Protective guard for a trailer hitch housing

摘要

The protective guard for protecting against damage to a vehicle during a trailer coupling operation includes an impact absorbing guard body covering at least a portion of the outer surface of the longitudinal end portion of a trailer hitch housing extending away from the trailer. The guard body includes a compressible, resilient material such that the guard body is capable of cushioning the impact of a vehicle with a trailer hitch housing. The guard body thereby protects the vehicle from inadvertent damage. The guard body includes a concave inner surface defining an arcuate slot extending inwardly into the guard body. The arcuate slot is adapted to receive an outwardly projecting, generally horizontal flange which extends about an exterior portion of the longitudinal end portion of the trailer hitch housing. The arcuate slot can be adhered to or frictionally engaged with the outwardly extending flange such that the guard body is secured to the longitudinal end portion of the trailer hitch housing and covers at least a portion of the outwardly extending flange. The guard body can also be comprised of a compliant material, such as an elastomeric material, capable of elastically deforming to a plurality of different shapes such that the compliant guard body can adaptively cover at least a portion of the longitudinal end portions of a number of trailer hitch housings having a variety of different shapes.