AU2004237837A1 - Mounting arrangement for trailer side curtain post - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Invention Title: TRANSTECH RESEARCH Gregory Brown CALLINAN LAWRIE, 711 High Street, Kew, Victoria 3101, Australia MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT FOR TRAILER SIDE CURTAIN POST The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to 09/12/04,sw 3790cap,I MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT FOR TRAILER SIDE CURTAIN POST C* The present invention relates to sliding side curtains for vehicle trailers, especially large semi-trailers, and more particularly to a mounting arrangement for post assemblies associated with said side curtains.

00 A series of the post assemblies are spaced along the side of the trailer and comprise vertical posts which are located in top and bottom tracks extending along N, 10i the length of the trailer at one or both sides.

Traditionally the vertical posts are supported by a combination of rollers at the top and bottom of the post. The rollers are located in and retained by the top and bottom tracks, respectively. The rollers comprise metal roller bearings.

Whilst roller bearings work satisfactorily, they can sometimes be difficult to source in the required size, they require lubrication in some instances, and they can be noisy if there is too much clearance between the bearing and the upper track as it is a metal to metal contact. Also, roller bearings are relatively expensive in the overall context of the post arrangement.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved mounting arrangement for curtain side posts which overcomes some of the shortcomings of existing arrangements or at least provides a useful alternative.

The invention therefore provides a mounting arrangement for a side curtain post of a transport vehicle, said arrangement comprising a low friction guide member engaging the top end of said post and shaped for retention in an upper tubular track having a downwardly directed opening extending therealong, said guide member having a neck portion for extending through said opening and a head 09/I 2/04,sw 13790cap,2 0 portion for retention in said tubular track, whereby said guide member is adapted to slide freely in said track whilst supporting the top end of said post against transverse 0 load.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood one particular embodiment will now be described in more detail with reference to the C€3 00 accompanying drawings wherein: Fig. 1. is a schematic side view of the top part of a side curtain post assembly; Fig. 2. is a similar view to Fig. 1. showing the bottom part of the post assembly; Fig. 3. is a front elevation, on a reduced scale, of the entire post assembly in position on a trailer bottom rail.

Fig. 4. is similar to Fig. 1. and shows an alternative embodiment on a reduced scale; Fig. 5. is a rear elevation of the top part of the post assembly shown in Fig. 4; and Fig. 6. is a side view of the post upper section shown in Figs. 4 and 5 on a larger scale.

In the drawings only those components relevant to the side post mounting arrangement will be described hereinafter.

09/12/04,sw I 3790cap,3 -4- O A curtain side post assembly 10 consists essentially of a post 11 and a guide member 12 which slides within the post 11 to form a telescoping arrangement. The d) post 11 is supported on and retained by a bottom rail assembly 13 comprising essentially angle section 14 in combination with channel 15, both of which extend along the side of the trailer over the entire length.

00 The guide member 12 is retained within tubular section 16 which is essentially an inverted channel section with inwardly turned ends 17 forming an opening into the tubular section narrower than the width of the internal section of N 10 the tube. The tubular section 16 extends along the side of the trailer at the top and over the entire length thereof.

The guide member 12 has a head portion 18 formed integral therewith and the head portion is engaged within the tubular section 16. The head portion 18 comprises upper and lower rectangular blocks 19 and 20, respectively which are joined by a neck portion 21 formed by opposite grooves 22 in the sides of the guide member 12. The guide member 12 is fed into the tubular section 16 at one end thereof and is thereafter retained within. The guide member 12 is formed from polyethylene.

The post 11 has an angle section 23 attached thereto, such that a vertical web of the section 23 extends downwardly below the bottom end of the post and a horizontal web of the section 23 extends inwardly therefrom towards the inside of the trailer. A first roller bearing 24 is mounted on the vertical web of angle section 23 to rotate in a vertical plane and a pair of spaced roller bearings 25 are mounted on the horizontal web of the section 23 to rotate in a horizontal plane. The angle section 14 retains the bearings 25 between a vertical web of the angle section 14 and the channel 15 and provides a bearing surface for roller bearing 24 which carries the weight of the post 11.

