GB2388099A - Auxiliary equipment mounting frame for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

A frame for mounting auxiliary equipment such as a compressor 42 onto a vehicle for use in unloading powder and like cargoes comprises tubular members joined as shown to form, in cross-section, a sideways P-shape. The frame forms a box inside which a compressor 42 can be mounted on raised floor plates hiding power and hydraulic/pneumatic connections. An oil cooler or the like 44 can be mounted on the outside upright portion 12 and various mounting flanges are provided for removably connecting the frame to the vehicle (50, Fig 5). The flanges can easily be adjusted to fit different sized vehicles.

Description

i 1 2388099

Apparatus and Method Mounting Equipment The present invention relates to apparatus and a method for mounting equipment, and 5 more particularly to apparatus and a method for mounting equipment for transportation.

Haulage lorries generally require specialised equipment to load and offload the goods that they are carrying when the intended destination is reached. The equipment required depends on the goods of the lorry, whether it be liquid, gas or solid material.

Most commonly, for liquid transportation, lorries require a compressor, working from a hydraulic circuit, or for solid/powder transportation a blower is carried.

The compressor or blower, together with their associated circuitry and equipment can 15 be secured to some part of the lorry to travel with the load for use as and when required.

Installation of off-loading equipment onto a lorry of a particular chassis size is a complicated process, requiring, on average, four man days of labour. This is predominantly due to the fact that installation of the equipment can only be carried out 20 once the lorry has been received by the workshop. Each separate piece of equipment making up the entire compressor (or blower) system needs to be secured to the lorry wherever a suitable location for that piece of equipment can be found on the lorry framework. 25 Consequently, once the compressor system has been installed (quite often the parts being scattered around the lorry) it is difficult, and often impractical to remove the system. The resultant lorry has, therefore, restricted use for only that particular category of loads.

30 The present invention seeks to alleviate the aforementioned problem by providing apparatus and a method for mounting auxiliary equipment, such as a pump or

compressor for off-loading' and which includes a framework on which the equipment can be located, prior to installation onto a lorry.

As such, considerable time and expense can be saved as much of the installation work 5 can be carried out prior to the lorry arriving at the workshop.

The framework is then attached to the chassis of a lorry. The term chassis, in the context of this application means a structure upon which the passenger compartment or storage compartment of a vehicle is mounted.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus for mounting auxiliary equipment, such as a compressor for offloading, the apparatus comprising a single frame on which the or each item of equipment can be secured, and means for removably attaching the frame to the chassis of a lorry.

Preferably each item of equipment can be permanently secured to the frame.

Preferably still, the equipment to be transported includes a compressor and associated hydraulic circuitry. Alternatively, the equipment could include an industrial blower and 20 associated hydraulic circuitry.

Preferably, the attaching means comprises at least two formations to carry brackets.

The formations may be 700 to 1000 mm apart, more preferably 850 to 950 mm apart.

25 Preferably the formations are spaced approximately 900 mm apart. This allows the frame to be mounted on lorries having the most common chassis widths.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus for mounting auxiliary equipment, such as a compressor for offloading, the apparatus 30 comprising a single frame on which the or each item of equipment can be permanently secured, and means for removably attaching the frame to a lorry.

This allows the entire system to be removed easily from the transport vehicle in one piece, by simply detaching the frame from the vehicle.

The frame may be arranged to mount two items of auxiliary equipment.

The frame may take any suitable form and may be a box frame. Where the frame is arranged to mount two items of auxiliary equipment, the frame may be arranged to box in one item and to mount the other to one side of the box.

10 The frame preferably includes at least one connector to which a lead from the lorry can be connected to supply to or take from the auxiliary equipment mounted thereon. At least one pneumatic and/or hydraulic and/or electrical connector may be provided.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a mount onto which a 15 compressor or other auxiliary equipment can be mounted, the mount being arranged to be mounted, with the compressor or the like, onto a lorry to facilitate mounting to and removal from the lorry of the compressor or the like.

