NZ206414A - Freight container or truck body with folding side door - Google Patents

Description

2 (©154 14' Priority Date(s): .. £$://.-.

Complete Specification Filed: Class: Publication Date: .9.9..???.!???...

P.O. Journal, No: , ^ • cy..

No.: Date: NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT, 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION "SIDE OPENING TRANSPORT MODULE" XtfWe, MAXI-CUBE PTY LTD, a company incorporated under the laws of the State of Victoria, Australia, of 14-16 Graham Road, Westall, Victoria, 3169, Australia, hereby declare the invention for which*K/ we pray that a patent may be granted to JQft&alus, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- 206 4 'j This invention relates to a side opening transport module and has been devised particularly though not solely as a side opening cover for a truck, rail wagon, container or the like.

In this specification the term "transport module" is to be taken as referring to a covered container used for the transportation of goods and which may for example comprise the back of a truck provided with a roof and walls, a container of the type commonly referred to as a shipping container, a rail wagon having a roof and sides, or any other similar closed container used for the transportation of goods.

In the past transport modules and particularly those used on the back of trucks for the transport of goods have been provided with a roof and end walls. The rear end wall is commonly in the form of doors which may be opened so that the truck may be backed into a loading dock for loading with palletized goods using fork lift trucks. In this configuration the transport module is provided with solid side walls and is loaded entirely from the rear of the module. This construction has the disadvantage that end loading is not always possible, for example where a loading dock of a suitable height is not available, and furthermore with many typei of palletized goods it has been found far quicker and therefore cheaper to load the truck from the side. To deal with this situation it has been known to provide the transport module with fabric curtain type sides to produce a truck configuration commonly known as a tautliner. In this configuration the side curtains are tensioned for transportation and are drawn back for loading of the module from the side ■using fork lift-trucks. The tautliner configuration however has the disadvantage that in some situations "3" 2 064 14' it is necessary to load the truck from the rear through the rear access doors and it has been found that the tautliner curtains are very prone to damage by the use of fork trucks within the module.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a transport module which will obviate or minimize the foregoing disadvantages in a simple yet effective manner or which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.

Accordingly the invention provides a transport module comprising opposed end walls adapted in use to become front and rear end walls, opposed side walls each extending between said front and rear end walls and a roof extending between said walls characterized in that, at least one said side wall constitutes a door arrangement which may be opened to provide side access to said module, all said walls are of rigid construction, said door arrangement comprises horizontally hinged doors extending substantially over the length of said module, and actuating means are provided for opening and closing said doors in a manner wherein, in the open position said doors are pivoted to a position allowing said module to be arranged in close proximity to a side loading clock.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, particular embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a transport module constituting the back of a truck or a semi—trailer; FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a pulley arrangement for actuating the doors of the module shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a part section along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 of an alternative door opening arrangement.

According to the embodiments shown in the drawings, the transport module is in the form of the back portion of a truck or semi-trailer or alternatively may be considered as a canopy arrangement for location on the rear tray portion of a truck or semi-trailer. Accordingly, the module consists H - 4 - 2064 1 of a first end wall 10 which in use becomes a fronL wall since it is located at the end towards the prime mover of the vehicle and a second or rear end wall 11 located at the opposite end of the transport module. A first side wall 12 5 extends between the front and rear end walls 10 and 11 and the opposite side of the module is formed as a door arrangement which will be described in detail hereinafter. A roof 13 forms the top wall of the module and extends between the front and rear end walls and the opposite sides of the module. A floor 10 generally referenced 14 may be provided as part of the transport module or may be the existing tray portion or floor of a truck or semi-trailer upon which the module, in the form of a canopy, is installed.

The door arrangement constituting one of the side walls 15 of the transport module comprises an upper door section 15 and a lower door section 16. In the embodiment shown in PIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the upper door section 15 has its top elongate edge hinged to the roof 13 by means of four, uniformly spaced hinges 17. The hinges 17 are set back from the elongate edge of the 20 roof 13. The lower edge of the upper door section 15 has a hinge 18 extending entirely along its lower edge, that is, the edge which is lowermost when the door is in the closed position as shown in FIG. 3. The hinge 18 connects to the upper elongate edge of the lower door section 16 such that the two 25 door sections 15 and 16 are hinged to each other. The hinge 18 is constructed in a manner so as to form a weather seal between the two door sections.

