GB2340451A - Trailer with lifting cover - Google Patents
Trailer with lifting cover Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2340451A GB2340451A GB9817484A GB9817484A GB2340451A GB 2340451 A GB2340451 A GB 2340451A GB 9817484 A GB9817484 A GB 9817484A GB 9817484 A GB9817484 A GB 9817484A GB 2340451 A GB2340451 A GB 2340451A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- gate
- cover
- trailer
- load
- load carrying
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60J—WINDOWS, WINDSCREENS, NON-FIXED ROOFS, DOORS, OR SIMILAR DEVICES FOR VEHICLES; REMOVABLE EXTERNAL PROTECTIVE COVERINGS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES
- B60J7/00—Non-fixed roofs; Roofs with movable panels, e.g. rotary sunroofs
- B60J7/08—Non-fixed roofs; Roofs with movable panels, e.g. rotary sunroofs of non-sliding type, i.e. movable or removable roofs or panels, e.g. let-down tops or roofs capable of being easily detached or of assuming a collapsed or inoperative position
- B60J7/16—Non-fixed roofs; Roofs with movable panels, e.g. rotary sunroofs of non-sliding type, i.e. movable or removable roofs or panels, e.g. let-down tops or roofs capable of being easily detached or of assuming a collapsed or inoperative position non-foldable and rigid, e.g. a one-piece hard-top or a single rigid roof panel
- B60J7/1607—Non-fixed roofs; Roofs with movable panels, e.g. rotary sunroofs of non-sliding type, i.e. movable or removable roofs or panels, e.g. let-down tops or roofs capable of being easily detached or of assuming a collapsed or inoperative position non-foldable and rigid, e.g. a one-piece hard-top or a single rigid roof panel for covering load areas, e.g. rigid panels for pick-up truck beds
- B60J7/1621—Non-fixed roofs; Roofs with movable panels, e.g. rotary sunroofs of non-sliding type, i.e. movable or removable roofs or panels, e.g. let-down tops or roofs capable of being easily detached or of assuming a collapsed or inoperative position non-foldable and rigid, e.g. a one-piece hard-top or a single rigid roof panel for covering load areas, e.g. rigid panels for pick-up truck beds hinged on one side
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
- B60J—WINDOWS, WINDSCREENS, NON-FIXED ROOFS, DOORS, OR SIMILAR DEVICES FOR VEHICLES; REMOVABLE EXTERNAL PROTECTIVE COVERINGS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES
- B60J5/00—Doors
- B60J5/10—Doors arranged at the vehicle rear
- B60J5/108—Doors arranged at the vehicle rear for load transporting vehicles or public transport, e.g. lorries, trucks, buses
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Soil Working Implements (AREA)
Abstract
A trailer (1) has a load carrying section supported by a chassis (2), the load carrying section having a floor, and around the periphery of the floor, walls and a gate (10) so that a load may be contained on the load carrying section. The trailer has actuating means (11) by which the gate may raised or lowered in order respectively to open or close the gate; tip-up means (42) by which the load carrying section may be tipped to discharge a load when the gate is open; and a cover (25) secured over at least a portion of the load carrying section including the portion of the load carrying section proximate the gate. The cover proximate the gate is movable between a lowered position and a raised position at which positions the cover respectively covers a load or facilitates discharge of a load, the cover being movable between said positions under the action of the gate as the gate is raised or lowered.
Description
2340451 Trailer with Lifting Cover The present invention relates to a
trailer that may be towed behind a tractor unit and which may carry and a load, particularly an agricultural load, and which may discharge the load by tipping the load.
Trailers which may be towed behind the tractor unit are used in many different applications. In agricultural applications, the tractor unit may be a small truck or a farm tractor. Trailers can be used to transport agricultural produce, for example potatoes, turnips and the like, from the field where the produce is harvested to a storage or processing centre. Such known trailers have a is chassis with road going wheels, a tow bar or other such means by which the trailer may be hitched to the tractor unit, and a load carrying section supported by the chassis. The Load carrying section normally has a smooth, flat floor with peripheral walls and a rear gate which may be opened to discharge a load. Often, means are provided by which the load carrying section may be tipped up at one end, so that the load may be dumped from the trailer through the opened gate.
It is known to provide such trailers with a cover, for example to protect the load from rain or during transport. Usually, the cover is close fitting around the perimeter of the load carrying section, being attached for example to the upper portions of peripheral side walls. A farmer naturally would like to load the trailer fully, for reasons of economy and efficiency. Unfortunately, it has been found that when such an agricultural trailer is fully loaded, agricultural produce can come into contact with the cover as the produce is tipped out of the trailer through the opened gate. The slightest cut or nick in agricultural produce such as a potato or turnip can result in that produce being rejected. The use of a cover can therefore result in loss of produce if the trailer is fully loaded, or if the tipping of produce is so rapid that the produce rises up near the gate exit to come into 5 contact with the cover.
