IE49269B1 - Vehicle having a removable load-carrying body - Google Patents

Abstract

The body (2) is removed from the trailer without lifting gear, by elevating one end using a hydraulic lifting ram (4). This extends and locks pairs of legs (7, 8) at the sides of the body. One end of the body is lowered again, so that the legs lift the body clear of the deck (5) of the trailer. The trailer can then be withdrawn. Tilting can be accomplished by tipping the trailer. The legs can be extended manually, and locked by pins passed through them.

Description

This invention relates to a vehicle having a removable loadcarrying body.

A known type of vehicle having a removable load-carrying body is the flat road or rail vehicle upon which freight containers are carried. It is usual to transfer such containers from one vehicle to another, or to and from the ground, by means of a travelling crane or other lifting device. This usually limits the handling of containers to locations, such as inland container depots, having suitable container-handling facilities, and transfer of containers at other locations is only possible with the use of a relatively expensive container-lifting vehicle.

To overcome some of these problems, it has been proposed to use a container provided with hydraulic lifting rams extending legs to each side of the vehicle to lift the container off the vehicle, so that the vehicle can then be removed and, if desired, a different vehicle brought underneath to carry the container. The rams can be powered by a separate hydraulic pump unit, or by a pump mounted in or on the container and driven by a small internal combustion engine. This arrangement has not found wide use because the cost of the rams and the pump and engine is high, both to inst.al and to maintain, and because weight is added to the container, reducing 269 the load that may legally be carried. The relatively large diameter of the rams increases the width of the container, and in some instances it is necessary to fit the rams to swinging arms so that they may be swung inboard of the vehicle when not required, to keep the width of the vehicle within the maximum legally permissible, or to permit the container to conform to the international standard size.

According to the present invention, the vehicle has a loadcarrying deck pivoted at one end thereof and means for tilting the deck about the pivot, and the body comprises two extensible legs at each side thereof, the legs being spaced from the ends of the body such that when the body is located on the deck, one end of the body may be elevated relative to the other end by tilting of the deck and the legs may be extended whereby, when the deck is lowered again, the legs engage the surface upon which the vehicle is standing and lift the body off the deck, and the body and the deck being provided with mutually co-operable holding means for holding the said one end of the body to the deck while the said one end is elevated relative to the other end.

The legs can each be extensible by means of a hydraulic or pneumatic ram, but this need not be sufficiently powerful to carry the weight of the container; the legs may be locked when extended, and the locking arrangement may carry the weight. In a simpler arrangement in accordance with the invention, each leg is telescopic and can be extended and retracted manually and includes locking means to lock the leg in the retracted position or in any desired extended position. The legs may be locked by means of pins passed through ' 49269 aligned holes in two relatively slidable parts of the legs. The legs are preferably so positioned as to permit removal of the container from the vehicle using a relatively low angle of elevation, for example about 15°, while maintaining stability when the vehicle is withdrawn.

The body may be of any desired form, for example open dumping truck, box or tanker, provided where necessary with a frame to enable it to rest on the deck of the vehicle. The deck may have at the elevating end means for engaging a hook on the body whereby the body is held on the deck during tipping. Clamps may be provided between the body and the tipping surface at the other end, and these clamps may be of conventional form for clamping containers on to vehicles.

The vehicle may be of the type having a flat load-carrying surface, for example such as is used for carrying freight containers, or an agricultural trailer. Thus, an agricultural product such as grain or sugar beet may be transported from the growing fields to mill or processing factory in a single container, carried in the field on a farm trailer pulled by a tractor, for example, and trans20 ferred to a flat lorry or articulated trailer vehicle for conveyance by public road. The vehicle may alternatively be a rail vehicle.

The vehicle body is readily removable from the vehicle without the need for special container or other lifting gear. Removal and transfer of the body may therefore be effected at any desired location, for example on a farm. The body is simple in construction and requires little maintenance. Existing removable bodies may be readily modified in accordance with the present invention.

Reference is made to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a trailer vehicle and body according to the invention, in the travelling position; Figure 2 is a view corresponding to Figure 1 with the body elevated relative to the vehicle; and Figure 3 is a view corresponding to Figures 1 and 2, with the body separated from the vehicle.

The trailer vehicle 20 has a flat tipping deck 22, which may be elevated by hydraulic rams in conventional manner.

The container body 21 is held on the trailer 20 by a hook 23 on the container body which engages a bar 24 on the leading edge of the trailer, and by conventional container clamps (not shown) at the rear end of the vehicle.

Figure 1 shows the container body 21 in its travelling position on the trailer 20. When it is desired to remove the body 21 so that the trailer may be used on its own, for example for transporting straw bales, the deck is elevated by about 15°, the legs being spaced relative to the pivot about which the deck may be elevated. The rear clamps are released and then the rear legs 8 are released, by withdraw;ngs the locking pins, and drawn down into engagement with the ground. The pins are then reinserted to lock the legs at this extenion. The front legs 7 are then extended to the same length and locked, as shown in Figure 2. 9 269 During the lowering of the trailer 20, the rear end of the body 21 is lifted off the trailer by the legs 8. The look 23 remains engaged with the bar 24 initially and the wheels 10 on the legs 8 permit the necessary rearward movement of the legs 8. As the front legs 7 engage the ground, the hooks 23 disengages the bar 24, releasing the body from the trailer, which in its fully lowered position can be towed away, as shown in Figure 3.

Although wheels are shown on the rear legs 8, to allow for relative longitudinal movement of the vehicle and body during lowering, in some conditions the use of pads may be preferable, e.g. on soft or uneven ground, the vehicle being moved as necessary to avoid movement longitudinally of the body relative to the ground.

Claims (7)

1. A vehicle having a removable load-carrying body, the vehicle having a load-carrying deck the deck being pivoted at one end thereof and means for tilting the deck about the pivot, the body comprising two extensible legs at each side thereof, the legs being spaced from the ends of the body such that when the boc(y is located on the deck, one end of the body may be elevated relative to the other end by tilting of the deck and the legs may be extended whereby, when the deck is lowered again, the legs engage the surface upon which the vehicle is standing and lift the body off the deck, and the body and the deck being provided with mutually co-operable holding means for holding the said one end of the body to the deck while the said one end is elevated relative to the other end.

2. A vehicle according to Claim 1, wherein the holding means comprise a hook engageable with a bar.

3. A vehicle according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the legs are each extensible by means of a hydraulic or pneumatic ram.

4. A vehicle according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein each leg is telescopic and can be extended and retracted manually, and includes locking means to lock the leg in the retracted position or in any desired extended position.

5. A vehicle according to Claim 4, wherein the locking means comprises a series of holes through relatively slidable parts of the telescopic leg and a pin insertable into aligned holes through the parts.

6. A vehicle according to any preceding claim wherein the legs are positoned on the body such that when the body is elevated to an angle of about 15° to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, the lower legs adjacent to the end of the body nearest to the surface upon which the vehicle is standing are extended to contact said surface, the other legs are extended to the same length as the lower legs, and the body is lowered so that said other legs contact said surface, the body is thereby lifted from the vehicle, permitting removal thereof.

7. 10 7. A vehicle having a removable load-carrying body, substantially as described with reference to the drawings.