Four vertical guide tracks 19 are uniformly spaced along the opening side of the module and serve to accommodate nylon 30 sliders 20 arranged at similar spacings along the bottom edge of the lower door section 16. The guide tracks 19 may also serve as supports for the roof 13 to prevent sagging in situations such as in the present embodiment where the transport module has a considerable length. The nylon sliders are enclosed in a channel 35 section of the respective tracks 19 and serve to retain the bottom edge of the lower door section 16 in position at all times and particularly during an opening operation of the doors.

As can be seen in FIG. 3 where broken lines show the - 5 - 2 06414 door arrangement in the partly open and fully open positions, lifting of the bottom edge of the lower door section 16 in a vertical direction causes a folding action to occur as between the two door sections until the bottom edge of the lower door section 16 assumes a position adjacent the edge of the roof 13. In this position the side of the module is fully open and the upper door section assumes an essentially horizontal position with an acute angle being formed, between the two door sections. The hinge point 21 of the hinges 17 is spaced inwardly on the roof 13 from the longitudinal edge thereof, as mentioned above, so as to provide an increased moment arm to reduce the lifting force required to open the door arrangement. Each of the hinges 17 has a flange 22 for attachment to the upper edge of the upper door section 15 and the other part 23 of the hinge is affixed to the roof 13 by rivets, bolts or other suitable attachment means.

A top rail 24 of steel section runs longitudinally of the transport module to provide additional support for the roof along the opening side and a series of pulleys as shown in FIG. 2 is arranged on the web of the top rail 24 at spaced locations adjacent the guide tracks 19. Each of the pulleys 25 facilitates the use of a wire rope 26 for lifting the sliders 20 and thus opening the door arrangement. A wire rope attaches to each of the sliders 20 and passes over the respective pulley 25 to join to a main wire which passes via a pulley arrangement 27 to a winch (not shown) mounted externally of the transport module usually on the front wall thereof. Thus it can be seen that actuation of the winch which may be either power or hand operated, will cause the sliders 20 to be lifted in the guide tracks 19 causing the bottom edge of the lower door section to be raised in the manner shown whereby the two door sections fold to an open position.

As mentioned before the floor 14 may be constructed as part of the transport module or may be the existing floor of a tray portion of a truck or semi-trailer. The floor 14 consists of a series of rolled steel sections jfl-beams) welded together to form a grid arrangement supporting a flooring 2 8 which may be of similar construction to the panels forming 2 © 64 f4 the sides and roof of the module. Heavy I-beams 29 extend longitudinally of the module and smaller beams 30 extend transversely of the module and pass through the web of the beams 29. The flooring 28 is arranged flush with the upper surface of the web of the beams 29 in order to reduce the overall height of the floor 14. A number of wheel assembly mounting points (not shown) are attached to the heavy beams 29 for receiving wheel assemblies in cases where the module forms the rear tray portion of a truck or semi-trailer. A channel member 31 is affixed to the longitudinal edge of the floor 14 to provide a reinforcing and protection member along the bottom rail 32 of the module. The reinforcing and protection member 31 has a series of spaced holes which accoinmodate spigots 3 3 spaced along the bottom edge of the lower door section 16 so as to locate and restrain the bottom of the door arrangement in the closed position. Thus when the door is lowered to the closed position the spigots slide into the holes and no further restraining means is necessary in order to retain the door in the closed position.

Referring now to the embodiment of FIG. 4, it can be seen that the door arrangement differs.in that the two door sections 15 and 16 are not hinged together but rather the top section is hinged along the edge of the roof 13 by means of top hinge 37 and the lower door section 16 is hinged along its bottom edge by means of bottom hinge 38 to the edge of the floor 14. A number of crank arms 34 are uniformly spaced along the inner top of the upper door section 15 and a similar number of brackets 3 5 are correspondingly spaced along the inside of the lower door section 16. A wire rope 36 extends between each pair of upper and lower brackets such that opening of the lower door section by pivoting downwardly will cause a pivoting action on the upper door section causing same to open outwardly. The broken lines FIG. 4 show the position the door sections assume in the open position. In FIG. 4 like or similar parts are referenced by the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. It should be noted that the top rail 24 is of different cross-sectional shape in the embodiment of FIG. 4. 2664f4 In the embodiments described, the rear end wall 11 is shown as a solid wall whereas in practice it is most likely that a conventional door arrangement would be provided on the rear wall. In the situation where the rear wall 11 has a door arrangement the transport module has the facility of being accessed either from a loading dock at the rear or a loading dock at the side. It should be noted that the embodiment of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is preferred over the embodiment of FIG. 4 since the preferred embodiment may be opened for side access when parked closely adjacent a loading dock whereas in the embodiment of FIG. 4,. where the lower door section opens outwardly and downwardly, it must be opened before the vehicle is driven or the module is located in close proximity to a loading dock.

