Cantilevered internal shoring

Abstract

A trailer body of elongated rectangular cross section with inner and outer thin sheets over the top, sides and front end is insulated and reinforced by the application of foamable plastic between the sheets after assembly. To prevent the sheets from moving out of spaced parallel planes, shoring in the nature of backup plates are applied to the inner and outer wall, floor and roof surfaces to resist any tendency to expand under pressure developed during the foaming operation. The inner shoring plates are carried on a cantilever frame and are moved upwardly and sidewardly to cover the internal roof sheets and those at the sides and front end of the body.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Reference may be had to the patent to C. J. Slayman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,177,271 and to C. R. Morris, U.S. Pat. No. 3,155,751 to show the state of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inner and outer roof, side and front walls of a trailer body are assembled on a floor structure. Thin sheets are secured to the outer edge of spaced upright posts with the inner liner sheets unattached thereto. This provides areas between the posts in which foamable material is delivered and expanded to form solid walls at the top, sides, floor and front end. The plastic foam material is delivered by hoses which extend from the rearward to the forward end of the body, the ends of which are moved to the rearward end of the body, from area to area, to have the proper quantity of material delivered to each area which will expand to fill the side, the floor and top spaces. This provides insulation as well as reinforcement between the inner and outer sheets of the body.

The inner side, front and top shoring plates are supported on a cantilever mounted frame over which the body is advanced. The roof shoring plates are moved upwardly against the inner roof wall carrying the upper portion of the side shoring plates therewith. The side shoring plates are thereafter moved outwardly to engage the inner front and side walls of the body. In one embodiment, the outer top shoring plate is moved downwardly onto the sheets forming the top of the roof wall and front and side shoring plates are moved inward to engage the sheets on the outer walls. It is within the purview of the invention to raise the cantilever frame upwardly with the body against a fixed roof shoring plate. A clamlike structure having a suspended top shoring plate to which side shoring plates are hinged can also be used when lowered into engagement with the top roof wall to have the hinged plates swing against the outer sheets of the side walls. In any case, the inner and outer spaced parallel sheets are engaged by the inner and outer shoring plates so that the pressure developed when expanding the foam cannot distort the sheets.

The cycle of the operation requires 20 to 30 minutes. The method includes the preheating of the surfaces to 150.degree.F which requires approximately 5 minutes. To advance the body over the cantilever frame and moving the shoring plates against the inner and outer walls requires approximately 2 minutes. To apply the foam in the various areas requires approximately 12 minutes. The cure time requires approximately 5 minutes and to retract the plates from the wall and move the insulated body from the frame takes approximately 2 minutes. The total time is approximately 26 minutes. The preheating time of 5 minutes can be eliminated if ovens are used to maintain the surfaces heated to 150.degree.F. It is to be understood that a vertical expandable horizontally movable shoring plate is mounted on the end of the cantilever frame and that a shoring plate is movable into engagement with the outer sheets forming the front wall of the body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation with parts broken away showing the cantilever frame and shoring plates employed during the foaming operation on a trailer body which is shown in position to be advanced thereover;

FIG. 2 is a broken view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, with the body in advanced position and with the shoring plates in engagement with the inner top, side and front walls and the outer top of the body;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 2, taken on the line 3--3 thereof;

FIG. 4 is a view of structure, similar to that illustrated in FIG. 3, with the shoring plates in engagement and the body moved upwardly against fixed roof shoring plates;

FIG. 5 is a view of the cantilever frame and its support showing the movable portions which permits the frame to be vertically moved, and

FIG. 6 is a view of structure, similar to that illustrated in FIG. 3, showing a clamlike shoring unit which is raisable from and lowerable upon the body into engagement with the roof and outer surface of the side walls .

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In practicing the present invention, the trailer body 10 is constructed in the usual manner to have vertical posts, such as the I-beams posts 11, along the sides and front end which support top I-beams 12 to which the outer and inner roof sheets are secured. The inner side sheets 13 and the outer side sheets 14 are secured to the upright I-beam posts 11. This provides a plurality of inverted U-shaped open cells 15 which communicate at the sides and across the top throughout the length of the body. The foam material is introduced into the cells and is expanded to fill the cells and provide the insulation and reinforcement for the body. Before the foamable plastic material is delivered to the cells, the body is advanced over an internal shoring unit 16 which is located adjacent to the outer shoring units 17.

