GB2516085A

GB2516085A - Powered fifth wheel dolly

Info

Publication number: GB2516085A
Application number: GB1312420.1A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Graham John Simcock
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2013-07-11
Filing date: 2013-07-11
Publication date: 2015-01-14
Also published as: GB201312420D0

Abstract

The invention comprises a powered towing dolly, usable in combination with an agricultural tractor and a commercial trailer. The dolly has a tandem axle arrangement, and has a movable fifth wheel A for attachment of the trailer. The dolly has a hydraulic motor B which is connectable to an external hydraulic pump. The motor B generates forward and rearward movement of the trailer, and allows extreme manoeuvrability over soft and/or rugged ground. The dolly is constructed in such a way as to maintain serviceability in difficult working environments, and is designed for maintaining tower trailer movement over such ground. The dolly provides four wheel drive, and has a transmission wholly contained within its chassis E.

Description

I

DESCRIPTION & BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Modern demands imposed by supermarkets and the like have brought about subtle changes in operation for farmers. Included within these changes as been the need to harvest crop, such as potatoes, carrots, beet etc, within a much smaller timescale in order to satisfy exacting product specifications as laid down by the consumer.

In addition to this, the need has arisen to reduce the amount of bulk handling carried out at the point of crop extraction, and ongoing processing at the farm, that tends to damage the crop thus reducing its value and potentially its saleability. Because of these factors, farmers are now altering their way of operation to dispose of the need of transporting crop back to the farm with its incumbent handling and associated damage.

Commercial articulated trailers are increasingly replacing traditional "off road" trailers within the field setting, so that commercial lorries can extract the loaded trailer at the field, and transport it straight to the point of sale or distribution using the road network. The use of commercial trailerage also allows greater loads (in excess of 20 tonnes) to be transported, therefore cutting costs and reducing the number of passes and associated delays to harvested crops.

However the big disadvantage of using commercial trailers within a "soft field" setting is the tendency for the trailer to become stuck in soft ground. This being mainly caused by the load upon the trailer causing it to sink. This is particularly pre valent whereby tractors are used for the removal of trailers, which can only pull these loads horizontally, thus offering no support within the vertical plane of the trailer.

Sinking is also prevalent during trailer turning operations, whereby tractor and/or trailer wheels drag into the ground causing the said wheels to excavate ruts from which the trailer cannot easily be towed from.

This sinking then necessitates expensive, sometimes dangerous, extraction of the trailer, which in turn stops work on the crop extraction (or diverts labour and resources from other duties), applies undue stresses to the trailers during extraction which may render it unserviceable for the public highway, and increases the time loss between crop extraction and delivery to the point of sale or distribution.

Whilst considering these factors, the Inventor became aware that solutions to the problem of preventing commercial trailers getting stuck in soft ground were not easily identifiable or available. Solutions identified were typically PTO driven, but this technique failed to allow for the needs of tight radius turning, reversing, ease of operation and manoeuvrability.

Using a mixture of Self Design chassis and proprietary part, the Inventor has created a device that satisfies all of the factors listed, whilst overcoming the shortcomings of the PTO driven solution. The solution has been built and tested, and has proven to work satisfactorily in a number of agricultural and industrial environments.

The Inventor anticipates that this device will be successful within not only agricultural settings, but also forestry, construction, rescue and military. This list may not be exhaustive.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The Invention is a Tandem Axle fifth wheel * Dolly, it benefits from a hydraulic drive system that is powered via a pump and feed from an agricultural tractor. This tractor also provides steering capability via a hitch towing arrangement at the forward part of the Dolly. The fifth wheel * provides the attachment facility to the commercial trailer being towed and manoeuvred over the soft ground. The purpose of the Dolly is to extract the trailer from the soft ground at a consistent speed, in a straight line or turning. To prevent it from sinking and getting stuck. This is achieved the redistributing the trailer load away from the tractor unit which would traditionally be attached directly to the trailer.

The chassis of the Dolly is manufactured from a steel box section and steel channel. This provides the necessary stiffness and rigidity to fulfil the Dolly's role. Suspended from the chassis are two drive axles with suitable gearing for the application. The transmissions within each axle are suitable for the application. The axles are suspended from the chassis by suspension linkages that provide suitable articulation that benefits the purpose(s) of the Dolly.

Also suspended from the chassis is the tow hitch, which is the mechanical means of engagement to the pulling tractor. This gives a means of steering articulation away from the frontal load of the trailer which is supported by the Dolly. The trailer is also articulated by means of a fifth wheel * mounted on top of the Dolly at a height appropriate to give clearance between the Dolly and the trailer should operation occur over particularly rough ground with severe changes of gradient.

The tow hitch also provides the means of braking to the Dolly, that being the brake operation active upon.the tractor unit. This allows the Doily to be towed safely from the point of storage to the point of use. When the Doily is being used to tow a trailer, the tractor air supply can be used to supplement the overall braking by connection to the trailer brakes. This is particularly useful when the trailer is being extracted from steep ground.

The axles of the Dolly are driven by a gearbox. In turn, this gearbox is driven by a hydraulic motor which receives its feed from the hydraulic pump on the towing agricultural tractor. The drive arrangement is compact, and is housed entirely within the chassis of the body. The mounting arrangement enables clearance below the centre line of the tandem axle arrangement, and sufficient clearance below the fifth wheel * to still provide clearance over rough round.

The fifth wheel * is elevated in such a way as to give clearance over ground that has sudden changes in gradient. The fifth wheel * can also be re-positioned to allow changes in loading position, in relation to the centres of the tandem axle arrangement of the dolly.

( * Or other means of Trailer connection)

Claims

CLAIMSI claim that: 1. A powered towing Dolly, in combination with an agricultural tractor or other tractor, having a tandem axle arrangement, and connected to a commercial articulated trailer or other similar trailer, being a) Connected to a source of power for generating forward and rearward movement of the trailer; b) The source of power being other than mechanical, namely hydraulic, to allow extreme manoeuvrability over soft and/or rugged ground.c) Constructed in such a way as to maintain serviceability in difficult working environments, and designed so as to maintain its function of maintaining towed trailer movement over said rounds.
2. The combination of Claim 1, wherein the said source of power is hydraulic power;
3. The combination of Claim 1, wherein the said source of power is used to drive a tandem axle assembly, thereby being of four wheel drive.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the drive transmission is wholly contained within the chassis of the body