Trailer coupler

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10059160-B2
Application number	US-201615292066-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 12, 2016
Priority date	Oct 12, 2016
Publication date	Aug 28, 2018
Grant date	Aug 28, 2018

Abstract

A coupler assembly for a trailer hitch includes: a pin extender comprising electrical pins and first slots; a pin receiver comprising pin slots and second and third slots; a housing comprising fourth slots; first stabilizers disposed in the first and second slots; second stabilizers disposed in the third and fourth slots. Each stabilizer includes a spring and a solid head, and the electrical pins are disposed in the pin slots.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A coupler assembly comprising:
a pin extender comprising electrical pins and first slots;
a pin receiver comprising pin slots and second and third slots;
a housing comprising fourth slots;
first stabilizers disposed in the first and second slots;
second stabilizers disposed in the third and fourth slots;
wherein each stabilizer comprises a spring and a solid head, and the electrical pins are disposed in the pin slots.

2. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first slots are cylindrical and the second slots are kidney shaped.

3. The assembly of claim 2 , wherein the third slots are kidney shaped and the fourth slots are cylindrical.

4. The assembly of claim 3 , wherein each spring is fixed with one of the solid heads and the solid heads are spherical.

5. The assembly of claim 3 , wherein the second slots and third slots are sized to enable a rotation of the pin receiver with respect to the first and second stabilizers.

6. The assembly of claim 5 , wherein the rotation of the pin receiver with respect to the first and second stabilizers does not compress or tension any of the first and second stabilizers.

7. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the housing is a cup defining a central void and the pin receiver is at least partially disposed in the central void.

8. The assembly of claim 7 , wherein the pin receiver is rotatable and longitudinally slideable within the central void.

9. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein the first and second stabilizers oppose longitudinal movement of the pin receiver within the central void.

10. The assembly of claim 9 , wherein the cup comprises a base, a neck, and a bowl, the neck being narrower than both of the base and the bowl.

11. The assembly of claim 7 , wherein the cup comprises a lip that prevents the pin receiver from leaving the central void.

12. The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a top disposed above the pin extender, the top comprising a plurality of masts.

13. The assembly of claim 12 , wherein the top comprises a first wire port, the pin extender comprises a second wire port, and the wire ports are aligned.

14. The assembly of claim 13 , wherein the top at least partially houses the pin extender.

15. The assembly of claim 1 wherein a number of the first slots, a number of the second slots, and a number of the first stabilizers are all equal to each other.

16. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pin extender is attached to a vehicle and the housing is attached to a trailer.

17. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein a top-most surface of the pin extender is dome-shaped.

18. The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising first wires extending through the housing and into the pin receiver.

19. The assembly of claim 18 , further comprising second wires extending through the pin extender.

20. The assembly of claim 19 , wherein each of the first wires are in communication with at least one of the second wires via the electrical pins.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Ruiz J Elias
• Montes Jhammel

Classifications

• B60D1/64 Primary

  Couplings or joints therefor · CPC title

• H01R24/38

  having concentrically or coaxially arranged contacts · CPC title

• B60D1/065 Primary

  characterised by the hitch mechanism · CPC title

• H01R2201/26

  for vehicles · CPC title

• B60D1/24

  characterised by arrangements for particular functions · CPC title