{"id":76101,"date":"2024-08-24T09:03:26","date_gmt":"2024-08-24T13:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=76101"},"modified":"2024-08-24T09:03:26","modified_gmt":"2024-08-24T13:03:26","slug":"1144096_ford-pivoting-trailer-hitch-patent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=76101","title":{"rendered":"Ford designs pivoting trailer hitch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ford engineers have designed a <strong>trailer hitch that pivots<\/strong> out of the way when not in use.<\/p>\n<p>Described in a patent application published by the <strong>United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)<\/strong> on July 26, but filed by Ford back in 2021, the hitch receiver can move so that it&#8217;s parallel with a vehicle&#8217;s rear bumper. It&#8217;s otherwise a standard receiver that can accommodate a ball hitch or various accessories like bike racks.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"static-marker-video-player-primis\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_wrapper first_wrapper\" readability=\"7\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" name=\"tccimg_100938811_m\" title=\"Ford pivoting trailer hitch patent image\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAD\/ACwAAAAAAQABAAACADs=\" alt=\"Ford pivoting trailer hitch patent image\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"first_image lazy\" data-width=\"1024\" data-height=\"576\" data-url=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/ford-pivoting-trailer-hitch-patent-image_100938811_l.webp\" data-src-h=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/hug\/ford-pivoting-trailer-hitch-patent-image_100938811_h.webp\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/ford-pivoting-trailer-hitch-patent-image_100938811_l.webp\" data-src-l=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/ford-pivoting-trailer-hitch-patent-image_100938811_l.webp\" data-src-m=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/med\/ford-pivoting-trailer-hitch-patent-image_100938811_m.webp\" data-src-s=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/sml\/ford-pivoting-trailer-hitch-patent-image_100938811_s.webp\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Ford pivoting trailer hitch patent image<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>With the hitch pivoted out of the way, it&#8217;s no longer sticking out where it can become an obstacle to people&#8217;s legs when walking around the back of the vehicle, or scrape against the ground if the vehicle is driven up a particularly steep incline, Ford notes in the application. It also eliminates the need to remove the ball hitch, making things a little more convenient for those that tow frequently.<\/p>\n<p>The tubular receiver would be <strong>attached to the vehicle&#8217;s frame<\/strong> via a pin that allows it to rotate, with a lever arm that locks the receiver into place when it&#8217;s stowed or deployed. The assembly could be moved by an electric motor mounted behind the rear bumper, Ford suggests in the application, which would turn a screw that causes the hitch assembly to pivot. This could be controlled from inside the vehicle, Ford notes.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image_wrapper\" readability=\"7\"><img decoding=\"async\" name=\"tccimg_100938812_m\" title=\"Ford pivoting trailer hitch patent image\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAD\/ACwAAAAAAQABAAACADs=\" alt=\"Ford pivoting trailer hitch patent image\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" data-width=\"1024\" data-height=\"576\" data-url=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/ford-pivoting-trailer-hitch-patent-image_100938812_l.webp\" data-src-h=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/hug\/ford-pivoting-trailer-hitch-patent-image_100938812_h.webp\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/ford-pivoting-trailer-hitch-patent-image_100938812_l.webp\" data-src-l=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/ford-pivoting-trailer-hitch-patent-image_100938812_l.webp\" data-src-m=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/med\/ford-pivoting-trailer-hitch-patent-image_100938812_m.webp\" data-src-s=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/sml\/ford-pivoting-trailer-hitch-patent-image_100938812_s.webp\" class=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Ford pivoting trailer hitch patent image<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Patented ideas don&#8217;t always translate into production-viable features, but given the importance of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorauthority.com\/news\/1143994_2025-ford-maverick-lobo-price\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pickup trucks<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorauthority.com\/news\/1142117_2025-ford-explorer-price\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SUVs<\/a> to Ford&#8217;s bottom line, this one may have a better chance than most of making it onto a production vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>Toyota, meanwhile, has tried to patent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motorauthority.com\/news\/1143019_toyota-retractable-and-moveable-tow-hooks-patent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">retractable and moveable tow hooks<\/a>. Instead of convenience, the automaker appears to be more focused on safety with this idea, noting in patent documents that protruding rigid-mounted tow hooks can transmit impact forces to other parts of a vehicle during a crash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ford engineers have designed a trailer hitch that pivots out of the way when not in use. Described in a patent application published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on July 26, but filed by Ford back in 2021, the hitch receiver can move so that it&#8217;s parallel with a vehicle&#8217;s rear [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-cars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}