Quick hitch assembly

Claim 2

A quick hitch assembly for attaching an earthworking implement having a hook assembly to a vehicle comprising: a frame assembly secured to movable arms on a vehicle, said frame assembly including: a support bar extending generally horizontally and transverse to the direction of vehicle travel and engageable with an upper portion of said implement hook assembly; abutment means positioned below said support bar for supporting a lower portion of said implement hook assembly; and a remotely controlled locking means positioned between said support bar and said abutment means for locking said implement to said frame, said locking means comprising: a power actuator having a piston and cylinder, means mounting said cylinder to said frame assembly; a guide member secured to said frame assembly and having a configuration for slidingly receiving said piston and maintaining the axis of said piston in a generally vertical direction regardless of the position of the piston relative to the cylinder; a pair of pin guide members mounted on said frame assembly; a pair of lock pins mounted for substantially horizontal sliding movement in said guide members; and linkage means connected to said vertically movable piston rod and to said abutment means for imparting a horizontal movement to said lock pins for selective engagement by said pins with said implement hook assembly upon vertical movement of said piston rod.

Claim 3

The quick hitch assembly according to claim 1 wherein said implement is provided with a pair of substantially identical spaced hook assemblies each including hook means for engaging said support bar to thereby align the vehicle and the implement and a plate member extending in a substantially horizontal plane having a through bore, said bore having a substantially horizontal axis and a size sufficiently large to receive one of said lock pins.

Claim 4

A quick hitch assembly for attaching an earthworking implement having a hook assembly to a vehicle comprising: a frame assembly secured to movable arms on a vehicle, said frame assembly including: a support bar extending generally horizontally and transverse to the direction of vehicle travel and engageable with an upper portion of said implement hook assembly; abutment means positioned below said support bar for supporting a lower portion of said implement hook assembly; and a remotely controlled locking means positioned between said support bar and said abutment means for locking said implement to said frame, said locking means comprising: a power actuator having a piston and cylinder mounted so that the piston rod moves in a generally vertical direction; a pair of pin guide members mounted on said frame assembly; a pair of lock pins mounted for substantially horizontal sliding movement in said guide members; and linkage means connecteD to said vertically movable piston rod and to said abutment means for imparting a horizontal movement to said lock pins for selective engagement by said pins with said implement hook assembly upon vertical movement of said piston rod, and said linkage means comprising: a collar connected to said piston rod for vertical movement therewith; a first pair of linkage arms pivotally connected at one end to said abutment means at different pivot axes and at the other end to a pivot pin associated with different ones of said lock pins; a second pair of linkage arms pivotally connected at one end to said collar along the same pivot axis and at the other end to the respective pivot pins; and a third pair of linkage arms pivotally connected at one end to their associated lock pin and at the other end to the respective pivot pins.

Claim 5

A quick hitch assembly for attaching an earthworking implement having a hook assembly to a vehicle comprising: a frame assembly secured to movable arms on a vehicle, said frame assembly including: a support bar extending generally horizontally and transverse to the direction of vehicle travel and engageable with an upper portion of said implement hook assembly; abutment means positioned below said support bar for supporting a lower portion of said implement hook assembly; and a remotely controlled locking means positioned between said support bar and said abutment means for locking said implement to said frame, said locking means comprising: a power actuator having a piston and cylinder mounted so that the piston rod moves in a generally vertical direction; a pair of pin guide members mounted on said frame assembly; a pair of lock pins mounted for substantially horizontal sliding movement in said guide members; and linkage means connecteD to said vertically movable piston rod and to said abutment means for imparting a horizontal movement to said lock pins for selective engagement by said pins with said implement hook assembly upon vertical movement of said piston rod, and said linkage means comprising: a collar connected to said piston rod for vertical movement therewith; a first pair of linkage arms pivotally connected at one end to said abutment means at different pivot axes and at the other end to a pivot pin associated with different ones of said lock pins; a second pair of linkage arms pivotally connected at one end to said collar along the same pivot axis and at the other end to the respective pivot pins; and a third pair of linkage arms pivotally connected at one end to their associated lock pin and at the other end to the respective pivot pins.

