GB2168011A

GB2168011A - Curtain sided vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2168011A
Application number: GB08431176A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Donald Geoffrey Thornton
Original assignee: NMI TRUCK BODIES Ltd
Current assignee: NMI TRUCK BODIES Ltd
Priority date: 1984-12-11
Filing date: 1984-12-11
Publication date: 1986-06-11
Also published as: GB8431176D0

Abstract

A curtain-sided vehicle comprises a floor (11) forming a loading platform, a headboard (12) at a forward end of the floor, a rear entrance frame (13) at a rear end of the floor, a roof structure (14) mounted on the headboard (12) and on the rear frame (13), a cantrail extending along each side of the vehicle between the headboard and the rear frame, a respective curtain (16) hung from each cantrail and arranged to be drawn along the side between an open position allowing access to the loading platform and a closed position in which the curtain closes the space defined along the respective side between the headboard (12), the cantrail (16), the rear frame (13) and the edge of the floor, and at least one roof support (17) which extends between the floor (11) and the roof (14) at a position intermediate the forward and rear ends of the floor. In order to permit the supporting position of the roof support to be adjusted, to vary the side access to the loading platform, an upper guide is secured to the roof structure and a lower guide is secured to the floor, and along which the ends (19, 20) respectively of the roof support are movable. A releasable locking arrangement is provided at the lower end of the roof support whereby the lower end may be released and pivoted outwardly to provide further access. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Curtain-sided vehicles This invention relates to a curtain-sided vehicle, which may take the form of a vehicle body rigidly attached to a chassis having an engine and driving cab mounted thereon, a trailer or semi-trailer, or a railway truck.

As is well known, a curtain-sided vehicle usually comprises a floor which forms a loading platform, a headboard at forward end of the floor, a rear entrance frame at the rear end of the floor and on which access doors are mounted, a roof structure, and a pair of curtains arranged one along each of the longitudinal sides of the floor. The curtains are made of flexible material, usually reinforced plastics, and can be drawn along the respective side of the floor between open and closed positions and which can be tensioned in a vertical direction by a series of tension buckles, when in the closed position, so as to perform a dual function of closing access to the floor and weatherproofing the vehicle contents, and also in contributing to the structural rigidity of the vehicle as a whole.The tension buckles are arranged throughout the length of each curtain (horizontally spaced) and apply very considerable downward load (say up to eight tons) between the lower edge of the curtain and the adjacent edge of the floor side. This downward load is transmitted to an upper rail (cantrail) from which the curtain is suspended, and thereby imparts rigidity to the rectangular framework at each side of the vehicle which is defined by the side edge of the floor, the headboard, the rear frame and the cantrail.

Curtain-sided vehicles have the advantage that access can readily be had to the loading platform via either side of the vehicle when a respective curtain is drawn back. When a curtain is fully drawn back, access can be had for loading and unloading throughout virtually the entire side of the loading platform. This facilitates load handling generally over existing fixed wall types of truck bodies, and is also useful in the lateral loading of very lengthy articles.

Given that a major advantage to users of curtain sides vehicles resides in the feature of easy loading and unloading of goods, it is an objective of manufacturers to avoid as far as possible the necessity for any unnecessary obstructions to be present on the vehicle floor. However, the length of curtain sided vehicles can be up to forty foot, which usually means that one or more roof-supporting posts or pillars must be provided on the vehicle floor, since an unsupported roof structure of such a length has insufficient strength and durability and is liable to undulate in service with risk of premature failure or accelerated wear of the roof structure. the presence of supporting posts on the vehicle floor obstructs easy handling of goods during loading and unloading.

