Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Tops – Load cover
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-24
2001-08-14
Pape, Joseph D. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Tops
Load cover
C296S098000, C160S052000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06273490
ABSTRACT:
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
N/A
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Truck cover assemblies are used to prevent material from escaping from open truck bodies, such as dump trucks or trucks carrying roll-off containers. Generally, these assemblies comprise a pair of tubular arms, which are pivotally attached at their lower ends to a frame of the truck body. An edge of a cover or tarp is attached to the upper ends of the arms. As the arms are pivoted from the front toward the rear of the truck, they draw the cover over the truck body.
Such tubular pivot arms are liable to bend and deflect, particularly on trucks and trailers over 19 feet in length. If the arms on either side of the truck or trailer do not bend and deflect by the same amount, the cover may roll or unroll unevenly, which may lead to premature tarp wear and ineffective covering and uncovering. This problem has been addressed by adding reinforcement to the arms by way of angle irons or vertical steel strips. However, angle irons make the arms excessively heavy. In particular, for pivoting mechanisms, which include a torsion spring mechanism for biasing the arm, the angle irons increase the stress on the spring mechanism, often to the point where performance of the spring mechanism becomes compromised. Additionally, adding a vertical strip of steel to the arms has a tendency to bow or twist the tubing from the heat of the welding process. This bow and/or twist is aesthetically unpleasant.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a reinforced pivot arm having integral fins or flanges along its length. The resulting pivot arm is stronger and has a straighter one-piece profile. The arm is much lighter than prior art arms with welded angle irons, which allows the spring mechanism to operate within its normal limits.
More particularly, the invention provides an apparatus for drawing a flexible cover over an upwardly open container body having an upper edge. The apparatus comprises a flexible cover of a size to substantially cover the open container body and fixed at one end of the container body by a cover support for retraction and extension over the open container body. A pair of arms is each pivotally mounted at a fixed end to the container body. Each has a free end opposite the fixed end attached to an edge of the flexible cover and configures such that movement of the arms causes movement of the cover over the open container body. Each arm further comprises a hollow, longitudinally extending, tubular member having at least one stiffening fin extending longitudinally along substantially the length of the tubular member. The fin is integrally formed with and attached to the tubular member. Preferably, each arm further includes a second stiffening fin extending longitudinally along substantially the length of the tubular member, the second fin integrally formed with and attached to the tubular member and located on an opposite side of the tubular member from the first fin. In the preferred embodiment, the tubular member and fins are formed as a single extrusion from an aluminum material.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3515428 (1970-06-01), Killion
patent: 3549197 (1970-12-01), Sibley
patent: 3549198 (1970-12-01), Cappello
patent: 3549199 (1970-12-01), Sibley
patent: 3628826 (1971-12-01), Sibley
patent: 3854770 (1974-12-01), Grise et al.
patent: 3868142 (1975-02-01), Bachand et al.
patent: 3975047 (1976-08-01), McClellan
patent: 4050734 (1977-09-01), Richard
patent: 4067362 (1978-01-01), Jackman
patent: 4082347 (1978-04-01), Petretti
patent: 4083596 (1978-04-01), Robertson
patent: 4126351 (1978-11-01), Peteretti
patent: 4299106 (1981-11-01), Hague
patent: 4341416 (1982-07-01), Richard
patent: 4342480 (1982-08-01), Ross, Jr.
patent: 4516802 (1985-05-01), Compton
patent: 4627658 (1986-12-01), Vold et al.
patent: 4673208 (1987-06-01), Tsukamoto
patent: 4893864 (1990-01-01), Bailey
patent: 5002329 (1991-03-01), Rafi-Zadeh
patent: 5031955 (1991-07-01), Searfoss
patent: 5058956 (1991-10-01), Godwin
patent: 5121949 (1992-06-01), Reese
patent: 5129698 (1992-07-01), Cohrs et al.
patent: 5161851 (1992-11-01), Rafi-Zadeh
patent: 5275459 (1994-01-01), Haddad
patent: 5280965 (1994-01-01), Schwarz
patent: 5292169 (1994-03-01), O'Brian
patent: 5328228 (1994-07-01), Klassen
patent: 5433501 (1995-07-01), Thomas et al.
patent: 5482347 (1996-01-01), Clarys et al.
patent: 5829818 (1998-11-01), O'Daniel
patent: 5887937 (1999-03-01), Searfoss
patent: 5944374 (1999-08-01), Searfoss
Pape Joseph D.
Patel Kiran B.
Pioneer Consolidated Corporation
Weingarten, Schurgin Gagnebin & Hayes LLP
LandOfFree
Reinforced pivot arm for truck covers does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Reinforced pivot arm for truck covers, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Reinforced pivot arm for truck covers will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2504684