A heavy duty coupler for a trailer hitch including a standard ball head has semi-spherical socket members hinged together by a vertical pin. One of these socket members has a shank by which the coupler is secured to the tongue of the trailer. The other of the socket members has an extension which in the closed position seats in a recess in the shank. A rotatable locking sleeve has a radially or laterally offset recess which permits the extension to swing outward enough to put the coupler to be placed on or removed from the ball. The walls of the locking sleeve and its radial recess provide a camming surface which as the sleeve is rotated toward locked position helps to force the extension into the recess to easily close the sockets in ball retaining position. A biased locking pin engages with selected notch to keep the sleeve in the locked position. The locking pin has a lever arm by which it can be moved to unlocked position. This lever arm cooperates with a tab-like stop to form a means for locking the coupler against theft.
A coupler for a trailer and the like, the coupler having a body and cap hinged together at a front portion and closeable along parting faces with an internal cavity formed by the body and the cap for a ball which is conventionally secured to the towing vehicle. The body forms a major portion of the ball cavity and includes a ball centering upper surface which extends substantially laterally across the upper surface of the cavity forming a self-centering bearing surface for the ball. A load distributing means is uniquely formed on a rear portion of the parting faces of the body and cap to restrain relative vertical movement between the body and cap along the parting faces thereof. The load distributing means includes a horizontal shelf extending from the ball cavity and a complementary recess, with the horizontal shelf preferably being formed on the parting face of the body. The parting faces are desirably vertical adjacent the ball cavity and juxtaposed locking flanges extend upwardly from the vertical faces of the body and cap. Holes in registry with each other extend through the locking flanges so that the cap and body can be padlocked in the closed position.
Presented is a trailer hitch assembly for use in connecting a trailer tongue to a conventional ball-type trailer hitch, including a socket member to grasp the trailer hitch ball while permitting pivotal movement of the trailer hitch assembly on the ball, and a sleeve mechanism for locking the trailer hitch assembly to prevent release of the trailer hitch ball by the trailer hitch assembly when the trailer hitch assembly is pivotally attached to a towing tractor, and which locks the trailer hitch assembly in a closed condition when the trailer is left unattended and disengaged from a tractor.
A coupler for a trailer and the like, the coupler having a body and cap hinged together at a front portion and closable along parting faces and an internal cavity formed by the body and the cap for a ball which is conventionally secured to the towing vehicle or trailer. The body is rigidly secured to a tongue portion of the coupler. The collar is mounted around the tongue portion and axially slidable over the body and a portion of the cap to latch the cap in a closed position. The collar is biased to a latching position. The body and cap are tapered so that cap snugly engages the two when the cap is in the latching position. The collar is operably coupled to an actuating handle. The handle is pivotably mounted on the tongue portion to control the movement of the collar with respect to the body and cap by movement between two rotationally displaced positions. The collar also has limited translational movement with respect to rod 22 to allow the collar to adapt to variations in thickness of the coupler due to variations in the cap, body taper, and ball size when the collar is in the latching position.
A trailer hitch comprising a housing mountable on the vehicle, a ramp sloping downwardly and rearwardly from the housing away from the vehicle, and two laterally opposed pivotable jaws having recesses which when closed define a socket or pocket in which the ball coupling of the trailer tongue is retained. The ramp slopes downwardly at about 30.degree., and flares from a narrow neck to a wider lip, and has upstanding side curbs. The jaws pivot horizontally about vertical axes through jaw supports outboard of the housing. The jaws automatically close around the ball as it is moved forwardly along the channel into the socket. Aligned holes in interfitting locking arms of the jaws receive and are locked together and to the housing by a locking pin which drops into place when the jaws are completely closed. A load leveler distributes the trailer's weight between the wheels of the towing vehicle using a V-shaped rod detachably connected at its apex to a pivotable link below the housing. The link pivots about the vertical axis through the center of the ball. The ends of the rod are adjustably attached to a cross beam spanning between the side beams of the trailer tongue.
The present invention provides a locking device for a hinged, body and cap trailer coupler to prevent unauthorized use of an unattended and unattached trailer. The device consists of a cylindrical bar member joined to an elongated tongue member. The elongated tongue member is sized for insertion between the body and cap portion of a trailer coupler in the open position such that the cap portion is forced against the sliding collar of the trailer coupler, preventing the trailer coupler from closing on the ball of a tow vehicle. The elongated tongue member provides a slotted hole portion to receive the shackle of a padlock to lock the system in place.