With a view to overcoming the problem of loss of easy access to the loading platform, by virtue of the presence of fixed roof-supporting posts on the vehicle floor, it has been proposed to provide supporting posts which are removably mounted, or which can be pivoted temporarily from a roofsupporting position in order to improve access to the loading platform. In the case of removable posts, there is the inconvenience and a time penalty in the mounting, and dismounting of a post; and in the case of pivotally mounted posts there is still inconvenience and time consumed in moving the post between its two positions, but also the disadvantage that the post has to be held manually out of the way during loading and unloading operations, and yet still does not provide wholly unimpeded access to the platform.There is also a serious risk of personal injury to an operative while the support post is temporarily disabled and pivoted out of its supporting position. With both of the known constructions, there is also a problem that a lazy or inattentive operative may not re-mount the post properly in position prior to departure of the vehicle to a next stopping point.

The present invention has therefore been developed primarily with a view to improve the access to the loading platform of a curtain-sided vehicle, while providing a satisfactory vertical support of the vehicle roof from the vehicle floor at one or more regions intermediate the forward and rear ends of the floor.

According to the invention there is provided a curtain-sided vehicle which comprises a floor forming a loading platform, a headboard at a forward end of the floor, a rear entrance frame at a rear end of the floor, a roof structure mounted on the headboard and on the rear frame, a respective cantrail extending along each side of the vehicle between the headboard and the rear frame, a respective curtain hung from each cantrail and arranged to be drawn along the side between an open position allowing access to the loading platform and a closed position in which the curtain closes the space defined along the respective side between the headboard, the cantrail, the rear frame and the edge of the floor, at least one roof support which extends between the floor and the roof at a position intermediate the forward and rear ends of the floor, and an upper guide secured to the roof structure and a lower guide secured to the floor and along which the upper and lower ends respectively of the roof support are movable when it is required to alter the supporting position of the roof support.

The upper guide may be arranged to extend along at least part of one of the cantrails, and the corresponding lower guide may comprise a guide track which is arranged to extend along at least part of the corresponding side edge of the floor. Preferably, a pair of roof supports is provided, each support being arranged for movement longitudinally of a respective one of the sides of the vehicle. Thus, each of the roof supports can occupy any desired position (of a plurality of possible positions along the respective guides) to provide the required access to the loading platform to suit any particular loading and/or unloading requirements. Further, in any of these positions, the roof supports are able to contribute substantially to the support of the roof at positions intermediate the forward and rear ends of the floor.Given that, in the absence of the roof supports, there can be very substantial lengths e.g.

up to forty foot, of unsupported roof structure in current designs of curtain sided vehicles, the invention provides satisfactory roof supportwhile still enabling easy access to be had to the loading platform, by adjustment of the position of the support as necessary.

It is preferred that one pair of upper and lower guides is arranged along one side of the vehicle and preferably a pair is arranged on each side of the vehicle. However, this is not essential to the invention, and upper and lower guides may be arranged (alternatively or in addition) along other regions of the roof and floor, intermediate the forward and rear ends of the floor. Thus, a pair of upper and lower guides may be arranged to define a path of movement for a respective roof support, which path extends longitudinally of the floor, at a position intermediate the longitudinal side edges (preferably mid-way), or may extend transversely of the floor.

A roof support in a curtain-sided vehicle according to the invention will be constructed to be sufficiently robust so as to withstand the forces transmitted in service between the roof and the floor. A box frame structure is preferred.

According to a preferred advantageous embodiment of the invention, a roof support is a ladder-type support which has the dual advantage of (a) a strong construction and (b) allows an operative easily to climb the support which may be useful in checking the position or state of uppermost loads on the platform, say a second or third tier of pallets, or for lashing down such upper loads.

When a pair of ladder type roof supports are provided, arranged for movement along each side of the trailer, the supports may be adjusted to face each other, and the "rungs" of the supports may be used to support transversely extending support members.

This may be useful to a user who wishes to have rack-type of storage suitable, for example, in transporting long objects, such as lengths of pipe.

Other shapes of roof support than ladder-type supports may be used, provided that they have sufficient strength, such as A-frames, X-frames, I-frames and the like.