It is an object of the invention to provide a more convenient covered trailer.
According to the invention, there is provided a trailer, comprising: a chassis with road going wheels; connection means by which the trailer may be connected to and towed by a tractor unit; a load carrying section supported by the chassis, the load carrying section having a floor, and around the periphery of the floor, walls and a gate so that a load may be contained on the load carrying section; actuating means by which the gate may raised or lowered in order respectively to open or close the gate; tip-up means by which the load carrying section may be tipped to discharge a load when the gate is open; and a cover secured over at least a portion of the load carrying section including the portion of the load carrying section proximate the gate; wherein the cover proximate the gate is movable between a lowered position and a raised position at which positions the cover respectively covers a load or facilitates discharge of a load, the cover being movable between said positions under the action of the gate as the gate is raised or lowered.
The cover may comprise a frame for example made from bars of steel, with a sheet or tarpaulin stretched over the frame. The cover may also have a domed or arched construction so that rainwater drains naturally from the edges of the cover.
The peripheral walls may comprise any type of wall that retains a load, for example a wall made of continuous sheet steel, a wire mesh, a number of parallel bars, or any combination thereof. Normally, the peripheral walls will include a front wall between a pair of similar side walls at the sides of the trailer. The cover may then be conveniently secured or retained to the front wall, for example with a pivotable connection. Such a connection may be a hinge or hinges. There may be two hinges near corners of the cover, or the hinge or hinges may extend substantially along the full extent of the front wall.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the gate directly raises and lowers the cover proximate the gate.
This avoids the need for a separate mechanical linkage between the gate and the cover.
Most preferably, the gate includes a portion that contacts the cover so that the gate may raise the cover when the gate is opened. The arrangement may be such that this portion is always in contact with the cover, although this need not be the case. For example, the weight of the cover may be supported by peripheral walls when the gate is fully lowered. A small clearance may then be provided between the portion of the gate that contacts the cover so that the gate does not bear any of the weight of the cover when the gate is fully lowered. The gate may then come into contact with the cover essentially immediately after the gate is raised from the fully lowered position.
In order to provide for a smooth lifting action, the cover may be provided with one or more rollers that come into rolling contact with a lower surface of the cover when the gate is opened and the cover raised. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the gate has rollers at upper corners of the gate, which run along side frame members of the cover when the gate is raised. The side frame members therefore act as a track on the lower surface of the cover, on which a roller may roll as the gate is opened.
Because it may be necessary to open the gate and raise the cover in windy conditions, it is advantageous if bracing means are provided between the cover and the load carrying portion, to ensure that the cover remains substantially over the load carrying section as it is raised.
The gate may be raised and lowered by any convenient means, for example a hydraulic or pneumatic piston actuator. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the gate is held on a lifting mechanism that pivotally raises 15 and lowers the gate about an axis parallel to the gate.
The invention will now be further described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 20 Figure 1 is a perspective view of an elongate trailer according to the invention, taken from a point to the side and behind the trailer, showing a rear gate closed in a lowered position and a domed cover 25 covering the length of the trailer; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the trailer of Figure 1 showing the gate and cover raised in an open position; 30 Figure 3 is a plan view of the front of the trailer of Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the raising of 35 the gate and cover in greater detail.
Referring first to Figures 1, 2 and 3 an agricultural produce trailer 1, has a chassis 2 supported via suspension 3 by a pair of axles 4, each with a pair of road going wheels 5. The chassis 2 supports a load carrying section, generally indicated at 6, formed mainly from sheet and box section steel members, comprising an elongate load bearing floor 7, a pair of opposite side walls 8 extending upright from long sides of the floor 7, and between front edges of side walls 8, a front wall 9.
A gate 10 extends between rear edges of side walls 8, when the gate 10 is in a closed position as shown in Figure 1.
The outward facing sides of side walls 8 support a lifting mechanism, generally indicated at 11, by which the gate 10 may be moved from a lowered and closed position, to a raised and opened position as shown in Figure 2.
An elongate cover 25 extends fully over the load carrying section 6. The cover 25 comprises peripheral steel frame members 26 running the length of the sides of the cover 25, with transverse arching steel cross members 27 at the front, rear and middle portions of the cover 25. A flexible tarpaulin sheet 28 is stretched over the longitudinal and transverse frame members 26,27.
