GB2253377A

GB2253377A - Transport vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB2253377A
Application number: GB9204586A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Graham Russell
Original assignee: CARNTYNE TRANSPORT CO
Current assignee: CARNTYNE TRANSPORT CO
Priority date: 1991-03-04
Filing date: 1992-03-03
Publication date: 1992-09-09
Anticipated expiration: 2012-03-03
Also published as: GB2253377B; GB9204586D0

Abstract

The load container of a vehicle or a container for use on a transport vehicle has a mezzanine floor (14; 58; 108) within the container (13; 56; 106) which is moveable from an out-of-use position to an in-use position. The mezzanine floor (58) may be in one-piece and adapted to be moveable from an out-of-use position adjacent the roof of the enclosure. Alternatively, the floor (14) may be mounted on a partially dismountable framework (15). Further, the floor (108) may be supported, in the in-use position, by goods (116) carried in the enclosure (106). <IMAGE>

Description

TRANSPORT VEHICLES This invention relates to road transport vehicles and in particular, but not exclusively, to vehicles in the form of a trailer dismountable from a tractor unit or in the form of an integrated trailer and tractor and which comprises a load bearing chassis supported by ground-engaging wheels and surmounted by an enclosure for holding goods to be transported. In such vehicles the enclosure is provided with a comparatively strong floor which overlies and is secured to the chassis but the enclosure walls (and roof) are comparatively flimsy and essentially are provided to define the volumetric capacity of the enclosure.When the goods to be transported are in the form of whisky casks or other similar individual items, there is a need to load the casks as a single layer on the enclosure floor because of the comparative instability of two or more layer loading and the lack of rigidity and strength of the enclosure walls.

Also, where items may be stacked in a number of layers, the strength of the items, or the boxes or cartons containing the items, often limits the ability to stack the items to the full height of the trailer and thus prevents full and efficient use of the trailer capacity.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved form o r rcad transport vehicle which obviates or mitigates these disadvantages.

According to the present invention there is provided a road transport vehicle having a load-bearing chassis supported by ground-engaging wheels and surmounted by an enclosure for holding goods to be transported wherein the improvement comprises the provision of a mezzanine floor within the enclosure and moveable from an out-of-use position to an in-use position, and which is supported in the in-use position on a framework secured to the chassis.

In a first embodiment, the mezzanine floor may be dismountable and be supported on a partially dismountable framework, and in a second embodiment the mezzanine floor may be stored adjacent the roof of the enclosure from where the floor may be lowered onto supporting framework.

In the first embodiment the dismountable framework may comprise opposed sub-frames extending along the enclosure side walls and non-releasably secured to the chassis, the sub-frames being interconnected by a plurality of dismountable cross-beams which together form a false chassis. The cross-beams may be dismounted by complete removal from the sub-frames or by being hingeably mounted on one of the sub-frames and pivotal into and out of engagement with the other of the sub-frames.

Preferably the mezzanine floor is formed by sheeting overlaid on the cross-beams. The sheeting the cross-beams may be hingeably mounted so as to be movable between in-use and out-of-use positions.

Conveniently the framework is formed of metal beams. The beams may be hollow section or I or H-section. Where the cross-beams are completely removable the sub-frames and cross-beams may be interconnectable by spigot and socket elements. The sub-frames may carry crash-barriers extending along the length of the side walls of the enclosure and at a suitable height above the mezzanine floor.

In the second embodiment, in which the mezzanine floor is moveable from the out-of-use position adjacent the enclosure roof, translation means may be provided for moving the floor between the in-use and out-of-use positions. The translation means may be in the form of extendable pillars actuated by hydraulic or pneumatic fluid, or through screw or rack and gear arrangements operated manually or by a suitable motor. The pillars may be mounted on sub-chassis members fixed to the chassis.