Conveniently, the upper and lower ends of the or each roof support are provided with runners, rollers or slides, and the upper and lower guides may comprise guide tracks suitably shaped for any particular arrangements at the ends of the roof support.

Preferably, a locking arrangement is provided for locking the support in any desired position. This may comprise a spring-loaded latch on the lower end of the support, which can be presed into engagement in any one of a number of suitably positioned latch recesses in the lower guide.

As indicated above, the upper and lower end of the or each roof support is guided for movement along respective upper and lower guides. However, in addition, the roof support may be arranged to be pivotable about an axis close to one of the guides, preferably the upper guide, and to be releasable from engagement with the other guide, whereby the roof support can be pivoted out of the plane of its normal supporting position in order to allow even greater access to be had to the loading platform.

Embodiments of curtain-sided vehicle according to the invention will now be described in detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a curtain-sided vehicle according to the invention, in the form of a semitrailer; Figure 2 is a plan view of the semi-trailer shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective illustration of one construction of movable roof support for use in the vehicle; Figure 4 is a perspective view, similar two Figure 3, of another construction of roof support for use in the vehicle, and showing upper and lower guides for guiding the movement of the support; Figures 5a to 5h show alternative constructions of roof support; Figure 6 illustrates detail views of alternative means for guiding the movement of the upper end of a roof support along a cantrail of the vehicle; and Figure 7 illustrates detail views of alternative means of guiding the movement of the lower end of a roof support along a side edge of the vehicle floor.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is shown a curtain-sided vehicle in the form of a semi-trailer which is designated generally by reference 10. The trailer 10 comprises a floor 11 which forms a loading platform, a headboard 12 at a forward end of the floor 11, a rear entrance frame 13 at the rear end of the floor 11 and on which access doors (not shown in detail) are pivotally mounted, a roof structure 14 which is mounted on the upper end of the headboard 12 and the upper end of rear frame 13, and cantrails (described in more detail below) along each side of the vehicle from which curtains are suspended.

As shown in Figure 4, a cantrail 15 is provided along each of the longitudinal edges of the roof structure 14, and extends continuously from the upper end of the headboard 12 to the upper end of the rear frame 13. A respective curtain 16 (see Figure 1) is suspended from each cantrail (15) and is arranged to be drawn along the respective side between an open position (as shown in Figure 1) which allows access to the loading platform and a closed position in which the curtain 16 closes the space defined along the respective side of the vehicle between the headboard 12, the cantrail 15, the rear frame 13 and the longitudinal side edge of the floor.

In view of the fact that the roof structure 14 is of substantial length, and typically up to forty foot in existing designs of curtain sided vehicle, this represents a very substantial unsupported length of roof structure, at all positions intermediate the support provided at the forward and rear ends by the headboard 12 and rear frame 13 respectively.

Accordingly, in order to impart necessary rigidity to the overall structure, at least one roof support is provided which extends between the floor 11 and the roof 14 at a position intermediate the forward and rear ends of the floor 11. As shown schematically in Figure 1, a roof support 17 is provided which extends between the floor 11 and the roof 14 at any desired position along one of the longitudinal side edges of the floor 1 As shown in Figure 2, roof supports 17a and 17b are provided, one along each of the longitudinal side edges 18 of the floor 11.As will be described in more detail below with reference to Figures 4, 6 and 7, an upper guide is secured to the roof structure 14 and a lower guide is secured to the floor, and along which the upper end 19 and lower end 20 respectively of the roof support 17 are movable when it is required to alter the supporting position of the roof support.

Referring now to Figure 3, the roof support 17 is shown in more detail, and to an enlarged scale, and it will be seen that this is a ladder-type support having rungs 21 extending between upright posts 22. At the lower end 20, guide rollers 23 are pivotally mounted within the posts 22, and similar guide rollers 24 are pivotally mounted at the upper end 19 in inwardly offset portions 25 attached to the upper ends of the posts 22. The offset nature of the mounting of the guide rollers 24 serves to allow the roller suspension (described in more detail below) of the curtain 16 to pass alongside but outwardly of the support 17 during curtain movements.A releasable latch 26 is provided on the lower end of one of the posts 22, and is spring biased, and serves to lock the support 17 in any desired position along its path of movement by engaging in a suitable locating recess (not shown) provided along the path of movement of the lower end of the support.

