US2552850A - Dump truck for concrete and the like - Google Patents

Description

May 15, 1951 c. GRAY DUMP TRUCK FoR CONCRETE AND THE LIRE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 6, 1947 f IN V EN TOR. l C35/Ec E/c/f ATTO/WYE?? May 15, 1951 `C, GRAY l 2,552,850'

DUMP TRUCK FOR CONCRETE AND THE vLIKE Filed Aug. 6, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR.

May l5, 1951 c. GRAY DUMP TRUCK RoR CONCRETE `AND TRE LIKE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 6, 1947 Patented May 15, 1951 DUMP TRUCK FOR CONCRETE AND THE LIKE Ghesleigh Gray Indianapolis, Ind.; Mary Edna Gray executrix` f said Chesleigh Gray, deceased Application Auguste, 1947, Serial No. 766,573

Claims.

The business of supplying ready-mixed concrete for use 0n the job has been increasingr in volume continuously for the past several years; It is customary to bring together the ingredients of concrete in suitable` proportions: and to mix the ingredients, at Ieasti partially, at large central plants, and then to: charge suitable quantities into specially constructed trucks and, to carry the concrete to the job.` Until. very recently, it has been essential to continue'` agitation of the concrete during transit from the` central plant to the point of use` in order to prevent separation of the ingredients, since transit, in ncn-agitating truck bodies, has invariably resulting in settling oi'. the aggregates, and.. in travel of the water to the` surfacefof' the mass of concrete in a truck;

Quite recently, research and experimentation has resulted in methods of entraining air in green concrete through the. use of suitable agents which can be controlled and which are found to have quite satisfactory' results. The reason for developing the air-entrained process lies. in the fact that it was discovered' that, when air to the amountY of' three per cent ori less is thus entrained in the green concrete, the concrete, after setting has improved resistance to cycles of freezing and thawing, while` its flexural and compressive strengths are: not'` appreciably affected.

It has been found that, when green concrete is thus provided with entrained air, the coarse aggregate is much more satisfactorily retained in suspension over substantial periods. I havey found that green concrete with. entrainedair', fully mixed at the centralv plant, can be: transported in non-agitatingi vehicles without sub-v stantial segregation of aggregates. Itis obvious that, if fully mixed concrete can be transported in non-agitating vehicle bodies, lighter vehicle constructions can be used: for delivering mixedz concrete to the job, and. power delivery means for effecting agitationv during; transit can be eliminated.

However, veryl special; body construction is necessary if mixed concrete is to be transported without agitation, in order' to guard against sticking, undue compaction of the concrete, and similar difficulties. It is: essential, for instance, to provide a structure in which a. relatively small discharge port may be sealed, during transit, against water escape.. It is essential that the walls of the body shall converge upon the discharge porti at an angle greater than the angle of repose oil? wet concrete. It is essential that there shall be. no sharp corners in 2 which concrete might wedge.r and stick. Itis highly desirable that the body construction shall be such that a very high per cent of the'` load can be discharged through that port without tilting the body, in order thatl it may' not be necessary' to provide hoist equipment sufficiently powerful to liftA a substantial proportion of the concrete load". It is highly desirable that the construction shall be such that the entire load can be discharged' without the use of any mechanical means for forcing the concrete to flow from, the body. It is' desirable to providemeans whereby the direction of now of` the concrete is varied at least once; and preferably twice; as it moves toward the discharge port, thus tending` to remix the concrete; It is desirable to provide means whereby the dischargeport may be partially or fully opened to control the rate of flow of concrete from thel body. It: is also desirable to, equip the vehicleY with a chute capable: of swinging through a widey arc about a vertical axis, and capable, also, of somemovement oi"v its discharge end in aV vertical plane; while concrete is flowing therethrough. It is also desirable to make it possible to remove. the chute entirely from` registry with the' discharge port, in order that'v concrete maybe delivered directly from the body to a pointl a maximunr distance above the ground level. ltv is further desirable to provide means whereby thef chute may be carried, during transit, in a position safely out of the way.

