Patent ID: 9381847
Filing Date: 2016-07-05
CPC Classification: B60P

Claim Text:
1. A belly dump trailer, comprising: a hopper having a bottom gate; wheels supporting the hopper; the bottom gate being hinged to rotate about a horizontal axis between a closed position and an open position; a rotary drive for rotating the bottom gate between the closed position and open position; the rotary drive being connected to the bottom gate by an over center cam lock formed of pivotally connected link arms comprising a first link arm and a second link arm, in which, in the rotary drive, the first link arm is connected to the bottom gate at a first pivot offset from the horizontal axis and to the second link arm at a second pivot, the closed position of the bottom gate corresponding to the first link arm and the second link arm at a first non-zero angle to each other and forced against a stop, with opening of the bottom gate corresponding to movement of the first link arm and second link arm through a first position, in which first position the first link arm and second link arm are parallel to each other, to a second position, in which second position the first link arm and second link arm are at a second non-zero angle to each other; the rotary drive comprising a pair of linear actuators and a drive axle, the second link arm being secured for rotation about a third pivot, and being driven in operation around the third pivot by the pair of linear actuators; and the pair of linear actuators being connected by rods to respective off center connections on the drive axle, and the drive axle being connected to drive the second link arm through a third link arm.