Vehicle fenders – Buffer or bumper type – Having means maintaining bumper distance above road
Reexamination Certificate
2003-08-15
2004-11-09
Dayoan, D. Glenn (Department: 3612)
Vehicle fenders
Buffer or bumper type
Having means maintaining bumper distance above road
C293S118000, C293S142000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06814378
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention deals with the field of devices for underride protection. Many trucks and trailers include rear bumpers which are significantly higher than the other vehicles currently found on the highway. As a result, during accidents the other vehicles tend to ride under the rear of the trailer or the rear of the truck when colliding therewith.
Such underriding is a very dangerous occurrence because the upper portion of the smaller vehicle can be severely damaged and persons therein can be injured very significantly. The positioning of bumpers extending downwardly from the rear of trucks and trailers called safety bumpers which have been required by the Interstate Commerce Commission in recent years greatly decrease this danger.
A unique problem occurs, however, with those trucks or trailers which include an extended rear support bed which is movable between a horizontal position for transport and the downwardly inclined position to facilitate loading and unloading thereof. A sub-class of such devices include rolloff designs which move between the horizontal position for transporting containers and the downwardly inclined position for loading and unloading thereof. The use of an underride bumper with vehicles having a movable extended rear support bed is a significant problem since the underride bumpers normally extend downwardly therefrom and would contact the ground prior to the extended rear support bed reaching the fully downwardly inclined position in contact with the ground. As such, these safety bumpers need to be retractable. The present invention provides a unique automated retractable safety bumper which is movable to a retracted position when the extended rear support bed is moved to the downwardly inclined position and is moved to a deployed position when the extended rear support bed of a vehicle is moved to the horizontal position. This movement is caused by a biasing means such as a spring carefully adjusted such that in combination with the gravitational forces on the bumper will cause proper coordinated movement thereof responsive to the selected positioning of the extended rear support bed. Preferably the bumper apparatus includes a bumper assembly which is pivotally mounted with respect to a main bracket and the position of the pivotal mount and the configuration of the bumper assembly is chosen along with the forces of the resilient biasing means or spring in such a manner as to assure such proper coordinated movement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The concept of the above-identified invention wherein a safety bumper for underride protection is automatically retractable, is a novel concept not shown or suggested in the prior art. Other prior art patents, however, have been granted on similar underride and protected bumper configurations having different structures and embodiments such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,733,096 patented May 15, 1973 on a “Bumper Device” to Karl Kassbohrer and assigned to Karl Kassbohrer Fahrzengwerke GmbH; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,847,427 patented Nov. 12, 1974 on a “Shiftable Shock Absorbing Tire Buffer” to Cheston Lee Eshelman; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,695 patented Mar. 18, 1975 on a “Folding Truck Bumper” to Robert W. Koenig; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,963 patented Oct. 21, 1975 on a “Shock Or Energy Absorbing Apparatus” to Gunter Persicke and assigned to Road Research Limited; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,330 patented Dec. 2, 1975 on a “Articulated Bumper” to Charles S. Viall, Sr. et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,047 patented Nov. 16, 1976 on a “Motor Actuated Shiftable Supplemental Bumper” to Bela Barenyi et al and assigned to Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,239 patented Nov. 16, 1982 on a “Underride Device For A Trailer Or Truck” to Walter S. Eggert, Jr. and assigned to The Budd Company; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,207 patented Oct. 18, 1983 on a “Bumper Structure For Vehicle Having Tiltable Load Carrier Member” to Heino W. Scharf and assigned to Dempster Systems Inc.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,147 patented Sep. 23, 1986 on a “Rear Underride Bumper And Side-Draft Support” to Gusta Kjellqvist and assigned to AB Mahler & Soner; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,770 patented Dec. 25, 1990 on a “Bumper Having Pivotal Bumper Bar For Heavy Mechanized Vehicles” to Dan J. Shal-Bar; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,546 patented Apr. 16, 1996 on an “Underride Protection Bumper” to John D. Holley; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,518 patented May 27, 1997 on a “Rear Impact Trailer Guard” to Donald H. Kendall and assigned to The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,953 patented Oct. 7, 1997 on a “Breakaway ICC Bumper” to Donald R. Spease; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,691 patented Apr. 25, 2000 on “Automatic Underride Protection For Tilt Trailers” to Brian H. Weseman and assigned to Towmaster, Inc.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,329 patented May 30, 2000 on a “Rear-Impact Underride Protection” to Terrance L. Miller and assigned to Wenger corporation; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,629 patented Jul. 18, 2000 on a “Underrun Guard For Road Vehicles” to Frederick John Charles Hope et al and assigned to Hope Technical Sales and Services Ltd.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,675 patented Aug. 29, 2000 on a “Hinged Member For Rear Impact Guard” to Doyle Sumrall and assigned to Waltco Truck Equipment Co.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,667 patented Sep. 12, 2000 on a “Trailer Underride Crash Guard” to Albert Torcomian; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,529 patented Jan. 23, 2001 on a “Torsional Under-Ride Guard” to James A. Kitzmiller et al and assigned to Henschen div. of QDS Components; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,530 patented Jan. 23, 2001 on a “Device For Underrun Protection In Vehicles” to Peter Gollungberg and assigned to Volvo Lastvagnar AB; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,544 patented Jan. 30, 2001 on “Underride Protection” to Brian Weseman and assigned to Towmaster, Inc.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,734 patented May 28, 2002 on a “Trailer Having Actuatable Tail Ramp” to Donald R. Landoll et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,556 patented Sep. 17, 2002 on a “Under-Ride Protection Airbag System And Method of Its Use” to Tony J. Jacobs and assigned to Lifesavers LLC.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a retractable safety bumper apparatus which is particularly usable with the vehicle having an extended rear support bed which is movable between a horizontal position for facilitating transport thereupon and a downwardly inclined position for facilitating loading and unloading thereof.
The configuration of the retractable safety bumper apparatus preferably includes a main bracket which is fixedly secured to the extended rear support bed of the vehicle and extends downwardly therefrom. This main bracket is preferably movable with the extended rear support bed between a horizontal position and the downwardly inclined position. The main bracket preferably is configured to include a base section fixedly mounted to the extended rear support bed as well as a first side panel secured to the base section and extending downwardly therefrom. The first side panel also preferably defines a first aperture extending therethrough. A second side panel is preferably also secured to the base section at a location spatially distant from the first side panel such that it extends downwardly therefrom. This second side panel will preferably define a second aperture therewithin. The first side panel and the second side panel together will define a pivotal zone therebetween. A pivot pin means may also be included extending through the first aperture means and through the second aperture means to facilitate pivotal movement relative thereto. This pivot pin means can comprise two separate pins, one extending through the first aperture and one extending through the second aperture if so desired.
The retractable safety bumper apparatus further includes a bumper assembly which is pivotally mounted with respect to the main bracket. The bumper assembly is preferably pivotally movable relative to the main bracket between a
Automated Waste Equipment Co., Inc.
Dayoan D. Glenn
Gutman H.
Sperry, Zoda & Kane
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