Heavy goods vehicle trailer with rear side cladding

Abstract

vehicle trailer (1), with a loading floor and rear wheels (2), and with a side panel which is arranged on the long side of the vehicle trailer (1) lower than the loading floor and extends in the longitudinal direction, characterized by that the side panel is arranged as a so-called rear side panel (8) behind the rear wheels (2), has an upper section and a lower section, wherein the lower section extends as a retracted section (9) further inward, in the direction of the longitudinal center axis of the vehicle trailer (1), than the upper section.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a truck trailer, with a loading floor and rear wheels, as well as with a side panel which is arranged on the long side of the vehicle trailer lower than the loading floor and extends in the longitudinal direction.

[0002] Truck trailers are pulled by a truck tractor. When designed as semitrailers, they have wheels only at the rear, on one or more rear axles. Depending on their design, they can also be equipped with a front axle and, accordingly, with front wheels and a drawbar. For the purposes of this proposal, the term rear wheels refers to the wheels of either the only axle present or the rearmost of several axles of the vehicle trailer. A loading floor serves to accommodate the load. The loading floor can be designed as the lower peripheral section of a tank or as a flat surface, for example in the case of a box body or a curtainsider, which has a flexible side wall, which can consist, for example, of a so-called truck tarpaulin. Truck trailers are also referred to below as vehicle trailers or simply trailers.

[0003] It is known that the design of the trailer also influences the energy consumption of the towing vehicle and the resulting emissions during travel. In addition to the trailer's own weight and rolling resistance, its aerodynamics, for example, also affect the towing vehicle's energy consumption. To improve aerodynamics, it is common practice to install side panels on the trailer's long sides in front of the rear wheels. These panels extend downwards from the loading floor or from a vehicle frame running at the same level as the loading floor.

[0004] The invention is based on the task of enabling the most economical operation of the truck trailer.

[0005] Features of the invention are defined in claim 1. Embodiments are the subject of the dependent claims.

[0006] The object is thus achieved according to the invention in that the side panel is arranged as a so-called rear side panel behind the rear wheels and has an upper section and a lower section, the lower section running as a so-called recessed section further inwards, towards the longitudinal center axis of the vehicle trailer, than the upper section. The upper section is located comparatively far outwards, viewed in the longitudinal direction of the trailer, and adjoins the loading floor or vehicle frame from below, for example at the outer edge of the loading floor or the vehicle frame. The lower, recessed section of the rear side panel is recessed inwards compared to the upper section and therefore runs closer to the longitudinal center axis of the trailer. The rear side panel is located behind the rear wheels of the trailer.Surprisingly, it has been found that, according to calculations, the aerodynamics of the trailer are improved in this way compared to a trailer without rear side panels. Depending on the trailer's design, it can extend rearward beyond the rear wheels by a few decimetres to several metres, and the greater this rear overhang, the greater the aerodynamic benefit of the rear side panels. As expected, this reduces the energy consumption of the towing vehicle—and thus, for example, its CO emissions. 2 -Emission in the case of an internal combustion engine as the drive motor - positively influenced by the rear side panel.

[0007] For example, if a vehicle trailer is loaded from the side using a forklift, the tines of the forklift's lifting forks are usually raised sufficiently high so that they are either located exclusively on the loading floor or at a distance above the loading floor of the trailer, or at most come into contact with a very stable vehicle frame, which usually supports the loading floor. However, it is known from practice that a forklift can cause damage to a side panel even without the lifting fork being used. This is because the forklift is positioned close to the side of the vehicle trailer and performs a turning movement, causing its body to collide with the side panel below the side impact guard.

[0008] Because, according to the invention, the lower, recessed section of the rear side panel runs further inward than its upper section, such collisions can be avoided. Thus, a second economic advantage results from the inventive design of the vehicle trailer: in addition to the aerodynamic optimization of the vehicle trailer, the susceptibility to repair of the rear side panel is kept as low as possible. The recessed section of the rear side panel runs further inward than the upper section can be realized in various ways. For example, the lower section can be curved or straight, slanting downwards and inwards.

[0009] The vehicle trailer can be designed so that, viewed in vertical cross-section, the lower section of the rear side panel runs upright and is offset inward relative to the upper section. This creates a particularly large clearance, which helps avoid collisions with forklifts, thus further reducing the aforementioned low susceptibility to repairs.

[0010] The trailer can be designed so that the rear side panels extend rearward toward the longitudinal centerline of the trailer. The two rear side panels, which run along the two long sides of the trailer behind its rear wheels, thus reduce their distance from each other toward the rear of the vehicle. This further improves the aerodynamic effect of the already advantageous rear side panels.

[0011] Further features, details, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the wording of the claims and from the following description of exemplary embodiments based on the purely schematic drawings. They show: Fig. 1 a side view of the area from the left rear wheel to the rear of a vehicle trailer, Fig, 2 and 3 each show a plan view of the area of Fig. 1, for two different embodiments of rear side panels, and Fig. 4 to 7 each show a view in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle in the direction of the left rear wheel, for four different embodiments of rear side panels.

[0012] In Fig. 1 shows a section of the rear area of ​​a vehicle trailer 1 in plan view. This section extends from a rear wheel 2, namely the left rear wheel of the vehicle trailer in the direction of travel, and a fender 3 surrounding the rear wheel 2 to the rear end of the vehicle trailer 1, referred to as the vehicle rear 4. A side impact guard 5 with vertical brackets 6 and horizontal protective strips 7 is indicated behind the rear wheel 2. The vehicle trailer 1 also has a side impact guard of a similar design in front of the rear wheel 2.

