Patent ID: 8746727

Claim:
In combination, a towing vehicle, a towed vehicle, and an articulating coupling operatively securing said towed vehicle to said towing vehicle, said articulating coupling comprising: a ball protruding from a first one of said towed and towing vehicles; a shaft extending from a second one of said towed and towing vehicles different from said first one of said towed and towing vehicles, said shaft defining a longitudinal axis; a socket affixed to said shaft operative to at least partially receive and cover a top surface of said protruding ball; a slide lock having a body coupled with and mechanically supported by said shaft and translatable along and in a direction of travel parallel with said shaft longitudinal axis and a tongue protruding from said body on a first side of said slide lock, said tongue operative when said socket engages said ball and said slide lock body is operatively translated to a first position immediately adjacent to said ball to secure said ball into said socket by said tongue engaging said ball at a bottom surface distal to said top surface and operative when said slide lock body is operatively translated to a second position distal from said ball to release said tongue from said ball bottom surface and thereby enable said ball to release from said socket by displacement of said socket from said top surface of said ball; and at least one retracting pin operative to protrude from said shaft beyond said slide lock body when said slide lock is translated to said first position immediately adjacent to said ball and thereby retain said slide lock in said first position immediately adjacent to said ball, and operative to retract inside said shaft and said slide lock body when said slide lock is translated to said second position distal to said ball and thereby permit said slide lock to translate relative to said shaft.