Patent ID: 6896283

Claim:
An aircraft tug hitch assembly for coupling an aircraft tug to an aircraft tow bar having a hitching aperture at one end wherein said tug has a hitch at the rear thereof including upper and lower plates vertically spaced at a rearwardly opening horizontal slot for receiving said one end of the tow bar said upper and lower plates having coaxially aligned openings, said aircraft tug hitch assembly comprising: a locking assembly having a mounting plate fixedly connected to said upper plate and having an opening aligned with said openings in said upper and lower plates; a cylinder having a bore coaxially with said openings in said plates; a cylindrical piston slidable in said bore; a cylindrical locking pin slidably coaxially attached on a lower end of said piston in coaxial alignment with said opening in said plates and freely slidable between a lowered position extending through the openings in the plates and a raised position spaced above said horizontal slot; a vertical slot is formed in said cylinder; a transverse pin member attached to said piston and extending outwardly through said vertical slot; a notch in the upper portion of said cylinder adjacent said vertical slot; and means for rotating said piston and positioning said pin member at said notch to establish said locked position; a transversely extending handle pivotally connected to said locking assembly, said handle engaging said pin member at middle portion thereof for moving said pin from said lowered position to said raised position; a pair of laterally spaced inwardly converging guide members carried said horizontal slot on said hitch, said guide members defining a receiving pocket aligning said one end of said tow bar with the openings in the plates and permitting movement of said locking bolt from said raised position to said lowered position to couple the tow bar to the tug, said guide members; means for pivotally supporting said guide members at inner ends to said locking assembly; spring means engaging and biasing said guide members to a normal position establishing said pocket, said spring means enabling resilient deflection of said guide members from said normal position upon impact by said tow bar sufficiently to permit said tow bar to orient transverse to the tug and accommodate tight radius turns.