Rear-mounted tow hitch for connecting a towing vehicle electrical system to an electrical system of a towed vehicle trailer, or the like

摘要

A rear mounted tow hitch has a body--to be mounted to the towing vehicle--with a support drum that has a circular recess in an upper surface of the support drum; the recess has a plurality of upwardly facing electrical contacts therein. A drum cover member covers the circular recess. The drum cover member has an upward extension having a universal ball extending from an upper surface of the drum cover member. The drum cover member has a plurality of downwardly facing electrical contacts for contacting the upwardly facing electrical contacts. The drum cover member has a downward extension which extends into a socket extending below an upper surface of the support drum. A lock releasably engages the downward extension of the drum cover member. The lock preferably includes a locking element slidably mounted within the support drum which engages the downward extension. The tow hitch further includes a towed vehicle mounting member having a socket for receiving the universal ball. The towed vehicle mounting member includes a lock which fixes the universal ball thereto such that said ball and said towed vehicle mounting member are maintained at a mutual angular orientation.