09/12/04,sw 13790cap.4 O A plurality of similar posts are installed along the side of a trailer and support a side curtain (not shown) therebetween. Since the post is a telescoping post any

O

Sslight variations in the distance between the tubular section 16 and the angle section 26 over the length of the trailer do not affect the smooth running of the post along the trailer side, as these variations are compensated by the telescoping action of the post 11.

e¢3 00 r- MS) As is evident in Fig. 1. the upper and lower rectangular blocks 19 and 20 are offset so that the lower block 20 extends inwardly further towards the inside of the Ni 10 trailer. This ensures that the post assembly is offset slightly to the inside.

Figures 4, 5 and 6 show an alternative embodiment which is similar in most respects to the embodiment of Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Like reference numerals are used for like or similar parts. The essential difference is that the guide member 12 has a groove or slot 28 in the rearwardly directed side thereof and a pin or bolt 29 is passed through the post 11 when the guide member 12 is fitted into the top of the post 11. The pin or bolt 29 co-operates with the slot 28 to allow limited telescoping movement between the guide member 12 and the post 11 whilst retaining the two parts together.

It should be evident that the guide member 12 provides a useful alternative to roller bearings at the upper end of the post 11 and is simpler to manufacture and assemble. The polyethylene guide member 12 slides smoothly within the tubular section 16 and is essentially maintenance free. The arrangement is inexpensive to manufacture as the guide member is a simple machined or moulded unit. Clearly, different sectional shapes for the guide member 12 and the tubular post section in which it is accommodated could be envisaged by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and the scope of this invention.

09/I 2/04,sw 13790cap,5

Claims (11)

1. A mounting arrangement for a side curtain post of a transport vehicle, said Sarrangement comprising a low friction guide member engaging the top end of said post and shaped for retention in an upper tubular track having a downwardly directed opening extending therealong, said guide member having a neck portion for extending through said opening and a head portion for retention in said tubular e¢3 00 track, whereby said guide member is adapted to slide freely in said track whilst supporting the top end of said post against transverse load. c 10

2. A mounting arrangement as defined in Claim 1, wherein said guide member is formed of polyethylene or the like.

3. A mounting arrangement as defined in Claim 2, wherein said arrangement further comprises a roller bearing assembly fixed to the bottom end of said post, said roller bearing assembly comprising a first roller bearing mounted to rotate in a vertical plane and adapted to carry the vertical load of said post, and spaced second and third roller bearings mounted to rotate in a horizontal plane and adapted to carry any transverse load on said post.

4. A mounting arrangement as defined in Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein said guide member consists essentially of two rectangular blocks separated by said neck portion, the first of said blocks being an upper block retained within said upper tubular track and the other of said blocks being a lower block engaging the top of said post.

A mounting arrangement as defined in Claim 4, wherein said lower block is offset in a transverse direction towards the inside of said trailer, relative to said upper block. 09/I 2/04,sw1 3790cap,6

6. A mounting arrangement as defined in Claim 5, wherein said guide member slidably engages said post in a manner providing a telescoping post.

7. A mounting arrangement as defined in Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein said head portion comprises essentially a rectangular block and said neck portion extends downwardly therefrom and into the top of said post. 00 c

8. A mounting arrangement as defined in Claim 7, wherein said post is offset in a transverse direction towards the inside of said trailer, relative to said head portion.

9. A mounting arrangement as defined in Claim 8, wherein said neck portion has a horizontal slot for engaging a projection on said post to retain said neck portion in the top of said post in a manner allowing limited telescoping movement between the two.

A mounting arrangement as defined in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said guide member is moulded or machined as an integral unit.

11. A mounting arrangement substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 9 th day of December, 2004 TRANSTECH RESEARCH By their Patent Attorneys: CALLINAN LAWRIE 09/12/04,sw1 3790cap,7