Patent ID: 6511090
Filing Date: 2003-01-28
Classification: B60D

Abstract:
A hitch assembly for a vehicle for attaching a towed vehicle, comprising a housing, a hitch bar slidably mounted in said housing, said hitch bar being guided between a pair of plates between a retracted position where it is within the housing to a working position wherein an end of the hitch bar extends out of the housing for attaching to a vehicle, a load pin carried by the hitch bar at an inner end thereof, opposite from the end to which a towed vehicle is attached, said guides having recesses for receiving the load pin and providing reaction for carrying loads of a towed vehicle through the load pin, and a spring-loaded lever in the housing, urged in a direction toward the hitch bar, said lever being movable in an opposite direction from the hitch bar to receive a portion of the hitch bar when the hitch bar is retracted, to hold the hitch bar in its retracted position under the spring load.