초록 ▼

A tow hitch assembly for connecting a tractor vehicle to a trailer vehicle includes a mounting member adapted to be secured to the frame of one of the vehicles and a tow bar releasably securable to the mounting member at one end and adapted to be secured at its opposite end to the other vehicle. The

A tow hitch assembly for connecting a tractor vehicle to a trailer vehicle includes a mounting member adapted to be secured to the frame of one of the vehicles and a tow bar releasably securable to the mounting member at one end and adapted to be secured at its opposite end to the other vehicle. The connection between the tow bar and mounting member is defined by a pair of spaced-apart, parallel disc-shaped knuckles mounted on either side of a tangential flat surface on the mounting member and by a rounded nose forming the end of the tow bar which nose has a pair of flat sidewalls. The nose is sized for close-fitting insertion between the knuckles and has a radius of curvature that is the same as the radius of curvature of the knuckles. The knuckles and the nose have alignable bores so that a pin may be inserted therethrough to releasably secure the tow bar and mounting member together. By having a common radius of curvature with the knuckles, the tow bar is pivotal about the pin in a vertical plane with the rounded surface of its nose adjacent the tangential flat surface and with its sidewalls adjacent a respective knuckle. In an alternate embodiment, the mounting member is releasably secured to a bracket mounted to the frame of one of the vehicles.

대표청구항 ▼

An improved tow hitch assembly for use in connecting a trailer vehicle to a tractor vehicle wherein a first one of said vehicles has a receiving bracket mounted to its frame with the receiving bracket having a hollow tube member positioned longitudinally along the underside of the vehicle, the impro

An improved tow hitch assembly for use in connecting a trailer vehicle to a tractor vehicle wherein a first one of said vehicles has a receiving bracket mounted to its frame with the receiving bracket having a hollow tube member positioned longitudinally along the underside of the vehicle, the improvement comprising: a mounting member including a shank portion adapted to be telescopically received by said hollow tube member for releasably retaining said shank in engagement with said tube member, said mounting member having a pair of spaced-apart, disc-shaped knuckles on an end thereof opposite said shank, said mounting member having a surface portion between said knuckles, each knuckle having a bore formed therethrough, said bores being oriented on a common axis, said knuckles each positioned in a generally vertical plane when said mounting member is secured to said receiving bracket; a tow bar having a first end including attachment means for attaching said tow bar to a second one of the vehicles and a second end terminating in a nose portion, said nose portion having a pair of sidewalls spaced-apart a distance to allow close-fitting insertion of said nose portion between said knuckles, said nose portion having a rounded endwall with a radius of curvature equal to the radius of curvature of each said knuckle and a bore formed transversely therethrough, said bore in the nose portion alignable with the bores in said knuckles whereby said endwall is in closely spaced relation to the surface portion of said bracket and said sidewalls are in closely spaced relation to a flat surface of a respective one of said knuckles whereby the surface of said nose portion endwall may smoothly rotate along said surface portion of said bracket when said tow bar is pivoted in a plane perpendicular to said axis, said knuckles and said nose portion generally prohibiting said tow bar from pivoting in a direction out of said plane; and releasable connecting pin means adapted for extension through said bores when they are aligned to releasably secure said tow bar to said knuckles.