WO2008142715A1

WO2008142715A1 - Tensioning device for covers for truckcs

Info

Publication number: WO2008142715A1
Application number: PCT/IT2007/000363
Authority: WO
Inventors: Felice Franzoni
Original assignee: Il Telone S.R.L.
Priority date: 2007-05-23
Filing date: 2007-05-23
Publication date: 2008-11-27

Abstract

The invention concerns coverings on vehicles for transporting goods or used on fixed structures and/or installations, where the covering to be stretched has two opposite ends attached to respective hoops or anchoring parts. The device (10) comprises a supporting base (15) attachable alongside the chassis of the vehicle, a speed reducer (16) mounted on said supporting base and operated by a handle or key, and a winder shaft (17) coupled to the output shaft (16') of said reducer (16) and having means for connecting the covering to be stretched to it by turning its shaft (17).

Description

"TENSIONING DEVICE FOR COVERS FOR TRUCKCS"

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Field of the Invention

This invention relates in general to the freight motor transport field vehicles equipped with coverings, and refers in particular to a device for stretching the coverings on such vehicles, without excluding however the use in other sectors such as, for example, gazebo and/or similar fixed structures, coverings for installations such canopies or bowers, and in general where coverings which need to be stretched are required. State of the technique

Some vehicles for transporting goods, such as trucks, trailer trucks, wagons, etc, plus other structures or fixed installations, can be equipped with coverings made up of lateral, top and rear coverings supported by hoops. To position them correctly and to avoid them flapping, at least the lateral coverings must be taut, this is carried out by anchoring one end and placing the opposite end under tension. This has already been proposed, at least in the vehicle sector, whereby a tensioning device that consists in a vertical shaft to which one end of the cover to be kept taut is connected and is associated with a hoop and susceptible to eccentric rotation at a certain angle by means of a control lever. This means that the shaft turned in one direction corresponds to the cover connected to it becomes taut and in the other direction the cover becomes slack. This known form of realisation is however relatively cumbersome and inconvenient to use and above all, given that the rotation angle of the shaft by means of the lever cannot move beyond a certain angle, a precise and correct tightening of the cover is not always possible: in fact it can happen that, depending on the original length of the cover, the tension of the cover is either too tight or not tight enough. Objectives of the Invention

One objective of this invention is to provide the conditions in order to avoid the drawbacks of the known technique and therefore to propose a tensioning device which can be used also in those situations where the space for the device is limited.

A further aim of the invention is to provide a simple, economic functional tensioning device for vehicle and/or fixed structure coverings with a limited overall size, and practical and easy to use. .

Said objectives are reached, according to the invention, in a tensioning device as characterised at least by claim 1 in the appendix. Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will furthermore be illustrated more in detail in the course of the description made in reference to the enclosed indicative and not limiting drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a blow-up of the components of the tensioning device; Fig. 2 shows the assembled tensioning device; Fig. 3 shows a device application diagram; Fig. 4 shows a horizontal section view of the application in Fig. 3; Figs. 4a, 4b and 4c show respectively, enlargements of circled details a, b, and c in Fig. 4;

Figs. 5 and 6 show diagrams of the respective release position and tensioning position of the cover; Fig. 7 shows the tensioning device associated with a hoop incorporating sliding profiles;

Figs. 8 and 9 show a cross section of the group in Fig. 7 in the release and respectively in the tensioning condition of the covering. Detailed Description of the Invention The tensioning device proposed here is globally indicated by number 10 and can be positioned at one end of a covering 11 to be stretched, for example, over a vehicle or preferably at a certain distance from one end of said covering as shown in the drawings. In this second case the opposite ends of the covering 11 are furnished with hooks 12 which are used to fix it to a front hoop 13 and a rear hoop on board the vehicle - Figs. 4, 5 and 6.

