Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE:
Truck transportable carrier and method of loading the same onto a truck for
transport
FIELD
The present invention relates to a transportable carrier, such as a bin, which
is
transportable by truck, together with a method of loading that body onto the
truck for
transport.
BACKGROUND
Bins are used to collect garbage, scrap metal and building debris.
Periodically they
must be transported from one site to another. United States Patent 3,521,780
(Cook) entitled
"Truck Mounted Lifting Device" and United States Patent 4,778,327(Tufenkian et
al) entitled
"Bin Lifting Mechanism" disclose apparatus which can be used to transport
bins.
SUMMARY
There is provided a truck transportable carrier which includes a transport
body having
a bottom. A tongue is provided having a free end and an attached end. The
attached end is
pivotally attached to a first end of the transport body adjacent to the
bottom.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other features will become more apparent from the following
description in
which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the
purpose of
illustration only and are not intended to in any way limit the scope of the
invention to the
particular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partially in section, of a truck transportable
bin.
FIG. 2 is a top elevation view, partially in section, of the bin from FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the tongue and ramp members from the bin of
FIG.
1.
FIG. 4 is a side elevation view, partially in section, of a truck positioned
in
preparation to load a bin for transport.
FIG. 5 is a side elevation view, partially in section, of the truck and bin
from FIG. 4
with the truck lifting the bin.
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FIG. 6 is a side elevation view, partially in section, of the truck and bin
from FIG. 4
with the truck lifting the first end of the bin onto the bin support surface
of the truck.
FIG. 7 is a side elevation view, partially in section, of the truck and bin
from FIG. 4
with the bin loaded onto the raised bin support surface of the truck.
FIG. 8 is a side elevation view, partially in section, of the truck and bin
from FIG. 4
with the bin support surface of the truck lowered.
FIGS. 9-10 are side elevation views, partially in section, that show
additional steps
that may be taken for the truck and bin from FIG. 8 to draw the bin further
along the bin
support surface of the truck.
FIG. 11 is a side elevation view, partially in section, of a truck loading a
platform for
transport
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
A truck transportable carrier, generally identified by reference numeral 10,
will now
be described with reference to FIG.1 through 10.
Structure and Relationship of Parts:
FIG. 1 shows a truck transportable carrier 10. In the example shown, carrier
10 is a
truck transportable bin, and the transport body intended to be carried is a
polygon body 12
with a tongue 14. Polygon body 12 has a bottom 16, opposed end walls 18, and
opposed side
walls 20. Opposed end wa11s 18 consist of a first end 22 and a second end 24.
Opposed end
and side walls 18 and 20, respectively, and bottom 16, together define a
receptacle 26.
Receptacle 26 may be used for transporting items such as garbage. Tongue 14
has a free end
28 and an attached end 30. Attached end 30 is pivotally attached to first end
22 of opposed
end walls 18, adjacent to bottom 16.
Referring to FIG. 2, tongue 14 is triangular with free end 28 defining an apex
32 and
attached end 30 defining a base 34. It should be understood that tongue 14 may
have many
alternative shapes. An example of such may be a rectangular shape (not shown).
Tongue 14
has a first attachment bar 36, a second attachment bar 38, and converging arms
40. Tongue 14
may have more than or less than two of attachment bars 36 and 38. First bar 36
is located near
free end 28, and second bar 38 is located near attached end 30. Referring to
FIGS. 2 and 3,
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both first and second bars 36 and 38, respectively, are secured to arms 40.
Referring to FIG.
3, arms 40 may have a tapered section 42 extending from a bottom side 44 to a
top side 46 of
arms 40. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a skidplate 48 may be attached to tapered
section 42 in
order to connect arms 40 as well as act as a protective cover for tongue 14.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, body 12 has ramp members 50 and skid members 52.
Referring to FIG. 4, ramp member 50 and skid members 52 are attached to bottom
16 of body
12. Ramp members 50 provide a transition from attached end 30 of tongue 14 to
skid
members 52. Referring to FIG. 3, tongue 14 is attached to body 12 (not shown)
by underlying
support members 53. Referring to FIG. 4, because support members 53 are
securely attached
to bottom 16, attached end 30 of tongue 14 is firnily held in place at first
end 22 of bin 10.
This ensures that the stress imposed on tongue 14 and body 12 during operation
will not
disconnect attached end 30 from bin 10. Skid members 52 ensure bottom 16 of
body 12 is
raised off of a ground surface 54 when bin 10 is sitting level with ground
surface 54 as shown.
This ensures that ramp members and support members 53 are not supporting the
weight of
body 12 when bin 10 is sitting level with ground surface 54.
Referring to FIG. 4, a truck 56 is provided having a transport body support
surface 58
and a winch 60. In the example shown transport body support surface 58 is
shown as a bin
support surface. Bin support surface 58 has a cab end 62 and a rear end 64.
