GB2032358A

GB2032358A - A chassis for vehicle trailers

Info

Publication number: GB2032358A
Application number: GB7934828A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Alois Kober GmbH
Current assignee: Alois Kober GmbH
Priority date: 1978-10-06
Filing date: 1979-10-08
Publication date: 1980-05-08
Also published as: IT7926215A0; DE2843590A1; IT1123430B; DE2843590C2; GB2032358B

Abstract

A chassis (1) comprises longitudinal side members (3) connected at joints (4) to draw-bar arms (2) and connected together by a carrier bar (5) receiving a rubber spring axle. End parts (6) of the side members (3) are bent outwards at an angle (???) and the extremity of each end part (6) is pivotally connected to a support leg for the trailer, the length (1) of each end part (6) being at least equal to the length of the support leg so that when the leg is not in use it can be hinged upwards against or into the end part (6). The chassis (1) is attached to the trailer by flange plates (7 and 8). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A chassis for vehicle trailers The invention relates to a chassis for trailers, in particular caravans, in which the forked draw-bar arms are joined at an acute angle to the inner surfaces of the longitudinal side pieces and the latter are joined to one another by at least one carrier bar of a vehicle axle, for example a rubber spring axle, avoiding the use of cross-bars.

Such an arrangement is known from German Offenlegungsschrift 26 07 154, which is concerned with the task of substantially improving the strength of the flange connection between the forked drawbar arms and the longitudinal side pieces of the chassis.

The present invention adopts the accepted advantages from the afore-mentioned state of the art and is additionally concerned with the task of improving the composite action between the chassis on the one hand and the structure of the trailer on the other hand, using a minimum of structural parts, and with increasing the stability of the uncoupled trailer.

Starting from the features mentioned at the beginning, the essence of the invention is that the end regions of the longitudinal side pieces are bent outwardly and are provided at their ends with flange plates for bolting to the chassis structure, and that the length of the bent sections of the side pieces corresponds at least to the length of supporting feet that are pivotally mounted on the ends of the side pieces and can be swung upwardly as far as and in alignment with the bent side piece when the trailer is in motion. In this connection it is recommended that the angle of bend of the side pieces is about 1 and the length of the bent longitudinal side piece is about 500 mm. These dimensions are only by way of example and can be altered corresponding to particular requirements.The flange plates preferably extend at right angles to the bent sides pieces, the forked draw-bar arms likewise being provided with flange plates at the same height as the front flange plates.

A preferred construction of chassis according to the invention has an advantage made up of several components. In the first place, the flange connection between the forked draw-bar arms and the longitudinal side pieces of the chassis constitutes only a type of flange joint connection, with the result that the described chassis as such does not have sufficient rigidity. Such rigidity results only from the composite effect produced by bolting the chassis to the structure of the trailer. The afore-mentioned flange joint connection forms a special carrying and supporting function on account of the fact that the forked draw-bar arms as such are secured to the trailer structure and in this region the front ends of the longitudinal side pieces are bent outwardly.

The forces acting on the trailer and its chassis and derived from each draw-bar arm are thus distributed by means of a three-point support in a particularly simple, weight-saving and thus cost-favourable manner over the base section of the trailer structure.

Moreover, the fact that the end sections of the side pieces are bent has the advantage that the interspacing between the longitudinal side pieces, in particular in the region of the trailer axle, is reduced and thus a greater stability of the uncoupled trailer is achieved since the lowered supporting feet describe a larger surface area on account of the bent side piece ends, and thus a better stability than can be achieved by the previously known chassis is made possible.

According to a preferred feature of the invention a spindle accommodated in the bent side piece region is guided externally in a mounting covering the side piece end and internally in a bore of a lug bent out from the stem of the side piece, and is provided with a nut carrying a roller or similar supporting means, which is connected in an articulated manner via a tie-bar to the supporting foot.

An advantage is that a supporting foot construction can be developed with inexpensive means which does not require any special space when the trailer is in motion, and which imparts a greater degree of stability, in particular against lateral forces, when the trailer is uncoupled. The particular advantage of this construction is of course the fact that the weight of the supporting foot brought into the supporting position is no longer carried by the joint connections but is instead carried by the supporting means, which bears against the inside of the upper longitudinal side piece flange.

Further features of the invention can be seen from the sub-claims and drawings.

Embodiments of the invention are hereinafter described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side view of a chassis according to the invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the chassis of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a side view of a bent side piece part in the direction of the arrow A in Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a rear view of the side bent piece part in the direction of the arrow B in Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a cross-section through the supporting means along the line V-V of Fig. 3.

The embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a chassis 1 in which the forked draw-bar arms 2 are joined to the longitudinal side pieces 3 of the chassis 1 via flange joint connections 4 in the manner of a hinged joint. In this connection, a design and shape such as is disclosed in Fig. 3 of German Offenlegungsschrift 26 07 154 is preferred. The embodiment shows a single transverse bar in the form of a carrier bar 5, which is normally used to receive a so-called rubber torsion spring axle. The invention is however not limited to a single axle and a plural ity of such axles can be provided in respective carrier bars 5. The chassis 1 is otherwise normally free of cross-bars. However, if additional transverse bars had to be incorporated for special reasons, the invention would not exclude such arrangements.

