Land vehicles: dumping – Tilting – Side delivery only
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-14
2004-07-13
Gordon, Stephen (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: dumping
Tilting
Side delivery only
C298S0230MD, C298S0220AE, C298S02200C
Reexamination Certificate
active
06761413
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to tip trailers, and in particular provides a low profile and lightweight tip trailer.
BACKGROUND ART
Tip trailers are regularly used in a wide range of applications, primarily in the earthmoving industry. For example, tip trailers may be used for transporting materials in civil contracting works such as construction or road works, or may be used to remove workings from a mine, or to deliver soil to private individuals such as landholders or farmers.
Conventional tip trailers usually lift a front end of a bin to cause a load to slide out a back of the truck, or, in the case of a ‘side tipper’, a side of the bin is lifted to cause the load to slide out an opposite side of the bin. Conventional tip trailers are usually of one of the following two types: “chassis tipper” or “tip-over-axle”. A chassis tipper is characterised by a chassis mounted on front and Year axles, the bin being mounted on the chassis such that when tipped, a front end of the bin rises, above the chassis and axles. A tip-over-axle style tip trailer is characterised in that the bin is mounted to the chassis and the axles such that when tipped, the chassis and even the front axle lift along with the bin, the tipping motion being about the rear axle.
Furthermore, in designing the bin of tip trailers, a number of limiting factors come into play. For example, the maximum width of the bin is often dictated by the width of public roads. In conventional tip trailers the useable width of the bin is further limited by vertical support members, usually of square cross sectional shape, which are located on the outside of the bin on either side of the bin. The vertical support members are required in order to provide sufficient robustness and rigidity to the skin of the bin so as to withstand the outward forces exerted when the bin is loaded. However the useable width of the bin is reduced by the transverse dimension of the vertical support members on either side.
Additionally, the maximum height of the bin can not be greater than the clearances of bridges and the like on public roads, and the height of the bin is preferably as small as possible so as to ease the loading of materials into the bin, for example by a loader, and to increase the stability of the tip trailer. However, conventional bin designs are hampered in this regard by the need for elements between the wheels and the floor of the bin. These elements include a chassis, suspension, hydraulic ram(s) and a turnplate. In particular, the turnplate must be sufficiently strong to withstand the forces created between the prime mover and the trailer during use, for example by acceleration and cornering, and therefore is typically quite bulky. The chassis typically includes a number of heavy beams extending along the length of the bin, which provide the primary structural strength of the tip trailer and support the bin. The presence of these elements causes the floor of the bin to be elevated above the top of the wheels. In known tip trailers the floor of the bin is usually higher than desirable above the top of the wheels.
Also, the length of the bin is preferably minimised in order to provide a short wheel base to increase stability of the bin both during travel and when tipping.
However, reducing the dimensions of the bin limits the volume of the bin. In order to move a given amount of material in the least number of loads it is desirable to load the bin as close as possible to the legal weight limit. However, where the material to be carried is not dense, the limited volume of the bin often results in a full load weighing significantly less than the legal weight limit, and so a larger number of loads are required, increasing the time and cost of transporting the material.
A further limitation placed on the design of tip trailers results from the conflicting requirements of (a) robustness and strength in the bin and (b) reducing the weight of the bin as much as possible. In order to provide sufficient strength and durability, practically all conventional tip trailers are heavier than is desirable. However, this increases fuel consumption and, due to the legal weight limit, reduces the weight of a load which may be carried.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a tip trailer including:
a bin having a floor, a front wall, side walls and a plurality of struts extending from the floor to substantially an upper extremity of the side walls;
one or more rear axles and wheels; and
tipping means operable to tip the bin;
wherein overhead beams for bearing the bin and a load of the bin are located substantially at an upper extremity of each side wall and extend substantially along a length of the bin, and wherein the floor is suspended from the overhead beams.
The floor may be suspended from the overhead beams by the struts and/or the walls.
The overhead beams are preferably supported by rear struts located proximate the rear axles, and by the front wall or struts proximate the front wall. Alternatively, the overhead beams may be supported at a front of the bin by the tipping means. The weight of the overhead beams is preferably transferred to the rear axles and to a turnplate.
The overhead beams provided in the present invention may act to support some or all of a load in the bin, permitting the absence of a chassis located beneath the floor of the bin, or alternatively permitting a significant reduction in size, weight, strength and load bearing ability of a chassis. The reduced size or absence of a chassis enables the floor of the bin to be situated significantly closer to the wheels than in prior art tip trailers, providing a low centre of gravity and improved stability.
The overhead beams are preferably located at an upper extremity of the side walls.
The tipping means may be operable to lift a front end of the bin, or alternatively, in ‘side tipper’ embodiments of the invention, to lift a side of the bin. The tipping means is preferably provided by one or more hydraulic rams.
Embodiments of the invention may further include large transverse trusses located under the floor between the front and rear axles. The transverse trusses are preferably configured to transfer a downward force exerted by a load in the bin to outer edges of the bin. As such transverse trusses are located between the front and rear axles, they may extend significantly below a height of the top of the wheels.
The tip trailer of the present invention permits the reduction in size or removal altogether of a chassis under the floor of the bin.
Preferred embodiments of the invention further include a low profile turnplate and a low profile drawbar. In particularly preferred embodiments, the low profile drawbar is hingedly connected at a front extremity to a tumplate-hitch and hingedly connected at a rear extremity of the drawbar to the bin.
The low profile drawbar should be of sufficient length relative to a tip height of the bin to permit tipping of the bin. The low profile drawbar may be hingedly connected to the turnplate-hitch and to the bin by known pin and sleeve arrangements.
The low profile drawbar is preferably effected by primary beams passing along an outer edge of the floor, and preferably situated at least partially above a height of the floor. This arrangement may be assisted by the side walls of the bin being angled such that, close to the floor, the side walls extend inwardly to meet the floor a distance from the edge of the bin. In such embodiments the floor is not as wide as the bin, but is of sufficient width to meet the angled portion of the sidewalls, thereby forming a longitudinally mitred corner where the floor and the sidewall meet. The low profile drawbar may then be adapted to fit around the mitred corner, and even to extend above the mitre, outside the bin wall. This reduces the portion of the low profile drawbar situated below a height of the floor, permitting the bin to be mounted such that the floor of the bin is located close to the top of the wheels.
The low profile drawbar prefera
Gordon Stephen
Klein O'Neill & Singh, LLP
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