Flap for cement truck back

Abstract

A rigid cover attached to the chute of a cement truck can prevent the accidental discharge of cement residue from the chute of the cement truck while the truck is moving. The use of a rigid cover prevents the bending of the cover under the weight of the cement residue. The rigid cover can be attached to an over-chute portion of the chute such that when the over-chute rests upon the main chute, the rigid cover can be positioned to prevent the accidental discharge of cement from the chute or can be flopped on top of the over-chute. The rigid cover is designed to hold back a substantial amount of cement residue.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to apparatus for use with cement trucks. More particularly, this invention relates to apparatus used to prevent accidental discharge of cement from cement trucks.Cement trucks typically have chutes which are used to pour cement at a construction site. Cement residue may form on the chute after the cement is poured. This cement residue may accidentally fall out of the chute while the truck is returning from the construction site. This may be a hazard to drivers behind the truck and may form undesirable deposits on the roads.In order to avoid the cement residue from falling out of the chute while returning from the construction site, the chute is often washed off at the construction site. A disadvantage of this method is that a cement patch is formed at the site. For this reason, many cities and towns have laws preventing this practice.One device that attempts to avoid this problem is described in Lewis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,128, entitl...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention uses a rigid cover or "flapper". The advantage of using a rigid cover is that it can better hold up to the weight of the cement residue. The rigid cover will not bend under the pressure of the cement residue like an elastic canvas chute cap. The rigid cover is designed to hold back a substantial amount of cement residue.

Additionally, the rigid cover is attached to the chute so that it can not get lost or require storage. The rigid cover can be hinged to the chute such that it can be positioned to prevent concrete residue from exiting the chute of the cement truck or can be positioned so that cement can be poured through the chute.

A latching device can be used to latch the rigid cover to the main chute. The rigid cover may have a flange positioned so that it will surround portions of the main chute when the cover is closed to help prevent cement from accidentally discharging from the chute. Additionally, a safety chain can be used to hold the rigid cover in position when the chute is used to pour concrete. The rigid cover also can have a handle which helps in its positioning.

Problems solved by technology

This cement residue may accidentally fall out of the chute while the truck is returning from the construction site.

This may be a hazard to drivers behind the truck and may form undesirable deposits on the roads.

A disadvantage of this method is that a cement patch is formed at the site.

The first disadvantage is that since the cap is made of a flexible material, the weight of the cement residue in the chute may be so great that the flexible material of the cap will begin to sag and possibly fall off the end of the chute.

The second disadvantage of the flexible chute cap is that since it is not securely attached to the chute, the flexible chute cap needs to be separately stored and may get lost.

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