Title: Deck for a service vehicle
Abstract: Vehicle payload in a service vehicle including a vehicle chassis having two spaced frame members (50) with a generally horizontal deck (16) mounted on the frame members for receiving and carrying a load to be transported and which extends to either side of a vehicle centerline (48) and which is provided with a crane (28) located to one side of the centerline is achieved in a lightweight, torsionally resistant deck structure including a horizontal plate (44) together with at least two spaced, elongated box beams (46) supporting the plate (44) which extend longitudinally of the center line (48) together with a plurality of cross members (64) secured to and extending between the box beams (46).
Patent Number: 6,997,506 Issued on 02/14/2006 to Hecker
| Inventors:
|
Hecker; Paul C. (Garner, IA)
|
| Assignee:
|
Iowa Mold Tooling Co., Inc. (Garner, IA)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
372494 |
| Filed:
|
February 21, 2003 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
296/184.1; 296/193.07; 414/339; 414/543 |
| Current Intern'l Class: |
B62D 25/20 (20060101) |
| Field of Search: |
296/1841,193.07,204
414/339,543
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Coletta; Lori L
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Wood, Phillips, Katz, Clark & Mortimer
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In a service vehicle including
a chassis having two spaced frame members extending longitudinally of the vehicle,
one on each side of the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle;
ground engaging means on said chassis whereby the vehicle may traverse the underlying terrain;
a generally horizontal deck mounted on said chassis for receiving and carrying
a load to be transported and extending to each side of said centerline; and
a loading/unloading apparatus mounted on said vehicle at a location to one side
of said centerline and operable to locate on or remove from a load on said deck;
the improvement wherein:
said deck includes a generally horizontal plate defining an upper deck surface
and at least two spaced elongated box beams supporting said plate and extending
longitudinally of said centerline generally parallel and in proximity to a respective
one of said frame members and secured thereto, and a plurality of cross braces
secured to and extending between said box beams below said plate at spaced locations
along said centerline, said loading/unloading apparatus being secured to said deck
on one side of said centerline at a location on the opposite side of one of said
box beams from said centerline.
2. The service vehicle of claim 1 wherein said box beams are quadrilateral in
cross section and said plate forms an upper side of both said box beams.
3. The service vehicle of claim 2 wherein each said quadrilateral is a trapezoid
and said plate forms a major base thereof and a minor base of said trapezoid is
mounted to an upper surface of a corresponding one of said frame members.
4. The service vehicle of claim 3 wherein each said trapezoid is a right trapezoid
having one side wall at right angles to both said bases, and shear plates mounted
to said one side wall of both said box beams and depending downwardly therefrom
into proximity with one side of a corresponding one of said frame members and secured thereto.
5. The service vehicle of claim 4 wherein both said one side wall and said frame
member one side are remote from said centerline.
6. The service vehicle of claim 5 wherein said shear plates are located at both
fore and aft locations on said box beams.
7. The service vehicle of claim 6 further including a gusset plate extending
laterally from a box beam on said centerline one side to a location below said
loading/unloading apparatus to support the same.
8. The service vehicle of claim 7 wherein said location below said loading/unloading
apparatus is past a side of said plate on said centerline one side.
9. The service vehicle of claim 8 wherein said location below said loading/unloading
apparatus is adjacent the rear of the vehicle.
10. The service vehicle of claim 9 further including tool/storage compartments
on two opposite sides of said deck.
11. The service vehicle of claim 1 herein said loading/unloading apparatus is
a crane having an upright pivotal mast and an extendable boom mounted on said mast.
12. In a service vehicle including
two spaced frame members extending longitudinally of the vehicle, one on each
side of the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle;
ground engaging means on said chassis whereby the vehicle may traverse the underlying terrain;
a generally horizontal deck mounted on said chassis for receiving and carrying
a load to be transported and extending to each side of said centerline; and
a loading/unloading apparatus mounted on said vehicle at a location to one side
of said centerline and operable to locate on or remove from a load on said deck;
the improvement wherein:
said deck includes a generally horizontal plate defining an upper deck surface
and at least two spaced elongated box beams supporting said plate and extending
longitudinally of said centerline generally parallel and in proximity to a respective
one of said frame members and secured thereto, each of said box beams including
a flat bottom wall and two side walls extending generally upwardly from opposite
edges of said flat bottom wall, the one of said side walls remote from said centerline
being substantially vertical, the other of said side walls nearest said centerline
extending at an obtuse angle from said flat bottom wall toward said centerline,
both of said side walls being secured to the underside of said plate;
cross braces extending generally horizontally between said other side walls of
said box beams at spaced intervals along the length of said box beams; and
a gusset plate secured to one of said box beams one side wall and extending generally
horizontally away from said centerline to said loading/unloading apparatus location
to support said loading/unloading apparatus.