The longitudinal side pieces 3 are formed as continuous profiles in the embodiment shown. They can however also be formed from several parts, as is disclosed in German Offenlegungsschrift26 07 154.

The ends of the longitudinal side pieces 3 are bentto form bent side piece parts 6. In practice it has been found advantageous if the angle a! of bend is 150 and the length 1 of the bent side piece parts 6 is about 500 mm. Flange plates 7 are located on the ends of the bent side piece parts 6 and serve to secure the frame 1 to the base part of the trailer structure. These flange plates 7 extend at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the bent side piece parts 6.

The forked draw-bar arms 2 also have further flange plates 8 at the same height as the flange plates 7, whereby a stable connecting triangle 4,7,8 is formed by each forked draw-bar arm 2, which transmits the forces acting on the forked draw-bar arms 2 to the trailer structure in a particularly advantageous manner, the flange joint connection 4 facilitating the establishment of such a stable triangle.

Supporting feet 9, whose shape can be best seen in Figs. 3-5, are located in the bent side piece parts 6.

The bent side piece parts 6 have a length 1 at least equal to the length at the supporting feet 9.

For this purpose a spindle 10 extending along the longitudinal axis of the side piece part 6 is located in each bent side piece part 6, and is guided on the external ends of the side piece part 6 in a mounting 11 and is guided internally in a lug 12 formed by stamping out and bending a web region of the longitudinal side piece 3. The recess 14 produced by the stamping out is shown in Fig. 3. The bent-out lug 12 has a bore 13 in which a spigot 15 of the spindle 10 is guided.

The mounting 11 covers the front end of the bent side piece part 6. The mounting 11 comprises a flange plate 23 on the one hand, and two stems 27 on the other hand, bent from a covering front wall 24, the stems 27 being parallel to the web 25 of the bent side piece part 6 and connected to the longitudinal side pieces 3 by a bolt 29 in the manner illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. In the region of the flange plate 23, which can also take over the function of the flange plates 7 according to Figs. 1 and 2, the side piece flange 26 of the longitudinal side piece 3 is formed in a stepped manner 22 so that the surface of the flange plate 23 and of the longitudinal side piece 3 are flush with each other.

The single bolt 29 performs two functions simultaneously, namely joining the mounting 11 to the longitudinal side piece 3 and on the other hand forming the joint connection for the supporting foot 9. To this end, the supporting foot 9 is connected via an eyelet 30 to the stems 27 in such a way that the stems 27 cannot be deformed when the bolt 29 is removed. It can easily be seen that this articulated joint and connecting construction can be varied in many different ways.

The spindle 10 can be rotated by means of the spindle head 28. A nut 16 is mounted on the spindle 10 and has pivot pins 17 for a tie-bar 19, which for its part engages in a joint connection 20 on the supporting foot 9. In addition, a roller 18 or another like supporting means is connected to the nut 16, and moves together with the nut 16 along the spindle 10 and bears againstthe inner surface of the upper flange of the longitudinal side piece 3. If the nut 16 is moved from left to right in the illustration according to Fig. 3 by rotating the spindle head 28, the supporting foot 9 swings downwardly. This supporting foot 9 has at its free end a widened bearing part 21, for example in the form of a bent metal sheet, which is welded in a suitable manner to the supporting foot 9 and is intended to provide a larger area for support.

As soon as the supporting foot 9 is in its operating position, the weight of the trailer is not distributed over the joint connection 17, 20, 29, but is instead distributed from the longitudinal side piece 3 over the roller 18 or another supporting means. Such an arrangement avoids the spindle drive and joint connections becoming blocked or jammed.

The mounting 11 is not welded to the longitudinal side piece 3 but is simply bolted thereto. As already mentioned, a single bolt 29 is sufficientforthis purpose. This feature is therefore preferred for installing the spindle 10, and also for maintenance purposes.

Despite the fact that only a single bolt 29 is employed, itis possibleto use the mounting 11 to join the longitudinal side piece 3 to the vehicle structure.

Without necessarily limiting the scope of the invention claimed, preferred embodiments of the invention may be summarised as follows: 1. A chassis for vehicle trailers, in particular caravans, in which the forked draw-bar arms are joined at an acute angle to the inner surfaces of the longitudinal side pieces and the latter are joined to one another by at least one carrier bar of a vehicle axle, for example a rubber spring axle, avoiding the use of cross-bars, characterised in that the end regions of the longitudinal side pieces (3) are bent outwardly (6) and are provided at their ends with flange plates (7) so that they can be bolted to the trailer structure, and that the length (L) of the bent side piece parts (6) corresponds to at least the length of the supporting feet (9), which are pivotally mounted on the side piece ends and can be swung upwards as far as or into the bent side piece (3) when the trailer is in motion.

2. A chassis according to Summary 1, characterised in that the angle of bend a of the side piece is about 150.

3. A chassis according to Summary 1 or 2, characterised inthatthe length (1) of the bent side piece part (6) is about 500 mm.