The cover 25 slightly overhangs the side walls 8 and the gate 10, but is flush with the forward edge of the front wall 9 so that the cover 25 may be removably secured to the load carrying section 6 by a pair of hinges 29 near upper corners of the front wall 9. The hinges 29 secure the cover 25 to the load carrying section 6, and also permit the cover 25 to be moved under the action of the lifting mechanism 11 between a lowered position as shown in Figure 1, and a raised position as shown in Figure 2.
When the cover 25 is in the raised position, a pair of downwardly depending rigid bracing members 30 that extend from mid portions of the side frame members 26, engage slidingly with outer surfaces of the side walls 8, in order to keep the cover 25 aligned over the load carrying section 6.
The lifting mechanism 11 comprises an A-shaped steel frame 12, the legs of the A-shaped frame attaching to upper 13 and lower 14 side edges of the gate 10. The apex 15 of each A-shaped frame 12 is pivotally attached at opposite points on the upper edge 16 of the side walls 8. Each of a pair of similar hydraulic actuators 17 has a cylinder pivotally attached at opposite lower edges 18 of the side is walls, with a piston acting on a lower surface of the Ashaped frame 12. Hydraulic lines 19 lead from the actuator 17, for connection to a hydraulic supply of a tractor unit (not shown) in a known manner.
When the hydraulic actuator 17 is activated, each of the A-shaped frames 12 is pushed upwards in unison, so that each of the lifting mechanisms 11 pivots about the apex points 15. The gate 10 is then raised from the lowered position of Figure 1 to the raised position of Figure 2.
As can be seen in Figure 3, the trailer 1 has non-parallel side walls 8 so that the front wall 9 is narrower than the rear gate 10. The front wall 9 comprises a lower portion with sheet steel panels 20 set between steel box frame members 21. An upper portion of the front wall 9 consists mainly of closely set steel bars 22, which permit an air flow through the trailer 1 when this is in motion.
Reference is made now also to Figure 4, which shows the lifting mechanism 11 in more detail. An upper arm 31 of the A-shaped frame 12 extends slightly rearward of the gate 10. A pair of rollers 32 are mounted to the rearmost portion of each of upper arms 31. Each pair of rollers 32 has collinear rotational axes parallel to the horizontal axis about which the A-shaped frames 26 rotate as these are moved between raised and lowered positions.
Figure 4 shows in phantom outline the lifting mechanism 11 and cover 25 when in the lowered position. As can be seen in the drawing, there is a small clearance gap 33 between the rollers 32 and cover side frame members 26 when the gate 10 is fully lowered. When the hydraulic actuator 17 is activated to raise the gate 10, the rollers immediately come into rolling contact with a lower surface 34 of the cover side frame members 26. The lower surface 24 therefore acts as a track on which the rollers 32 run. To ensure that rolling contact is maintained at all times, each of the rollers 32 has a circumference which extends slightly higher than an uppermost edge 35 of the A-shaped frame upper arm 31. The rollers 32 therefore come into contact with the side frame member lower surfaces 34 as soon as the A-shaped frame member 12 is raised from the fully lowered position.
Because the load carrying section 6 and cover 25 both taper to a narrower transverse dimension from the rear to the front of the trailer 1, the rollers 32 are extended in the transverse direction along the axis of the rollers so that at least one of the pair of rollers 32 on each of the A-shaped frame members 12 remains in contact with the lower surface 34 on the cover side frame members 26 as the rollers move along the length of the lower surface 34 between the lowered and raised positions.
Although not illustrated in detail, the cover sheet 28 is held in a known manner to the side frame members 26. Along one edge, the sheet 28 is affixed by a battening strip that is screwed to the side frame member 26; along the other edge, the sheet is removably secured by straps between the frame member 26 and the sheet. This arrangement permits one edge of the sheet 28 to be released so that the sheet may be rolled back to the other edge to allow the load carrying section 6 to be loaded through the opened cover, for example with agricultural produce on a conveyor belt. The gate 10 is normally closed during this loading operation in order to allow the rear of the load carrying section to be fully loaded. Once the load carrying section 6 is substantially full, the sheet 28 is brought back across the frame members 26,27 and secured by straps.
A tractor unit (not shown) may then be connected in a known manner to a tow bar 40 extending forwards from the trailer chassis 2. Hydraulic connections can then be made from the tractor unit to connection points 41 at the front of the trailer.