The mount may be a frame.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for mounting equipment on a vehicle to be transported therewith, the method comprising the steps of (a) attaching each item of equipment to a frame, and 25 (b) attaching said frame to a chassis of a transport vehicle.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying figures, in which: 30 Figure 1 is a side view of the apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken through A-A of figure 1; Figure 3 is a simplified perspective view of the apparatus of figure 1; 5 Figure 4 is a side view of the apparatus of figures 1 and 2 including the equipment mounted on the apparatus; Figure 5 is a side view of the apparatus and equipment of figure 4 located on a transport vehicle; and Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a hydraulic circuit for the apparatus of Figure 4.

Referring to figures I and 3, the apparatus comprises a unitary frame 10. The frame 10 comprises a first tube 12 bent to a U-shape and arranged upright and inverted. A 15 second tube 14 is also bent to a U-shape and the parallel arms 16 of the U are bent around in a C-shape so that the ends of the arms are attached to the arms 1X of the first tube 12, about a third of the way down the first tube 12, and extend horizontally away from the first tube 12, the C-shape providing a bend 20 to an upright section 22 then a further bend 24 to a lower horizontal section 26, the lower horizontal section 26 leading 20 to the end of the U and being connected to the ends of the arms 18 of the first tube 12 about two thirds of the way along the lower horizontal section 26. Two square section tubes 28 are secured across the arms of the lower horizontal section 26, one near the bend to the upright section 22 and one just the other side of the connection to the first tube 12. Two horizontal plates 30, 32 are mounted by the frame. It is seen that the 25 tubes form a box. One horizontal plate 30 forms the floor of the box. The other horizontal plate 32 is mounted across the box a short way above the floor plate 30. A vertical plate 34 is attached between the horizontal plates 30, 32 and spans one side of the box of the frame 10. This vertical plate 34 mounts pneumatic and hydraulic connectors. Two horizontal ties 36 connect the arms of the first tube at different 30 heights. A lug 38 with an eye is provided at the top of the first tube. Two further lugs 40 are provided on the upper horizontal section of the second tube, one on each arm adjacent the bend 20 to the vertical section 22.

The construction of the frame 10 is such that a substantial open area is located in the box of the frame 10 in which can be located a compressor 42 which is securely attached to the plate 32 by means of brackets 48 (see Figure 4). Once in position, the 5 compressor 42 is surrounded by the vertical sections of the first and second tubes 12, 14 at each side and the upper horizontal section of the second tube 14 from above.

An oil reservoir 44 which may incorporate an oil cooler is connected to the first tube 12 on the other side from the base by brackets 46.

The frame 10 is attached to the chassis 50 (see Figure 5) of an articulated lorry 52. The frame 10 is connected to the chassis 50 by means of angle brackets to the square section tubes 28, the designs of which are ultimately dependent on the dimensions of the chassis 50 on which the frame 10 is to be fixed. In order to fit the frame 10 to the 15 majority of chassis sizes, the square section tubes 28 are located at a fixed over-all dimension of 900 mm. The angle brackets which are secured to the chassis are individually designed on a chassis by chassis basis. The square section tubes 28 are then secured to these angle brackets. In this way, the entire assembly can be transferred to another chassis 50 which is fitted with suitable brackets.

Once the frame I O is secured to the chassis 50 of the lorry 52, the compressor 42 and oil reservoir 44 are connected together by means of connection tubing 54 and the compressor 42 is linked to the trailer and the storage container, which stores the material to be transported, via a suitable I '/' inch (38 mm) air hose. Pneumatic hoses 25 56 associated with trailer breaking system and wiring 58 for the trailer lights are integrated into the system such that connection and disconnection of braking air and electrical power can be easily achieved between the lorry and the trailer. The electrical wiring 58 is clamped to the upper horizontal section of the second tube 14 of the frame 10 to avoid entanglement with the air tubes 56 and to make the system clearer and more 30 practical to put together and remove.

