GB2122249A - Tail gate mounting for a load carrying vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

A mounting arrangement 10 for the tail gate 23 of a load carrying vehicle comprises a linkage 13 pivotably mounted to the rear part of each sidewall 22 of the load carrying portion of the vehicle. Each linkage 13 is pivotably connected at one end to a bracket 12 mounted to the respective side wall 22 while the other end is pivotably secured to a respective arm 17 extending from the tail gate 23. An abutment portion 19 provides support in the closed position and a coil spring 20 increases smoothness of operation. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Tail gate mounting for a load carrying vehicle This invention relates to a mounting arrangement for a tail gate of a dump truck or the like of the sort which is installed at the rear part of the load carrying portion thereof.

In a conventional type of dump truck in which a tail gate is opened by inclining the load carrier with a dump mechanism so as to discharge or dump the material being transported such as sand, soil and gravel etc., the mounting for the tail gate is a simple structure, as shown in Figs. 12 and 13 of the accompanying drawings. Arms (14) mounted one each side the tail gate (13) are each pivotally mounted, about an axis (15), to a respective bracket (12) fixed to the upper ends of the side walls of the burden carrier (11). Thus, the tail gate (13) may be rotated away from the carrier (11) around a fulcrum point of the axis (15).However, where sand and soil etc. has been loaded to a level higher than the tail gate (13), or where the burden carrier is tilted particularly quickly (11), the upper part of the tail gate (13) experiences a heavy load from the sliding soil and sand etc., so that rotation of the tail gate (13) around the axis (15) is inhibited or prevented.

Therefore, sand and soil etc. drops down over the tail gate (13) and the tail gate (13) may be buried completely which can result in the dump truck not being able to be moved forwardly. Furthermore, the center of gravity of the dump truck moves in a rearward direction when the sand and soil are discharged and often the front wheels of the dump truck are lifted up to cause a dangerous condition.

Further, in the case of a conventional type of tail gate mounting the height of the tail gate opening is restricted and if, for example, the sand and soil contains relatively large sized rocks therein, they may frequently not be discharged unless the tail gate is removed, resulting in a substantially less efficient operation. In addition, the restricted opening of the tail gate may prevent rapid discharging or unloading of the sand and soil etc. at a specific, restricted location, so that the conventional type of dump truck has a further disadvantage in that a relatively large storing or accumulating place for the load is often required.

In an attempt to overcome the above disadvantages, the conventional type of mounting is made such that the brackets (12) are relatively high and the tail gate arms (14) are correspondingly extended upwardly. However, increased height of the brackets (12) can be dangerous in that they are likely to be struck against the bucket of a power shovel or the like during loading. Further, extension of the arms (14) of the tail gate makes them vulnerable to breakage and moreover inhibits smooth operation of the tail gate when the material to be transported is discharged.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a tail gate mounting in which when the sand and soil etc. are loaded to a height greater than that of the tail gate or even when the load carrier is rapidly inclined by the dump mechanism, the tail gate is opened widely and smoothly and the sand and soil etc. may slide off smoothly.

According to the invention there is provided a tail gate mounting in a load carrying vehicle in which each side of the tail gate is connected to a respective side wall of the vehicle load carrier by means of a pivotable linkage which is pivotably connected at one end to the tail gate and at the other to said side wall.

The mounting may have a simple and rigid structure and may not be easily damaged.

Certain embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side elevational view showing a tail gate mounting according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view showing a rear part of a burden carrier to which the mounting shown in Fig. 1 is fixed.

Fig. 3 is a partial side elevational view of the carrier of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a rear view showing the burden carrier.

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view showing the burden carrier inclined to cause the tail gate to be opened.

Fig. 6 shows another preferred embodiment of the present invention and is a side elevational view of a tail gate mounting in which a bracket arm for the tail gate arm is extended so as to form a supporting part.

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of a further mounting.

Figs. 8 and 9 are side elevational views of an embodiment of the present invention in which the tail gate arm is removably mounted to the bracket arm.

Figs. 10 and 11 are side elevational views of an embodiment of the present invention in which each bracket arm includes two linkage members.

Fig. 12 is a side elevational view of a conventional type of tail gate mounting, and Fig. 1 3 is a side elevational view showing the tail gate of Fig. 12 opened.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4, reference numeral 10 indicates generally a tail gate mounting. A bracket 12 is secured to a respective mounting block 11 at the rear of a vehicle burden carrier and one end 14 of a bracket arm 13 is pivotally mounted to the upper end of said bracket 12 about an axis 15.

Further, at the other end 1 6 of the bracket arm 13 is pivotally mounted an upper end of the slightly curved tail gate arm 1 7 about a second axis 18.

Reference numeral 1 9 shows an abutment member arranged at the other end of the mounting block 11 which is constructed such that the end part 16 of arm 13 is supported by the abutment member 19 when the bracket arm 1 3 is in its lowermost position. Reference number 20 shows a compressed helical spring, one end of which is fixed to the central part of the bracket arm 1 3 and the other end thereof is fixed to the mounting block 11.

