Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Variable capacity of body
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-10
2001-03-06
Dayoan, D. Glenn (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Variable capacity of body
C296S026040, C296S181700, C296S183100, C296S165000, C296S100050, C296S100020, C296S102000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06196604
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an enclosure for the trailer portion of a flatbed of a truck, trailer or any other vehicle such as a railroad car. In particular, the present invention relates to an enclosure with a readily adjustable height, minimal reduction of the loading width or length of the trailer and the ability to be readily and easily removed to leave an open bed trailer.
AREA OF THE ART
Vehicles used to transport freight may be either open or closed bed. Open bed vehicles, commonly referred to as flatbed vehicles offer the advantage of accommodating a variety of loads and are generally less expensive to produce. Further, the load on the trailer can be accessed from the sides and above as well as from the rear of the vehicle. However, these trailers have a disadvantage in that the load is open to the environment and can be damaged in transit or readily pilfered. Further, since the load is open, often it can only be transported during clear weather. Placing a tarp over the load to protect it from the environment is often not possible because the load is crushable and can not be walked on to place or remove the tarp. Also operators are often injured due to falls while placing the tarp.
An advantage of a closed trailer is the protection and security provided for the load. However, the presence of the enclosure and a fixed height roof on the trailer limits access to the load, makes loading of the trailer more difficult, and results in less usable space for the same size trailer bed width and limits the use of forklifts to load the trailer as the trailer roof interferes with the ability of the forklift operator to adequately lift the load. Further, the mere presence of the walls and roof of the enclosure limits the ability to utilize the full internal width and height of the enclosed trailer without hand stacking. Still further, even though some trailers are stacked by hand to fill the maximum height, it is virtually impossible to take advantage of the maximum allowable 14 foot height with most trailers having a fixed height of 13.5 ft.
In addition, in order to accommodate all types of freight, a carrier must maintain an inventory of both open and closed trailers, thus doubling the inventory of vehicles he must have access to.
The present invention addresses the disadvantages of these different load carriers while retaining the advantages of both the open and closed trailers.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Often it is desirable to load a trailer with bulky cargo. Current closed trailers must, of course, be loaded from the rear end of the trailer. Due to the internal height restrictions, the use of a forklift is restricted. In any event, using a forklift it is impossible to fill the entire internal height of the trailer and or to load the cargo to fill the full internal width of the closed trailer without hand stacking. Additionally, the presence of the walls takes up space that could be used for cargo if the walls did not exist. Therefore, it is often desirable, to make best use of space available, to use an open (flatbed) trailer. While highway truckers are limited to the 14 foot height restriction, an open trailer allows the entire width and length of the trailer to be used and provides the opportunity for the cargo to be loaded from the rear as well as from either side to the full 14 foot height. However, this also provides the opportunity for the height of the loaded trailer to exceed the highway 14 foot height restrictions, leaves the cargo open to the elements and subjects the cargo to pilferage and loss during transportation unless covered by a tarpaulin. While this may be alleviated to some extent by covering the load with a tarpaulin cover, the covering process is time consuming, often does not provide the protection desired and creates risk of the driver falling and being injured during placement of the tarpaulin. Further, many soft loads, i.e., food stuff, packaged goods, etc., can not be covered because the weight of the tarpaulin, or the operator walking on the load to place the tarpaulin, can crush and damage the load.
The use of trailer enclosures that are adjustable in height are known. The patent art describes various different designs intended to give this flexibility. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,958 to Parent describes a bus body of typical construction having fixed side walls defining a lower floor. Mounted thereon is a roof which can be raised to create a second floor passenger area. The movement of the roof is controlled by two pair of interconnected hydraulic cylinders mounted within the fixed walls.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,943 to Friedenberg and U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,682 to Norkus both show a lower fixed inner wall and a moveable outer wall. Friedenberg shows guide rods mounted between the inner and outer wall to guide the vertical movement of the outer wall following activation of screw jacks. Norkus has rods on beveled gears, all of which are interconnected, to raise the roof. This construction, while it functions to raise the roof uniformly, significantly reduces the available width of the trailer. Norkus also does not provide the ability for the roof lifting procedure to be provided, alternatively, from either side of the vehicle or to lift only the front or rear roof edge.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,901 to Mcintosh shows a conventional pickup truck with an open bed. Jacks are placed in the side walls and a raisable roof is attached to the jacks.
The Dowty U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,860 shows a typical closed trailer construction with ribbed, vertical walls enclosing a series of hollow spaces which include hydraulic or electric jacks to raise or lower the roof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,202 to Johnson is directed to a closed wall trailer that has jacks mounted in the four interior corners to support and raise or lower a moveable roof.
All of the above patents are directed to systems for raising the roof of a closed vehicle in a uniform manner. In all instances the trailer has a fixed lower wall and, in several instances, as a result of the mechanical design, the internal trailer space is narrowed and shortened, reducing the available storage space. Further, all of these designs are permanently installed on to the trailer, are subject to mechanical problems and do not provide the capability of removing the structure to provide an open trailer. Still further, none of these references provides the capability of independent adjusting the height of the front or rear of the trailer so that the height of the roof, even on a sloped trailer, can be 14 foot along the whole trailer length.
Therefore, there is a need for a trailer enclosure which allows the full width and length of the trailer bed to be filled with cargo, allows loading of the cargo from all sides, allows the loading of the cargo to not be restricted by a fixed height roof and provides the capability for cargo to be readily covered and secured without damaging the cargo. Further, it is desirable to provide a roof which can be lifted from either side of the trailer and an enclosure which can be readily removed so that the benefits of an open trailer can be utilized if the cargo is amenable to being carried on an open trailer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention comprises a panel roof supported by four upright supports for removably mounting on an open bed trailer. Two upright supports are located on the left and right corners (the driver side and passenger side) of the forward edge of the trailer; the other two jacks are similarly located at the rear corners of the trailer. No side walls or end walls are necessary, but may be included if desired. Also, side supports along the length of the trailer are not necessarily required. However, two movable and removable side supports typically are used with the disclosed embodiments in a 50 foot span and one support is used in a 25 to 30 foot span. Using elevating means within the upright supports, which can operate independently or in tandem, the front and/or rear portions of the roof can be raised and lowered separately. Further, using e
Hoh Raymond Karl
Parks Lawrence Ralph
California Cedar Products
Coletta Lori L.
Dayoan D. Glenn
Hogan & Hartson L.L.P.
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