Supports – Machinery support – Movable machine
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-29
2001-11-27
Ramirez, Ramon O. (Department: 3632)
Supports
Machinery support
Movable machine
C296S098000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06322041
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improvement in a covering device employed by truck trailers with an open top configuration used for the transportation of loose materials. More specifically, to a device which makes the covering of the open box of a belly dump type trailer with a tarpaulin much more effective and with less chance of down time due to damage or breakdown.
A belly dump trailer is a type of open top trailer that is most commonly used to transport construction materials such as sand and gravel. The name “belly dump” comes from the manner in which the material that is being transported is emptied from the box of the vehicle. The belly dump trailer's open box extends downward below the lowest surface of the trailer frame and this extension is open to the surface beneath the trailer. This opening is closed off by the use of a pair of pivotally mounted clam-type doors that can be hydraulically opened and closed by the operator of the vehicle. Thus, when the load being carried by the trailer is to be dumped, the doors are opened and the material contained in the trailer's box is dropped to the ground below.
The problem with this style of load carrying trailer is that it is most commonly used to transport loose materials and federal, state, or local law often requires that such loads are covered during transport. This, in and of itself, does not pose a significant problem as there are many available styles of tarpaulin covers specifically designed for use with all types of trailers. The problem with covering loads carried within belly dump trailers stems instead from the use of electric drive motors commonly employed to roll and unroll the tarpaulin over the load.
The method commonly employed to roll and unroll the tarpaulin is to install an electric drive motor on the front portion of the belly dump trailer. This electric motor is connected to the roll tube (the device used to direct and store the tarpaulin in the rolling and unrolling process) by the use of drive shaft that contained a universal joint at either end. The purpose of these universal joints is to compensate for both the varying angles created between the drive motor and roll tube as the roll tube passes over the load box and the differences in the longitudinal axis of the drive motor and the roll tube. This problem is a result of the respective locations of these two components as the drive motor is most commonly mounted on the trailer frame well below the roll tube.
This design works well in compensating for these specific variables but there is another variable relationship created in this application. The final variable is a result of the fact that the distance between the electric drive motor and the leading edge of the roll tube is shorter when the roll tube is located at the center of the box than it is when the roll tube is located at either side of the box. In the past, this problem was dealt with by the use of a telescoping drive shaft that either expanded or contracted depending on the position of the roll tube. The problem with this design is that, by its very nature, the telescoping drive shaft created a weak point in the drive mechanism that was often the source of operation down time due to its failure.
From the foregoing discussion, it can be seen that it would be desirable to provide a method that eliminates the use of telescoping drive shafts commonly employed to roll and unroll tarpaulins that are used to cover loads carried in belly dump trailers. The replacement of the telescoping drive shaft would improve the efficiency of these load covering systems by decreasing the amount of down time encountered in replacing or repairing broken or damaged drive shafts that are used in this application today.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a means of rolling and unrolling the tarpaulins that are employed in covering the open load carrying box of belly dump trailers used to haul large loads of loose materials such as sand and gravel.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide such method of rolling and unrolling tarpaulins used to cover the loads carried by belly dump trailers that employs the use of a solid drive shaft that will eliminate the breakage and damage problems commonly encountered with the use of telescoping drive shafts.
It is still a further objective of the present invention to provide a means for unrolling the tarpaulin that employs an electric motor mount that allows the motor to move freely forward and rearward as the tarpaulin is rolled and unrolled over the box of the trailer.
These objectives are accomplished by the use of an electric motor that is used to roll and unrolled tarpaulin covers that is mounted to the front portion of a belly dump trailer in a fashion that allows it to move both forward and rearward as the tarpaulin is rolled over the trailer box. This mounting of the motor is primarily accomplished by the use of a pair of tubular slide rails that are horizontally positioned above a cross member of the trailer frame. The horizontal positioning of the slide rails is accomplished by the use of a vertical bracket mount. This mount is bolted at its lower end to the frame cross member and extends upward to the point at which the slide rails are permanently attached. From this point of attachment to the vertical mount, the slide rails extend forward (in relation to the body of the trailer) until they terminate at the mounting bracket of invention's electrical plug.
The mounting of the electric motor to these slide rails is accomplished by the use of a pair of tubular motor runners that fit over the slide rails prior to the mount's final assembly. These motor runners are then free to move up and down the length of the slide rails. The electric motor and gear reduction assembly is then fixedly attached to the upper surfaces of the motor runners. Additionally, the invention's electrical supply is supplied by a plug bracket through an electrical feed that is of a sufficient length to avoid interference with the movement of the motor assembly. Thus, this design allows the electric motor assembly to move freely forwards and rearwards within the confines of the horizontal slide rails. Additionally, this method of mounting the motor assembly provides sufficient stability for the motor to withstand the torque forces that are generated during the rolling and unrolling of the tarpaulin used to cover the box of the belly dump.
The gear reduction element of the motor assembly is then connected through a universal joint to the solid drive shaft which is connected through an additional universal joint to the tarpaulin roll tube. The use of the solid drive shaft shifts the compensation mechanism for the varying distance between the front of the roll tube and the electric motor mount assembly during the rolling and unrolling of the tarpaulin from the drive shaft to the electric motor mount assembly itself. The use of the slide rails and motor runners in the construction of the electric motor mount assembly enables it to provide the compensation mechanism as it allows the motor assembly to freely slide forward and rearward during the operation of the invention. Thus, the problems associated with the use of a telescoping drive shaft as a compensation mechanism are entirely avoided.
For a better understanding of the present invention reference should be made to the drawings and the description in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the present invention.
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patent: 4668007 (1987-05-01), Sloan
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patent: 5002328 (1991-03-01), Michel
patent: 5067767 (1991-11-01), Biancale
patent: 5180203 (1993-01-01), Goudy
patent: 5388882 (1995-02-01), Russell et al.
Agri-Cover Inc., Jan. 1999, SRT-2 Electric Brochure
Agri-Cover, Inc.
DeLuca J.
Harr Curtis V.
Ramirez Ramon O.
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