Patent ID: 7770870

Claim:
A winch system adapted to quickly and easily connect to a tow ball of a vehicle, wherein the tow ball includes a neck portion and a base flange, the winch system comprising: a cup plate having a front end and a back end, the cup plate defines a hollow interior, the front end defines a ball-receiving socket with a rim, the ball-receiving socket is an extension of the hollow interior; a winch mounted to the cup plate; a draw pin having an upper end and a lower end, the lower end extends into the hollow interior of the cup plate; a lever coupled to the upper end of the draw pin, the lever is pivotal relative to the cup plate to move the draw pin between a lock position and a release position; a retainer connected to the lower end of the draw pin such that: a) when the draw pin is in the lock position and the tow ball is within the ball-receiving socket, a lower lip of the retainer engages the tow ball to trap the tow ball within the ball-receiving socket, and b) when the draw pin is in the release position, the retainer releases the tow ball from within the ball-receiving socket; and at least one of the rim and the lower lip has a Brinell hardness number of less than 100 BHN and the retainer comprises a nut and a ball lock, the draw pin extends through the ball lock, the nut threadingly engages the lower end of the draw pin, the ball lock engages the tow ball when the tow ball is within the ball-receiving socket with the draw pin in the lock position.