End gate

An end gate is provided for a truck box which may be selectively automatically pivotally moved to an open position as the truck box is pivotally moved to its dumping position. A cable interconnecting the end gate and dump box is threaded through a series of pulleys to cause the end gate to pivot outwardly in response to upwardly movement of the dump box.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to an end gate and more particularly to an end gate 
for a farm truck or the like. 
Many types of end gates have been previously provided for farm trucks, 
grain carts, trailers, etc. The most common type of end gate for a farm 
truck is an end gate which completely closes the rearward end of the truck 
body and which has a vertically movable slide gate located in the lower 
central portion thereof which may be opened to permit grain to pass 
therethrough. Although end gates of the type described above work fairly 
well in some situations, it is frequently desirable to be able to dump the 
grain or the like from the truck body at a much greater rate than is 
possible through the small slide gate. 
Many end gates have been previously provided which not only provide small 
slide gates at the lower central portion of the end gate but which provide 
a larger opening to facilitate faster dumping of the contents of the body. 
For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 834,380, 3,026,139, 1,790,379, and 
4,699,428. 
The instant invention is intended to overcome certain shortcomings of the 
prior art in that the end gate may be used for grain, gravel, silage, etc. 
Further, the end gate of the instant invention is believed to be much 
easier to use than the end gates of the prior art. Further, the instant 
invention is believed to have greater versatility than the end gates of 
the prior art. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An end gate is provided for a truck box or body pivotally mounted on a 
truck frame. A hydraulic lift means is provided to raise the truck body 
from its normal transport position to a dumping position. The truck body 
includes a horizontally disposed floor, an upstanding front wall, 
upstanding side walls, and an open rearward end. The end gate of this 
invention is mounted in the open rearward end of the truck body and 
normally closes the same to prevent the contents of the truck body from 
spilling therefrom. The end gate includes a small auger gate at the lower 
central portion thereof which may be used when the contents of the truck 
body are to be dumped into the hopper of an auger or the like. The end 
gate is pivotally movably mounted in the rearward end of the truck body 
and is selectively automatically pivotally opened when the truck body is 
moved from its transport position to its dumping position so that the 
contents of the truck body may be dumped in a rapid manner therefrom.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to the drawings, the numeral 10 refers to a conventional farm 
truck including a wheeled frame means 12 having a truck body or box 14 
mounted thereon. Truck body 14 is pivotally mounted on the frame means 12 
in conventional fashion as illustrated in FIG. 2 so that the truck body 14 
may be moved from the normal transport position of FIG. 1 to the dumping 
position of FIG. 2 to facilitate dumping of the contents therefrom. For 
purposes of description, truck body 14 includes a floor 16, upstanding 
front wall 18, opposite sides 20 and 22, and an open rearward end which is 
selectively closed by the end gate 24 of this invention. 
Vertically disposed tubes 26 and 28 are mounted at the rearward ends of the 
side walls 20 and 22 respectively and have channel members 30 and 32 
selectively movably mounted therein. 
End gate 24 is pivotally mounted to the upper ends of channel members 30 
and 32 at 34 and 36 respectively as seen in FIG. 3. End gate 24 may 
include an extension 38 to increase the overall height of the end gate 
when extensions 40 and 42 are being utilized on the side walls 20 and 22. 
Extension 38 is pivotally connected to the upper end of end gate 24 at 44 
(FIG. 6) and is locked into position by bolts 46 as seen in FIGS. 3 and 6. 
Pulley 48 is mounted on extension brace 50 and has rope 52 extending 
therearound as seen in FIG. 3. Rope 52 also extends around pulleys 54 and 
56 as seen in FIG. 3 and then extends upwardly to the upper end of 
extension brace 58 where it is connected at 60. Pulleys 54 and 56 are 
mounted on the auger gate 62 so that the auger gate will be vertically 
moved when the rope 52 is pulled. 
As seen in FIG. 6, extension 38 may be pivotally moved to the position 
illustrated by broken lines when the extensions are not being utilized. 
