Semicircular bucket with a sliding bottom, which is emptied through an opening in a support frame on the back wall.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a semi-round push-bottom skip having a discharge opening for the material contained in a support frame of its rear wall and which can be closed by a sealing plate.

[0002] Semi-circular tipper trucks with a push-bottom bottom are used today to transport different types of materials, such as, for example, asphalt mixes which are transported hot in the truck and also applied hot to the road surface to be covered.

[0003] Push-bottom skips allow the material inside the skip to be discharged through the rear door without having to lift the skip itself, thus improving safety during operation. In this case, the rear door is opened wide to allow the material to be discharged; the push-bottom or shield then pushes the material out of the skip.

[0004] Today, safety requirements are even more stringent, ensuring that operators working near the skip can do so safely. For optimal safety, it is recommended that workers at the rear of the skip operate the skip door with it permanently closed. This prevents an operator from being buried by the skip's contents should the material be emptied too quickly.

[0005] Moreover, in the particular case of hot mix asphalt, opening the skip cools the asphalt present in the skip, which is undesirable, as the cooling asphalt has more difficulty getting out of the skip.

[0006] The present applicant has already proposed a semi-round push-bottom skip with an opening under the skip so that the skip can be used with the door closed.

[0007] In this case, an operator wishing to retrieve materials must, for example, place a wheelbarrow under the skip to collect the material coming out of the skip through this opening. This can sometimes be inconvenient for the operator, who must get very close to the skip to position their wheelbarrow, and if the skip contains hot asphalt, the operator strongly feels the heat from the asphalt inside the skip.

[0008] It would be desirable to have a skip that allows work to be carried out at the rear without having to open the tailgate, providing easy access to the material being poured out, while avoiding direct contact with the tailgate. Furthermore, if the skip contains asphalt, it would be practical to minimize heat loss inside the skip.

[0009] FR 2 913 644 A1 describes a horizontally discharged skip comprising a movable ejector shield that translates to move construction material within an enclosure towards a hinged door located at the rear of the skip. This skip includes a chute comprising a first bearing surface adapted to cooperate with a rear face of the enclosure; a second bearing surface adapted to cooperate with an inner face of the hinged door when said hinged door is arranged in an inclined position; and a valve adapted to allow the construction material to flow out of the enclosure.

[0010] US 2,751,096 A describes a dump body that has a rearward movable push or ejection door normally forming the front closure of the dump body, and a rear hinged door that is normally raised but pivots downward at the rear end of the dump body, which is designed to be lowered to form a chute into which material slides when the ejection door is pushed rearward.

[0011] The present applicant has therefore sought a solution to these problems in order to be able to unload the material from a semi-circular push-bottom skip without having to open the rear door and with ease of access to the material.

[0012] The present invention relates to a semi-circular tipper body with a push-bottom for transporting material, comprising a tipper body closed by a rear wall when considering the direction of travel of said tipper in place on a semi-trailer, a support frame for the rear wall being disposed between the rear region of the tipper body and the rear wall, characterized in that a material discharge opening is made in the bottom of said frame in a position allowing material arriving at the tipper body to exit, a closing plate for said opening being mounted in said frame to move from a position of actual closure of the discharge opening to an open position for material exit, and in that the closing plate extends rearward to pass under the rear wall of the tipper body, which, when it descends below the upper wall of the closing plate in the closed position,a notch for the passage of this extension.

[0013] According to a particular embodiment, the sealing plate is mounted tilting downwards, under the frame, around an axis mounted along the edge of the opening located opposite the rear wall to allow for material to be poured out.

[0014] The downward tilting can advantageously be carried out up to an inclined position of the sealing plate to allow material to be discharged along an inclined outlet plane.

[0015] The tilting can be controlled by at least one cylinder which is horizontally movable and whose body is fixed to a component carried by the skip below it and the rod is fixed to the sealing plate below the plane containing the tilting axis.

[0016] The skip may have a single centrally located cylinder.

[0017] The upper wall of the sealing plate in the closed position can be located in line with the bottom of the skip.

[0018] The skip may include lateral guide plates for the outgoing material, which are supported by the frame.

[0019] The guide plates may have a sloping lower edge, angled downwards and backwards.

[0020] The sealing plate may have, near its rear edge, a watertight closing means capable of cooperating with a complementary watertight closing means carried by the rear wall.

[0021] To better illustrate the object of the present invention, we will describe below, by way of indication and not limitation, a particular embodiment with reference to the attached drawing.

[0022] In this drawing, [ Fig. 1 ] is a front view of the exterior of a rear closing wall of a semi-circular push-bottom skip of the present invention, the discharge opening made in the bottom of the door support frame being in its closed position; Fig. 2 ] is a side view of the skip in the position of the Figure 1 ; Fig. 3 ] is a view analogous to the Figure 1 showing the aforementioned discharge opening in its clear position allowing for the discharge of material; and [ Fig. 4 ] is a side view of the skip in the position of the Figure 3 .

[0023] If we refer to Figures 1 à 4 , we can see that we have represented a semi-round tipper with a push-bottom 1 for the transport of material, the tipper 1 being closed by a rear wall 2 if we consider the direction of advance of said tipper 1 in place on a semi-trailer, a support frame 3 of said rear wall 2 being disposed between the rear region of the tipper 1 and said rear wall 2.