Referring now to Figure 6, there is shown in cross-section the manner by which the upper end 19 of a roof support may be guided for movement along an upper guide provided on the cantrail 15.

Figure 6 shows three alternative constructions of upper guide attached to cantrail 15. In Figure 6a there is shown an upper guide 27 in the form of an inverted channel which is attached to the underside of a generally U-shaped (lying on its side) cantrail section 15a. The upper guide 27 is located inwardly, with respect to the side of the vehicle, of a curtain track 28 which is also mounted on the underside of cantrail 15a. The rollers 24 on the upper end 19 of the roof support run along the upper guide 27. The guide rollers 24 may be replaced by alternative constructions, such as runners, or sliders, in which case upper guide 27 will be appropriately shaped to correspond with the particular construction at the upper end of the support 17.

Referring to Figure 6b, there is shown a cantrail section 15b, which is less deep than cantrail section 15a of Figure 6a, and which has an upper guide in the form of guide rail 29 which is secured to the inner surface of the connecting web of cantrail section 15b. A runner 30 is rotatably mounted in the inwardly offset end 31 of the roof support.

In Figure 6c, there is shown a cantrail section 1 sic in which a guide track for a roller 32 is provided buy a curled flange portion 33 of the cantrail section.

Referring now to Figure 7, there is shown, by way of example, four different ways of providing lower guides secured to the floor 11 for guiding the movement of the lower end 20 of a roof support. In Figure 7a, there is shown a twin channel track 34, into either of which can be positioned the lower end of support 17. The twin track 34 is secured along the longitudinal side edge of floor 11, and each track serves to guide the movement of roller 23 mounted on the lower end of the support 17.Alternative engagements may be provided of the support 17, than the rollers 23, for example runners or sliders, in which case the guide will be appropriately shaped, In Figure 7b, there is shown a lower guide in the form of an inverted V-track 35 which is arranged along the longitudinal side edge of floor 11, and onto which engages a V-section guide roller 36 mounted in the lower end 20 of support 17. In Figure 7b, the track 35 is secured on the upper surface of body side member or rave rail 1 lea of the floor 11.

In Figure 7c, there is shown a lower guide in the form of a recessed track 37 formed in the rave rail 11 a, along which is movable a runner 38 of the support 17. In Figure 7d, there is an underslung guide arrangement, whereby a cantilever mounted roller 39 of support 17 runs along a lower flange 11b of rave rail 11 a.

In respect of the upper and lower guides, described above with reference to Figures 6 and 7, it should be understood that the longitudinal extent of the guide paths may be varied to suit requirements.

Thus, the guides may extend continuously throughout the lengths of the longitudinal side edges 18 of the floor (see Figure 2) or may extend only for one or more shorter lengths.

Referring now to Figure 4 of the drawings, there is shown an alternative construction of roof support, designated by referenced 117, and which has an offset upper end 119 with runners 124 which are movable along a guide track 129 on the inside face of the cantrail 15. At the lower end of the support 117, there is provided sliders 123 which run along a channel section guide track 137 which forms the rave rail of the floor 11. The sliders 123 are pivotable by arms 123a between an operative position, shown in full lines, and a release position shown in dashed outline. When the arms 123a are in the operative position, the support 117 is movable in a substantially vertical mode along the side of the vehicle, by engagement ofthe guides 123 in the guide track 137 and the rollers 124 in the sliders track 129. In this arrangement, the support 117 forms a rigid interconnection between the floor 11 and the roof structure 14. However, if the arms 123a are pivoted to the release position, then the entire support 117 can be pivoted outwardly, about substantially horizontal axes adjacent to the upper end, which are provided by pivot mountings 125 which interconnect the upper ends of the posts 122 of support 117 and the offset arrangement 119. The support 117 can be pivoted upwardly and outwardly to the position shown in dashed-dot outline, in order to further improve the access to the vehicle, via the side thereof. This may be useful when full length access is required to the side of the vehicle for loading and unloading long items.

