Ball assembly for measuring tongue weight of a trailer
A ball assembly for attachment to a ball mount is described. The ball assembly can include a ball post that is securable to a ball mount. A hitch ball is slidably coupled to the ball post at a ball end of the ball post. A load gauge is disposed at the gauge end of the ball post. A load transfer element is operably associated with both the hitch ball and the load gauge so as to cause a load measurement to display on the load gauge based upon a load applied to the hitch ball.
1. A ball assembly, comprising:
a ball post having a ball end, a gauge end, an exterior surface, and an interior surface opposite the exterior surface, the interior surface defining an interior cavity, the ball post being securable to a ball mount operable to couple with a hitch receiver of a vehicle;
a hitch ball slidably coupled to the ball post at the ball end, wherein the hitch ball is disposed about at least a portion of the exterior surface of the ball post;
a load gauge housing coupled to the ball post at the gauge end;
a load gauge disposed in the load gauge housing;
a fluid reservoir having a fluid comprising at least one of a hydraulic fluid and a pneumatic fluid in fluid communication with the load gauge; and
a load transfer element operably associated with both the hitch ball and the load gauge so as to cause a load measurement to display on the load gauge based upon a load applied to the hitch ball, and wherein at least a portion of the load transfer element is disposed within the interior cavity.
2. The ball assembly of claim 1 , wherein a portion of the exterior surface of the ball post forms a securing feature to engage the ball mount and facilitate attachment of the ball post to the ball mount.
3. The ball assembly of claim 2 , wherein the securing feature is selected from the group consisting of a ridge, a lip, a protrusion, and combinations thereof.
4. The ball assembly of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the load transfer element is disposed within the ball mount.
5. The ball assembly of claim 4 , wherein the portion of the load transfer element disposed within the ball mount is selected from the group consisting of a pin, a plunger, a hydraulic piston, a pneumatic piston, and combinations thereof.
6. The ball assembly of claim 1 , wherein the exterior surface of the ball post forms a retainer to facilitate retention of the hitch ball to the ball post.
7. The ball assembly of claim 6 , wherein the retainer is selected from the group consisting of a groove, a hole, a lip, a protrusion, and combinations thereof.
8. The ball assembly of claim 1 , wherein the hitch ball is permanently coupled to the ball post.
9. The ball assembly of claim 1 , wherein the hitch ball is removably coupled to the ball post.
10. The ball assembly of claim 9 , wherein the hitch ball is removably coupled to the ball post via at least one of threads, clips, clamps, cam-locks, locking detents, pins, screws, hinges, and combinations thereof.
11. The ball assembly of claim 1 , wherein the load transfer element is selected from the group consisting of a spring, a pin, a plunger, a hydraulic piston, a pneumatic piston, an electric sensor, and combinations thereof.
12. The ball assembly of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the load transfer element extends out of the ball post at the ball end to provide a gap between the ball end of the ball post and the hitch ball.
13. The ball assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a wireless transmitter to wirelessly transmit load measurements to a remote display.
14. The ball assembly of claim 13 , wherein the remote display is a display associated with a towing vehicle.
15. The ball assembly of claim 13 , wherein the remote display is a mobile device.
16. A method of measuring tongue weight of a trailer, comprising:
engaging the ball assembly of claim 1 with a ball mount configured to couple to a vehicle; and
engaging a tongue of a trailer with the ball assembly.
17. The ball assembly of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the load transfer element extends into the load gauge housing.
18. The ball assembly of claim 1 , wherein a portion of the load gauge housing forms a securing feature to engage the ball mount and facilitate attachment of the ball post to the ball mount.
19. The ball assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a fastener configured to engage the exterior surface of the ball post and facilitate attachment of the ball post to the ball mount.
20. The ball assembly of claim 13 , further comprising a power source.