from trailer / man-lift assembly. Telescope mount az tray 13, and telescope mount alt bearing 14 support telescope primary mirrors 15. Telescope mount turntable 12 is supported by mount jack cylinder G and with triangular section, telescopes into tripod 16. Tripod legs extend and level telescope mount with tripod leg cylinders H, I, J. Trailer is leveled with trailer jacks (left and right) K and L, with trailer hitch jack (manual) 17. All axis digitally encoded and digitally controlled with laptop CPU and custom software. Actuators may be electric or hydraulic.

In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.

It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the illustrated embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined in the Claims.