This invention relates to a load carrying body for a vehicle, in particular for the purpose of facilitating the unloading of material.
Conventionally, material such as earth, stones, rock, coal, or refuse is unloaded from a tipping body, in a manner which is difficult to control.
Ejector bodies are known in which material is pushed out of the body without tipping the body.
Such systems cannot deal with a variety of loads and body lengths.
The present invention provides a load carrying body with a flexible floor which is winched out of the rear end portion of the body.
Preferred features of the load carrying body are set forth in the claims.
The invention will be described further, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the accompanying drawings:
a is a perspective view of the body, corresponding to
b is a perspective view of the inverted body, corresponding to
c is an enlargement of detail 4c in
d is an enlargement of detail 4d in
a-d are similar to
a-d are similar to
The articulated vehicle illustrated in
The headboard 17 is movable along the upper surface of the base 14 between a front position (
The floor of the load space between the headboard 17 and the rear end of the body 13 is constituted by a flexible belt 23 which rests on the substantially flat approximately horizontal upper surface of the base 14 and occupies the full width of the load space between the sidewalls 16. The belt is made of a hard wearing non-stretchable material, such as that used for conveyer belts in mining installations, for example. The front end of the belt 23 is releasably connected to the underside of the headboard 17 as shown in
The winch comprises a drum 29 having a hollow cylindrical peripheral wall 31 which extends over the full width of the load space and on which the belt 23 is wound. The outer surface of the cylindrical wall 31 is provided with a series of projections 24 (as described above) which fit in a series of holes 26 (as described above) provided in the adjacent end of the belt 23 (FIG. 9).
One end of the drum 29 is constituted by a sheave 32 on which is wound a cable 33 in the form of a steel wire rope, for example. The cable 33 is guided along a path as shown in the drawings by a guide system comprising rotatable guide elements or pulleys 34 to 39 and is connected to a lug 41 on the headboard 17 at a position substantially on the centre-line of the body 13.
The winch 28 has a reversible hydraulic motor 42 mounted in an annular frame 43 freely fitted in the end of the drum 29 opposite to the end closed by the sheave 32, which is mounted on an axle 44 by bearings 46 within the drum 29 and thereby kept out of contact with the loose material. The hydraulic motor 42 drives reduction gearing 47 bolted to the inside of the cylindrical wall 31 of the drum 29. The drum rotates about a horizontal axis 49 which extends transversely to the centre-line of the body 13 and which is defined by the bearings 46 and bearings (not shown) within the reduction gearing 47. The frame 43 and the axle 44 are fixed to perspective pivot arms 49 mounted on respective pivots 51 which are in turn mounted on flanges 52 fixed to the base 14.
To unload the fully laden trailer 12, the tailgate 18 is raised by means of the hydraulic rams 22 and the hydraulic motor 42 is operated to drive the drum 29 of the winch 28 in the clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1. The belt 23 is wound on to the winch, thereby drawing the floor of the load space towards the rear end of the base 14. The belt 23 thus carries the loose material 19 out of the rear end of the body 13 and deposits it as a gradually rising heap behind the trailer 12, as shown in
As the winch 28 rotates in the clockwise direction and takes up the belt 23 on the drum 29, the sheave 32 pays out the cable 33 so that the headboard 17 is free to be drawn along the body 13 by the belt 23. When the motor 42 is reversed, the winch drum 29 pays out the belt 23 while the cable 33 is wound on to the sheave. 32, thereby causing the cable to draw the headboard 17 (and with it the belt 23) towards the front end of the base 14. It will be appreciated that the belt diameter on the drum 29 will normally differ from the cable diameter on the sheave 32. In particular, as the belt is wound on the drum, the belt diameter will gradually increase. On the other hand, since the turns of cable on the sheave 32 will normally lie next to one another, the cable diameter on the sheave will remain approximately constant. In order to compensate for the varying difference between the belt diameter and the cable diameter on the winch, the guide system for the cable 33 includes a compensating mechanism which varies the path of the cable during rotation of the winch 28. The compensating mechanism comprises a hydraulic cylinder 56 which drives a piston 57 carrying the pulley 36, around which the cable 33 turns through 180°. The hydraulic cylinder 56 is hydraulically linked to the hydraulic circuit of the motor 42, as shown in
Referring to
During use, the wear on the belt 23 is uneven, gradually increasing from the end connected to the winch drum 29 towards the end connected to the headboard 17. The above-described connection of the belt ends to the drum and the headboard by means of the projection 24 and holes 26 provides the advantage that the worn belt can be turned round end to end in order to increase its useful life.
The ejection and retraction times are equal and typically can beset at 500 mm/s, which equates to 16 seconds for a load space 8 m long. The loose material can be ejected with the vehicle stationary or moving forwards or in reverse. It is easy to control ejection of only a portion of the loose material. The use of the body 13 is not restricted to the carrying of loose material, since the movable floor can assist in the loading and unloading of rigid loads such as palletised loads, for example, in conjunction with a fork lift truck or telescopic material handler.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
9913952 | Jun 1999 | GB | national |
This application claims priority from earlier filed PCT/GB00/02277 filed on Jun. 13, 2000 which is based on earlier filed GB application No. 9913953.9 filed on Jun. 15, 2000. Priority is claimed thereon.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCTGB00/02277 | 6/13/2000 | WO | 00 | 5/9/2002 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO0076806 | 12/21/2000 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3593864 | Moser | Jul 1971 | A |
3704798 | Carpenture, Jr. | Dec 1972 | A |
4111318 | Lutz | Sep 1978 | A |
4531680 | Groeneweg | Jul 1985 | A |
4747747 | Fusco et al. | May 1988 | A |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
561919 | Aug 1958 | CA |
0027409 | Oct 1980 | EP |
0081695 | Nov 1982 | EP |
0343518 | May 1989 | EP |
0360235 | Sep 1989 | EP |
419351 | Jun 1934 | GB |
61018531 | Jan 1986 | JP |