NZ250107A - Stock crate for vehicle with effluent disposal channel in side wall - Google Patents

Description

250107 Patents Form No. 5 Our Ref: HA500526 NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Complete After Provisional No. 250107 Filed: 1 November 1993 TRANSPORTATION APPARATUS I, PETER BERNARD JOHNSTON, a citizen of New Zealand of Matahura Valley Road, R D, Ohinewai, New Zealand, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: N.Z. patent off ice 30 JAN 1995 RECEIVED TRANSPORTATION APPARATUS 250107 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in and relating to transportation apparatus and more especially but not exclusively to transportation apparatus used for transporting farm stock.

For the sake of simplicity the present invention will be described in respect of a stock crate but it is to be understood that the present invention does have application in a variety of uses as will be apparent to those skilled in the field of transportation.

To the present time the transport of stock has presented a problem due to the effluent created during the journey between the farm and abattoir for example. Various regulations have been introduced in New Zealand and other countries whereby the stock are required to stand overnight but these regulations have typically been ignored resulting in effluent spillage along the highways.

In attempting to deal with this problem stock crates have been available which have an inbuilt reservoir slung beneath the truck chassis into which the effluent can flow and be stored during the journey for subsequent discharge at the destination. 250 1 0 7 Stock crates have however tended to be deficient in ensuring a speedy and efficient flow of effluent particularly from the upper compartments in a multi-tier stock crate, to the reservoir. Also, stock crates have tended to be deficient in accommodating fore and aft movement and sideways movement, resulting in structural failure due to lack of structural rigidity.

It is an object of one preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide a stock crate which overcomes or at least obviates disadvantages in stock crates available to the present time or which at least will provide the public with a useful choice.

Further objects of this invention will become apparent from the following description.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the present invention thare is thus provided a method of providing a multi-tier stock crate with an effluent storage capacity, said method comprising: (i) interconnecting a plurality of panel members to form side walls of the stock crate commensurate with the numbers of tiers; (ii) providing an inturned lip defining a channel to extend along the length of a bottom edge of at least an upper tier; " 4 - 25 0 1 0 7 (iii) connecting said lip(s) with a flange provided on a lower panel; and (iv) connecting said flange in a discharge path for said effluent to, in use, an effluent storage means.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method as above defined including forming hoop frame assemblies, securing said side walls and roof and floor assemblies to said hoop frame assembles and positioning interlevel floor assemblies to define the floor of at least one upper tier.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method as defined in either of the two immediately preceding paragraphs substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the embodiments of the present invention and/or with reference to the accompanying drawings.

According to a still further aspect of the present invention there is provided a stock crate having at least one upper tier provided and at least one lower tier and wherein side walls of said upper tier include a panel assembly having at or adjacent a bottom edge thereof an inward channel to define an effluent dischax-ge path and to provide a means for interconnection with a flange member provided along an upper edge of an adjacent lower panel. 250 1 According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a stock crate comprising a hoop frame assembly having roof, floor and side wall assemblies secured thereto and further including at least an intermediate floor assembly to define the floor of at least one upper tier.

According to a still further aspect of the present invention there is provided a stock crate substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the embodiments of the iavention and/or with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings.

Further aspects of this invention which should be considered in all its novel aspects will become apparent from the following description given by way of example of possible embodiments thereof and in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1: shows very diagrammatically an end elevational view of a stock crate according to one possible embodiment of the invention; Figure 2: shows an enlarged, exploded view of a side wall assembly according to one embodiment of the invention for use in the stock crate of Figure 1; Figure 2A; shows an enlarged, exploded view of a side wall assembly according to another 250107 embodiment of the invention; Figure 3: shows an internal partition in greater detail; Figure 4; shows a window in greater detail; and/ Figure 5: shows a storage tank assembly in greater detail.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As mentioned previously, various proposals have been put forward for the construction of multi-tier stock crates particularly in dealing with the effluent created during stock journeys.

