Importance

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Abstract

A safety quick-hitch system for coupling over-the-road tractors to utility trailers. A rigid mounting plate is secured to the tow vehicle in place of a conventional pintle-hook hitch assembly. Outwardly flaring walls extend horizontally forwardly from the mounting plate to define a drawbar-receptive mouth. A dual-diameter piston is slidably disposed within a cylindrical bore which perpendicularly intersects the mouth and may be displaced between a clearance position clearing the mouth and a deployed position obstructing the mouth and engaging the drawbar gudgeon. A mechanical trigger assembly slidably disposed within the mouth controls a slidable planar retainer. The retainer engages the piston and selectively activates it in response to deflection of the trigger by the entering drawbar gudgeon. As the drawbar gudgeon enters the hitch mouth, the gudgeon forcibly contacts the trigger and deflects it rearwardly a predetermined depth roughly equivalent to one-fourth the outer diameter of the gudgeon. At that point, the retainer is drawn back out of engagement with the piston, which drops into its deployed position and penetrates the gudgeon to lock the drawbar in position. A safety latch is automatically released when the piston body drops and locks the piston in its deployed position. Flexible cables link the safety latch and the piston to a remote control assembly to facilitate manual deactivation of the hitch from within the interior of the two vehicle.

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First Claim