Truck trailer with rear side paneling

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

The invention relates to a truck vehicle trailer, having a loading floor and rear wheels, and having a side cladding which is arranged on the longitudinal side of the vehicle trailer lower than the loading floor and extends in the longitudinal direction.Truck trailers are towed by a truck tractor in use. If they are designed as trailers, they have wheels exclusively in the rear area, on one or more rear axles, but depending on the design they can also be equipped with a front axle and accordingly with front wheels and a drawbar. For the purposes of the present proposal, rear wheels are the wheels of either the only axle present or the rearmost axle of the vehicle trailer. A load floor serves to receive the load. The loading floor can be designed as a lower peripheral section of a tank or as a planar surface, for example in the case of a box structure or in the case of a curtain sider, which has a flexible side wall, which can consist, for example, of a so-called truck tarpaulin. Hereinafter, truck trailers are also referred to briefly as vehicle trailers or just trailers.It is known that during travel the trailer also influences the energy consumption of the towing vehicle and emissions caused thereby due to its configuration. Apart from the dead weight and the rolling resistance of the trailer, for example, its aerodynamics affect the energy consumption of the towing vehicle. To improve aerodynamics, it is known to arrange a side cladding on the longitudinal sides of the trailer in front of the rear wheels, which cladding extends downwards from the loading floor or from a vehicle frame running at the height of the loading floor.The invention is based on the object of enabling the most economical possible operation of the truck vehicle trailer.Features according to the invention are set out in claim 1. Embodiments are the subject of the dependent claims.The object is thus achieved according to the invention in that the side cladding is arranged behind the rear wheels as a so-called rear side cladding, has an upper section and a lower section, wherein the lower section, as a so-called retracted section, extends further inwards, in the direction of the longitudinal central axis of the vehicle trailer, than the upper section. The upper section is located comparatively far outside, as viewed in the longitudinal direction of the trailer, and connects to the loading floor or vehicle frame from below, for example, at the outer edge of the loading floor or of the vehicle frame. The lower, retracted section of the rear side cladding is retracted inwardly compared to the upper section, i.e. extends closer to the longitudinal central axis of the trailer. The rear side cladding is located behind the rear wheels of the trailer. Surprisingly, it has been found that calculations improve the aerodynamics of the trailer in this way compared to a trailer which does not have a rear side cladding. Depending on the design of the trailer, it can project by a few decimeters to several meters to the rear beyond the rear wheels, and the greater this rear projection, the more the rear side cladding has an aerodynamically advantageous effect. It is therefore expected that the energy consumption of the towing vehicle-and thus for example its CO 2- output in the case of an internal combustion engine as a drive motor-is positively influenced by the rear side cladding.If the vehicle trailer is loaded from the side, for example, by means of a forklift, the prongs of the lifting fork of the forklift are usually guided sufficiently high that they are either located exclusively on the loading floor or at a distance above the loading floor of the trailer, or so that they come at most into contact with a very stable vehicle frame which usually carries the loading floor. However, it is known from practice that the forklift can cause damage to a side cladding even without the action of the lifting fork, namely if the forklift is located close to the side of the vehicle trailer and carries out a rotational movement, so that its body below the side approach protection collides with the side cladding.Because, according to the invention, the lower, retracted section of the rear side cladding extends further inwards than its upper section, such collisions can be avoided. Thus, a second economic advantage results from the configuration of the vehicle trailer according to the invention in that, in addition to the aerodynamic optimization of the vehicle trailer, the susceptibility to repair of the rear side cladding is kept as low as possible. The retracted portion of the rear side trim extending further inward than the upper portion can be realized in various ways. For example, the lower portion can be bent or extend in a straight line obliquely downwards and inwards.The vehicle trailer may be configured such that, when viewed in vertical cross-section, the lower portion of the rear side trim extends upright and is offset inwardly from the upper portion. A particularly large free space which helps to avoid collisions with forklift trucks is realized in this way, so that the mentioned low susceptibility to repair is reduced even further.The vehicle trailer can be configured such that the rear side cladding extends rearward in the direction of the longitudinal central axis of the vehicle trailer. The two rear side panels, which run on the two longitudinal sides of the trailer behind the rear wheels thereof, thus reduce their distance from one another in the direction of the rear of the vehicle. This further improves the aerodynamic effect of the rear side claddings, which are already advantageous in any case.Further features, details and advantages of the invention are evident from the wording of the claims and from the following description of exemplary embodiments on the basis of the purely schematic drawings. The following are shown: FIG. 1 is a side view of the region from the left rear wheel to the rear of a vehicle trailer,FIGS. 2 and 3 each show a plan view of the region of FIG. 1, for two different exemplary embodiments of rear side panels, and FIGS. 4 to 7 are each a view in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle in the direction of the left rear wheel for four different exemplary embodiments of rear side panels.FIG. 1 shows a detail of the rear region of a vehicle trailer 1 in plan view. This illustrated section extends from a rear wheel 2, namely the rear wheel of the vehicle trailer on the left in the direction of travel, and a fender 3 surrounding the rear wheel 2, as far as the rear end of the vehicle trailer 1, referred to as the rear end 4 of the vehicle. The vehicle trailer 1 also has a side-starting protection in a similar configuration in front of the rear wheel 2.The rear side approach protection 5 shown is covered towards the outside by a rear side cladding 8 which extends further downwards beyond the side approach protection 5 into a retracted section 9, as will be explained in more detail below. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the lower edge of the rear side panel 8 extends rearward obliquely upward toward the rear 4 of the vehicle corresponding to the rear angle of slope of the vehicle trailer 1.FIGS. 2 and 3 each show the region of FIG. 1 in a plan view. It can be seen from this that the rear side approach protection 5 extends from the rear wheel 2 or its fender 3 to the rear obliquely to the longitudinal central axis of the vehicle. The rear 4 of the vehicle, on the other hand, extends over the entire width of the vehicle in order to allow a loading floor which maintains its full width as far as the rear 4 of the vehicle. On the opposite right side of the vehicle-not shown in the drawings-behind the right rear wheel 2 a similar side approach protection 5 is arranged symmetrically to the left rear side approach protection 5 shown in the drawings, so that below the loading floor the outer dimension between the right and left rear side approach protection 5 decreases towards the rear 4 of the vehicle.The rear side cowl 8 covers the side run-on guard 5 to the outside in its upper portion. Below the lateral approach protection 5, it has the aforementioned retracted section 9, as can be seen from the top views of FIGS. 2 and 3. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2, this retracted section 9 extends parallel to the longitudinal central axis of the vehicle, so that the resulting depth by which the retracted section 9 is retracted toward the vehicle center relative to the upper section of the rear side cladding 8 decreases in the direction of the rear end 4. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 3, on the other hand, the retracted section 9 runs parallel to the upper section of the rear side cladding 8 over its entire length, so that the resulting depth exhibited by the retracted section 9 is constant over the entire length of the rear side cladding 8.Purely by way of example, rear side panels 5 are illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, in which the lower, inwardly retracted section 9 runs in a straight line in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle trailer 1. In contrast to the exemplary embodiments shown, both the entire rear side cladding 8 or else only its upper or only its lower, retracted section 9 can run in an odd-line from the front to the rear, for example convexly or concavely curved, or by means of two or more longitudinal sections angled with respect to one another.FIGS. 4 to 7 show for 4 different exemplary embodiments in a vertical section and in a viewing direction in the longitudinal axis of the vehicle the lateral approach protection 5 with the two protective strips 7 which are fastened to holders 6, as well as the rear side cladding 8, the upper section of which covers the lateral approach protection 5 outwards. The exemplary embodiments 4 shown differ in that the rear side cladding 8 has lower sections 9 below this upper section, which sections are drawn inwards towards the longitudinal central axis of the vehicle and which run differently.In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4, the retracted section 9 of the rear side cladding 8 extends at right angles and thus creates as large a free space as possible below the upper section of the rear side cladding 8, as a result of which collisions with industrial truck vehicles, for example, are avoided as far as possible.In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the retracted section 9 in its lower region likewise extends vertically as in the embodiment of FIG. 4, but above this a transition is created which slopes downwards from the upper section of the rear side cladding 8 to this vertical, lower region of the retracted section 9.In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 6, the obliquely downwardly sloping transition from the upper portion of the rear side cladding 8 to a vertical, lower region of the retracted portion 9 extends over the major part of the height of the retracted portion 9, before this obliquely sloping transition is adjoined by a short vertical, lower region of the retracted portion 9.In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, the upper section of the rear side cladding 8 is adjoined by an arcuate inwardly curved, retracted section 9.The different exemplary embodiments of FIGS. 4 to 7 illustrate how many times the cross section of the lower, inwardly drawn-in section 9 of the rear side cladding can be designed. Apart from a mechanical aspect such as the free space to be created, which contributes to the avoidance of collisions and thus to a longer useful life of the rear side cladding 8, the shape of the rear side cladding 8 and in particular of its retracted section 9 can be chosen according to aerodynamic aspects, so that, for example on the basis of computer-assisted calculations, the effects which the shape of the rear side cladding 8 has on the aerodynamics of the entire vehicle trailer, the most suitable shape of the rear side cladding 8 can be determined.The invention is not limited to one of the above-described embodiments, but can be modified in many ways. All features and advantages which emerge from the claims, the description and the drawing, including structural details, spatial arrangements and method steps, can be essential to the invention both individually and in a wide variety of combinations.List of reference characters1 Vehicle trailer 2 Rear wheel 3 Fender 4 Vehicle rear 5 Side-starting guard 6 Holder 7 Guard rail 8 Rear side trim 9 Retracted portion

Claims

Vehicle trailer (1), having a loading floor and rear wheels (2), and having a side cladding which is arranged on the longitudinal side of the vehicle trailer (1) lower than the loading floor and extends in the longitudinal direction, characterized in that the side cladding is arranged behind the rear wheels (2) as a so-called rear side cladding (8), has an upper section and a lower section, wherein the lower section, as a retracted section (9), extends further inwards, in the direction of the longitudinal central axis of the vehicle trailer (1), than the upper section.Vehicle trailer according to claim 1, characterised in that, as seen in vertical cross-section, the retracted section (9) extends upright and is offset inwards with respect to the upper section of the rear side cladding (8).Vehicle trailer according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the rear side cladding (8) extends to the rear in the direction of the longitudinal central axis of the vehicle trailer (1).

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