The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 30, 1980
Filed:
Feb. 05, 1979
Patricia S Stoller, Plymouth, MI (US);
James C Hammonds, St. Charles, MO (US);
Ronald D Van Dyke, Florissant, MO (US);
ACF Industries, Inc., New York, NY (US);
Abstract
A trailer hitch head or fifth wheel is disclosed including a pair of jaws which engage the kingpin of a trailer to hold the kingpin in place. The jaws are held in closed position by a locking member which is biased to the engaged position by at least one stiff spring. A linkage engages the locking member to move the locking member to open position against the bias of the stiff spring. The linkage may be manually or automatically activated. A one-way kingpin gate is located in the front portion of the fifth wheel. The linkage engages an actuator which automatically engages the one-way gate and pivots the same to open position allowing exit of the kingpin. Preferably the linkage is automatically activated by a bumper bar linkage in a tractor operated hitch, and also may be manually activated by the operator. Optionally, a manually operable handle is provided including a keeper or projection which engages a slot in the locking member in open position to hold the locking member in open position.