The primary object of the present invention. then, is to provide a truck* body particularly adapted for transporting mixed concrete from a central plant, without` mechanical agitation of the concrete during transit, and fordelivering` the concrete under optimum conditions at 'the point of use. Further objects have` to do with the provision of the above-outlined desiderata and will appear in detail as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the aboveA and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the form illustrated inthe accompanying' drawings, attention being called to theV fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, andl that change may be made in the specific. construction illustrated and described, so longv as the scope of the appended claims is; not: violated.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of adump body constructed in accordance withfthe present invert-- tion and mounted' upon a truck of standard con-1 struction, shownin fragmental elevation;v

Fig: 2-` is a top plan view thereof;

view of one of the hinge assemblies through showing a hopper and chute assembly forming apart of the present invention;

Fig. is a section taken substantially on the line |0-I0 of Fig. 9;

.. Fig; 11 is a fragmental longitudinal section taken upon a plane parallel with the plane of Fig. 9 and upon an enlarged scale;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged plan view of the hopper, the chute having Vbeen removed, parts being broken away for clarity of illustration; and

Fig. 13 is a fragmental perspective view, upon an enlarged scale, of the hinging and supporting means for the chute.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that I have illustrated, more or less diagrammatically, a truck chassis, indicated generally bythe reference numeral 20, and a dump body indicated generally by the reference numeral 2|. Inclined pillars 22 upon the chassis 20 are formed to provide parallel upstanding bearing plates 23 and 24 which support a journal Vsleeve 25. body 2| is provided with a rearwardly projecting housing 26 having side plates 21 and 28 supporting, respectively, journal sleeves 29 and 30 which are adapted to be brought into registry with the For each such hinge assembly, the

sleeve 25. A hinge pin 3| is driven through each assembly of hinge sleeves, and a cotter pin 32, or the like, is passed through registering apertures in the sleeve 29 and the pin 3| to complete the hinge assembly. Spacer plates 33 and 34 will preferably be arranged in the manner clearly illustrated in Fig. 8.

Each body'hinge assembly includes a foot 35 secured to a bed 36 uponV which the `body 2| is .suitably secured, and adapted to rest upon the truck bed 31 in the manner clearly illustrated in Fig.l 1. A fluid motor 3B has one end anchored at 39 upon the truck chassis and its other end anchored at 49 upon Ythe body 2| in such a fashion that, when fiuid is supplied to the motor, itsends' will be separated to swing the body 2| about the axis of the hinge pins 3| and into the position illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. l.

' rlhe'rbody comprises end walls 4| and 42, and sidewalls 43 and 44, said end walls preferably being substantially vertical and the side walls i 4 is clearly to be seen from an inspection of Fig. 2. The walls 43 and 44 are primarily disposed in planes inclined to the body floor at equal obtuse angles less than the angle of repose of wet concrete, being, in the present illustrations, approximately 45; and the end and lateral Walls merge with said floor through curved surfaces similar to that illustrated at 4|' in Fig. 5.

Extending from Vend to end of the body, Vand Ysuspended above the bottom thereof, is a baiiie -indicated generally by the reference numeral 59,

and comprising a beam, which may be hollow vand whose transverse section comprises two isosceles triangles having a common horizontal base. Theupwardly presented walls 5| and V52 of the baille` converge upwardly to a sharp edge 53, while (the lower walls 54 and 55 converge downwardly to a sharp edge 56. The maximum transverse dimension of the ybeam 55 is substantially equal to,' or may preferably 'somewhat exceed, the transverse dimension of the floor or bottom ofthe body. Because of the provision of the baille 59, undue compaction of concrete against the floor of the body is obviated, since the beam supports 'a substantial proportion of the weight of the column of concrete directly above the floor, so Vthat the only weight impressed upon the door itself is that made up of the vertical component of the converging portionsof the column resting upon the walls 43 and 44.

