Ball assembly for measuring tongue weight of a trailer

Abstract

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.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A ball assembly, comprising:
 a ball post having a ball 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 disposed about at least a portion of the exterior surface of the ball post and slidably coupled to the ball post at the ball end;   a load measurement device; and   a load transfer element operably associated with both the hitch ball and the load measurement device and configured to transfer a downward force exerted on the hitch ball to the load measurement device.   
     
     
         2 . The ball assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the hitch ball is rotatable about the ball post. 
     
     
         3 . The ball assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a gap between the ball end of the ball post and the hitch ball. 
     
     
         4 . 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 assembly to the ball mount. 
     
     
         5 . The ball assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the securing feature is selected from the group consisting of a ridge, a lip, a protrusion, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         6 . The ball assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a display in communication with the load measurement device. 
     
     
         7 . The ball assembly of  claim 6 , wherein the display is coupled to the ball post. 
     
     
         8 . The ball assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the display comprises a load gauge. 
     
     
         9 . The ball assembly of  claim 8 , further comprising a fluid reservoir in fluid communication with the load gauge. 
     
     
         10 . The ball assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the fluid reservoir comprises at least one of a hydraulic fluid and a pneumatic fluid. 
     
     
         11 . The ball assembly of  claim 6 , wherein the display is remote from the ball post. 
     
     
         12 . The ball assembly of  claim 11 , wherein the display comprises a digital display. 
     
     
         13 . The ball assembly of  claim 11 , 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 comprises a mobile device. 
     
     
         16 . 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. 
     
     
         17 . 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. 
     
     
         18 . The ball assembly of  claim 17 , wherein the retainer is selected from the group consisting of a groove, a hole, a lip, a protrusion, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         19 . The ball assembly of  claim 18 , 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. 
     
     
         20 . The ball assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the load measurement device comprises a load cell. 
     
     
         21 . The ball assembly of  claim 20 , wherein the load cell a load cell includes one or more of a strain gauge load cell, a mechanical load cell, a hydraulic load cell, or a pneumatic load cell. 
     
     
         22 . The ball assembly of  claim 21 , wherein the load cell is a hydrualic load cell. 
     
     
         23 . A method of measuring tongue weight of a trailer, comprising:
 engaging a tongue of a trailer with the ball mount assembly of  claim 1 .   
     
     
         24 . A tongue weight measuring system, comprising:
 a ball assembly including   a ball post having a ball 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;   a load measurement device;   a load transfer element operably associated with both the hitch ball and the load measurement device and configured to transfer a downward force exerted on the hitch ball to the load measurement device; and   a display in communication with the load measurement device.