GB2172556A

GB2172556A - Vehicle sideguards

Info

Publication number: GB2172556A
Application number: GB08605462A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Brown
Original assignee: BROWN AND SON FRED
Current assignee: BROWN AND SON FRED
Priority date: 1985-03-19
Filing date: 1986-03-05
Publication date: 1986-09-24
Also published as: GB8507027D0; GB8605462D0; GB2172556B

Abstract

A sideguard assembly for a commercial vehicle has a side rail assembly consisting of two parallel spaced apart side rails 18 secured together at one end by a vertical post 22 extending therebetween, the assembly being releasably connected to one or more brackets 24 which in turn are connected to the cross members 26 on the vehicles chassis. The position of connection of the side rail assembly to the brackets is adjustable and the position of connection of the brackets to the vehicles cross members is also adjustable to suit different vehicles. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION An improved sideguard assembly This invention relates to sideguard assemblies and more particularly, to a sideguard assembly for a vehicle.

It is known to provide sideguards on each side of commercial vehicles in the form of rails extending from a point adjacent to the rear of the front wheels of the vehicle to a point adjacent to the front of the rear wheels of the vehicle. The sideguards are positioned below the vehicle's load-carrying platform and cover an area along the side of the vehicle extending between the front and the rear wheels and also extending from the load-carrying platform to a line adjacent to and parallel to the road surface.The area which such sideguards are required to cover is stipulated in Government regulations and it will be appreciated that sideguards are provided to reduce the risk of accidents occurring due to people or other vehicles entering the area between the front and the rear wheels of a commercial vehicle or trailer between the loadcarrying platform and the road surface at the sides of such vehicles or trailers.

Conventional sideguard assemblies are normally fabricated from one or more rails which are welded into a unitary structure which is the secured to the vehicle's chassis or chassis cross members by welding. Such known sideguard assemblies suffer from the disadvantage that it is necessary to provide assemblies which are specifically designed to meet the individual requirements of only one or two of the multiplicity of types of commercial vehicles or trailers in order for the sideguard to be correctly positioned thereon and the object of this invention is to provide a sideguard assembly which alleviates this disadvantage.

According to this invention, a sideguard assembly for a commercial vehicle or trailer comprises one or more side rails capable of extending between the front and the rear wheels of the vehicle or trailer at one side thereof, and connecting means for selectively connecting the or each side rail to the vehicle or trailer in one of at least two or more positions.

Preferably, the connecting means comprises one or more bracket assemblies each comprising a downwardly extending bracket having two or more vertically spaced-apart holes or slots therein to which the or each associated side rail is bolted.

Preferably, also, the or each side rail is of a hollow shape in cross-section and the side face thereof adjacent to the bracket has a longitudinally extending slot formed therein.

A clamping plate is, preferably, mounted in the side rail and is provided with a hole or screwthreaded stud to enable the clamping plate and the side rail in which it is mounted to be clamped to an appropriate one of the holes or slots in the bracket in a desired position which is capable of adjustment so that the position of the side rail can be varied to meet the necessary positional requirements for side guards.

Preferably, the position of the hole or screwthreaded stud in or on the clamping plate is offset from the centre of the clamping plate and the plate is arranged to be capable of being positioned within the associated side rail in one of two or more positions to provide additional adjustment of the position of the side rail.

Preferably, also, the bracket assembly includes a further clamping plate which is capable of being mounted in an appropriate one of the cross members of the vehicle or trailer's chassis where the cross members are of hollow shape in cross-section and are provided on one side face with a lon- gitudinally extending slot, to enable the upper end of the associated bracket to be clamped to the cross member in a desired position which is again capable of adjustment so that the position of the side rails mounted on the bracket can be varied to meet the necessary positional requirements for sideguards.

The further clamping plate is, preferably, provided with two or more holes and corresponding holes are formed in the upper portion of the bracket to enable bolts to be inserted therethrough to clamp the bracket to the associated cross member in a selected position.

A preferred embodiment of this invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a commercial vehicle with a sideguard assembly mounted thereon; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of part of the commercial vehicle shown in Figure 1 with parts omitted for the sake of clarity; and Figure 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of part of the sideguard assembly shown in a dismantled condition.

Referring now to the drawings, a commercial vehicle indicated generally at 10 having a load-carrying platform 12 has sideguard assemblies indicated generally at 14 mounted at each side thereof. The sideguard assemblies 14 extend between the front and rear wheels of the vehicle and also extend from a point adjacent to the load-carrying platform 12 to a line parallel to and adjacent to a road surface 16.

Each sideguard assembly 14 comprises two spaced-apart substantially parallel side rails 18, each of a hollow rectangular shape in cross-section, and provided with a longitudinally extending slot 20 on the side face thereof remote from the external side of the vehicle 10. The side rails 18 are connected together at their front ends by a vertical post 22 which forms a plane front surface of the sideguard assembly 14.

The side rails 18 of the sideguard assembly 14 are connected at spaced-apart intervals along the length thereof to brackets 24 which depend downwardly from cross members 26 of the load-carrying platform 12 of the vehicle 10.

The lower portion of each bracket 24 is provided with four vertically spaced-apart elongate apertures or slotted holes 28. A substantially square clamp ing plate 30 having a screw-threaded stud 32 mounted thereon at a point offset from the centre of the plate 30, is inserted into the associated side rail 18 so that the stud 32 extends through the slot 20 in the side rail 18. The stud 32 passes through an appropriate one of the apertures 28 in the associated bracket 24 so that the side rail 18 can be clamped thereto.

