Noise dampener for a vehicle hitch
AssigneeAutoPacific Australia Pty Ltd
InventorsMatthew Waye, Matthew Reimers, Huey Lam
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A noise dampener that includes a dampener body; a hinged lever connected to the body and moveable between an engaged position and a disengaged position; a plunger cooperatively engaged with the lever, the plunger having a dedicated hitch engagement surface; and a fastening means configured to fasten the lever and plunger to an exterior surface of the hitch. The lever is operable to move the plunger in a vertical up and down movement so that the hitch engagement surface presses against an exterior surface of attachment arm inserted into the hitch.
Claims11
A noise and anti-swaying dampener for a vehicle hitch, comprising:
- a dampener body;
- a lever pivotally connected to said body and moveable between an engaged position and a disengaged position, said lever being configured to rotate relative to said dampener body about a first rotation axis at said dampener body;
- a plunger cooperatively engaged with said lever, said plunger having a fungible hitch engagement surface;
- and
- a fastening means configured to fasten said lever and plunger to an exterior surface of the hitch, said lever being operable to move said plunger so that said hitch engagement surface presses against an exterior surface of attachment arm inserted into said hitch, said dampener body being configured to rotate relative to said fastening means about a second rotation axis at said dampener body, the first and second rotation axes being parallel and offset from one another.
A method for attaching an attachment arm to a hitch, comprising:
- swivelling a closure cap from a closed position to an open position about a first rotation axis;
- inserting an attachment arm into the hitch while the closure cap is in the open position;
- and rotating a lever on the closure cap to engage a portion of the cap against a portion of the attachment arm about a second rotation axis, the first and second rotation axes being parallel and offset from one another, including downwardly moving a plunger against an exterior of the attachment arm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.