Claim 6

The quick hitch assembly according to claim 3 wherein the piston rod axis and the axes of the lock pins are coplanar, and the third pair of linkage arms extend above the lock pin axes when the lock pins are in their retracted position and are pivoted downwardly to extend below the lock pin axes when the lock pins are in their extended locking position.

Claim 7

The quick hitch assembly according to claim 3 wherein said implement is provided with a pair of substantially identical spaced hook assemblies each including hook means for engaging said support bar to thereby align the vehicle and the implement and a plate member extending in a substantially horizontal plane having a through bore, said bore having a substantially horizontal axis and a size sufficiently large to receive one of said lock pins.

Claim 8

A quick hitch assembly for securing an earthworking implement to a vehicle comprising in combination: a frame assembly secured to movable arms on a vehicle, said frame assembly including: a support bar having an axis extending generally horizontally and transverse to the direction of vehicle travel; abutment means spaced below said support bar; means for locking said implement to said frame assembly including: a power actuated cylinder assembly having a piston rod mounted for guided movement in a substantially vertical direction; a pair of lock pins mounted for horizontal reciprocating movement in guides secured to said frame assembly; and linkage means connected to said piston rod and said abutment means for selectively moving said lock pins into and out of lock positions with movement of said piston rod; and a hook assembly secured to the rear portion of said implement including: a pair of spaced members secured to said implement and extending rearwardly from said implement; an upper hook portion supported at the rear of each of said spaced members and adapted to engage said support bar and when engaged to limit relative movement between the implement and vehicle to allow pivotal movement about the horizontal axis of said support bar; a lower support portion at the rear of each of said spaced members and adapted to engage said abutment means to limit the rearward movement of the lower portion of said implement; and means mounted on the lower portion of each of said spaced members for receiving said lock pins to limit forward movement of the lower portion of said implement.

Claim 9

A quick hitch assembly for securing an earthworking implement to a vehicle comprising in combination: a frame assembly secured to movable arms on a vehicle, said frame assembly including: a support bar having an axis extending generally horizontally and transverse to the direction of vehicle travel; abutment means spaced below said support bar; means for locking said implement to said frame assembly including: a power actuated cylinder assembly having a piston rod mounted for guided movement in a substantially vertical direction; a pair of lock pins mounted for horizontal reciprocating movement in guides secured to said frame assembly; and linkage means connected to said piston rod and said abutment means for selectively moving said lock pins into and out of lock positions with movement of said piston rod; and a hook assembly secured to the rear portion of said implement including: a pair of spaced members secured to said implement and extending rearwardly from said implement; an upper hook portion supported at the rear of each of said spaced members and adapted to engage said support bar and when engaged to limit relative movement between the implement and vehicle to allow pivotal movement about the horizontal axis of said support bar; a lower support portion at the rear of each of said spaced members and adapted to engage said abutment means to limit the rearward movement of the lower portion of said implement; and means mounted on the lower portion of each of said spaced members for receiving said lock pins to limit forward movement of the lower portion of said implement.

Claim 10

The quick hitch assembly according to claim 6 wherein said linkage means comprises: a collar connected to said piston rod for vertical movement therewith; a first pair of linkage arms pivotally connected at one end to said abutment means at different pivot axes and at the other end to a pivot pin associated with different ones of said lock pins; a second pair of linkage arms pivotally connected at one end to said collar along the same pivot axis and at the other end to the respective pivot pins; and a third pair of linkage arms pivotally connected at one end to their associated lock pin and at the other end to the respective pivot pins.

Claim 11

The quick hitch assembly accordIng to claim 7 wherein the piston rod axis and the axes of the lock pins are coplanar, and the third pair of linkage arms extend above the lock pin axes when the lock pins are in their retracted position and are pivoted downwardly to extend below the lock pin axes when the lock pins are in their extended locking position.