The shoring unit 16 has an elongated frame 23 suspended in cantilever on the end of a supporting structure 18 which is embedded in concrete below the floor 19. Any means may be provided for supporting and advancing the body 10 between the shoring units, the one herein illustrated is a pair of caterpillar type belts 21 each of which is mounted on a pair of sprocket wheels 22 one of which is driven to advance and retract the body relative to the frame. The elongated frame 23 is substantially square in section secured to the support structure 18 and constructed in a manner to overcome the natural sag or drop at the free end so that it will be approximately horizontal.

The side shoring plates are made from an upper plate section 24 and a lower plate section 25 which are in coplanar relation. The upper plate section 24 has spaced extending members 26 which are located between spaced extending members 27 on the lower plate section 25. This permits the upper plate section 24 to be raised while maintaining a coplanar relation with the lower plate section 25 leaving spaced openings 28 which are small enough to prevent bulging of the side walls. This same construction is provided on the free end of the elongated frame 23. The top shoring plates 31 are raised by the upward movement of posts 32 to engage the inner roof sheets of the body, carrying the upper plate sections 24 at the sides and front end upwardly therewith. Horizontal telescoping arms 33 support the upper plate sections 24 and are secured to the posts 32 to move therewith. Similar horizontal telescoping arms 34 are supported on the frame 23 attached to the lower plate sections 25. The arms 33 and 34 are moved simultaneously for moving the shoring plate sections 24 and 25 against the inner side walls of the body 10. The sections 24 and 25 at the end of the frame 13 have the front inner surface of the body moved into engagement therewith.

While the upper plate sections 24 and the lower plate sections 25 have interrelated extending members 26 and 27 producing an acceptable spacing for preventing bulging of the wall sheets when the sections are extended, the same result will be obtained when using horizontally disposed slats between the top and bottom sections which move into spaced relation when the top sections 24 are raised relative to the bottom sections. This effect can be obtained in various ways, one would be by the use of pins in slots at each end of the slats. This will limit the spacing of the slats while having the plate sections fill the area required for the shoring plates.

An outer top shoring plate 35 is supported on rams 36 and moved downwardly against the outer sheets of the body roof. Side shoring plates 37 are mounted on rams 38 for moving the shoring plates 37 against the outer wall at the sides of the body. A shoring plate 39 is dropped downwardly, moved laterally or hingedly supported to move against the front outer wall of the body. This retains the sheets covering the inner front wall of the body disposed in engagement with the end plate sections 24 and 25 of the frame. In this manner, the spaced inner and outer parallel sheets forming the inner and outer walls at the two sides, the front and the roof of the body are backed up by the shoring plates so as to prevent the outward bulging thereof should excess pressure build up within the plurality of cells located along the length of the body.

The foam material is delivered into the cells by flexible hoses 41 from a plastic material dispensing device 42. The end of the hose extends into the front wall cell from the side cells through apertures in the I-beam posts 11 and are pulled outwardly to have the ends pass from one cell to another at a predetermined time rate which introduces the required amount of foam into each of the cells. The quantity of the foamable material is sufficient to foam upwardly and across the roof section under heat to fill the cells at the front, sides and the roof area with insulating reinforcing foamed material.

As pointed out above, the shoring plates are heated to substantially 150.degree.F so that heat will be available to foam the material delivered by the housing into the various cells and to cure the material after it had foamed. After the material is cured, the outer shoring plates 35, 37 and 39 at the top, side and front wall are retracted as well as the inner plate 31 and sections 24 and 25 of the cantilever supported frame 23. The body 10 is then retracted away from the shoring plate area and a new body is aligned with the caterpillar type belts 21 and advanced forwardly in position to be engaged by the inner and outer shoring plates as pointed out hereinabove.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, a slightly modified structure is illustrated that wherein the frame element 23 is retained on the supporting structure 18 by the engaged fingers 43 and 44 which permits the upward and downward movement of the frame 23. Blocks 44 are mounted on the bottom of the frame element 23 in engagement with the forward face of the support 18 for movement therealong. This structure is employed when the top shoring plates 45 are supported on fixed I-beams 46. The body is raised by a plurality of rams 47 and after the bottom is engaged the further advancement of the rams move the top roof sheets of the body into engagement with the shoring plates 45 as the frame structure 23 moves upwardly with the body. Thereafter, the side shoring plates 37 are moved inwardly against the outer side walls of the body. The end shoring plate 39 is then moved into engagement with the outer sheets covering the front wall. Otherwise, the structure is the same as that illustrated and described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