The supporting framework may be in the form of fixed stops extending upwardly from the chassis for engaging a lower surface of the floor in the in-use position.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a container for mounting on a trailer and for holding goods to be transported wherein the improvement comprises the provision of a mezzanine floor within the container and moveable from an out-of-use position adjacent the roof of the container to an in-use position, and which is supported in the in-use position on a framework secured to a structural component of the container.

According to a still further aspect of the present invention there is provided a road transport vehicle having a load-bearing chassis supported by ground-engaging wheels and surmounted by an enclosure for holding goods to be transported wherein the improvement comprises the provision of a mezzanine floor within the enclosure and moveable from an out-of-use position to an in-use position, and which is adapted to be at least partially supported in the in-use position by goods in the enclosure Preferably, the mezzanine floor is located on a floating mounting which allows the height of the in-use position to be varied relative to the floor of the enclosure to accommodate goods of different sizes.

The mezzanine floor may be mounted on a supporting framework at the sides of the enclosure adapted to hingeably mount the floor, which is preferably in two parts. In a preferred arrangement the outer sides of the floor parts may be provided with horizontally oriented rings for engaging vertically oriented D-rings fluxed at the sides of the enclosure. Latches may be provided on upper portions of the enclosure sides for retaining the floor parts in the out-of-use position, in which the floor parts are supported by the D-rings.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings which are not to scale and in which: Figure 1 is a transverse cross-sectional view of a first trailer in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the mezzanine floor of the Figure 1 trailer with parts omitted in the interests of clarity; Figure 3 is a line drawing of one of the sub-frames which supports the mezzanine floor in the Figure 1 trailer; Figure 4 illustrates interconnection of the two sub-frames of Figure 3 by releasable cross-beams; Figures 5 and 6 illustrate the interconnection elements of Figure 4; Figures 7 and 8 show details of the mezzanine floor of the Figure 1 trailer;; Figure 9 is a transverse cross-sectional view of a second trailer in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention; Figure 10 is a perspective view of the mezzanine floor of the Figure 9 trailer with parts omitted in the interests of clarity; Figure 11 illustrates the cross-beam and sub-frame interconnection of the Figure 9 trailer; Figure 12 is a transverse cross-sectional view of a third trailer in accordance with a still further embodiment of the present invention; Figure 13 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the Figure 12 trailer; Figure 14 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of floor of the Figure 12 trailer; Figure 15 is a rear view of a fourth trailer In accordance with a yet further embodiment of the present invention; Figure 16 is a sectional view on line 16-16 of Figure 15; and Figure 17 is a perspective view of the trailer of Figure 15 and showing the mezzanine floor support arrangement.

A road transport trailer 10 in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in transverse cross-section in Figure 1 and comprises a chassis 11 which is supported by ground engaging wheels 12 and which is surmounted by an enclosure 13. Within the enclosure 13 there is provided a dismountable mezzaline floor 14 which is supported on a partially dismountable framework 15 secured to the chassis 11 as will be explained. Fig. 2 illustrates the mezzanine floor 14 in more detail and the framework 15 comprises a sub-frame 16 which extends along one of the side walls of the enclosure 13 and a similar sub-frame 17 (see Figure 4) which extends along the other enclosure side wall. The sub-frames 15, 17 are interconnected by a series of parallel releasable cross-beams 18 which together form a platform on which sheeting 19 is laid to form floor 14.In the arrangement illustrated in Figure 2 the sheeting 19 is segmented and individual segments are hingeably mounted so that they can be moved between an in-use position as illustrated at 19A and an out-of-use position as illustrated at 19B.

