Patent ID: 8376388

Claim:
An improved hitch assembly for hitching a gooseneck trailer to a vehicle hitch ball, comprising; a column on the front end of the trailer with a receiver to fit over the hitch ball; a latch on the column moveable between a latched position engaging the hitch ball and unlatched position disengaging the hitch ball; a lock pin on the column moveable between a raised unlocked position to allow movement of the latch and a lowered lock position to preclude movement of the latch; a cable having a first end operatively connected to the lock pin and a second end mounted to the trailer; a control lever pivotally mounted on the trailer and connected to the second end of the cable, the lever being moveable between a first position wherein the lock pin is in the locked position and a second position to pull the cable and thereby raise the lock pin to the unlocked position; a cam assembly disposed between the first end of the cable and the latch so as to move the latch to the unlatched position when the lever is in the second position and to the latched position when the lever is in the first position; and the cam assembly including a cam plate and a pivotal cam bar, and the cam plate being moveable between raised and lowered positions so as to pivot the cam bar between retracted and extended positions, respectively, whereby the extended position of the cam bar pivots the latch to disengage the hitch ball and the retracted position of the cam bar pivots the latch to engage the hitch ball.