' As is clearly to be seenin Figs. 1, 4, and 5, a dischargeV passage 51 projects rearwardly Vfrom the rear end wall 4| ofthe body in a plane coincident with the oor of said body. Said passage terminates in a. discharge port 58 Whose mouth is curved about a horizontal axis in the manner to be Yseen in Figs. 4 and 5. A gate 59 is correspondingly curved for cooperation with the mouth of the spout51` and issupported upon arms 5B and 6| projecting from its lateral edges, the free ends of said arms `vbeing supported upon oppositely projecting, aligned trunnions 62 and 53 mounted on the spout 51. As'shown, particularly in Fig. 5, each such arm is provided with a slot 64 elongated in a line normal to the facing surface of the gate 59. Itwill be clear that this construction permits oscillation of the gate 59 about an axis coincident with the center of curvature of the Y mouth of the spout 51, and also permits bodily curvature.

derstood that, when the mouth 58 of the spout 51 is to be sealed, the gate 59 is pressed thereagainst with sufficient force to'deform the rubber 65,' thereby providing a waterproof closure.

I' prefer to provide the gate 59 with a curved rack 66 for cooperation with a pinion 61 mounted upon a shaft 58 journalled in a shield or bracket B9 suitably supported upon the wall 4| of the body 2|. A handle 19 may'bemounted on the shaft 68 for operation of the pinion 61, to swing the gate 59 about the axis of the trunnions 62 and 63.

' AY yoke, indicated generally by the reference numeral 1|, comprises parallel arms 12 and 13 journal mounted, respectively, on the trunnions 62 and 63, and joined by a stretcher 14 in which is journalled a screw shaft 15, said shaft being rotatable with respect to, but held against axial movement with respect to, said stretcher 14. As is shown in Fig. 6, the shaft 15 has threaded engagement with a bracket 16 fixed to the gate 59;

and?. IlaIidWhecl 11 is secured to said screw shaft.

zgtaagsno Stops 13T, xedlry" projecting; from' atleast one of the arms 60 and 6|-, straddle the associatedV yoke arms 12 and/or 13 to assist in operatively connecting the gate 59 and yoke 1|. Obviously, rotation of the handwheel 11 inV one direction will pull the gate 59 toward the stretcher 14 to clear the mouth 58 of the spout 51. Concurrently, the rack et' is moved to meshing engagement with the pinion 61. Now, operation of the handle '.19- in one direction or the other will swing the gate 59 about the axis of the trunnions 62 and 63,.in one direction or the other. When the gate has been brought to desired position, the handwheel 11 will be turned in the opposite direction, thereby pushing the gate 59, upon. a` line radial` with respect to the curvatures of. said gate and the spout mouth, to press the rubber surface of the gate into contact with. said spout mouth. Obviously, the gate may be stopped in completely overlapping relation with the spout mouth, or it may be stopped in a position clearing any desired proportion of the spout mouth and, through operation of the handwheel 11., may be pressed into sealing relation with the mouthA of the spout in any selected position.

suitably supported upon the chassis and projecting rearwardly therefrom is a platform 1.9'` (see Figs. 1, 9 and l1), said platform being braced by a pair of tie rods 89 extending between the outer end of said platform and the pillars 2v2. A cylindrical post 8|, having a iiange 82 welded to its lower end, is projected through an` opening in4 said platform andr is secured thereto by bolts 03, or other suitable fastening means, cooperating with the ange 82. The upper end of said post i-s closed by a block 84, and a cylindrical sleeve 85 is supported thereon. Near its lower end, the sleeve is formed with a peripheral flange 86, and a larger peripheral ange 81 is welded to said sleeve adjacent its-upper end. A plate 88 is secured to said flange 81 by means of bolts 89 or other equivalent fastening meansr said` plate resting upon the flange 81, the block 84,. and the upper end of the post 8 A block 90 is supported upon the platform: 19 adjacent the sleeve 85 and carries a :finger 9 IY overlying the flange 86 toV prevent aceidental upward movement of said sleeve r85. The block 90 further carries a thumb screw 92 which may be turned up against the flange 86 (whose peripheral surface may, it desired, be roughened) to hold the sleeve 85 in any desired position of rotational adjustment about the axis of the post 8 I. l

A grease fitting 93 may be associated with an opening through the` plate 88 which opening registers with intersecting grooves 94 in the lower face of the plate 88,. said grooves being proportioned` and designedto carry grease-from the iitting 93 into the space between the external periphery of the post 8| and the internal periphery of the sleeve 85.