13. The service vehicle of claim 12 wherein said side walls, at their upper edges,
terminate in horizontal, oppositely directed flanges abutting and welded to said plate.
14. The service vehicle of claim 13 wherein each of said box beams has a front
end and rear end, and further including a shear plate at each of said ends secured
to said one side wall in depending relation into flanking relation with a corresponding
one of said frame members and secured thereto to mount said deck on said chassis,
said deck further having two side edges, one on each side of said centerline, and
side compartments along each of said deck side edges and extending above said deck,
said loading/unloading apparatus comprising a crane mounted on said gusset plate
through one of said side compartments and having a rotatable and extendable boom
above said one side compartment.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to service vehicles, and more particularly, to an improved
deck for use in such vehicles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
So-called service vehicles are well known and utilized in many fields.
Typically, the service vehicle is a truck having a forward cab and an open, rear
deck flanked by side compartments. Such vehicles are utilized by, for example,
utilities in servicing electrical distribution systems as well as telephone lines.
They are also employed by mechanics who are required to travel to remote sites
to perform mechanical work on equipment located at such sites requiring maintenance
and/or repair. Service trucks are also utilized by the tire industry in servicing
off the road vehicles at remote locations, agricultural equipment such as tractors,
and even servicing the tires on vehicles where the tires have blown or otherwise
deflated at a location sufficiently remote from a fixed tire servicing location
that the vehicle cannot be moved thereto for tire servicing.
In the usual servicing operation, the deck is used as a support for equipment
to be utilized in the servicing operation. For example, utilities may place electrical
transformers, rolls of cable, etc., on the deck of the service vehicle for transportation
to a point of use. Similarly, mechanics may place repair parts on the deck while
tire servicing operations will typically transport tires and/or wheels on the deck.
Many of these articles are extremely heavy and difficult to load and unload
from the deck. Moreover, in some cases, as in utility applications, it may be necessary
to lift a piece of equipment to a relatively high location on a utility pole or
the like. As a consequence of this, many of these vehicles are provided with small
cranes for loading and unloading the deck as well as lifting equipment to a point
of use. The crane will typically be mounted right behind the cab or, in the case
of medium or light duty service vehicles, near the rear of the vehicle on the right
side thereof. Conventionally, the crane will be rotatable about a vertical axis
and have an extendable boom which may or may not additionally be articulated. In
any event, when the crane is being utilized to move a load, the right rear location
of the point of attachment of the crane to the vehicle imparts substantially torsional
and lateral stress to the deck of the vehicle which can ultimately lead to fatigue
of the deck and/or its supporting structure and ultimately, require replacement thereof.
Heretofore, the problem of fatigue due to torsional and/or lateral loading
has been solved by utilizing what amounts to oversize structural members of sufficient
mass to provide a high degree of resistance to fatigue due to the undesirable loading
characteristics. While this solution works for its intended purpose, it has one
major drawback.
As is well known, vehicles are designed with a maximum gross vehicle weight in
mind. In the case of service vehicles, the maximum gross vehicle weight includes
not only the weight of the vehicle itself, but the weight of operators as well
as the weight of material being transported by the vehicle. Consequently, where
torsional, lateral and axial loading resistance is provided by oversizing frame
members in the service body, there is a consequent increase in the weight of the
service body. This, in turn, reduces the payload that the vehicle may carry and
still be within its maximum gross weight limit.
The present invention is directed to solving one or more of the above problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An exemplary embodiment of the invention achieves the foregoing object in a service
vehicle including a vehicle chassis have two spaced frame members extending longitudinally
of the vehicle, with one on each side of the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle.
Ground engaging means are located on the chassis so that the vehicle may traverse
the underlying terrain and a generally horizontal deck is mounted on the chassis
for receiving and carrying a load to be transported. The deck extends laterally
to each side of the centerline. A loading/unloading apparatus is mounted on the
vehicle at a location to one side of the centerline. The loading/unloading apparatus
is utilized to place a load on the deck or remove it from the deck.
The invention contemplates the improvement wherein the deck includes a generally
horizontal plate defining an upper deck surface and at least two spaced, elongated
box beams supporting the plate and extending longitudinally of the centerline generally
parallel and in proximity to a respective one of the frame members and secured
thereto. A plurality of cross braces are secured to and extend between the box
beams below the plate at spaced locations along the centerline. The loading/unloading
apparatus is secured to the deck on one side of the centerline at a location on
the opposite side of one of the box beams from the centerline.
In a preferred embodiment, the box beams are quadrilateral in cross section and
the plate forms an upper side of both of the box beams.
In a highly preferred embodiment, each quadrilateral is a trapezoid and the plate
forms a major base thereof and a minor base of the trapezoid is mounted to an upper
surface of a corresponding one of the frame members.
In a highly preferred embodiment, each trapezoid is a right trapezoid having
one
side wall at right angles to both of the bases of the trapezoid and shear plates
are mounted to the one side wall of both of the box beams and depend downwardly
therefrom into proximity with one side of a corresponding one of the frame members
and is secured thereto. Preferably, both the one side wall and the frame member
one side are remote from the centerline.
In a preferred embodiment, the shear plates are located at both fore and aft
locations
on the box beams.
One embodiment of the invention contemplates the use of a gusset plate extending
laterally from a box beam on the one side of the centerline to a location below
the loading/unloading apparatus to support the same.
In one embodiment of the invention, the location below the loading/unloading
apparatus
is past a side of the plate on the centerline one side.
In a highly preferred embodiment, the location below the loading/unloading apparatus
is adjacent the rear of the vehicle.
In a highly preferred embodiment, tool/storage compartments are located on two
opposite sides of the deck. Preferably, the loading/unloading apparatus is a crane
having an upright, pivotal mast and an extendable boom mounted on the mast.
In one embodiment of the invention, each of the box beams includes a flat bottom
wall and two side walls extending generally upwardly from opposite edges of the
flat bottom wall. The one of the side walls remote from the centerline is substantially
vertical and the other of the side walls nearest the centerline extends upwardly
at an obtuse angle from the flat bottom wall toward the centerline. Both of the
side walls are secured to the underside of the plate. The cross braces extend generally
horizontally between the other side walls of the box beams, that is, between the
side walls closest to the centerline at spaced intervals along the length of the
box beams. A gusset plate is secured to one of the box beams side wall remote from
the centerline and extends generally horizontally away from the centerline to the
loading/unloading apparatus location to support the loading/unloading apparatus.
A highly preferred embodiment contemplates that the side walls of the box beams,
at their upper edges, terminate in horizontally, oppositely directed flanges abutting
and welded to the deck plate.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following specification
taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a service vehicle made according to the invention
taken from the upper left rear thereof;
FIG. 2 is a right side elevation of the vehicle;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view taken from the lower left rear of the vehicle with
a tool compartment and the deck plate removed for clarity;
FIG. 4 is a perspective of the deck structure removed from the vehicle and taken
from the upper front right thereof with the deck plate removed for clarity;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the deck structure taken from the lower left
rear thereof; and
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the deck structure taken from above the deck
surface and from the right side thereof.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
An exemplary embodiment of a service vehicle having an improved deck made according
to the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and with reference thereto, the
vehicle includes a forward end
10 and a rear end
12. Near the forward
end is an operator cab
14 and extending from the cab
14 to the rear
end
12 is a load carrying deck
16. The deck
16 is flanked
by a left side compartment
18 and a right side compartment
20. The
compartments
18 and
20 are typically tool and/or storage compartments
and include a plurality of access panels
22. The access panels are conventional
and may be opened to achieve access to tools, small parts, etc. stored within the
compartments
18 and
20. It is to also be noted that in some cases,
other materials may be stored in the compartments
18,
20. For example,
one or more of the compartments
18,
20 could contain reservoirs for
fluids used in servicing as, for example, lubricants.
The vehicle is provided with wheels that engage the underlying terrain so that
a vehicle can move from one location to another. However, it is to be noted that
the invention is not limited to use with wheeled vehicles. Rather, the same may
be used with efficacy in any type of vehicle having a ground engaging instrumentality
whereby the vehicle may traverse the underlying terrain.