[0013] The rear side protection 5 shown is covered on the outside by a rear side panel 8, which extends beyond the side protection 5 further downwards into a recessed section 9, as will be explained in more detail. Fig. 1, the lower edge of the rear side panel 8 runs diagonally upwards towards the rear of the vehicle 4, corresponding to the rear slope angle of the vehicle trailer 1.

[0014] The Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 each show the area of Fig. 1 in a plan view. This shows that the rear side impact guard 5 runs from the rear wheel 2 or its fender 3 backwards at an angle to the vehicle's longitudinal center axis. The vehicle rear 4, on the other hand, extends across the entire width of the vehicle to allow for a loading floor that maintains its full width all the way to the vehicle rear 4. On the opposite right-hand side of the vehicle - not shown in the drawings - a similar side impact guard 5 is arranged behind the right rear wheel 2, symmetrically to the left rear side impact guard 5 shown in the drawings, so that below the loading floor, the external dimension between the right and left rear side impact guards 5 decreases towards the vehicle rear 4.

[0015] The upper section of the rear side panel 8 covers the side protection 5. Below the side protection 5, it has the already mentioned recessed section 9, as can be seen from the top views of the Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. In the embodiment of the Fig. 2, this recessed section 9 runs parallel to the vehicle's longitudinal center axis, so that the resulting depth by which the recessed section 9 is recessed relative to the upper section of the rear side panel 8 towards the vehicle center decreases towards the vehicle rear 4. In the embodiment of the Fig. 3, however, the recessed section 9 runs parallel to the upper section of the rear side panel 8 over its entire length, so that the resulting depth of the recessed section 9 is constant over the entire length of the rear side panel 8.

[0016] Purely exemplary, in the Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 rear side panels 5 are shown, in which the lower, inwardly drawn-in section 9 runs straight in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle trailer 1. Deviating from the illustrated embodiments, the entire rear side panel 8 or just its upper or just its lower, drawn-in section 9 can run non-straight from front to rear, for example, convexly or concavely curved, or by means of two or more mutually angled longitudinal sections.

[0017] The Fig. 4 to 7 show, for four different exemplary embodiments, each in a vertical section and viewed along the vehicle's longitudinal axis, the side impact protection 5 with the two protective strips 7, which are attached to brackets 6, as well as the rear side panel 8, the upper section of which outwardly covers the side impact protection 5. The four exemplary embodiments shown differ in that the rear side panel 8 has, below this upper section, lower sections 9 that are drawn inward toward the vehicle's longitudinal center axis and extend in different directions.

[0018] In the embodiment of the Fig. 4, the recessed section 9 of the rear side panel 8 runs at a right angle and thus creates the greatest possible free space below the upper section of the rear side panel 8, which, for example, avoids collisions with industrial trucks as far as possible.

[0019] In the embodiment of the Fig. 5, the recessed section 9 also runs vertically in its lower area as in the embodiment of the Fig. 4, but above it a sloping downward transition is created from the upper section of the rear side panel 8 to this vertical, lower area of ​​the retracted section 9.

[0020] In the embodiment of the Fig. 6, the sloping transition from the upper section of the rear side panel 8 to a vertical, lower region of the recessed section 9 extends over most of the height of the recessed section 9, before a short vertical, lower region of the recessed section 9 adjoins this sloping transition.

[0021] In the embodiment of the Fig. 1, an inwardly curved, retracted section 9 adjoins the upper section of the rear side panel 8.

[0022] The different embodiments of the Fig.4 to 7 illustrate the diverse cross-sectional design possibilities of the lower, inwardly recessed section 9 of the rear side panel. Apart from mechanical aspects such as the clearance to be created, which contributes to collision avoidance and thus to a longer service life of the rear side panel 8, the shape of the rear side panel 8, and in particular its recessed section 9, can be selected according to aerodynamic aspects. For example, the most suitable design of the rear side panel 8 can be determined using computer-aided calculations of the effects that the design of the rear side panel 8 has on the aerodynamics of the entire vehicle trailer.

[0023] The invention is not limited to one of the above-described embodiments, but can be modified in many ways. All features and advantages apparent from the claims, the description, and the drawings, including structural details, spatial arrangements, and method steps, may be essential to the invention both individually and in a wide variety of combinations. List of reference symbols 1 vehicle trailer 2 rear wheel 3 fenders 4 Rear of vehicle 5 Side impact protection 6 holders 7 protective strip 8 Rear side panel 9 Retracted section

Claims

[1] Vehicle trailer (1), with a loading floor and rear wheels (2), and with a side panel which is arranged on the long side of the vehicle trailer (1) lower than the loading floor and extends in the longitudinal direction, characterized by , that the side panel is arranged as a so-called rear side panel (8) behind the rear wheels (2), has an upper section and a lower section, wherein the lower section extends as a retracted section (9) further inward, in the direction of the longitudinal center axis of the vehicle trailer (1), than the upper section. [2] Vehicle trailer according to claim 1, characterized by that, viewed in vertical cross-section, the recessed section (9) runs upright and is offset inwards relative to the upper section of the rear side panel (8). [3] Vehicle trailer according to claim 1 or 2, characterized bythat the rear side panel (8) runs rearwards in the direction of the longitudinal center axis of the vehicle trailer (1).