Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60J—WINDOWS, WINDSCREENS, NON-FIXED ROOFS, DOORS, OR SIMILAR DEVICES FOR VEHICLES; REMOVABLE EXTERNAL PROTECTIVE COVERINGS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES
  • B60J5/00—Doors
  • B60J5/04—Doors arranged at the vehicle sides
  • B60J5/06—Doors arranged at the vehicle sides slidable; foldable
  • B60J5/062—Doors arranged at the vehicle sides slidable; foldable for utility vehicles or public transport
  • B60J5/065—Doors arranged at the vehicle sides slidable; foldable for utility vehicles or public transport with non-rigid elements, e.g. side curtains
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60J—WINDOWS, WINDSCREENS, NON-FIXED ROOFS, DOORS, OR SIMILAR DEVICES FOR VEHICLES; REMOVABLE EXTERNAL PROTECTIVE COVERINGS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR VEHICLES
  • B60J5/00—Doors
  • B60J5/10—Doors arranged at the vehicle rear
  • B60J5/12—Doors arranged at the vehicle rear slidable; foldable
  • B60J5/125—Doors arranged at the vehicle rear slidable; foldable for utility vehicles or public transport

Definitions

• This invention relates to closure means for a truck van having a movable closure web having an access opening which is positionable on the rear or on either side of the truck to facilitate loading and unloading the truck, the web aperture being disposed at the front of the van in order to effect closure thereof.
• U.S. Patent 3,709,552 issued January 9, 1973 discloses a truck van having an open side which is closable by a slidable curtain suspended from the roof of the van body.
• U.S. Patent 4,545,611 issued October 8, 1985 discloses a van body having pleated sides which afford side openings which are closable by slidable door structure consisting of two solid end doors interconnected and bridged by a foldable curtain.
• U.S. Patent 4,844,524 issued July 4, 1989 discloses a truck trailer closure assembly for tensioning a flexible curtain over an opening which includes a shaft with a vertical axis together with bearing members rotatably connecting the shaft to the truck trailer.
• a truck van having a floor bed together with a plurality of corner rollers supported by the floor bed and having vertically disposed axes, an endless web disposed about the rollers and in snug close contact therewith, an access aperture formed in the web and means for imparting bodily movement to the web about the rollers so as selectively to locate the access aperture at the front, rear or either side of the truck van.
• FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a truck and its associated van to which this invention is applicable;
• Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but with parts of the van broken away and which is taken from a different vantage point; and
• Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are perspective views of detailed features forming parts of this invention.
• the numeral 1 designates the cab of a conventional truck and the numeral 2 generally designates the associated truck van.
• the numeral 3 designates the floor bed and the numeral 4 designates the van roof.
• the structure of Figs. 1 and 2 is mounted atop a conventional chassis frame which is not shown in the drawings.
• a corner post 5 is vertically disposed and is mounted atop the floor bed 3.
• a similar corner post on the opposite side of the structure is provided but is not observable in the drawings.
• a front wall W is secured to corner post 5 and to the opposite post not observable in Fig. 2 and extends from floor 3 to roof 4.
• a pair of corner posts 6 and 7 are provided and like corner post 5 are mounted atop the floor bed 3 and are vertically disposed.
• Closure structure for the van includes corner rollers 8, 9, 10, and 11 about which an endless movable web 12 is disposed in snug closely fitting engagement.
• the endless web 12 comprises a curtain 13 secured along its upper edge to an upper belt 14 and secured along its lower edge to a lower belt 15 which is below the level of floor bed 3.
• a sub floor 3b underlies the upper floor 3 and serves to support rollers 8-11 and other associated structure. Contact between lower belt 15 and the lower ends of rollers 8-11 is thus facilitated.
• the spaced end edges 16 and 17 of the curtain 13 define an access aperture which may be disposed on either side of the van or at the rear thereof so as to afford access to the interior. When the access aperture 18 is disposed at the front of the van and immediately adjacent and in close juxtaposition to the front wall W behind cab 1, the van is effectively closed.
• the roof 4 of the van is supported by a support frame which may be formed of channels such as 19 and 20 which are secured at adjacent ends to define corners of the van and which are supported by the corner posts such as 5, 6, 7 and the other post opposite post 5.
• a support frame which may be formed of channels such as 19 and 20 which are secured at adjacent ends to define corners of the van and which are supported by the corner posts such as 5, 6, 7 and the other post opposite post 5.
• the roller 11 is shown in enlarged views 3 and 4.
• Fig. 3 shows the upper end of roller 11 while Fig. 4 shows the lower end of that roller.
• a recess 11a is formed at the upper end of roller 11 and conveniently cooperates with the endless upper belt 14 while a peripheral recess lib is formed at the lower end of roller 11 and cooperates with the endless lower belt 15.
• a base plate such as 23 may be secured as by bolts 24 and 25 to channel 19 and a movable tensioning plate 26 may be pivotally mounted on base plate 23 at pivot 27.
• the upper end of roller 9 is journalled by conventional journal structure in the right hand end of tensioning plate 26.
• a base plate 28 Interconnected with the lower end of roller 9 is a base plate 28 secured by bolts 29 and 30 to floor bed 3b.
• a tensioning plate 31 is pivotally connected with base plate 28 by a pin 32.
• the lower end of roller 9 is journally mounted for rotation in a conventional journal bearing in tensioning plate 31 and is not shown in the drawings.
• a connecting bar 34 is fixedly secured as by welding at its upper end to tensioning plate 26 and at its lower end to tensioning plate 31.
• the structure shown in Fig. 6 may be employed and may include a piston cylinder structure generally designated at 37.
• the piston rod 38 is pivotally connected to base plate 28 by a pin 39 and the end of cylinder 40 is pivoted at pin 41 to tensioning plate 31.
• operation of piston cylinder device 37 imparts swinging movement to the tensioning plate 31 and to roller 9 thereby to control the tension of the endless web 12.
• the tensioning structure may be applied to one or more of the rollers as may be desired.
• motor means such as is indicated in Fig. 7 by the electric motor M and its associated bearing structure B imparts rotary movement to the shaft S which is rigidly secured to roller 10.
• the motor M and its associated bearing B are disposed below the sub floor bed 3b.
• the roller 10 could be an idler and the endless web 12 could be moved inwardly.
• the roof 4 overlies the endless web 12 as well as the corner posts such as 5, 6, 7 and the corner post opposite post 5 and not showing, and the rollers such as 8, 9, 10 and 11, the loaded contents of the van are protected against precipitation. While easy access to the interior of the van is provided for loading and unloading purposes, the security of the van is also provided by simply moving the endless web 12 so that the access opening 18 is disposed immediately adjacent and in close juxtaposition to the rear of the front wall W of van 2 and immediately behind cabin 1.
• While the invention as described above is applicable to a truck van, it is not limited to such a device and could constitute a cubicle having a quadrilateral floor bed, a plurality of rollers mounted respectively at the corners of said floor bed and having vertically disposed axes, and endless web disposed about said rollers and in snug close contact therewith, an access aperture formed in said web, means for imparting bodily movement to said web about said rollers so as selectively to locate said access aperture at the front, rear or at either side of said cubicle and suitable lifting devices such as hooks for cooperating with an overhead crane or a pallet style base for cooperating with a fork lift truck or the like.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Loading Or Unloading Of Vehicles (AREA)
• Pallets (AREA)
• Tents Or Canopies (AREA)
• Body Structure For Vehicles (AREA)
• Power-Operated Mechanisms For Wings (AREA)
• Seal Device For Vehicle (AREA)
• Vehicle Body Suspensions (AREA)

