A system and method of raising and lowering a ball hitch for coupling to a gooseneck trailer coupler are provided. A combination of hydraulic pump and hydraulic piston are employed to raise and lower the ball hitch. Both custom and off the shelf parts combine to create a user friendly system to couple and uncouple a gooseneck trailer to the truck. The system described herein replaces the need to raise and lower a gooseneck trailer by hand crank and gear box. A non-rotating free end hydraulic piston device extends and retracts to raise and lower the ball hitch in both coupling and uncoupling of the trailer.

A hitch is provided including a tongue, an insert, and a base. The tongue includes a C-shaped section having an internal spherical raceway and opposing walls, each extending from an opposite arm of the C-shaped section. The insert includes a spherical segment received within the internal spherical raceway and having a draw pin hole, and a projection extending rearward between the opposite arms of the C-shaped section and having a socket recess. The base being pivotally connected to the tongue through the opposing walls. The base includes a ball located in front of the pivotal connection, the ball being received within the socket recess of the insert, and a back end being adapted for connection to a towing implement.

A stowable stacked receiver has a fixed drawbar portion that allows affixation to a towing vehicle. Attached to the fixed drawbar portion is a movable stacked receiver that can pivot between a use and a stowed position. In the use position, the stacked receivers can receive a removable drawbar in a plurality of positions, and the stacked receivers are adjacent a flat surface on the fixed drawbar portion. In the stowed position, the stacked receivers are located underneath the fixed drawbar portion. A locking pin can be used to secure the movable stacked receiver in either the use or stowed position.

A coupling socket for coupling to a coupling ball. The coupling socket has a concave coupling receiving area with a main insertion direction for the coupling ball, and a substantially semispherical lubricant cap with an end face edge is arranged in the coupling receiving area, wherein the convex exterior of the lubricant cap contacts the inner wall of the coupling receiving area over the surface thereof, and the concave interior of the lubricant cap has a receiving area for the coupling ball. The coupling socket has an insertion aid in the coupling receiving area, the end face edge of the lubricant cap, when viewed in the main insertion direction, is located behind the insertion aid, and the insertion aid completely covers the end face edge of the lubricant cap.

A weight distributing anti-sway trailer hitch has a pair of spring arms extending rearwardly from the head unit and a pair of hookup brackets for connecting a remote end of each spring arm to a trailer. The trailer hitch further includes a clamp that is configured to adjust the force imparted by a biasing member on a spindle post, and thus alter the weight distributing, anti-sway operation of the hitch experienced by the trailer frame during towing.

A vehicle hitching assistance system includes a controller acquiring image data from the vehicle and deriving a vehicle path to align a center of a hitch ball of the vehicle with a centerline of a trailer coupler within the image data. The controller also outputs a video image including a representation of a simplified path from the hitch ball to the coupler and outputs a steering signal to cause the vehicle to steer along the vehicle path.

A weight measuring hitch ball assembly is described. The assembly can include a hitch ball having a ball and a lower portion. The assembly can also include a body portion defining a hitch ball opening that slidably receives the lower portion of the hitch ball. The assembly can further include a load measurement device operably associated with the body portion and the hitch ball to determine a magnitude of a force acting on the hitch ball. Additionally, the assembly can include a hitch mount interface configured to interface with an attachment structure that facilitates coupling the weight measuring hitch ball assembly to a tow vehicle.

A vehicle system configured to control a trailer alignment routine comprises a hitch mounted on a vehicle and a controller. The controller is configured to identify a coupler position of a trailer and control motion of the vehicle toward an aligned position. The controller is further configured to calculate a stopping threshold relative to the coupler position. The stopping threshold comprises a semicircle concentric to the coupler position. The controller is further configured to control a braking procedure in response to the hitch passing the stopping threshold.

A force sensing device generates an output signal containing information usable for determining a magnitude and a direction of a force acting on a coupling. The coupling has a hook and a linking element linking the hook to a connection flange. The linking element is linked to the hook and the connection flange by at least two pins. Each pin comprises a torque sensor. The linking element is arranged at an angle with respect to the hook such that independent of the angle of the slope between an imaginary horizontal plane and the longitudinal axis of the connection flange, the linking element does not reach a position, in which the two pins are arranged one above the other in a vertical direction relative to a longitudinal axis of the connection flange.

A ball joint tractor with simple structure and convenient operation is disclosed. When docking is required, it will realize automatic locking, and there is no need for separate personnel to operate. Docking can be completed without getting off the vehicle. The pull ring spring plunger used in the disclosure can be directly inserted into the tractor from the outside of the tractor. When the pull ring spring plunger is damaged, it can be replaced directly without replacing the whole ball joint tractor, which improves the service efficiency of the equipment and avoids the failure of the whole ball joint tractor due to poor spring pin. In the disclosure, by placing the fixing ball in the ball joint groove for locking, the risk of automatic unlocking is avoided, and the safety performance is high and the traction effect is good.