The plate 83I carries a pair of upstanding side plates Q5 between which is supported a4 hopper,

indicated generally by the reference numeral 95,V

and formed to provide converging walls 91. The hopper 961 is disposed beneath', and in registering association with, the body discharge port 58, and the converging walls 91 are designed to direct material owing from said port 58 onto a downwardly and rearwardly inclined wall 98, and so to the discharge mouth 99 of the hopper 95. A` plate |00 is Xed to said bottom wall 98% and is formed with an aperture adapted' to receive the projecting end of the plate 88 and to be welded thereto. vImmediately belowthe plate |00f,.a stop strap |0 I is fixed to they wall 98 in the manner clearly shown in Fig. 11.

A bracket |02 projects horizontally rearwardly from the upper wall of the hopper spout and is formed to. provide a pair of aligned apertures |03 in which is x'ed a guide tube |25 for the reception of a hinge pintle |04 whereby a discharge chute, indicated generally by the reference numeral |05, may be hinged to said bracket |02. rl`he pintle |04 passes through aligned openings in a bracket |08, comprising a part of the chute |55, and suitably braced by bars |01' at opposite sides of the chute. At a point suitably spaced from the pintle IM, the bars |01 are formed with aligned apertures |98 for a purpose later to be described.

The chute proper may comprise a body |09 of sheet metal, bent to U-shape, as is clearly illustrated in Fig. 10. At its end adjacent the spout 99, the bottom wall of the chute is formed with an inclined extension I9 (Fig. 1l) for a purpose Which will later appear, and the chute is provided, adjacent the rearward end of said extension, with aligned apertures I I I.

The parts thus described are so proportioned and designed that, when the chute is permitted to swing, by gravity, into the position illustrated in' Fig. 9, the rearward end o the extension IIO will abut the downwardly presented edge of the stop strap |0I, whereby the chute will be held against further counter-clockwise movement about the pintle |04. A pair of segment plates I|2 are supported upon the bracket |02 and are provided with spaced aligned apertures I I3, I|4 and ||5. When the chute is in the position of Fig. 9, the openings |53 in theV braces |01 register with the openings I l5 in the plates I I2, and a locking bar I i1 may, if desired, be passed through the aligned apertures to hold the chute positively in such position.

If it is desired to deliver concrete at a slightly higher elevation, the outer end of the chute |05 may be lifted, by grasping the handle bar |2I, to bring the openings i052 into alignment with the apertures I I4 in the plates I i2. These apertures are joined by a fixed guide tube |21. The bar I I1 may now be passed through the aligned apertures to hold the chute in the new position. It will be seen that, in that position, the extension I I0 still underlies the bottom wall of the spout 99; and that, if the chute be adjusted to a still higher position, in which the bar |I'I may be passed through the openings |08 and the apertures I i3, the extension I I0 will still underlie the extreme end of the hopper spout.

Since the chute is carried upon the bracket |02 which, in turn, is carried upon the hopper `96, it will be clear that the chute may be swung through a wide angle about the axis of the post 8| by rotational adjustment of the sleeve 85 upon the said post. The construction is such (see Fig. 2) that an adjustment somewhat in excess of may be achieved.

It may be desirable, at times, to deliver concrete' directly from the hopper spout to a form whose height may be above the highest position of operational adjustment of the delivery endv of the chutev |95. Under such circumstances, the chute' may be swung to the dot-dash line position of Fig. l, wherein the openings IH' in the chute |05 register with apertures iM and guide tube` |21. The chute may, of course, be held in this position by passing the bar IIT through the registering opening-s; lin this position, the inner' end; of the chute: is held entirely out of` the way 'of the hopper discharge spout, and yet the .position of the chute is such as not to interfere with the dumping position ofthe body 2|, illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

VThe transit position of the, chute is illustrated in Fig. 1 in dotted lines, and in solid lines in Fig. 11. VIn this position, the openingsV in the chute body |09 register with the openings |16 in the bracket |02, which are preferably joined by a guide tube |26, and the bar lil is passed through said registering openings and said tube. In order to insure positively against dislodgement of the bar in this position, said bar may be provided with a handle H8 having an angular .projection ||9, and the chute body may be provided with a hook |20 with which the handle I8 may be engaged, in the manner illustrated in Fig. 13, when the chute is in its transit position.

