Towing vehicle with hardened fifth wheel plate, method for hardening a fifth wheel plate for a towing vehicle

摘要

A towing vehicle (12) has a fifth wheel coupling for connecting the towing vehicle to a semi-trailer. The fifth wheel coupling comprises a fifth wheel plate (10) with a bearing surface (20) for supporting the semi-trailer, at least in areas (32) of the fifth wheel plate (10) exposed to increased wear, a plurality of regions (30) of hardened fifth wheel material is provided, which are not divided by regions hardened saddle plate material (31) are separated from each other. The hardened areas are produced by a laser hardening process, in which a layer of cast material of predetermined thickness is first removed from the support surface and then the saddle plate material is locally heated by means of a laser.