TRUCK LOAD SECURING SYSTEM

SYSTEME D'ARRIMAGE DE CHARGE DE CAMION

English Abstract

A truck load securing system has a pair of hydraulic cylinders, preferably
double acting
locking cylinders, are secured to a frame of a truck under a truck bed, and
tethers,
preferably cable and chain combinations, extend from the hydraulic cylinders
around
corner posts at the rear of the frame. The tethers terminate in hooks that may
be secured
to a load. The hydraulic cylinders are preferably disposed on opposite sides
of the frame
center from the corner posts around which the respective tethers are placed.
The
cylinders are powered by a conventional hydraulic power supply and controlled
by
controls preferably located at the rear of the truck frame.

French Abstract

Système de sécurisation des charges d'un camion constitué de deux vérins hydrauliques, de préférence des vérins de blocage double action, fixés sur le châssis d'un camion, sous le châssis, et d'attaches, de préférence une combinaison de câbles et de chaînes, sortant des vérins hydrauliques et entourant les montants d'angle à l'arrière du châssis. Les attaches sont munies à leurs extrémités de crochets pouvant être fixés à une charge. Les vérins hydrauliques sont de préférence disposés sur les côtés opposés du centre du châssis à partir des montants d'angle autour desquels les attaches sont placées. Les vérins sont alimentés par une alimentation hydraulique conventionnelle et sont contrôlés par des commandes situées, de préférence, à l'arrière du châssis.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OR
PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A truck load securing system, comprising:
a frame for supporting a truck bed, the frame having a rear and a center line;
a first hydraulic cylinder having a frame end and a tether end, the first
hydraulic cylinder
being secured at its frame end to the frame under the truck bed;
a second hydraulic cylinder having a frame end and a tether end, the second
hydraulic
cylinder being secured at its frame end to the frame under the truck bed;
a first tether secured to the tether end of the first hydraulic cylinder, the
first tether
extending around a first corner post at the rear of the frame and terminating
in a first hook;
a second tether secured to the tether end of the second hydraulic cylinder,
the second
tether extending around a second corner post at the rear of the frame and
terminating in a second
hook;
a hydraulic power supply for the first and second hydraulic cylinders;
controls for the first and second hydraulic cylinders at the rear of the
frame; and
in which the first hydraulic cylinder is secured to an opposite side of the
center line from
the first corner post and the second hydraulic cylinder is secured to an
opposite side of the center
line from the second corner post.

2. The truck load securing system of claim 1 in which the first hook and the
second hook
are each secured to a load carried on the truck bed.

3. The truck load securing system of claim 1 or 2 in which the first tether
and the second
tether each comprise a chain and cable combination secured to a respective one
of the tether ends
of the first and second hydraulic cylinders.

4. The truck load securing system of claim 3 in which the chain and cable
combinations
each comprise a cable secured to a respective tether end and terminating in an
intermediate hook,
the intermediate hook being hooked on to a link in the chain.


6
5. The truck load securing system of any one of claim 1 -4 in which the first
hydraulic
cylinder and the second hydraulic cylinder are each double acting hydraulic
cylinders that lock
upon loss of hydraulic power.

Description

CA 02364885 2001-12-13
TITLE OF THE INVENTION
01 Truck Load Securing System
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

02 Conventional tie downs used on the rear of truck beds use manual tie downs
with
chains that terminate in hooks. The chains are usually crossed at the back of
the truck
bed, with one end secured one side of the rear of the truck bed, and the other
end a hook
secured to the load on the other side of the truck bed. The use of crossing
chains and
manual tie downs presents a hazard for operators and makes it difficult to
secure the load
tightly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

03 To address the problems of prior art tie downs, there is therefore
provided,
according to a first aspect of the invention, a truck load securing system. A
pair of
hydraulic cylinders, preferably double acting locking cylinders, are secured
to a frame of
a truck under a truck bed, and tethers, preferably cable and chain
combinations, extend
from the hydraulic cylinders around corner posts at the rear of the frame. The
tethers
terminate in hooks that may be secured to a load. The hydraulic cylinders are
preferably
disposed on opposite sides of the frame center from the corner posts around
which the
respective tethers are placed. The cylinders are powered by a conventional
hydraulic
power supply and controlled by controls preferably located at the rear of the
truck frame.
04 These and other aspects of the invention are described in the detailed
description
of the invention and claimed in the claims that follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
05 There will now be described preferred embodiments of the invention, with
reference to the drawings, by way of illustration only and not with the
intention of
limiting the scope of the invention, in which like numerals denote like
elements and in
which:


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2

Fig. 1 shows a top plan view of a truck load securing system according to the
invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the truck load securing system of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a side view of the truck load securing system of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a simplified schematic of a hydraulic power supply and control for
the
hydraulic cylinders used in the truck load securing system of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

06 In this patent document, "comprising" means "including". In addition, a
reference
to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not exclude the possibility
that more than
one of the element is present. When an element is referred to as being mounted
on or
secured to an object, then the element may be directly or indirectly mounted
on or secured
to the object.