The main panels of the transport module according to the preferred embodiments are formed from glass reinforced plastic (GRP) and plywood which is moulded together to form a composite structure in a manner which is known per se.

Other parts of the structure such as beams and rails are generally formed from steel but other suitable materials may be used.

It should be apparent from the above that the present invention provides an improved transport module which has considerable advantages over existing modules. Because the side doors are solid panel doors rather than curtains as previously known, they are resistant to internal damage when the module is loaded from the end wall 11 by driving a fork-lift truck, for example, into the module. The side doors also provide a secure and weather resistant container for the load.

It is a further advantage of the invention that because the side doors are solid panels, they may be used as supports for one or more shoring bars located between the side walls 11 and 12 to contain a part load within the module. The claims form part of the description of this specification.

Claims (1)

1. 206^1*;- 8 -;<;WHAT^WE CLAIM IS:;1. A transport module comprising opposed end walls adapted in use to become front and rear end walls, opposed side walls each extending between said front and rear end walls and a roof extending between said walls, characterized in that at least one said side wall constitutes a door arrangement which may be opened to provide side access to said module, all said walls are of rigid construction, said door arrangement comprises horizontally hinged doors extending substantially over tne length of said module , said doors being interconnected whereby opening of one door causes opening of the other door, and actuating means are provided for opening and closing said doors in a manner wherein, in the open position said "doors are pivoted to a position allowing said module to be arranged in close proximity to a side loading dock.;2. A transport module as defined in claim 1, characterized in that, said horizontally hinged doors comprise upper and lower door sections each extending substantially the entire length of said module, said upper door section is hinged at its upper horizontal edge to,, or adjacent to, said roof and said interconnection is provided by said lower door section being hinged";at its upper horizontal edge to the lower horizontal edge of said upper door section to form a pivotal joint between said sections, whereby raising of the lower horizontal edge of said lower door section in the plane of said side wall causes said joint to move outwardly away from said module and upwardly in an arc as said sections fold together such in the fully open position of said one side an acute angle is formed between said door sections, and said door sections are substantially above the plane of said roof.;3. A transport module as defined in claim 2, characterized in that, the hinging of said upper horizontal edge of said upper section is by means of a plurality of hinges spaced along, and affixed to, the top of said roof, the pivot point of each hinge being spaced inwardly from the longitudinal;- 9 -;2084 f 4;edge of said roof to provide a moment arm for reducing the effort required to open said door sections.;4. A transport module as defined in claim 3, characterized in that, a plurality of guide tracls are spaced along said one side wall to extend vertically over the height of said module, each guide track is adapted to receive and slidably retain a slider attached adjacent the bottom edge of said lower door section whereby said bottom edge is retained in the plane of said one side wall.;5. A transport module as defined in claim 4, characterized in that, a separate pulley is attached to said module adjacent the top of each guide track and a wire rope is affixed to each said slider and extends over the respective said pulley, said wire ropes being operable by winch means to cause raising or lowering of said bottom edge and consequently opening or closing of said door arrangement.;6. A transport module as defined in claim 5, characterized in that, a reinforcing and protection member extends along the bottom edge of said one side in a fixed position on said module, said member having a series of holes spaced there-along for accepting and retaining correspondingly spaced spigots along said bottom edge of said lower door section when said door arrangement is closed.;7. A transport module as defined in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, it includes a floor incorporating a steel grid structure having wheel assembly mounting points for receiving a wheel assembly, whereby said module is adapted to become the tray portion of a truck or semitrailer .;8. A transport module as defined in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, said rear wall incorporates a door arrangement for providing rear access to said module.;2064 141;- 10 - r;9. A transport module substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.;10. A transport module substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to FIG. 4 of the accompanying drawings.;DATED THIS^^DAY OF 19*^3 A. J. PARK & S0N PER agents for the applicants