Land vehicles: dumping – Tilting – Operating mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
2002-08-12
2003-07-22
Patel, Kiran (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: dumping
Tilting
Operating mechanism
Reexamination Certificate
active
06595594
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the general field of open top containers and is particularly concerned with an assembly for selectively covering open top containers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Vehicle cargo containers for transporting bulk material such as sawdust, gravel chip, cutter shavings and the like typically include open top boxes such as semi-trailers or the like defining side walls, a front wall, a rear wall and a floor. These open top containers are typically mechanically coupled to various types of vehicles such as cargo ships, railway carts and truck cabins for transporting goods between various locations.
During transportation in these so-called open top containers, there exists a substantial risk that a portion of the load may be blown out of the open-top of the container it may potentially cause not only unnecessary wastage of the transported goods but may also create a dangerous situation. For example, when the open-top container is attached to a truck cabin, some of the load accidentally blown out of the container may contaminate the road or highway as it whirls around thus causing difficult ground road conditions. It may also be blown directly towards the windshield of following vehicles creating a potentially disastrous situation.
Accordingly, in many areas, regulations have been implemented for the carriage of various loads, particularly on public highways requiring that open-top containers be provided with some type of covering structure for covering the loading aperture during transport. With the increasing number of accidents, these official requirements have become more and more astringent, sometimes requiring adequate coverage for the load on even short journeys.
Consequently, there has been an industry wide move to provide permanently installed flexible covers often referred to as tarpaulins or tarps that can be quickly rolled and unrolled by the driver so as to allow selective covering and uncovering of the load. When these permanently installed tarpaulins are used only occasionally they may be stored on the vehicle in a folded condition and unfolded over the body as and when required.
Various configurations of tarpaulins have been proposed. However, two configurations have proven to be particularly popular. One such configuration is the so called end-rolled tarpaulin which is gathered at one of the longitudinal ends of the container when not in use and moved along the body of the container between operative and stored positions. The end-rolled tarpaulins are typically gathered at the front end of the vehicle and are usually provided along their length with a number of transverse supporting bars which extend between the two longer side walls of the container. The end-rolled tarpaulins are typically moved by means of a pair of cables trained over pulleys and carrying the tarpaulins with them as they move.
The other type of permanently installed tarpaulin preferred by some hauliers is referred to as the side-rolled tarpaulin. These so called side-rolled tarpaulins which permanently extends the full length of the container body are rolled and unrolled about a roll rod that also extends the full length of the container body.
The use of prior art flexible closures such as prior art tarpaulins to close or cover the loading aperture of open top containers is associated with a number of drawbacks. One major shortcoming related to prior art assembles involves the difficulty often encountered in drawing the flexible closures into a proper extended or closed configuration. Indeed, the relatively heavy, bulky and flexible nature of large tarpaulins often cause such closures to be quite difficult to draw into properly extended or closed position for service as cover. The wind, rain and other environmental factors such as the presence of snow and ice often contribute to the difficulty that is encountered in moving tarpaulins into position. Therefore, due to the size of the box and of the tarpaulin such arrangements often requires the operator to stand in the container or to climb upon the load to perform the covering and uncovering operations. More specifically, the operator must often climb upon the load to connect and disconnect the separate parts involved and this is clearly undesirable since it is both time consuming and potentially dangerous.
Also, the rotatable rod on which the tarpaulin is rolled is typically rotated in one direction to roll the tarpaulin up and therefore open the open top of the cargo container. It is rotated in the opposite direction to unroll the tarpaulin and close the open top of the cargo container. Manual rotation is generally through a hand-crank. Such rotation, when performed with prior art assemblies, is often considered both tedious and unergonomical.
Another main drawback associated with prior art assemblies relates to the difficulty in keeping the tarpaulin taut during the rolling and unrolling operations which leads to, potential damage to the involved structures. This situation also leads to difficulties in establishing a suitable weather resistant seals about the perimeters of properly extended closures. The difficulty in keeping proper tension on the tarpaulin during rolling and unrolling operations is compounded in certain situations as for example when there exists a relatively moderate or high wind causing the tarpaulin to catch in the wind. In such instances, it is sometimes necessary to face the truck trailer in such a manner that the wind will not catch the tarpaulin. This may prove to be impossible when the wind changes direction. The difficulty in maintaining the tarpaulin in a taut state during rolling and unrolling operations leads to possible ripping or tearing of the tarpaulin and associated structures.
The difficulty in maintaining the tarpaulin in a taut state during rolling and unrolling operations also potentially leads to an improper seal which, in turn, may lead to potentially dangerous road condition and loss of material. This problem has been addressed by some of the prior art structures. However, most prior art structures or assemblies lack an effective means of maintaining the cover taut and in place during transportation especially at highway speeds. Indeed, the investment of time and effort that typically must be extended to properly secure a prior art tarpaulin to prevent its being drawn out of proper position by environmental conditions often proves to be unwieldy. Some prior art assemblies make use of a series of straps spaced along the tarpaulin which are secured to the container side wall by tying or clamping. These prior art assemblies have proven to be unsatisfactory since they have demonstrated a tendency to admit dust or rain under the tarpaulin and to allow the bulk material to flow between the peripheral edges of the tarpaulin and of the container. Also, at highway speeds, the tarpaulin is subject to billowing.
Another drawback associated with prior art structures relates to the difficulty in protectively storing the flexible tarpaulins after they have been retracted or withdrawn from their extended or closed position. This difficulty is directly related to the heavy, bulky and flexible nature of the large tarpaulins once they are in their rolled configuration.
A further problem associated with prior art structures for storing flexible tarpaulins is the lack of an arrangement which will prevent accidental movement of the tarpaulin., In other words, the lack of a locking structure or braking structure to hold the rolled or unrolled tarpaulin in a desired position is a problem which is not dealt with by many commercially available devices.
A still further problem associated with prior art tarpaulin closure systems is the need for the arrangement for maintaining adequate tautness in the tarpaulin and to ensure that the central tube remains parallel to the side walls. In this respect, it has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,328 to provide a system wherein the cable for winding or unwinding the tarpaulin uses a winch drum which is of a frustro-conical configuratio
Fincham Eric
Patel Kiran
LandOfFree
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