However, assuming that the extension 38 is used, links 64 and 66 pivotally 
connect the upper ends of the extension 38 with the truck body at two 
locations, respectively, one of the locations shown at 70. 
Cable 72 is secured to the wheeled frame means 12 at 74 and extends 
upwardly around a pulley 76 connected to the underside of the truck body 
14. Cable 72 then extends rearwardly to a clevis means 78 located at the 
rear of the box. Cables 80 and 82 are removably connected to the clevis 
means 78 and extend rearwardly therefrom as seen in FIG. 4 and thence 
around pulleys 84 and 86 respectively. Cable 80 extends laterally from 
pulley 84 and extends around pulley 88 which is secured to the inside 
surface of tube 26. Cable 80 then extends upwardly through the interior of 
tube 26 and then extends over pulley 90 which is rotatably mounted on 
channel 32 inside tube 26. Cable 80 then extends downwardly from pulley 90 
to the bottom of channel member 30 where it is connected thereto at 92. 
Similarly, cable 82, after extending around pulley 86, extends to pulley 
94 which is secured to the inside surface of tube 28. Cable 82 then 
extends upwardly through tube 28, thence around pulley 96 which is secured 
to channel 32 inside tube 28, thence downwardly for connection to the 
lower end of channel member 32 at 98. Removable locking pins are provided 
to maintain the lower end of the end gate 24 in position when the dump 
body is in its transport position and when it is desired to dump only 
through the slide gate 62. 
Assuming that the extension 38 is in its extended position and assuming 
that it is desired to dump the contents of the truck box 14 from the small 
auger gate 62, rope 52 is pulled to open the slide gate 62. The box 14 
will then be raised by means of the conventional hydraulic cylinder to 
enable the contents of the box to be dumped through the slide gate 62. If 
the extension 38 is not needed, the extension 38 is folded to the position 
illustrated by broken lines in FIG. 6. The small auger gate 62 may still 
be raised by pulling on the rope 52 even though the extension 38 is in its 
non-extended position. 
Assuming further that the extension 38 is in its extended position, after 
the locking pins have been removed from the lower end of the end gate 24, 
the truck box 14 is pivotally moved from the position of FIG. 1 to the 
position of FIG. 2. As the truck box 14 is raised, cable 72 will be pulled 
forwardly which will cause the cables 80 and 82 to pull the channel 
members 30 and 32 upwardly with respect to the tubes 26 and 28. The upward 
movement of the channel members 30 and 32 in the tubes 26 and 28 as the 
box 14 is being moved to its dumping position, will also cause the lower 
end of the end gate 24 to pivotally move outwardly from the truck box 14 
as illustrated in FIG. 2 so that the entire rearward end of the truck box 
14 is open to facilitate the dumping of silage or like therefrom. The 
pivotal movement of the end gate 24 is caused by the pivotal connection of 
the links 64 and 66. If the extension 38 is in its folded condition, 
suitable links would be extended from the upper end of the end gate 24 to 
the box 14 to cause a similar pivotal movement of the end gate 24. It is 
important to note that whether the extensions are used or not, the upper 
end of the end gate 24 will be pivotally connected by suitable links to 
the truck box so that the end gate 24 will be pivotally moved relative to 
the truck box as the truck box is raised and lowered. 
If it is not desired to pivot the end gate 24 to the completely open 
position as illustrated in FIG. 2 but it is desired only to use the slide 
gate 62, the clevis connection 78 would be disconnected so that the cables 
80 and 82 would be separated from the cable 72. The separation of the 
clevis connection 78 will prevent the end gate 24 from pivotally moving to 
the position of FIG. 2 during the dumping operation. 
Thus it can be seen that a novel end gate has been provided for a truck box 
or the like which is automatically pivotally moved to an open position as 
the truck box is raised to its dumping position. It can also be seen that 
the end gate of this invention is quite versatile and is easy to use. 
Thus, it can be seen that the invention accomplishes at least all of its 
stated objectives.