Trailer breakaway device

Abstract

A trailer breakaway safety mechanism which brings a trailer to a controlled stop after disengagement with a pulling vehicle. The mechanism consists of a cable which remains attached to the trailer after the trailer has disengaged from the pulling vehicle. As the trailer slows in relationship to the pulling vehicle, the cable activates a breaking mechanism on the trailer. Once the breaking mechanism has been fully actuated, the hook which attaches the cable to the pulling vehicle fails thereby completely releasing the trailer from the pulling vehicle. Steel balls are swaged to the cables so that when the cable is released from the pulling vehicle, a spring lock can engage the balls and prevent the cable from retracting and releasing the actuated brake. After the trailer has come to a complete stop, a screwdriver or other tool may be inserted into the housing of a mechanism to push back the spring lock and release the steel balls which thereby allows the cable to release the trailer brake.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.