Sub-frame 16 is shown in greater detail in Figure 3 in line drawing form from which it will be observed that sub-frame 16 consists of a plurality of upstanding posts 20 which carry at their upper ends a longitudinally extending beam 21 from which horizontally extending half-beams 22 protrude transversely. Occasional ones of the posts 20, such as 20A are of greater length than the other posts 20 and extend through the floor of the enclosure 13 and are secured to the chassis 11 in order to provide structural rigidity to the sub-frame 16. The lower ends of the posts 20 are interconnected by a segmented beam 25 abutting the floor of the enclosure 13.As is more clearly shown in Figure 4 the two sub-frames 16, 17 are interconnected by releasable cross-beams 18 by virtue of a socket element 23 as shown in Figure 5 being fitted to the free end of each horizontally extending half-beam 22 and a spigot element 24 as shown in Figure 6 being fitted to the free end of each cross-beam 18. When the various cross-beams 18 are fitted to the half-beams 22 as shown in Figure 7 the sheeting 19 can be positioned on top of the false chassis formed by the framework 15 in order to form the mezzanine floor. It is preferred that the sheeting 19 be provided with a fixed platform 26, 27 secured to the two sets of half-beams 22 and that hingeably mounted sheeting portions 28 be secured along the free edge of the fixed platforms 26 by means of a piano hinge 29.Sheeting portions 28 are dimensioned so that their transverse free edges coincide with the centre line of a cross-beam 18 so that when adjacent sheeting portions 28 are in their in-use position their adjacent transverse free edges are supported by the cross-beam 18. In order to provide for support to the longitudinally extending free edges of the sheeting portions 28 a metallic edge arrangement 3C as shown in Figure 8 is provided to one set of the sheeting portions 28. Arrangement 30 comprises a metallic top-hat section 31 secured to the free end of one sheeting portion to provide a ledge 31A on to which the other sheeting portion from the other sub-frame is folded.

The various posts 20, half-beams 22 and cross-beams 18 are all made of a lightweight metal such as aluminium and they may be of box, I or H section. Sheeting 19 is preferably made of wood. Posts 20 are conveniently at about 60 cm centres. When the mezzanine floor 14 is in its in-use position it is located at a height above the chassis 11 determined by the length of the posts 20 and which is suitable for the goods to be transported as a second layer but having its own floor. Because the walls of the enclosure 13 are flimsy a crash barrier 32 is provided at a suitable height above the mezzanIne floor lgr along each enclosure side wall, and is formed by way of a longitudinally extending beam secured to the sub-frame 16 by upward extension of occasional ones (for example 20B) of the vertical posts 20 (and similarly for sub-frame 17).

In the trailer 40 shown in Figure 9 the mezzanine floor 14 is generally similar to that of the Figure 1 trailer 10 but the constructional details are different.

In particular in the Figure 9 trailer the mezzanine floor is hingeably dismountable. Since there is functional equivalence between many of the components of the Figure 1 trailer 10 and the Figure 9 trailer 40 these components have the same numbering throughout in the interests of simplicity. Thus in the trailer 40 the cross-beams 18 are not completely removable from the sub-frames 16, 17 but instead are individually hingeably mounted to one of the sub-frames so as to be pivotable into mating engagement with the other sub-frame and the cross-beams 18 carry the sheeting 19 which is segmented in such an arrangement that the transversely extending free edge of a piece of sheeting sits on top of a cross-beam 18 in a manner which permits an adjacent free edge of an adjacent sheeting piece to abut and overlie the same cross-beam 18.

This is illustrated in Figure 10. As is more clearly shown in Figure 11 the half-beams 22 of sub-frame 16 instead of terminating with socket elements 23 are provided with a hinge 42 connected to the adjacent end of the cross-beam 18 and the proximal beam ends are additionally provided with a half check 43 to provide for structural support to the mezzanine floor 14. Likewise the free ends of the half-beams 22 of the sub-frame 17 are provided with a half check 44 to receive a correspondingly checked end of the cross-beam 18. The sheeting portions which form the mezzanine floor include fixed lateral portions 26, 27 and a central portion 45 which is fixed to a set of cross-beams 18 and which accordingly is pivotally moveable about the hinges 42.By way of example sheeting portion 19B (shown in the out-of-use position) is secured to three cross-beams 18 but in its in-use position rests on a fourth cross-beam 18. In an alternative construction each sheeting portion could be provided with four cross-beams 18 so that at the adjacent transverse edges of the sheeting portion there are adjacent cross-beams.