( 6 The hydraulic circuit of the present invention can be seen in Figure 6. The oil reservoir and cooler 44 linked to the mechanical power take off (PTO) of the lorry and hydraulic pump combination 60 (the PTO driving the hydraulic pump) via a simple ball valve (not shown) which is used to isolate the PTO and hydraulic pump 60 when the inlet 5 tubing 62 thereto is disconnected therefrom. The outlet of the hydraulic pump 60 has a nonspill coupling to provide such isolation at the outlet of the pump 60.

Hydraulic fluid from the pump 60 is used to drive a hydraulic motor 64 via a directional control valve 66 (following the direction of arrow "A" in Figure 6). The output shaft of 10 the motor 64 is attached to the drive shaft of the compressor 42 thus rotating the compressor 42. Alternatively, the hydraulic fluid can be directed via the directional control valve 66 to drive the hydraulic motor 64 which is attached to a Cargo pump (not shown) mounted on the trailer (following of direction of arrow "B" in Figure 6).

15 The compressor 42 provides air to the tanker via a flexible pipe 68 and a controlled one-way valve 70 is provided to prevent air from flowing back into the system. The compressor also has an air intake filter 72.

Once installed on the lorry 52, the entire hydraulic system can be simply dis-assembled 20 by firstly disconnecting the wires and tubing connecting the compressor 42, oil reservoir 44 and PTO/Hydraulic pump 60 and thereafter simply detaching the frame 10 from the chassis 50 of the lorry 52 and removing the compressor 42 and the oil reservoir 44 in one piece.

Claims (1)

1. Claims

   1. Apparatus for mounting auxiliary equipment, such as a compressor for off-loading, the apparatus comprising a single frame on which the or each item of equipment can be 5 secured, and means for removably attaching the frame to the chassis of a lorry.

   2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each item of equipment is permanently secured to the frame.

   10 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the equipment to be transported includes a compressor and associated hydraulic circuitry.

   4. Apparatus according to claim I or claim 2, wherein the equipment to be transported includes an industrial blower and associated hydraulic circuitry.

   5. Apparatus according to claim I to 5, wherein the attaching means comprises at least two formations capable of carrying brackets.

   6. Apparatus according to claim S. wherein the formations are between 700 to 1000 20 mm apart.

   7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the formations are 850 to 950 mm apart.

   8. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the formations are spaced approximately 25 900 mm apart.

   9. Apparatus for mounting auxiliary equipment, such as a compressor for off-loading, the apparatus comprising a single frame on which the or each item of equipment can be permanently secured, and means for removably attaching the frame to 30 a lorry.

   1 1. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the frame is arranged to mount two items of auxiliary equipment.

   12. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the frame takes the form of a box 5 frame. 13. Apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the frame is arranged to box in one item and to mount the other to one side of the box.

   10 14. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the frame further comprises at least one connector to which a lead from a lorry can be connected to supply to or take from the auxiliary equipment mounted thereon.

   IS. Apparatus according to claim 14 wherein at least one connector is a pneumatic 1 S connector.

   16. Apparatus according to claim 14, wherein at least one connector is a hydraulic connector. 20 17. Apparatus according to claim 14, wherein at least one connector is an electrical connector. 18. A mount onto which a compressor or other auxiliary equipment can be mounted, the mount being arranged to be mounted, with the compressor or the like, 25 onto a lorry to facilitate mounting to and removal from the lorry of the compressor or the like.

   19. A mount according to claim 18, the mount being in the form of a frame.

   30 20. A method for mounting equipment on a vehicle to be transported therewith, the method comprising the steps of (a) attaching each item of equipment to a frame, and

   g (b) attaching said frame to a chassis of a transport vehicle.

   21. Apparatus as substantially hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying Figures.

   22. A mount as substantially hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying Figures.

   23. A method as substantially hereinbefore described with reference to the 10 accompanying Figures.