Fifth wheel slider assembly

Abstract

A fifth wheel slider assembly comprises at least one rack member having a first side and a second side and is supportable above a vehicle frame, a hitch plate with a throat for receiving a kingpin of a trailer, and a pair of support brackets pivotally supporting the hitch plate and slidably abutting the first side of the at least one rack member. The slider assembly further includes a guide plate slidably abutting the second side of the at least one rack member and coupled to the pair of support brackets by a plurality of mechanical fasteners, and an engagement assembly releasably engaging the at least one rack member at incremental points along the length of the at least one rack member, thereby selectively positioning the hitch plate with respect to the at least one rack member.

1 . A fifth wheel slider assembly, comprising: 
 at least one rack member having a first side and a second side and supportable above a vehicle frame;    a hitch plate with a throat for receiving a kingpin of a trailer;    a pair of support brackets pivotably supporting the hitch plate and slidably abutting the first side of the at least one rack member;    a guide plate slidably abutting the second side of the at least one rack member and coupled to the pair of support brackets by a plurality of mechanical fasteners; and    an engagement assembly releasably engaging the at least one rack member at incremental points along a length of the at least one rack member, thereby selectively positioning the hitch plate with respect to the at least one rack member.    
     
     
         2 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 1 , further including: 
 a pair of mounting members fixably secured to the at least one rack member and fixably securable to a vehicle frame, thereby supporting the hitch assembly above a vehicle frame.    
     
     
         3 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 2 , further including a pair of lateral support members extending between the mounting members.  
     
     
         4 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 3 , further including: 
 at least one stop member connected to at least one of the support brackets and adapted to abut at least one of the lateral support members, thereby limiting an amount of travel of the hitch along the length of the at least one rack member.    
     
     
         5 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the at least one stop member is connected to at least one of the support brackets by the mechanical fasteners coupling the guide plate to the support brackets.  
     
     
         6 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 3 , further comprising: 
 a bulkhead bracket releasably engagable with at least one of the support members and adapted to retain control lines extending between a vehicle and the fifth wheel slider assembly.    
     
     
         7 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 6 , wherein the bulkhead bracket is frictionally engageable with at least one of the support members.  
     
     
         8 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the engagement assembly comprises a pneumatic cylinder.  
     
     
         9 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the engagement assembly further comprises at least one lock member releasably engagable with the at least one rack member at the incremental points along the length of the at least one rack member, and wherein the at least one lock member is actuated by the pneumatic cylinder between an engaged position and an unengaged position.  
     
     
         10 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 1 , wherein each of the support brackets includes an integrally formed tilt stop adapted to abut the hitch plate, thereby limiting a pivoting travel of the hitch plate with respect to the support brackets.  
     
     
         11 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 1 , wherein each of the support brackets includes a pivot aperture; and further including: 
 a two-piece elastically resilient bushing mounted within each of the pivot apertures.    
     
     
         12 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of mechanical fasteners includes a plurality of nuts and bolts.  
     
     
         13 . A fifth wheel slider assembly comprising: 
 a pair of mounting members adapted to respectively mount to a pair of vehicle frame rails;    a pair of rack members each having a first side and a second side and fixably secured to the mounting members;    a hitch plate with a throat for receiving a kingpin of a trailer;    a pair of support brackets pivotably supporting the hitch plate;    a guide plate coupled with the support brackets by a plurality of mechanical fasteners such that the support brackets slidably abut the first sides of the rack members and the guide plate slidably abuts the second sides of the rack members; and    an engagement assembly releasably engaging the rack members at incremental points along a length of the rack members, thereby selectively positioning the hitch plate with respect to rack members.    
     
     
         14 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 13 , further including a pair of lateral support members extending between the mounting members.  
     
     
         15 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 14 , further including: 
 at least one stop member connected to at least one of the support brackets and adapted to abut at least one of the lateral support members, thereby limiting an amount of travel of the hitch along the length of the at least one rack member.    
     
     
         16 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one stop member is connected to at least one of the support brackets by the mechanical fasteners coupling the guide plate to the support brackets.  
     
     
         17 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the mounting members each have an L-shaped cross-sectional configuration.  
     
     
         18 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the engagement assembly comprises at least one lock member releasably engagable with the at least one rack member at the incremental points along the length of the at least one rack member.  
     
     
         19 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 13 , wherein each of the support brackets includes an integrally formed tilt stop adapted to abut the hitch plate, thereby limiting a pivotably travel of the hitch plate with respect to the mounting brackets.  
     
     
         20 . The fifth wheel slider assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the plurality of mechanical fasteners includes a plurality of nuts and bolts.