4. A chassis according to Summary 1 or one of the following summaries, characterised in that the flange plates (7) extend at right angles to the bent side pieces (6) and the forked draw-bar arms (2) are likewise provided with flange plates (8) at the same height as the front flange plates (7).

5. A chassis, in particular according to Summary 1, characterised in that a spindle (10) in the bent side piece region (6) is guided externally in a mounting (11) covering the side piece end internally in a bore (13) of a lug (12) bent out from the stem of the side piece (3), and is provided with a nut (16) carrying a roller or similar supporting means (18), which is connected in an articulated manner via atie-bar(19) to the supporting foot (9).

6. A chassis according to Summary 5, characterised in that the roller (18) or supporting means is guided on the inner surface of the upper side piece flange.

7. A chassis according to Summary 5 or 6, charac terised in that the mounting (11) has a flange plate (23) that extends transverse to the longitudinal axis of the side piece and rests on the upper side piece flange (26), and two spaced apart stems (27) bent parallel to the side piece stem (25), which receive the pivot bearing (29) for the supporting foot (9).

8. A chassis according to Summary 7, characterised in that one stem (27) of the mounting (11) rests against the stem (25) of the longitudinal side piece (3), and a bolt (29) passing through all the stems (25, 27) is provided, in conjunction with an eyelet (30) arranged between the mounting member stems (27) and surrounding the bolt (29), as a single means for securing the mounting (11) to the longitudinal side bar (3).

9. A chassis according to Summary 7 or 8, characterised in that the upper flange of the bent side piece (6) is formed in the end region in a stepped manner (22) corresponding to the wall thickness of the flange plate (23) of the mounting (11).

10. A chassis according to Summary 1 or one of the subsequent summaries, characterised in that a preferably bent bearing part (21) that is widened compared with the cross-section of the supporting foot is arranged on the free end of the said supporting foot (9).

Although reference numerals have been used in the appended claims to improve the intelligibility of these claims, it is expressly stated that these reference numerals should not be construed as limiting the claims to the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Claims

1. A chassis for a vehicle trailer in which forked draw-bar arms (2) are joined at an acute angle to the inner surfaces of longitudinal side pieces (3) and the latter are joined to one another by at least one carrier bar of a vehicle axle, characterised in that the ends of the longitudinal side pieces (3) are bent outwardly to form bent side piece parts (6) and the bent side piece parts (6) are provided at their ends with flange plates (7 or 23) so that they can be bolted to the trailer structure, and that the length (1) of the bent side piece parts (6) is at least equal to the length of supporting feet (9) which are pivotally mounted on the ends of the bent side piece parts (6), so that the supporting feet (9) can be swung upwards as far as or into the bent side piece parts (6) when they are not required to support the trailer.

2. A chassis according to Claim 1, characterised in that the ends of the longitudinal side pieces (3) are bent through an angle a of about 15 .

3. A chassis according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the length ( ) of the bent side piece parts (6) is about 500 mm.

4. A chassis according to any preceding claim, characterised in that the flange plates (7 or 23) extend at right angles to the bent side pieces (6) and the forked draw-bar arms (2) are likewise provided with flange plates (8) at the same height as the front flange plates (7 or 23).

5. A chassis according to any preceding claim, characterised in that a spindle (10) provided in each bent side piece part (6) is guided at the outer end in a mounting (11) covering the side piece part (6) end and at the inner end in a bore (13) of a lug (12) bent out from the corresponding longitudinal side piece (3), and the spindle (10) is provided with a nut (16) carrying a roller or similar supporting means (18), which is connected in an articulated manner via a tie-bar (19) to the supporting foot (9).

6. A chassis according to Claim 5, characterised in thatthe roller (18) orsimilarsupporting means is guided on the inner surface of an upper flange (26) of the corresponding bent side piece part (6).

7. A chassis according to Claim 6, characterised in that the mounting (11) has a flange plate (23) that extends transverse to the longitudinal axis of the bent side piece part (6) and rests on said upper flange (26), and also has two spaced apart stems (27) bent parallel to a web (25) of the bent side piece part (6), which stems (27) receive a pivot bearing (29) for the supporting foot (9).

8. A chassis according to Claim 7, characterised in that one stem (27) of the mounting (11) rests against the web (25) of the bent side piece part (6), and a bolt (29) passing through the web (25) and stems (27) is provided, in conjunction with an eyelet (30) arranged between the stems (27) of the mounting member (11) and surrounding the bolt (29), the bolt (29) serving as a single means for securing the mounting (11) to the longitudinal side piece (3).

9. A chassis according to Claim 7 or 8, characterised in that the upper flange (26) of the bent side piece part (6) is formed in the end region of the bent side piece part (6) in a stepped manner (22) corresponding to the wall thickness of the flange plate (23) of the mounting (11).

10. A chassis according to Claim 1 or one of the subsequent claims, characterised in that the ground-engaging part (21) of the supporting feet (9) is widened compared with cross-section of the remainder of the supporting feet (9).

11. A chassis for a vehicle trailer, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.