Vehicle trunk mounted fifth wheel trailer hitch

Claim 1

In combination with a vehicle body defining a rear rearwardly and upwardly opening storage compartment, having a cover shiftably supported from the body for movement into and out of position closing said compartment and including a stationary body portion defining an upper forward extremity of said compartment spaced above a floor portion of said compartment and disposed immediately to the rear of the lower marginal edge of a rear window of said vehicle, a tow hitch construction including base plate means overlying and anchored relative to said floor portion within said compartment, stationary vertical tubular standard means anchored at its lower end to a central portion of said base plate means, inclined brace means extending and anchored between front and rear opposite side upper portions of said standard means within said compartment and corresponding front and rear opposite side portions of said base plate means at points spaced outwardly from and about the lower end of said standard means, said stationary body portion having an opening formed therethrough upwardly through which the upper end of said standard means projects, and hitch means including a depending stem, said hitch means stem being freely removably downwardly telescoped into standard means, anchor means carried by a lower portion of said standard means within said compartment releasably anchoring said stem in operative position relative to said standard means against lengthwise shifting of said stem relative to said standard means and with said hitch means disposed above said tubular standard means, said hitch means including an enlarged portion overlying and bearing downward on the upper end of said standard means when the latter is anchored in said operative position.