The trailer 1 has between the chassis 2 and load carrying section 6 a hydraulic jack mechanism 42 extending along the central longitudinal axis of the trailer. Once the trailer is at its destination, an operator may activate the hydraulic jack 42 to tip up the front of the load carrying section 6, which then pivots about a pivotal connection 42 to the frame 2, so that the load may be tipped out through the raised gate 10. Prior to this, the gate 10, and the cover 25 at the rear of the trailer, are both raised a distance equal to at least double the maximum loading depth of the trailer, defined essentially by the height of side walls 8, so that agricultural produce strikes neither the gate nor the raised cover as produce is tipped out of the trailer.
Because there is no mechanical linkage between the lifting mechanism 11 and the cover 25, the cover 25 can if desired by readily removed from the trailer by disconnecting hinges 29 on the trailer front wall 9. This may be desirable, f or example, if it is needed to haul soil or sludge. The cover can then be re-attached when needed.
The relative simplicity of the way in which the cover is lifted, also means that certain types of known trailer can be retro-fitted with an actuator mechanism 11 according to the invention.
Claims (12)
1. A trailer, comprising: a chassis with road going wheels; connection means by which the trailer may be connected to and towed by a tractor unit; a load carrying section supported by the chassis, the load carrying section having a floor, and around the periphery of the f loor, walls and a gate so that a load may be contained on the load carrying section; actuating means by which the gate may raised or lowered in order respectively to open or close the gate; tip-up means by which the load carrying section may be tipped to discharge a load when the gate is open; and a cover secured over at least a portion of the load carrying section including the portion of the load carrying section proximate the gate; wherein the cover proximate the gate is movable between a lowered position and a raised position at which positions the cover respectively covers a load or facilitates discharge of a load, the cover being movable between said positions under the action of the gate as the gate is raised or lowered.
2. A trailer as claimed in Claim 1, in which the cover is pivotably retained to the trailer at a portion of the cover remote from the gate.
3. A trailer as claimed in Claim 2, in which the peripheral walls include a front wall, the cover being pivotably retained to the front wall.
4. A trailer as claimed in Claim 3, in which the cover is pivotably retained by a hinge that extends substantially along the full extent of the front wall.
5. A trailer as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the gate directly raises and lowers the cover proximate the gate.
6. A trailer as claimed in Claim 5, in which the gate includes a portion that contacts the cover so that the gate may raise the cover when the gate is opened. 5
7. A trailer as claimed in Claim 6, in which the cover has one or more rollers that come into rolling contact with a lower surf ace of the cover when the gate is opened and the cover raised. 10
8. A trailer as claimed in Claim 7, in which the lower surface of the cover has a traci on which a roller may roll as the gate is opened.
9. A trailer as claimed in any one of Claim 5 to 8, in which bracing means are provided between the cover and the load carrying portion to ensure that the cover remains substantially over the load carrying section as it is raised. 20
10. A trailer as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the gate is held on a lifting mechanism that pivotally raises and lowers the gate about an axis parallel to the gate. 25
11. A trailer as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the cover is removably secured to the trailer.
12. A trailer substantially as herein described, with 30 reference to or as shown in the accompanying drawings.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB9817484A GB2340451B (en) | 1998-08-12 | 1998-08-12 | Trailer with lifting cover |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB9817484A GB2340451B (en) | 1998-08-12 | 1998-08-12 | Trailer with lifting cover |
Publications (3)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB9817484D0 GB9817484D0 (en) | 1998-10-07 |
| GB2340451A true GB2340451A (en) | 2000-02-23 |
| GB2340451B GB2340451B (en) | 2001-12-05 |
Family
ID=10837075
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB9817484A Expired - Fee Related GB2340451B (en) | 1998-08-12 | 1998-08-12 | Trailer with lifting cover |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| GB (1) | GB2340451B (en) |
Citations (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5104175A (en) * | 1991-06-05 | 1992-04-14 | Enninga Floyd L | Lift apparatus for rotatable truck bed cover |
| EP0700802A1 (en) * | 1994-09-09 | 1996-03-13 | Caterpillar Inc. | Articulated cover for a top loading hauling body |
-
1998
- 1998-08-12 GB GB9817484A patent/GB2340451B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Patent Citations (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5104175A (en) * | 1991-06-05 | 1992-04-14 | Enninga Floyd L | Lift apparatus for rotatable truck bed cover |
| EP0700802A1 (en) * | 1994-09-09 | 1996-03-13 | Caterpillar Inc. | Articulated cover for a top loading hauling body |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB2340451B (en) | 2001-12-05 |
| GB9817484D0 (en) | 1998-10-07 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 746 | Register noted 'licences of right' (sect. 46/1977) |
Effective date: 20020116 |
|
| PCNP | Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee |
Effective date: 20120812 |