In Figs.2,3 and 4, reference numeral 21 indicates a burden carrier of the dump truck 22 and a respective mounting 10 is welded to the upper rear end pprtions of both side walls of the carrier. A lower end of each of the tail gate arms 17 is welded to an upper portion of the tail gate 23. Reference numeral 25 indicates a lock means.

As shown in Fig. 5, when the burden carrier 21 is inclined by a dump mechanism 24 after the lock means 25 is disengaged, the tail gate 23 is opened in a rearward direction under the force of the sliding soil and sand etc., and at the same time, the bracket arm 13 and the tail gate arm 17 are rotated in an upward direction about the axes 1 5 and 18, and further the axis 18 is itself moved in an upward direction. Therefore, the tail gate 23 may be smoothly opened and at the same time the dump discharge port may be more widely opened than that of a conventional type of the tail gate.

Furthermore, even if the soil and sand 26 are piled up to a height greater than the height of the tail gate, or if the burden carrier is rapidly tilted, the contents may slide down without any restrictions through the wide dump discharge port.

Thus, the chances of the tail gate being buried by some falling soils and sands, and as a consequence the front wheels being lifted up, are minimized.

In addition, if substantial big rocks 27 are included in the load to be transported, they are not held by the tail gate but may be discharged freely, so that the transported load may be discharged quickly; a transporting operatiqn may be performed safely, and at the same time the efficiency of operation is improved. Also, the material to be transported such as soil and sand etc. may be dumped from a higher, i.e. a greater angle of tilt, of the load carrier than that of conventional arrangements so that a restricted or narrow storing location or site may effectively be accommodated.

It will be seen that the illustrated mounting has an extremely simple and rigid structure and at the same time the tail gate may be opened wide in a smooth manner when the sand and soil etc. are dumped, so that there is no risk of breakage of the bracket arm, tail gate arm, or tail gate.

It is also possible to replace the tail gate mounting device of the present invention by a conventional or an existing tail gate mounting device of a dump truck.

The arrangement of the spring 20 minimises the shock produced when the tail gate is opened or closed and the arrangement of the abutment member 1 9 provides support for the bracket arm in the closed position. However, the spring 20 and the abutment 1 9 are not essential.

Fig. 6 shows another preferred embodiment of the present invention wherein the end of the bracket arm 31 is extended downwardly so as to provide a bearing part 32.

Fig. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention wherein both the abutment member and the bearing part are omitted.

in the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the tail gate arm 52 is detachably mounted. When a handle 54 is rotated to the position shown in Fig. 9, one side of a portion 53 of the bracket arm 51 is opened so as to enable removal of the tail gate arm 52. This embodiment is suitable for a small-sized dump truck.

In the embodiment of the present invention shown in Fig. 10, the bracket arm 61 of the mounting 60 comprises two linkages 61 a and 61 b which are pivotally interconnected about an axis 62. With such a bracket arm 61 as above, the tail gate may easily and lightly be operated.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 11, similar to the preferred embodiment shown in Fig. 10, two linkages 71 a and 71 b of the bracket arm 71 are pivotally interconnected about an axis 72, and further as in the arrangement shown in Fig. 8, one side 75 of a portion 74 of linkage 71 b may be opened by rotating a handle 73, and so the tail gate arm 76 may be removed. The end part of the linkage plate 71 a is pivotally mounted on a bracket 77 about an axis 78 which in this embodiment lies beneath the end portion 74 of the linkage 71 b in the closed position.

Claims (11)

Claims

1. A tail gate mounting in a load carrying vehicle in which each side of the tail gate is connected to a respective side wall of the vehicle load carrier by means of a pivotable linkage which is pivotably connected at one end to the tail gate and at the other to the said side wall.

2. A tail gate mounting as claimed in claim 1 wherein brackets are provided on the side-walls of the load carrier which mount the linkages.

3. A tail gate mounting as claimed in claim 2 wherein the tail gate is provided with arms at either side thereof which are pivotably secured to the respective linkages.

4. A tail gate mounting as claimed in claim 3 further comprising an abutment portion secured to the top of each side wall adapted in the closed position to supportingly engage respective linkages beneath the pivotal connections thereof with the tail gate arms.

5. A tail gate mounting as claimed in claim 3 wherein each linkage includes an abutment portion beneath the pivotal connection with the respective tail gate arm adapted in the closed position to engage the top of the respective side wall.

6. A tail gate mounting as claimed in any preceding claim further comprising a coil spring acting between each linkage and respective side wall.

7. A tail gate mounting as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the tail gate is detachably secured to the linkages.

8. A tail gate mounting as claimed in any preceding claim wherein each linkage comprises a single arm.

9. A tail gate mounting as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7 wherein each linkage comprises two pivotably interconnected arms.

10. Tail gate mountings substantially as herein described with reference to any of Figures 1 to 11 of the accompanying drawings.

11. A load carrying vehicle including a tail gate mounting as claimed in any of the proceeding claims.