In FIG. 6, another form of structure is illustrated for backing up the outer sheets of the roof and side panels which embodies a clam shell type of outer shoring units 48. A top shoring plate 49 is supported on a frame 51 which is secured to a horizontally positioned downwardly presenting channel element 52 having side flanges 53 that are secured to the frame 51. Side shoring plates 54 are supported on similar frames 55 with the upper edges of the shoring plates secured to the side edges of the shoring plate 49 by hinging elements 56. A pair of cables 57 and 58 are secured to a triangular element 59 which is suspended on a cable 61. The cable 58 passes through one of a pair of sheaves 62 over a sheave 63 and secured to a lug 64 on the lefthand frame element 55 as viewed in the Figure. The cable 57 passes over the other of the pair of sheaves 62 over a sheave 65 and secured to a lug 66 of the frame 55 on the righthand side of the Figure. When the cable 61 is drawn upwardly, the cable 57 and 58 swing the frames 55 outwardly about the hinges 56 and when so swung outwardly, the cable 61 will raise the frame 51 and the frames 55 upwardly away from the body to permit the body to be removed. The shoring plate for the front end of the body is supported in the manner pointed out hereinabove or it may be supported on the rear end of the top shoring plate 49 to be raised and lowered by the cable 61.

The arms 34 are moved by elongated shafts 68 by a motor 69 and a gear reduction unit 71 which drives a sprocket 72 and a chain 70 which drives three additional sprockets 72 on three additional shafts 68. This moves the arms 34 inwardly and outwardly depending on the direction in which the motor 69 is driven to move the side plate sections 24 and 25 toward and away from the inner side walls of the body 10. A motor 74 drives a sprocket 75 which drives a chain 76 and shafts 77 to raise the arms 32 and the top shoring plate 31 against the inner roof wall of the body 10. The arms 32 carry a cross member 78 which supports a motor 79 and a gear reduction unit 81 which drives a sprocket 82 and a chain 83 for driving a pair of sprockets 84. The two sprockets 84 drive a pair of shafts 85 which move the arms 33 outwardly and inwardly to carry the top section 24 of the side plate sections outwardly to retain it in the plane of the bottom plate sections 25.

The shoring mechanism has proved invaluable for permitting the trailer body to be moved thereof and insulated and reinforced in a short period of time without any distortion of the sheets forming the inner and outer wall of the body. This provides assurance that the inner and outer walls of the side, front and roof of the body are parallel and have not, in any manner, been bulged or weakened due to excess internal pressures which could develop.

Claims

We claim:

1. In a shoring structure for backing up the inner walls of a trailer body at the sides and roof thereof, a cantilever supported horizontally extending frame, said frame being of rectangular form with the body disposed thereover from the extending end, means on the frame for supporting vertically and laterally movable arms, shoring plates on said arms at the sides and top movable outwardly against the inner surface of the walls and roof by said arms, said side shoring plates embody an upper and lower section having spaced oppositely extending members disposed in coplanar relation to each other and said sections, said upper section being connected to said vertically movable arms for upward movement therewith.

2. In a shoring structure as recited in claim 1, wherein outer shoring plates are supported for movement into engagement with outer surfaces at the sides and roof of the body.

3. In a shoring structure as recited in claim 2, wherein drive means are provided within the frame for moving the shoring plates outwardly and inwardly and upwardly and downwardly to and from the internal surfaces at the sides and roof of the body.

4. In a shoring structure as recited in claim 3, wherein ram means support at least some of the outer shoring plates for moving them toward and away from the body.

5. In a shoring structure as recited in claim 3, wherein the outer shoring plates are hinged together at the top and sides and supported for movement into and from engagement with the outer roof and side surfaces of the body.

6. In a shoring structure for backing up the inner walls of a trailer body at the sides and roof thereof, an elongated frame, support means at one end of said frame, a base supporting structure for said support means which supports said frame in cantilever, means for raising said frame relative to said base supporting structure, side and top shoring plates supported on said frame at the sides and top thereof for movement outwardly and upwardly thereof, said side shoring plates having top and bottom sections containing nested extending coplanar sections, and means supporting said top sections for movement upwardly relative to the bottom sections as the sections move relative to each other.

7. In a shoring structure as recited in claim 6, wherein said supporting means for the top sections has outwardly moving members, and outwardly moving members on said frame for supporting the bottom sections of the side plates, said top sections of the side shoring plates being movable outwardly and upwardly simultaneously.