[0024] The rear wall 2 has, in a classic manner, a hexagonal shape comprising a rectangular upper part 4 extending downwards by a part 5 in the shape of an isosceles trapezoid, said rear wall 1 being delimited by a horizontal upper border 2a, a horizontal lower border 2b of shorter length, and two lateral borders 2c each having a vertical part 2c 1, connected to the border 2a, and an inclined part 2c 2 connected to the border 2b.

[0025] The rear wall 2 classically features 2d reinforcements along its six sides and two vertical 2e reinforcements arranged on either side of its average vertical line.

[0026] Furthermore, a notch 6 is made centrally along the lower edge 2b of the rear wall 2. The role of this notch 6 is indicated below.

[0027] The support frame 3 for the rear wall 2 – which forms a rear door in the example shown – can be seen on the Figures 2 And 4 It is presented in the form of a box having a face 3a applied against the inner face of the rear wall 2, to which are connected two facing lateral faces 3b, a top face 3c and a bottom 3d.

[0028] The upper face 3c carries the closing means 7 of the door formed by the rear wall 2, which will not be described in more detail in what follows.

[0029] The bottom 3d has, in its central part, an opening 8 for material discharge. This opening 8, which extends across the entire width of the bottom 3d, is designed to be closed by a sealing plate 9, which is mounted to tilt downwards beneath the bottom 3d. For this purpose, the plate 9 is mounted to tilt around an axis 10 which is mounted along the edge of the opening 8 located opposite the rear wall 2 and which is situated near the upper surface of the plate 9.

[0030] In the example shown, the plate 9 has an extent which allows it to close the opening 8 when it is not in the discharge position, with an extension of it under the rear wall 2. In the closed position of the opening 8, this extension under the rear wall 2 comes to rest in the notch 6 described above.

[0031] The sealing plate 9 is mounted to tilt under the action of a horizontal cylinder 11 comprising a cylinder body 11a and a cylinder rod 11b.

[0032] The cylinder body 11a is fixed, at its end opposite the rod 11b, to an axle 11c connecting two longitudinal members 12 located under the tipper 1 to ensure its stiffening, one of these two longitudinal members 12 being seen on the Figures 2 And 4 .

[0033] The cylinder rod 11b is, at its end opposite the cylinder body 11a, fixed at 11d to the lower edge of the plate 9 in the central part thereof.

[0034] The hydraulic control of cylinder 11 was not shown.

[0035] The operation of the opening / closing device of aperture 8 will now be described.

[0036] If we refer to the Figure 2 , we can see that this opening 8 is closed by the plate 9, the rod 11b of the cylinder 11 being in the fully extended position.

[0037] When you want to distribute material, you command the downward tilting if you look at the Figure 2 of plate 9, tilting caused by a movement to the left if we look at this Figure 2 until the rod 11b of the cylinder 11 is in the fully retracted position ( Figure 4 ). In this position, the material descends along the plate 9 in an inclined state, the guidance of the material being facilitated by two lateral guide cheeks 13 carried by the frame 3, each having an upper horizontal border 13a along the corresponding transverse edge of the opening 8, a rear vertical border 13b at the right of the corresponding rear end of the opening 8, a lower border 13c inclined towards the rear and a front vertical border 13d at the right of the corresponding front end of the opening 8.

[0038] In a particular embodiment, as shown in the Figures 2 And 4 , the rear wall 2 has, along the upper edge of the notch 6, a part 6a projecting downwards suitable for receiving a corresponding chamfered part 9a of the plate 9 in the closed position of the opening 8 for the discharge of material.

Claims

1. - A half-round skip (1) with a pusher bottom for transporting material, comprising a skip body (1) closed by a rear wall (2) when viewed in the direction of travel of said skip body (1) when mounted on a semitrailer, a rear wall (2) support frame (3) being disposed between the rear region of the skip (1) and the rear wall (2), in which a material discharge opening (8) is provided in the bottom of said frame (3) in a position allowing the discharge of material arriving at the bottom of the skip body (1), a closure plate (9) for said opening (8) being mounted in said frame (3) to move from a position of actually closing the discharge opening (8) to an open position for the discharge of material, and characterised in that the closure plate (9) extends rearwards to pass under the rear wall (2) of the skip (1), which, when it descends below the upper wall of the closure plate (9) in the closed position, has a notch (6) for the passage of this extension.

2. - The skip (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that the closure plate (9) is mounted to tilt downwards, under the frame (3), around an axis (10) mounted along the edge of the opening (8) opposite the rear wall (2) to allow material to be tipped out.

3. - The skip (1) according to claim 2, characterised in that the downward tilting is carried out to an inclined position of the closure plate (9), to allow material to be discharged along an inclined outlet plane.

4. - The skip (1) according to one of claims 2 and 3, characterised in that the tilting is controlled by at least one cylinder (11) which is horizontally movable and whose body (11a) is fixed to a member (12) carried by the skip (1) below the latter and the rod (11b) is fixed to the closure plate (9) below the plane containing the tilting axis (10).

5. - The skip (1) according to claim 4, characterised in that it comprises a single centrally located cylinder (11).

6. - The skip (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the upper wall of the closure plate (9) in the closed position is located in line with the bottom of the bucket (1).

7. - The skip (1) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that it comprises lateral guide plates (13) for the outgoing material, which are supported by the frame (3).

8. - The skip (1) according to claim 7, characterised in that the guide plates (13) have a lower edge (13c) that slopes downwards and backwards.

9. - The skip (1) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the closure plate (9) has, in the vicinity of its rear edge, a sealing closure means (9a) capable of cooperating with a complementary sealing closure means (6a) carried by the rear wall (2).