Fifth wheel (Brooks Walker)

Brooks Walker
Brooks Walker was an American inventor who was born in Minneapolis. His inventions included Venetian blinds. At the time of his death in 1984, he owned over 250 patents. Walker also owned the Shasta Forest lumber company. He had a degree in mechanical engineering from U.C. Berkeley, which he earned in 1925.

Fifth Wheel
In the 1930s, Walker invented a device which used added a fifth wheel to cars to aid parallel parking. The extra wheel was mounted on the rear of the vehicle, at right angles to the rest of the wheels. When in use, the fifth wheel lifted the weight of the back of the car off its normal rear wheels, allowing the rear of the car to be swung laterally.

Walker was granted a patent for his device, described as a "vehicle lifting and traversing device", in 1935. He also demonstrated the device in operation, and the device was featured in LIFE magazine.

In spite of this, he was unable to sell his invention to the car industry. Walker continued to attempt to market his device into the 1970s.