In order to facilitate movement of the chute to and from its transit position, the chute will preierably be provided with a second handlebar |22.

As is clearly shown in Figs. and 6, a stop block |23 projects outwardly from at least one wall of the body spout 51 for engagement by a stop block |24 projecting inwardly from the gate arm 60 to limit downward movement of the gate 59.

VI claim as my invention:

l. A body for a dump truck having lateral walls converging toward the bottom of said body and inclined to said bottom at obtuse angles less than the angle of repose of wet concrete, a discharge -port near said bottom at one end of said body, a gateY for said port, and a baille stationarily mounted in said body above the bottom thereof and substantially coextensive with said bottom.

2. The body of claim 1 in which the upwardlydirected surface of said baille comprises two downwardly diverging walls meeting at their upper edges, substantially in the vertical plane containing the longitudinal median line of the bottom of said body.

3. A body for a dump truck having an elongated, laterally narrow, horizontal bottom flanked by lateral walls upwardly diverging and inclined to said bottom at obtuse angles less than the angle of repose of wet concrete, end walls meeting said bottom and said lateral walls in curved surfaces, and baille means extending between said end walls and sustaining a portion of the weight of material filled into said body.

4. The body of claim 3 in which said baiile means comprises a beam presenting a pair of upwardly and outwardly presented faces anda pair of downwardly and outwardly presented faces.

5. The body of claim 4 in which each pair of faces converges in a line located substantially in the vertical .plane including the longitudinal median line of said bottom.

6. TheV body of claim 3 in which said bailie means comprises a beam whose transverse section presents two isosceles triangles having a common horizontal base and having their apices oppositely directed.

7. A body for a dump truck having an elongated, laterally narrow bottom, end walls meeting said bottom in curved surfaces, side walls flaring oppositely upwardly from said bottom and curving upwardly and inwardly from theirlaterally-most-remote levels, said side walls meeting said end walls and bottom in curved surfaces, and the upper edges of said side walls being spaced apart substantially throughout their lengths to provide a lling opening for said body substantially. longitudinally coextensive with said body,

and baille means disposed within said'body between such lling opening and said bottom.

8. A body for a dump truck having lateral walls converging toward the bottom of said body at angles exceeding the angle of repose of wet concrete, a discharge port near said bottom at one end of said body, and a gate for said port comprising a curved closure, arms at the lateral ends of said closure, trunnions associated with said arms and supporting the same, a rack i'lxedly associated with said closure, and a pinionmeshing with said rack -for shifting said closure about the axis of said trunnions relative to said port.

9. The organization of claim 8 in which said arms are associated with said trunnions through slots in said arms radial with respect to said closure, and including means associated with said closure for shifting Ythe same positively in theV line of said slots.

10. In a dump body having a discharge spout, gate means for said spout comprising a pair of aligned trunnions projecting oppositely from opposite sides of said spout, a curved closure for said spout, a pair of arms at the lateral ends of said closure for supporting the same, each arm having a slot therein elongated in a line normal to said closure, each slot fitting on one of said trunnions, means for swinging said closure about the axis of said trunnions, and means for positively shifting said Vclosure in the line of said slots.

11. The organization of claim 10 in which said last-named means is `effective to shift said closure positively in either of two opposite directions in the line of said slots.

12. The organization of claim 10 in which said last-named means comprises' a yoke oscilla/bly supported on said trunnions for swinging movement with said closure and a screw journalled in said yoke on an axis parallel with said slots and held against axial movement relative to said yoke, said screw Ibeing threadedly associated with said closure.

13. The organization of ,claim 12 inA which said closure is provided with a yielding surface facing the discharge end vof said spout. p

14. In a dump truck body having a discharge port and gate means therefor, a platform disposed beneath said port, a cylindrical post vertically supported upon said platform, a cylindrical sleeve journal-mounted on said post, means on said platform restraining said sleeve against vertical movement relative thereto, and 'a hopper supported on said sleeve in registry with said port.

15. The organization of claim 14 in which said Vhopper is provided with a downwardly inclined discharge spout, and including a chute supported for swinging movement about a horizontal axis above said spout. v

CHESLEIGH GRAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following Yreferences are of recordV in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

Images