It is important to try and construct a stock crate which has no or minimal fore and aft movement or side movement to 1. eliminate or at least reduce component wear, i.e. for the floors, doors etc., 2. eliminate or at least reduce gaps between floor levels so as to minimise effluent leakage between floors, and 3. to provide for the efficient transfer of effluent from the stock compartments to the effluent reservoir which is normally situated as a compartment secured to the underneath of the truck or trailer chassis.

Obtaining a satisfactory flow of effluent to the reservoir particularly from the upper tiers has typically proved unsatisfactory as has controlling the rigidity of the stock crate. o 1 Referring to the accompanying drawings, in Figure 1 a stock crate according to one possible embodiment of the invention is referenced generally by arrow 1. It is shown very diagrammatically as comprising a bottom tier 2, a middle tier 3 and an upper tier 4 (the floors for the upper tiers being omitted for clarity).

An effluent reservoir is indicated in outline by arrow 5 with a sump 6 (see Figure 5) for the effluent. The floor 7 of the stock crate 1 suitably has transverse cross members 18 which may have a woven mesh floor 19, inclined towards the central portion of the stock crate 1 so as to direct the flow of effluent towards the central part of the stock crate and hence for discharge into the sump 6 of reservoir 5. The capacity of the reservoir 5 will generally be directly proportional to th& loaded capacity of the stock crate 1.

To provide rigidity for the stock crate 1 the assembly is shown provided with a plurality of hoop frames 8 and preferably full depth partition pressings about which the roof, floor and side wall assemblies can be mounted suitably by appropriate bolts or other fasteners and/or by welding as required. The use of the hoop frames in providing the structure cibout which the external cladding is mounted and the formed design and method of fixing the external cladding has been found to provide a suitable elimination or minimisation of fore and aft movement and also side movement while allowing torsional flexing. The stability of the stock crate 1 has therefore been markedly improved by the use of the hoop frames 8.

The side walls of the unit 1 are shown provided by a plurality of elongate panel members 9 providing the upper tiers, a lower panel 10 defining a lower tier and an uppermost panel 11 defining a side portion of the roof 12. The bottom panel 10 is shown provided with a sloping portion 13 (see Figure 2) leading to the inwardly sloping portion 28 of the floor 7. An upper edge of the panel 10 is shown provided with a flange 15 adapted to provide or facilitate a connection with the bottom surface of a channel member 16 provided along the bottom edge of the panel 9. The flange 15 and the channel 16 can be secured in any suitable manner as similarly can the interconnecting portions of the adjacent panels forming the rest of the side wall. It is thus seen that the panel 9 providing the middle tier has a flange portion 17 to link with the channel 16 of the panel 9 immediately above. That uppermost panel 9 is then shown with in this embodiment an outwardly facing channel 19 which is adapted to link with a downwardly facing flange 20 provided for the panel 11.

It is thus seen that the upper tiers of the stock crate 1 have channels 16 extending along the length of the side walls and integral therewith and it is these channels 16 which are able to act as integral drains for the flow of effluent which can then be carried through appropriate drainage means to the floor level 7 and then to the reservoir 5.

It is also seen that the construction of the stock crate utilising the interconnecting panels 9, 10 and 11 enables specifically designed windows/vent holes 20 to be provided along the length of the side walls, providing a marked difference from the customary use of rods or bars providing grill structures in earlier designs.

In Figure 1 the roof 12 is also shown with inspection ports 23. i Turning to Figure 2A of the accompanying drawings, a modified panel structure is shown, utilising the same reference numerals as those used in Figure 2 where appropriate.

In this embodiment of Figure 2A, the uppermost roof panels 11 are shown connected with the upper panels 9 by a jointing and buffer rail 41 while along an upper edge of the middle tier panels 9 a buffer rail 43 is shown provided and similarly for the bottom tier panels 10 a buffer rail 45 is shown provided along the upper edge.

Intermediate the panels 9 of the upper and middle tiers and between the panels 9 and 10 of ths middle and lower tiers respectively, vent bracing and drain supports 40 are shown provided and the top and middle tier panels 9 are again shown provided with side drains defined by channels 16.