07 Referring to the figures, there is shown a truck load securing system 10. A
pair of
parallel I-beams 12 and 14 form a conventional frame for supporting a truck
bed 16 (fig.
2). The I-beams 12, 14 extend along the length of the truck bed 16, under and
supporting
the truck bed 16 and terminate at the rear of the truck bed 16. A hydraulic
cylinder 18 is
secured at frame end 20 to the I-beam 12 using a conventional eye 22. A
hydraulic
cylinder 24 is secured at frame end 26 to the I-beam 14 using a conventional
eye 28. A
cable 30 made of metal strands in conventional fashion is secured to a tether
end 32 of the
hydraulic cylinder 18. The cable 30 extends rearward of hydraulic cylinder 18
around a
corner post 34 at the rear 36 of the frame and terminates in a hook 38. The
hook 38 is
hooked onto links of a chain 40, which itself terminates in a hook 42. A cable
44 made of
metal strands in conventional fashion is secured to a tether end 46 of the
hydraulic
cylinder 24. The cable 44 extends rearward of hydraulic cylinder 24 around a
corner post
48 at the rear 36 of the frame and terminates in a hook 50. The hook 50 is
hooked onto
links of a chain 52, which itself terminates in a hook 54.


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3

08 As shown in Fig. 2, the corner posts 34, 48 may be the sides of openings
56, 58 in
a plate 60 that is secured as by bolting or welding to the rear end of 1-beams
12, 14.
Preferably, the corner posts 34,48 are reinforced by vertically extending
roller bars 62, 64
that are held between plates 66, 68 and 70, 72. The plates 66, 68, 70 and 72
are welded to
the flanges of 1-beams 12, 14 respectively at the ends of the I-beams adjacent
the plate 60.
09 The combination of cable 44 and chain 52 forms a tether, as do cable 30 and
chain
40. The use of a cable allows the tethers to slide easily through the openings
56, 58,
while the use of a chain allows easy adjustment of the length of the tether,
by moving the
hooks 38, 50 at the ends of the cables 30, 44 to different links of the chains
40, 52.

A hydraulic power supply 74 is provided for the hydraulic cylinders 18, 24.
The
hydraulic power supply 74 is a conventional power supply that is used on
trucks, and is
conventionally mounted on the bumper or front of the truck (not shown).
Controls 76 for
the hydraulic cylinders 18, 24 are provided at the rear 36 of the frame. The
controls 76
have a pair of manual toggles 78, 80 that switch the hydraulic cylinders 18,
24 between
reverse, forward and neutral. The hydraulic cylinders 18, 24 are thus
preferably double
acting cylinders. To avoid loss of a secure tie down in case of power failure,
the
hydraulic cylinders should lock in neutral or upon power loss.

11 The hooks 42, 54 are hooked onto a portion of the truck bed 16 or truck
rear when
not in use, but are hooked to a load 80 carried on the truck bed 16 when in
use. The
length of the chains 40, 52 is adjusted to allow the hooking of the hooks 42,
54 onto the
load, but not too loose that the hydraulic cylinders 18, 24 cannot take up the
slack. Once
the hooks 42, 54 are in place, the operator makes sure no personnel or objects
are in the
way and then operates the controls 76 through an opening 82 in the plate 60 to
tighten the
hooks 42, 54 onto the load 80 by operating the hydraulic cylinders in the
forward
direction. The operator then sets the control to neutral, where the cylinders
18, 24 are
locked. To release the hooks 42, 54, the operator reverses the hydraulic
cylinders 18, 24
until the tethers are loose enough that the hooks 42, 54 can be released.


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12 As shown in Fig. 1 and 3, the hydraulic cylinder 18 is secured to an
opposite side
of the frame center line A from the corner post 34 and the hydraulic cylinder
24 is secured
to an opposite side of the frame center line A from the corner post 48. The
cross-over of
the cylinders and tethers provides a firmer hold on the load.

13 Immaterial modifications may be made to the invention described here
without
departing from the essence of the invention.

Representative Drawing