In order to compensate for any height variations which may occur in the vertical spacing-apart of the upper and lower guides, along the lengths of the guides, a roof support may have runners, rollers or sliders which engage the guides in such a way as to allow limited movement vertically relative to their mountings on the support in order to compensate for the height variations.

Finally, referring to FigureS, there are shown in Figures 5a to h alternative constructions of roof support.

The embodiments described above relate to a semi-trailer of a road vehicle. However, it should be understood that the features of the invention may be applied to other forms of "curtain sided vehicle", including trailers, vehicle bodies rigidly attached to a chassis having an engine and driving cab mounted thereon, or railway trucks.

Claims

1. A curtain-sided vehicle which comprises a floorforming a loading platform, a headboard art a forward end of the floor, a rear entrance frame at a rear end of the floor, a roof structure mounted on the headboard and on the rear frame, a respective cantrail extending along each side of the vehicle between the headboard and the rear frame, a respective curtain hung from each cantrail and arranged to be drawn along the side between an open position allowing access to the loading platform and a closed position in which the curtain closes the space defined along the respective side between the headboard, the cantrail, the rear frame and the edge of the floor, at least one roof support which extends between the floor and the roof at a position intermediate the forward and rear ends of the floor, and an upper guide secured to the roof structure and a lower guide secured to the floor and along which the upper and lower ends respectively of the roof support are movable when it is required to alter the supporting position of the roof support.

2. A curtain-sided vehicle according to claim 1, in which the upper guide is arranged to extend along at least part of one of the cantrails, and the corresponding lower guide comprises a guide track which is arranged to extend along at least part of the corresponding side edge of the floor.

3. A curtain-sided vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, in which a pair of roof supports is provided, each support being arranged for movement longitudinally of a respective one of the sides of the vehicle.

4. A curtain-sided vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims, in which a respective pair of upper and lower guides is arranged on each side of the vehicle.

5. A curtain-sided vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims, in which a pair of upper and lower guides are arranged to define a path of movement for a respective roof support, which path extends longitudinally of the floor, at a position intermediate the longitudinal side edges, or extends transversely of the floor.

7. A curtain-sided vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the or each roof support is a ladder-type support.

8. A curtain-sided vehicle according to claim 7, including a pair of ladder type roof supports, each arranged for movement along a respective side of the trailer, and the rungs of which may be used to support transversely extending support members when the supports are adjusted to face each other.

9. A curtain-sided vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 6, in which the or each roof support comprises an A-frame, an X-frame or an I-frame.

10. A curtain-sided vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the upper and lower end of the or each roof support are provided with runners, rollers, slides or other movable elements, and the upper and lower guides comprise guide tracks suitably shaped to receive such elements.

11. A curtain-sided vehicle according to any one ofthe preceding claims, including a respective locking arrangement for locking the or each support in any desired position.

12. A curtain-sided vehicle according to claim 11, in which the locking arrangement comprises a spring-loaded latch on the lower end of the support, which can be pressed into engagement in any one of a number of suitably positioned latch recesses provided in the lower guide.

13. A curtain-sided vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the or each roof support is arranged to be pivotable about an axis close to one of the guides, and to be releasable from engagement with the other guide, whereby the roof support can be pivoted out of the plane of its normal supporting position in order to provide greater access to the loading platform.

14. A curtain-sided vehicle according to claim 13, in which the roof support is pivotable about an axis close to the upper guide.

15. A curtain-sided vehicle according to claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in any one of the embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings.