Abstract: At least one embodiment of the inventive technology may be a ball hitch coupler apparatus that include a housing, an upward ball movement obstructor; a rotatable rod, and a rod biaser established so as to bias the rotatable rod towards a terminal, rod rotation position. The rotatable rod may define a spatial recess that, upon appropriate positioning, may allow for passage of a ball of a ball hitch so that, upon subsequent reconfiguration of the rotatable rod, the ball may be captured, resulting in a coupling needed for, e.g., towing.

Abstract: A fifth wheel ball hitch latching assembly includes a housing, a funnel mounted within the housing and defining a conical-shaped passage for guiding movement of a ball hitch into the funnel through an open bottom end thereof toward an open top end thereof as the housing is lowered onto the ball hitch, a shaft mounted in the housing to undergo movement along a longitudinal axis of the housing between raised and lowered positions, the shaft having a lower end extending through the open top end and into the passage of the funnel and biased toward the lowered position, a pair of latch dogs extending through slots in the funnel and being movable away from and toward the longitudinal axis of the housing between retracted and extended positions, a linkage pivotally connecting the shaft with the latch dogs such that movement of the shaft between the lowered and raised positions causes the latch dogs to correspondingly move between the retracted and extended positions such that insertion of the ball hitch through the