Figures 12, 13 and 14 of the drawings show a third trailer 50 in accordance with a still further embodiment of the present invention. The trailer 50 comprises a chassis 52 which is supported by ground engaging wheels 54 and which is surmounted by an enclosure 56. Within the enclosure 56 there is provided a mezzanine floor 58 which is moveable between an in-use position, as shown in solid outline in Figures 12 and 13, and an out-of-use position adjacent the roof 60 of the enclosure, as shown in ghost outline in Figures 12 and 13. The floor 58 is supported in the in-use position by a framework in the form of fixed stops 62 which extend through the trailer floor 64 to the chassis 52.The floor 58 is raised and lowered to and from the out-of-use position by means of translation means in the form of extendable pillars 66 which extend through the trailer floor 64 to respective sub-frames 68 fixed to the chassis 52.

In the illustrated example, six stops 62 are provided, three on either side of the trailer. Each stop 62 comprises a square section tube having a flat plate 70 fixed to its upper end.

Four extendable pillars 66 are provided, two on either side of the trailer. Each pillar 66 comprises a square section sleeve 72 and a smaller, square section post 74 which is connected to the mezzanine floor 58. The lower end of each sleeve 72 is fixed to the respective sub-frame 68 which accommodates a bevel gear arrangement, operated by hand-crank 76 (Figure 12) for raising and lowering the floor 58.

For each pillar, a first bevel gear is fixed to the crank within the sleeve 72 and engages a further bevel gear fixed to the end of a vertical screw which extends through the hollow post 74 to engage a captive, threaded nut fixed to the upper end of the post 74. Rotation of the crank turns the bevel gears, which rotates the vertical screw causing the nut to travel up or down the screw.

In this particular example it is intended that the mezzanine floor 58 may be manually positioned by a single operator. This is achieved by raising or lowering the ends of the floor 58 by a relatively small amount such that the floor 58 is raised in a series of steps. To permit pivoting of the floor 58 relative to the posts 74 a yoke 78 (Figure 14) for mounting a pivot pin 79 is provided at the upper-end of each pillar 74, the pin 79 passing through a downward projection 81 on the floor 58.

In other embodiments the motive power for raising and lowering of the floor 58 could equally well be provided by one of more electric or hydraulic motors, or through use of hydraulic fluid actuated piston and cylinder arrangements.

Figure 14 also illustrates the mezzanine floor construction, comprising a perimeter frame formed by U-sections 80, a plurality of I-section cross-beams 82 and a floor panel 84, preferably formed of 18mm plywood.

The arrangement described permits an operator to raise or lower the floor 58, as required. In the lowered position the floor 58 and items supported by the floor 58 are supported by the stops 62 which act to spread the load over the existing chassis 52. The number of stops 62 may be varied to provide the necessary degree of support envisaged for the intended use of the trailer. In Figure 13 it will be noted that a stop 62 is located adjacent the loading end of the trailer 50, the stop 62 being intended to support the "shock" loads that the floor will experience as it is being loaded, in addition to the static load which the floor would normally support.

Figures 15, 16 and 17 of the drawings show a fourth trailer 100 in accordance with a yet further embodiment of the present invention. The trailer 100 comprises a chassis 102 which is supported by ground engaging wheels 104 and which is surmounted by an enclosure 100. Within the enclosure there is provided a mezzanine floor 108 which is moveable between an in-use position, as shown in solid outline in Figures 15 and 16, and an out-of-use position, as showing in ghost outline in Figure 15. The floor 108 is formed of two sheets 110, 112 typically of 8' x 4' ply board, and is mounted on D-rings 114 at the sides of the enclosure 106 via floating rings 116 fixed to the outer sides of the sheets 110, 112. As may be seen from Figure 15, in the in-use position, support for the sheets 110, 112 is provided by the goods in the enclosure 106, which in this case is in the form of a cask 116.