As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, near the right rear corner
26 of the vehicle,
a loading/unloading apparatus, generally designated
28 is mounted to the
vehicle. In the illustrated embodiment, the loading/unloading apparatus
28
is a crane having an upright mast
30 that is pivotal about a vertical axis
as indicated by a bidirectional arrow
32. Pivoted to the upper end of the
mast
30 is an extendable boom
34 which may be raised or lowered by
a hydraulic cylinder
36. In addition, the boom
34 has an inner boom
36 which is telescoped within an outer boom
38 and which may be extended
therefrom by means of a hydraulic cylinder
40. A cable and hook assembly,
generally designated
42, is associated with the extendable boom
34
for engaging a load to be moved.
It is to be noted that the crane
28 is conventional and it's details form
no part of the invention except to the extent that they relate to features of the
deck
16 to be described in greater detail hereinafter.
The construction of the deck
16 will now be described. As seen in FIGS.
1,
5 and
6, the deck
16 includes an upper plate
44
which typically will include nonslip embossments such as a diamond-shaped pattern
(not shown) on its upper surface.
Referring to FIGS. 3,
4 and
5, supporting the deck plate
44 is a pair of elongated box beams, each generally designated
46.
The approximate longitudinal centerline of the vehicle is designated
48
in FIGS. 3 and 4 and it will be seen that there is one of the box beams
46
on each side of the centerline
48. The box beams
46 are mirror images
of one another and extend longitudinally of the vehicle and are parallel with the
centerline
48. As seen in FIG. 3, the vehicle chassis includes two elongated,
C-shaped channel frame members
50 whose vertical sides
52 are remote
from the centerline
48. That is to say, the frame members
50 open
toward the centerline
48.
The box beams
48 have a trapezoidal cross section. Specifically, the cross
section is of a right trapezoid such that the side wall
54 most remote from
the centerline
48 extends vertically from a bottom wall
56 forming
the minor base of the right trapezoid. A side wall
58 extends upwardly from
the opposite edge of the base
56 from which the wall
54 extends at
an obtuse angle toward the centerline
46. Both of the walls
54 and
58 terminate in horizontal, oppositely directed flanges
60 and
62
respectively. At intervals along the length of the box beams
46, cross braces
64 are located. The cross braces
64 extend between the sides
58
of the box beams
46 and include flanges
66 on their upper edges between
the flanges
62.
The deck plate
44 forms the upper wall of each of the box beams
46
and to that end, the deck plate
44 is welded to the flanges
60,
62
of both box beams
46 as at locations shown at
70 in FIG. 6, for example.
As best seen in FIGS. 3,
4 and
5, a gusset plate
72 extends
from the right side box beam
46 away from the centerline
48 laterally
to a location underlying the mast
30 to support the base of the crane
28
in any suitable fashion.
In some instances, spacer plates
74 may be secured, as by welding, to
the
minor base or bottom wall
56 of each of the box beams
46. The spacer
plates
74 are provided with apertures (not numbered) which may fit about
the heads of bolts (not shown) or rivets in the frame members
50. To achieve
a material savings, the spacers
74 may be cut out of the side walls
54
of the box beams
46 at relatively stress-free locations such as illustrated
at
76.
To complete the assemblage, conventional shear plates
78,
80 are
located at the forward and rear ends of each side wall
54 of each box beam
46. Conventional fasteners are employed to secure the shear plate to the
vertical side
52 of the frame members
50 on their sides remote from
the centerline
48.
A number of advantages accrue from the foregoing construction. For one, the bed
plate
44 is fully supported along its length. The diverging the nature of
the side walls
54,
58 of the box beams
46 allows the points
of attachment provided by the weld
70 to be located relatively uniformly
from side to side across the length of the plate
44. Further, the upper
flanges
66 (FIG. 3) on the cross braces
64 abut the underside of
the bed plate
44 if desired and provide additional support.
Significantly, the invention allows the use of lighter gauge components
in forming the deck thereby providing a vehicle with a greater payload within maximum
vehicle gross weight limits. Comparisons have shown that the deck structure of
the present invention weighs at least 30% less than comparable deck structure made
according to conventional technology.
*