Bin support
surface 58 may be provided as part of a dump truck 56 as shown in FIG. 4.
Altematively, bin
support surface 58 may be provided as a separate trailer unit (not shown), or
as part of any
type of vehicle capable of towing a heavy load. Examples of trailers that may
be used include
gooseneck and tag-along trailers. Winch 60 has a hook 66 and a cable 68. Winch
60 is
mounted at cab end 62 of bin support surface 58. Winch 60 is raised above the
level of bin
support surface 58. Typically winch 60 is positioned between one and three
feet above bin
support surface 58. Alternatively, winch 60 may be located at a different part
of truck 56, such
as part of a cab 70, a frame 72, or a headache rack (not shown). In addition,
pulleys (not
shown) may be used to allow winch 60 to function in the same manner from
another location
on truck 56. Winch 60 may be operated by the engine or battery (not shown) of
truck 56, or
by a power source (not shown) separate from truck 56. Bin support surface 58
may be
provided with a rollbar 74 at rear end 64. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, rollbar
74 allows cable
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68, tongue 14 and bin 10 to slide smoothly onto rear end 64 of bin support
surface 58.
Operation:
Referring to FIG. 4, truck 56 is positioned so that rear end 64 of bin support
surface
58 is aligned with tongue 14 of bin 10. Referring to FIG. 5, bin support
surface 58 of truck 56
is angled into a dumping position in order to facilitate the loading of bin 10
onto bin support
surface 58. The angling of bin support surface 58 is not required, but allows
bin 10 to be more
easily slid onto bin support surface 58. Cable 68 from winch 60 is attached to
free end 28 of
tongue 14 by securing hook 66 to first attachment bar 36. A pulling force is
then exerted on
bin 10 via winch 60 that lifts first end 22 of bin 10. Upon lifting first end
22, tongue 14 is slid
over rear end 64 of bin support surface 58.
Referring to FIG. 6, the pulling force is continually exerted via winch 60
pulling first
end 22 of bin 10 onto rear end 64 of bin support surface 58. Referring to FIG.
7, once first
end 22 of bin 10 is supported on bin support surface 58, bin 10 may be drawn
further along
bin support surface 58 using winch 60. Skid members 52 allow bin 10 to slide
along bin
support surface 58 toward cab end 62 under the force exerted by winch 60.
Referring to
FIGS. 6 and 7, ramp and skid members 50 and 52, respectively, ensure that
bottom 16 never
comes into contact with bin support surface 58 during loading, unloading, or
transport, of bin
10. Referring to FIG. 7, skid members 52 are designed to allow bin 10 to slide
easily over bin
support surface 58. It should be noted that truck 56 may be backed up while
second end 24 of
bin 10 is still in contact with ground surface 54, in order to assist winch 60
in loading bin 10
onto bin support surface 58. In addition, bin support surface 58 may be
lowered while sliding
bin 10 along bin support surface 58. Referring to FIG. 8, when bin 10 is
supported in a stable
position on bin support surface 58, bin support surface 58 may be lowered into
a transport
position level with ground surface 54. Now that bin 10 is safely loaded onto
truck 56, truck 56
is free to transport bin 10. Because winch 60 is raised above the level of bin
support surface
58 instead of being positioned on bin support surface 58, bin 10 can be drawn
closer to cab
end 62 as tongue 14 is allowed to pivot upwards. Bin 10 may be successfully
unloaded from
truck 56 following the steps detailed in FIGS. 4-8 in the reverse order.
Referring to FIG. 9, it may be necessary to slide bin 10 further along bin
support
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surface 58 towards cab end 62 if space is limited. Referting to FIG. 8, this
may be the case if
free end 28 of tongue 14 has been pulled close to winch 60 and second end 24
of bin 10 is not
safely positioned within rear end 64 of bin support surface 58. Referring to
FIG. 9, hook 66
may then be unhooked from first attachment bar 36 and then attached to second
attachment
5 bar 38. Referring to FIG. 10, winch 60 may then exert a pulling force that
draws bin 10 closer
to cab end 62.
Variations:
Referring to FIG. 11, another example of a truck transportable carrier,
generally
indicated by reference numeral 100, is shown. In this example, polygonal body
12 (as shown
in FIG. 4) has been replaced with a platform 112, such as a skid, which may be
used for
transporting different items, such as equipment, machinery, etc. It will be
understood by
those skilled in the art that other shapes and types of platforms, vessels,
containers, etc. may
be used instead of the two examples shown in the drawings. It will also be
understood that
truck transportable carrier 10 or 100 may be used with different types of
trucks, the
requirement being that there is a means to mount a winch to apply a pulling
force to the
transport body, and a surface that is able to support the transport body.
In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in its non-limiting
sense to
mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically
mentioned are not
excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not
exclude the
possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context
clearly requires that
there be one and only one of the elements.
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It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may be made
to the
illustrated embodiments without departing from scope of the Claims.
