Fifth wheel hammer ball for gooseneck trailers
First Claim
1. A fifth wheel trailer hitching system adapted to be fitted to a pickup truck for controlling a gooseneck trailer, said system comprising:
- a rigid generally planar frame adapted to be secured to the pickup truck bed, said frame comprising a rigid hammer ball base plate for distributing force, said hammer ball base plate defining a threaded receptor orifice;
a ball coupling adapted to be selectively attached to said frame and coupled to said gooseneck trailer, said ball coupling comprising;
a rigid ball having a base;
a hammer flange rigidly secured to said base, said hammer flange comprising a generally circular central segment welded to said base of said ball and a pair of ears integrally projecting radially outwardly from said central segment; and
,a rigid threaded shaft projecting from said ball and received within said receptor orifice; and
,whereby said ball coupling can be threadably secured to or removed from said frame by forcibly striking said flange ears with a hammer or the like.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A fifth wheel gooseneck trailer ball coupling system for user mounting to pickup trucks comprises a multi-piece stress distributing frame and a hammer actuated ball coupling which enables the user to deploy the system in towing or non-towing modes with the use of a simple hammer. The three piece frame comprises a first generally rectangular, bed plate adapted to be disposed upon the bed of the pickup truck and bolted to the chassis, a second, back-up plate of a generally rectangular or square configuration, which is carefully welded at the front center of the bed plate, and a third frame plate, in the form of an annular apertured hammer ball base plate welded to the back-up plate. The hammer ball base plate comprises a rigid steel, annular disk comprising a central threaded orifice which receives the ball coupling. The ball coupling comprises a rigid spherical ball integral with a base portion and a downwardly projecting threaded shaft. A hammer flange welded to the base comprises a generally circular central segment and a pair of integral outwardly projecting ears which may be appropriate pounded by a simple hammer to firmly install or uninstall the ball.
50 Citations
13 Claims
-
1. A fifth wheel trailer hitching system adapted to be fitted to a pickup truck for controlling a gooseneck trailer, said system comprising:
-
a rigid generally planar frame adapted to be secured to the pickup truck bed, said frame comprising a rigid hammer ball base plate for distributing force, said hammer ball base plate defining a threaded receptor orifice; a ball coupling adapted to be selectively attached to said frame and coupled to said gooseneck trailer, said ball coupling comprising; a rigid ball having a base; a hammer flange rigidly secured to said base, said hammer flange comprising a generally circular central segment welded to said base of said ball and a pair of ears integrally projecting radially outwardly from said central segment; and
,a rigid threaded shaft projecting from said ball and received within said receptor orifice; and
,whereby said ball coupling can be threadably secured to or removed from said frame by forcibly striking said flange ears with a hammer or the like. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
-
6. A fifth wheel trailer hitching system adapted to be fitted to a pickup truck for controlling a gooseneck trailer, said system comprising:
-
a rigid force distributing frame adapted to be secured to the pickup truck bed, said frame comprising a planar bed plate adapted to be centered upon the bed of said pickup truck and bolted to the truck chassis and a rigid, generally rectangular, back-up plate substantially smaller than said bed plate which is welded to said bed plate; a ball coupling adapted to be selectively attached to said frame and coupled to said gooseneck trailer, said coupling comprising; a rigid ball having a base; a hammer flange rigidly secured to said base, said hammer flange comprising a central segment and a pair of ears integrally projecting radially outwardly from said central segment; and
,a rigid, threaded shaft projecting from said ball; a threaded receptor orifice supported by said back-up plate for threadably receiving said shaft to secure said ball coupling; and
,whereby said ball coupling can be threadably secured to or removed from said frame by forcibly striking said flange with a hammer or the like. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
-
-
9. A gooseneck trailer hitching system for pickup trucks comprising:
-
a rigid, three piece force distributing frame for mounting to the pickup truck bed, said frame comprising a first, generally rectangular, planar bed plate adapted to be centered upon the bed of said pickup truck and bolted to the truck chassis, a second rigid back-up plate substantially smaller than said bed plate and welded to said bed plate, and a third, hammer ball base plate welded to said back-up plate for further distributing force; a ball coupling adapted to be selectively attached to said frame and coupled to said gooseneck trailer, said ball coupling comprising; a rigid ball having a base; a hammer flange rigidly secured to said base, said hammer flange comprising a central segment welded to the base of said rigid ball and at least one ear integrally projecting radially outwardly from said central segment; and
,a rigid, threaded shaft projecting from said ball; a threaded receptor orifice defined in said third hammer ball base plate for threadably receiving said shaft to secure said ball coupling; and
,whereby said ball coupling can be threadably secured to or removed from said frame by forcibly striking said flange with a hammer or the like. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
-
Specification