Automatic rolling fifth wheel hitch
A fifth wheel hitch is shown and described. The fifth wheel hitch may include a base frame configured to be secured to a load bed of a towing vehicle, a trolley operatively engaged with the base frame, the trolley adapted to move along the base frame between first and second positions, and a cam member attached with the base frame, the cam member having a cam path. The fifth wheel hitch may also include a cam follower coupled with the trolley, the cam follower operatively engaged with the cam path, and a fifth wheel head pivotally coupled with the trolley, where the trolley is moved between the first and second positions in response to pivoting of the fifth wheel head.
1. A fifth wheel hitch comprising:
a base frame;
a cam member attached with the base frame, the cam member having a cam path positioned entirely between the base frame;
a cam follower positionable along the cam path;
a trolley coupled with the cam follower;
a fifth wheel head attached to the trolley, wherein pivoting of the fifth wheel head displaces the trolley rearward toward a rear of a towing vehicle; and
wherein the cam path includes a first portion causing the trolley to be displaced at a first rate as the fifth wheel head pivots and a second portion causing the trolley to be displaced at a second rate, different from the first rate, as the fifth wheel head pivots, and wherein the second portion is at a different pivot angle relative to a centerline of the cam member that the first portion.
2. The fifth wheel hitch of claim 1 , wherein the second rate is less than the first rate.