However, and as shown in particular in Figs. 1 and 2, the tightening device 19 comprises principally a supporting base 15, a speed reducer 16, and a winder shaft 17 controlled by said reducer 16. The supporting base 15 includes an anti-rotation plate 18 which is positioned, and slides, alongside a side member of the chassis of the vehicle and forms a housing 19 designed to receive and hold the speed reducer 16. This reducer is preferably the nut screw transmission type and operated by means of a crank or a key. The winder shaft 17 is coupled to the output shaft 16' of the reducer 16 with the possible interposition of an appropriate adapter joint 20 and longitudinally presents, at least a profiled groove 21 in which a part of the covering 11 is fixed by means of a cord or some other means.

The winder shaft 17 is equipped at the top with an adapter 22 made up of a web 23 which engages with the shaft, a turning bushing 24 made of a plastic material, such as glass filled nylon made of two complementary parts, and a plate 25 which can be interchangeable, inserted to adapt to the differing tracks, known and not shown however, which can be used to spread the covering longitudinally. Once the tensioning device has been installed and associated with the covering 11 , starting from a non-working position such as is shown in Fig. 5, it is sufficient to use the reducer and turn the winder shaft in a direction to tighten the covering as shown in Fig. 6. The supporting base 15, in particular its plate 18, will then prevent the covering wound on the shaft to wind back due to its flexibility. The rotation of the shaft in the opposite direction will of course cause the covering to wind back as required.

In a variation in the construction, as shown in Figs. 7-9, the supporting system and control of the winder shaft not differing, the latter can be made up of two complementary profiles 30 made to come into contact with each other so as to grip a part of the covering to be tensioned 110. Furthermore, the winder shaft can be positioned between two opposite profiles to form a skip, and the portion of covering 110 will be connected, on one side, to an anchoring profile 32 shaped to attach to a hoop or some other means on the vehicle and, on the opposite part, to a capstan profile 33 to which the covering to be tensioned will be connected.

By constructing in this way, the covering in question can be tightened or loosened by turning the winder shaft in one direction or the other either to wind on or wind off respectively the portion of stretched covering.

Claims

"TENSIONING DEVICE FOR COVERS FOR TRUCKCS"* * * * *C L A I M S

1. A tensioning device for covers of vehicles for transporting goods or fixed structures and/or installations, where the covering to be stretched has two opposite ends hooked onto respective hoops or fixed parts, characterised in that it comprises a supporting base fixed to the side of the chassis of the vehicle, a speed reducer assembled on said supporting base and operated using a handle or a key, and a winder shaft coupled to the output shaft of said reducer and having means for connecting it to the covering to be stretched by turning the shaft.

2. A tensioning device according to claim 1 , wherein said supporting base comprises an anti-unwinding plate which rests, with the possibility of moving crossways, at the side of the chassis of the vehicle and forms a housing to receive and hold said reducer.

3. A tensioning device according to claims 1 and 2, wherein the winder shaft is coupled to the output shaft with the interposition of an adapter joint and having on its top an adapter made up of a web which engages with the shaft, a turning bushing coupled to said bushing and configured to adapt to a guide track of the covering in a longitudinal direction.

4. A tensioning device according to the previous claims, wherein the winder shaft has at least one longitudinal groove designed to receive and grip a part of the covering to be stretched.

5. A tensioning device according to claim 4, wherein the covering to be stretched is fixed by one of its ends to said winder shaft.

6. A tensioning device according to claim 4, wherein the covering to be stretched is fixed by its intermediate part to said winder shaft.

7. A tensioning device according to claims 1 to 4, wherein said winder shaft is made up of two complementary profiles made to come into contact with each other and to grip between them a part of the covering to be stretched, in which said shaft is positioned between two opposite profiles forming a skip, and in which said portion of the covering to be stretched is connected, on one side, to an anchoring profile configured to hook onto a hoop or some other fixed device of the vehicle and, on the opposite end, to a capstan profile connected to an end of the covering to be stretched.