In the out-of-use position the sheets 110, 112 are hinged to a position parallel to the enclosure sides 118, 120 where the rings 116 rest on the upper portion of the respective D-rings 114. The inner sides of the sheets 110, 112 are held in the out-of-use position by latches 122 provided on the upper side walls of the enclosure.

The D-rings 114 are fixed to respective metal bands 124, 126 which extend along the enclosure side walls 118, 120 and provide protection for the side walls 118, 120.

The bands 124, 126 and D-rings 114 are mounted on support struts 128 which extend upwardly from the trailer floor 130.

From the above description it will be clear that the various embodiments of the present invention provide means for substantially increasing the load which may be safely and securely carried by a goods vehicle, and thus will substantially reduce transport costs for many items which previously could only be loaded as a single layer.

It will be obvious to those of skill in the art that the above description of the illustrated embodiments is merely exemplary of the present invention, and that various modifications and improvements may be made to these embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A road transport vehicle having a load bearing chassis supported by ground-engaging wheels and surmounted by an enclosure for holding goods to be transported wherein the improvement comprises the provision of a mezzanine floor within the enclosure and moveable from an out-of-use position to an in-use position, and which is supported in the in-use position on a framework secured to the chassis.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the mezzanine floor is adapted to be moveable between an out-of-use position adjacent the roof of the enclosure and the in-use position.

3. The vehicle of claim 2, further including translation means for moving the mezzanine floor between the in-use and out-of-use positions.

4. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein the translation means are in the form of extendable pillars.

5. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the extendable pillars are mounted to a sub-chassis fixed to the chassis.

6. The vehicle of claims 4 or 5, wherein the extendable pillars are fluid actuated.

7. The vehicle of claims 4 or 5, wherein the extendable pillars are operated through screw and gear arrangements.

8. The vehicle of any one of the preceding claims wherein the supporting framework is in the form of a plurality of fixed stops extending upwardly from the chassis.

9. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein additional fixed stops are provided adjacent the goods loading portion of the enclosure.

10. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the mezzanine floor is dismountable and is mounted on a partially dismountable framework.

11. The vehicle of claim 10, wherein the dismountable framework comprises opposed sub-frames extending along the enclosure side walls and non-releasably secured to the chassis, the sub-frames being interconnected by a plurality of dismountable cross-beams which together form a support chassis for the mezzanine floor.

12. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the cross-beams are dismountable by complete removal from the sub-frames.

13. The vehicle of claim 12, wherein the cross-beams are dismountable by being hingedly mounted on one of the sub-frames and pivotal into and out of engagement with the other of the sub-frames.

14. The vehicle of claim 11, 12, or 13, wherein the mezzanine floor is formed by sheeting overlaid on the cross-beams.

15. The vehicle of claim 14, wherein the mezzanine floor is hingeably mounted.

16. A container for mounting on a trailer and for holding goods to be transported wherein the improvement comprises the provision of a mezzanine floor within the container and moveable from a out-of-use position adjacent the roof of the container to an in-use position, and which is supported in the in-use position on a framework secured to a structural component of the container.

17. A road transport vehicle having a load-bearing chassis supported by ground-engaging wheels and surmounted by an enclosure for holding goods to be transported wherein the improvement comprises the provision of a mezzanine floor within ehe enclosure and moveable from an out-of-use position to an in-use position, and which is adapted to be at least partially supported in the in-use position by goods in the enclosure.

18. The vehicle of claim 17, wherein the mezzanine floor is located relative to the enclosure on a floating mounting.

19. The vehicle of claim 17 or 18, wherein the mezzanine floor is hingeably mounted relative to the enclosure.

20. A road transport vehicle substantially as described herein and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 8, or Figures 9 to 11, or Figures 12 to 14, or Figures 15 to 17 of the accompanying drawings.