Priority Applications (7)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=24624051

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (16)

Families Citing this family (18)

Citations (6)

Family Cites Families (1)

• 1991
  • 1991-02-12 US US07/654,241 patent/US5044689A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1991-07-29 IL IL9899491A patent/IL98994A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1991-07-29 WO PCT/US1991/005351 patent/WO1992013733A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 1991-07-29 BR BR9107289A patent/BR9107289A/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1991-07-29 AU AU11517/92A patent/AU656167B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1991-07-29 CA CA002104019A patent/CA2104019A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1991-07-29 FI FI933553A patent/FI933553A0/fi not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1991-07-29 JP JP4504246A patent/JPH06507357A/ja active Pending
  • 1991-07-29 EP EP92904506A patent/EP0630329B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1991-07-29 AT AT92904506T patent/ATE154553T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1991-07-29 DE DE69126626T patent/DE69126626D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1991-07-29 RO RO93-01145A patent/RO109443B1/ro unknown
  • 1991-08-12 MX MX9100624A patent/MX9100624A/es unknown
  • 1991-08-12 TW TW080106350A patent/TW221397B/zh active
  • 1991-08-12 TW TW082111205A patent/TW244345B/zh active
  • 1991-08-30 CN CN91108607A patent/CN1031452C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1991-08-31 AR AR91320313A patent/AR246470A1/es active

Patent Citations (6)

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