In Figure 4 a side vent window 20 is shown in an enlarged view formed integrally as part of the panels 9. In Figure 3 the structural portal frames 8 are shown provided with their partition sheets 27 extending to the central framework members 26. The partition sheets 27 are shown provided with inspection holes 30.

In Figure 5, the reservoir 5 is shown with the sloping channels 25 leading to the access 24 into the sump 6. A drain tap 22 is shown providing a controllable discharge for the outlet from the tank 21 at the bottom of the sump 6.

Where in the foregoing description reference has been made to specific components or integers of the invention having known equivalents then such equivalents are herein incorporated as if individually set forth.

Although this invention has been described by way of example and with reference to possible embodiments thereof it is to be understood that modifications or improvements may be made thereto without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims. 250 10 7

Claims (11)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:
1. A method of providing a multi-tier stock crate with an effluent storage capacity, said method comprising: (i) interconnecting a plurality of panel members to form side walls of the stock crate commensurate with the numbers of tiers; (ii) providing an inturned lip defining a channel to extend along the length of a bottom edge of at least an upper tier; (iii) connecting said lip(s) with a flange provided on a lower panel; and (iv) connecting said flange in a discharge path for said effluent to, in use, an effluent storage means.
2. A method of providing a multi-tier stock crate with an effluent storage capacity as claimed in claim 1 including forming hoop frame assemblies, securing roof and floor assemblies and said side walls to said hoop frame assemblies and positioning interlevel floor assemblies to define the floor of at least one upper tier. - 13 - 25 0 10 7
3. 3. A method of providing a multi-tier stock crate with an effluent storage capacity substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the embodiments of the present invention and/or with reference to the accompanying drawings.
4. 4. A multi-tier stock crate provided with an effluent storage capacity by the method of any one of the preceding claims.
5. 5. A stock crate having at least one upper tier provided and at least one lower tier and wherein side walls of said upper tier include a panel assembly having at or adjacent a bottom edge thereof an inward channel to define an effluent discha_ge path and to provide a means for interconnection with a flange member provided along an upper edge of an adjacent lower panel.
6. 6. A stock crate as claimed in 5 including a hoop frame assembly having roof, floor and side walls assemblies secured thereto and further including at least an intermediate floor assembly to define the floor of said at least one upper tier. - 14 - 250107 7. A stock crate as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6 wherein a rail assembly extends along the upper edges of panels interconnected to provide the side walls of each of the tiers of said stock crate. 8. A stock crate as claimed in claim 7 when dependent on claim 6 wherein said rail assembly provided for said upper tier also extends about a lower edge of panels forming said roof assembly. 9. A stock crate as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 8 wherein spaced apart bracing extends beneath inward channels provided along the bottom edges of the panels forming at least one said upper tier and a middle tier, the spacing apart of said bracing also providing venting access into the interior of the crate. 10. A stock crate as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 8 wherein a floor of said stock crate includes inwardly sloping side portions leading towards an access means connected with a sump means for receiving effluent received on said floor. 250 11. A stock crate substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the embodiments of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings. PETER BERNARD JOHNSTON By his Attorneys BALDWIN, SON & CAREY VO/dict/COPY18868 - 14 - 25 0 1 07
7. 7. A stock crate as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6 wherein a rail assembly extends along the upper edges of panels interconnected to provide the side walls of each of the tiers of said stock crate.
8. 8. A stock crate as claimed in claim 7 when dependent on claim 6 wherein said rail assembly provided for said upper tier also extends about a lower edge of panels forming said roof assembly.
9. 9. A stock crate as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 8 wherein spaced apart bracing extends beneath inward channels provided along the bottom edges of the panels forming at least one said upper tier and a middle tier, the spacing apart of said bracing also providing venting access into the interior of the crate.
10. 10. A stock crate as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 8 wherein a floor of said stock crate includes inwardly sloping side portions leading towards an access means connected with a sump means for receiving effluent received on said floor. 15 250107
11. 11. A stock crate substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the embodiments of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings. PETER BERNARD JOHNSTON By his Attorneys BALDWIN, SON & CAREY VO/dict/COPY18868