Fifth wheel hitch plate surfaces with patterned grease reliefs
AssigneeSAF-HOLLAND GmbH
InventorJustin D. Keatley
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fifth wheel hitch plate arrangement includes a mounting portion configured to be coupled to a vehicle frame, a kingpin throat configured to receive a kingpin of a towed vehicle therein, and a body portion supported by the mounting portion, the body portion including an upper surface configured to abut a mating surface of the towed vehicle, a bottom surface opposite the upper surface, and a plurality of reliefs extending from the upper surface toward the bottom surface, wherein the plurality of reliefs are closed at a bottom end thereof, and wherein the plurality of reliefs are spaced about the upper surface in a repeating pattern.
Claims23
A fifth wheel hitch plate arrangement, comprising:
- a mounting portion configured to be coupled to a vehicle frame;
- a kingpin throat configured to receive a kingpin of a towed vehicle therein;
- and
- a body portion supported by the mounting portion, the body portion including an upper surface configured to abut a mating surface of the towed vehicle, a bottom surface opposite the upper surface, and a plurality of reliefs extending from the upper surface toward the bottom surface, wherein the plurality of reliefs are closed at a bottom end thereof, wherein the plurality of reliefs are spaced about the upper surface in a repeating pattern such that at least some of the plurality of reliefs are radially offset from one another with respect to a center of the kingpin throat, wherein the body portion includes a fifth wheel plate member and a wear plate member that is separate from and releasably secured to the fifth wheel plate member, and wherein the wear plate member includes the upper surface and the bottom surface of the body portion.
A fifth wheel hitch plate arrangement, comprising:
- a mounting portion configured to be coupled to a vehicle frame;
- a kingpin throat configured to receive a kingpin of a towed vehicle therein;
- and
- a body portion supported by the mounting portion, the body portion including an upper surface configured to abut a mating surface of the towed vehicle, a bottom surface opposite the upper surface, and a plurality of reliefs extending from the upper surface toward the bottom surface, wherein the plurality of reliefs are closed at a bottom end thereof, and wherein the at least one of the plurality of reliefs is equally spaced from at least three adjacent reliefs of the plurality of reliefs.
A fifth wheel hitch plate arrangement, comprising:
- a mounting portion configured to be coupled to a vehicle frame;
- a kingpin throat configured to receive a kingpin of a towed vehicle therein;
- and
- a body portion supported by the mounting portion, the body portion including an upper surface configured to abut a mating surface of the towed vehicle, a bottom surface opposite the upper surface, and a plurality of reliefs extending from the upper surface toward the bottom surface, wherein the plurality of reliefs are closed at a bottom end thereof, and wherein the plurality of reliefs are spaced in concentric circles.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.