NZ198217A - Road trailer unit:forwardly diverging chassis members - Google Patents

Description

i/^u!? new zealand patents act, 1953 No.: 198,217 k/We, anchor-dorman limited, a New Zealand company, of Rogers & Graham Streets, Port Nelson, New Zealand, hereby declare the invention for which & / we pray that a patent may be granted to j?3^us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- 190217 The present invention relates to improvements in and/or relating to vehicle chassises and in particular to the positioning of subframe beams of the deck or platform support (if indeed there is a platform) of an articulated truck.

With articulated trucks of the kind having a tractor unit and a fifth wheel arrangement from which the trailer unit trails there is the difficulty involved in maintaining the length of the overall vehicle assembly within reasonable limits while at the same time maintaining adequate weight over the driving wheels of the tractor unit which are substantially under the fifth wheel, i.e. where the king pin is located. Normally in order to maintain as low as possible the centre of gravity and also to obtain a load transferral point at a stable position on the tractor unit (normally over the tandem driving axles) existing structures to date have resulted in the so-called "goose neck" type arrangement. Such a "goose neck" is a significant proportion of the overall length of the trailer unit, thus meaning that the load to be carried by the trailer unit is normally some distance back from the driving wheels- in use of the tractor unit. There is therefore a need to provide means whereby more weight can be carried by the driving wheels of a tractor unit while at the same time the overall length of the trailer unit is shortened by its being possible to shorten the extent of the "goose neck".

It is therefore an object of the present invention to -v d-k ^ VJH / i / J \J J- 1 * provide means and/or methods which will go at least some way to meet some of the abovementioned desiderata which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.

Accordingly in one aspect the present invention consists in a road trailer unit for road transport of a kind attachable by a king pin to a tractor unit, said trailer unit having a longitudinal frame consisting of a pair of longitudinal frame members which diverge at least towards the advance end thereof with respect to the normal direction of trailer advance in use, road wheels disposed at or towards the rearward end of the frame members and capable of supporting said longitudinal framing members, goose neck means dependent from the divergent ends of said longitudinal members capable of being engaged by a king pin type engagement to a suitable tractor unit, the arrangement being such that the divergence of said longitudinal members is such that during a turn when said vehicle is coupled in use by its king pin a portion of said tractor unit (usually a wheel) can (if necessary) swing in an arc which extends into the space between the advance ends of said longitudinal framing members.

Preferably said longitudinal framing members support means capable of carrying a container.

Preferably the trailer unit includes means to enable the self off-loading of any container carried thereon over the side.

Preferably means is provided whereby the advance end of the trailer unit can be self supported from the ground should it be detached from a tractor unit.

In a further aspect the present invention consists in in combination a trailer unit in accordance with the present invention and a tractor unit to which it is attached by the goose neck through a king pin type linkage, the arrangement being such that a portion of the tractor unit during the course of a turn arcs into or at least almost into a portion of the space between the advanced ends of the two divergent framing members.

Preferably the divergent framing members diverge substantially as hereinafter described.

Preferably said divergent members are each straight along at least the greater proportion of their length.

Preferably said trailer unit includes three parallel axles as a group at its trailing end.

Preferably said tractor unit includes tandem axles which are to be located in use substantially under said goose neck portion of said trailer unit.

One preferred form of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side view of a trailer unit in accordance with the present invention showing the advanced end thereof to the left supported on the turntable by a king pin or like means of a tandem axial tractor unit showing the goose neck arrangement of that portion which 1932!7 I lies over the tractor unit, and Figure 2 is a diagrammatic plan arrangement showing the divergent structural members which constitute the main frame of the trailer unit shown in figure 1 not showing for ease of explanation any great detail but depicting by a dotted outline the curve of the extremity of a preferred tractor unit relative to the trailer unit about the turntable king pin (which is shown as an asterisk) and showing how there is still some degree of clearance which would allow for the 10 same trailer unit to be engagable with a variety of different tractor units with the greater degree of clearance of course being attributable to the fact that the lower portion of longitudinal portions which could interfere with a tractor unit during a turn are divergent at their region of possible interference thus providing for the receiving of a portion of a tractor unit therebetween if necessary during the course of a turn, such clearance being depicted by the smaller dotted curve.

As can be seen from the accompanying drawings there is 20 provided a pair of main elongate framing members 1 preferably of a suitable steel cross-section, e.g. box section or I section. At the advance end thereof there is provided means providing a raising up of the region 2 thereof which hereinafter will be referred to as the goose neck region. The raising up occurs over the portion 3 which is an extension of the members 1 and some of which could be interferred with by the tractor unit if not spaced apart as shown. At the advance end of the trailer unit the king pin 4 is such that the weight of any container or the like 5 carried on the trailer is carried as far forward as possible so that there is adequate spreading of the load through the axles 6 of the tractor unit (the tractor unit being shown in part only) and through the trailing axles 7 of the trailer itself. A person skilled in the art will appreciate how if need be region 8 can include means for off-loading or loading a container 5 onto or from the trailer unit likewise with region 9. A person skilled in the art therefore should appreciate that the adoption of divergent members 1 which diverge preferably over all of their length provides a stable frame for the trailer unit while providing the weight carried advantage as previously mentioned. At the same time it provides the requisite width of support at the advance end for anything that need be mounted over the goose neck. Similarly it provides at the rearward end sufficient narrowness such that the wheels 7 can be mounted along side and extend substantially upwardly of the lowermost reaches of the framing members 1, thus meaning that any platform mounted thereover, e.g. 10 will be substantially at the same height as the goose neck region 2 thus allowing readily for an ease of synchronisation between means 8 and 9 (not shown) which may be used to off-load or load a container 5. It is believed therefore that the adoption of divergent framing members in accordance with the present invention will give rise to a novel trailer unit and a novel tractor/trailer combination which should have widespread acceptance. 1 - J ;•% f i 3 J J \J A- 3 '

Claims (6)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A road trailer unit for road transport of a "kind attached by a king pin to a tractor unit, said trailer unit having a longitudinal frame consisting of a pair of longitudinal frame members which diverge at least towards the advance end thereof with respect to the normal direction of trailer advance in use, road wheels disposed at or towards the rearward end of the frame . members and capable of supporting said longitudinal framing members, A £ ex(enJ'"r*£, goose neck means -depcnaeaL from the divergent ends of said longitudinal members capable of being engaged by a king pin type engagement to a suitable tractor unit, the arrangement being such that the divergence of said longitudinal members is such that during a turn when said vehicle is coupled in use by its king pin a portion of said tractor unit (usually a wheel) can (if necessary) swing in an arc which extends into the space between the advance ends of said longitudinal framing members.

2. A road trailer unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein said longitudinal framing members support means capable of carrying a container.

3. A road trailer unit as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 which includes means to enable the self off-loading of any container carried thereon over a side.

4. A road trailer unit as claimed in any one of the - 7 - preceding claims wherein means is provided whereby the advance end of the trailer unit can be self supported from the ground should it be detached from a tractor unit. preceding claims wherein said longitudinal frame and/or gooseneck means is or are substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 7. In combination a trailer unit as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and a tractor unit to which it is attached by the goose neck through a king pin type linkage, the arrangement being such that a portion of the tractor unit during the course of a turn arcs into or at least almost into a portion of the space between the advanced ends of the two divergent framing members. 8. The chassis of a trailer unit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of the accompanying drawings.

5. A road trailer unit as claimed in any one of the

6. A road trailer unit substantially as hereinbefore agents for the applicants