The clamping plate 30 is capable of being inserted into the side rail 18 in any one of four orientations each angularly-spaced apart by 90 degrees.

As the stud 32 is offset from the centre of the plate 30, the choice of orientation of the plate 30 in the side rail 18 provides the facility of adjusting and selecting an appropriate height for the side rail 18 and the utilisation of four slotted holes 28 in the bracket 24 provides further adjustment and choice of height of the side rail 18. The stud 32 on the plate 30 can of course be replaced by a hole through which a conventional bolt can be inserted and used for clamping the plate 30 and the associated side rail 18 to the bracket 24.

The cross members 26 of the load-carrying platform 12 are of a hollow rectangular shape in crosssection and the rear face thereof is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 34. The upper portion of each bracket 24 has six holes formed therein and a further clamping plate 38 having six screwthreaded studs 40 mounted thereon is inserted into the associated cross-member 26. The studs 40 extend through the holes 36 in the bracket 24 and nuts (not shown) are screwed thereon to clamp the bracket 24 and plate 38 to the cross member 26.

The position of the bracket 24 can be varied by sliding the bracket 24 and associated plate 38 along the cross member 26 to a desired position which also enables the position of the side rails 18 to be adjusted in a direction extending transversely of the vehicle 10. The studs 40 on the clamping plate 38 can be replaced by holes through which conventional bolts are inserted without departing from the scope of this invention.

It will be realised that in a modification, the two side rails 18 of the sideguard assembly 14 can be replaced by a single side rail or, by three or more side rails without departing from the scope of the invention.

It will be appreciated that the adjustable nature of the sideguard assembly 14 enables a single design of sideguard to be utilised on various types of vehicles thus making it unnecessary to provide a specific and separate design of sideguard for each one of the multiplicity of types of commercial vehi cles which are in existence.

Claims

1. A sideguard assembly for a commercial vehicle or trailer comprising one or more side rails capable of extending between the front and the rear wheels of the vehicle or trailer at one side thereof, and connecting means for selectively connecting the or each side rail to the vehicle or trailer in one of at least two or more positions.

2. A sideguard assembly according to Claim 1, wherein the connecting means comprises one or more bracket assemblies each comprising a downwardly extending -bracket having two or more vertically spaced-apart holes or slots therein to which the or each associated side rail is bolted.

3. A sideguard assembly according to Claim 2, wherein the or each side rail is of a hollow shape in cross-section and the side face thereof adjacent to the bracket has a longitudinally extending slot formed therein.

4. A sideguard assembly according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein a clamping plate is mounted in the side rail and is provided with a hole or screwthreaded stud to enable the clamping plate and the side rail in which it is mounted to be clamped to an appropriate one of the holes or slots in the bracket in a desired position which is capable of adjustment so that the position of the side rail can be varied.

5. A sideguard assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bracket assembly includes a further clamping plate which is capable of being mounted in an appropriate one of the cross members of the vehicle's or trailer's chassis where the cross members are of hollow shape in cross-section and are provided on one side face with a longitudinally extending slot to enable the upper end of the associated bracket assembly to be clamped to the cross member in a desired position which is again capable of adjustment so that the position of the side rails mounted on the bracket assembly can be varied.

-6. A sideguard assembly according to Claim 5, wherein the further clamping plate is provided with two or more holes and corresponding holes are formed in the upper portion of the bracket assembly to enable bolts to be inserted therethrough to clamp the bracket assembly to the associated cross member in a selected position.

5. A sideguard assembly according to Claim 4, wherein the position of the hole or screw-threaded stud in or on the clamping plate is offset from the centre of the clamping plate and the plate is arranged to be capable of being positioned within the associated side rail in one of two or more positions to provide additional adjustment of the position of the side rail.

6. A sideguard assembly according to any one of Claims 2 to 5, wherein the bracket assembly includes a further clamping plate which is capable of being mounted in an appropriate one of the cross members of the vehicle or trailers chassis where the cross members are of hollow shape in crosssection and are provided on one side face with a longitudinally extending slot, to enable the upper end of the associated bracket to be clamped to the cross member in a desired position which is again capable of adjustment so that the position of the side rails mounted on the bracket can be varied.

7. A sideguard assembly according to Claim 6, wherein the further clamping plate is provided with two or more holes and corresponding holes are formed in the upper portion of the bracket to enable bolts to be inserted therethrough to clamp the bracket to the associated cross member in a selected position.

8. A sideguard assembly constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated by, the accompanying drawings.

Amendments to the claims have been filed, and have the following effect: (a) Claims 1, 2, 4, 6 & 7 above have been deleted or textually amended.

(b) New or textually amended claims have been filed as follows: (c) Claims 5 and 8 above have been re-numbered as 4 and 7 and their appendancies corrected.

1. A sideguard assembly for a commercial vehicle or trailer comprising one or more side rails capable of extending at least partially between the front and the rear wheels of the vehicle or trailer at one side thereof, and connecting means compris ing at least one bracket assembly for selectively connecting the or each side rail to the vehicle or trailer in one of at least two or more positions, wherein one or more clamping plates are mounted in the or each side rail, each clamping plate being provided with a hole or screw-threaded stud to enable the clamping plate and the associated side rail in which it is mounted to be clamped to the associated bracket assembly in a desired position which is capable of adjustment so that the position of the side rail can be varied.

2. A sideguard assembly according to Claim 1, wherein each bracket assembly comprises a downwardly extending bracket having two or more vertically spaced-apart holes or slots therein to which the or each associated side rail is bolted.