Abstract:
A side dump body is disclosed wherein the bottom wall thereof is formed from overlapping sheet members which are welded together with the bottom wall being either substantially flat or curved. The side walls of the body may also be formed from overlapping sheet members which are welded together.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a side dump body and more particularly to a side dump body for use on a trailer or truck wherein the body is welded together in a unique fashion thereby achieving a better weldment with increased strength. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Dump bodies which are employed on trailers or trucks normally are of the end dump type or the side dump type. Since the introduction of the side dump body disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,214, side dump trucks and trailers have experienced wide acceptance. The side dump trailers such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,214 normally comprise front and rear bulkheads with a single sheet of metal material extending between the bulkheads with the single sheet of material normally being bent or broken to form the bottom wall and at least a portion of the side walls. The edges of the walls are normally joined together with a butt weldment. It is difficult to position the edges of the sheets together to butt weld the same. Further, the butt weld may not be as strong as desired. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A side dump body is disclosed which includes an elongated wheeled frame having a plurality of first supports positioned thereon adjacent one side thereof and a plurality of second supports positioned thereon adjacent the other side thereof. An elongated body is pivotally movably mounted on the wheeled frame and is movable between non-dumping and dumping positions. The body may be comprised of rear, intermediate and front bulkheads or just rear and front bulkheads. Metal sheet members are bent to form a bottom wall and opposite side walls which extend upwardly and outwardly from the bottom wall. The bottom wall may be V-shaped, straight or curved. Regardless of whether the bottom wall is V-shaped, straight or curved, the same is formed by overlapping a pair of sheet members at the middle of the bottom wall and welding the same together. The sides of the sheet members, outwardly of the weldment, are bent upwardly to form at least a lower portion of the side walls of the body. The bottom wall may be formed from a single sheet with the sides thereof extending upwardly and outwardly and which are joined to upper side wall portions in an overlapped manner and welded thereto. The overlapping side walls may be used regardless of whether the bottom wall is formed from a single sheet or a pair of overlapped sheets. 
     Although the dump body of this invention is ideally suited for use as a side dump body, the body construction will work equally as well on an end dump body. 
     A principal object of the invention is to provide an improved method of constructing the body thereof. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide a side dump body for use on a trailer or truck wherein the body is welded together in a unique fashion, thereby achieving a better weldment with increased strength. 
     Still another object of the invention is to provide a side dump body for use on a trailer or truck wherein the bottom wall is formed from a pair of overlapped sheet members with the sheet members being welded together in the overlapped areas. 
     Still another object of the invention is to provide a side dump body for use on a trailer or truck wherein the side walls of the side dump body may be formed from a pair of sheet members which are overlapped and welded together. 
     These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a side view of a side dump trailer; 
     FIG. 2 is a front view of the side dump body; 
     FIG. 3 is an end view of the side dump body illustrating the bottom wall being formed of a pair of sheet members which are overlapped and welded; 
     FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 except that the side walls of the body are also formed by overlapped sheet members which are welded together; 
     FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 except that the bottom wall is curved; 
     FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 except that the side walls of the body are formed from overlapped sheet members welded together; and 
     FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 3 except that a modified form of weldment is used. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The side dump apparatus of this invention is referred to generally by the reference numeral  10  including a side dump unit  12  pivotally mounted on a frame means  14  which may be incorporated into a trailer or into what is commonly called a straight truck. 
     Frame means  14  normally comprises a pair of longitudinally extending frame members  18  and  20  which are conventionally supported on a running gear  22 . For purposes of description, the frame means  14  will be described as including a forward end  24 , a rearward end  26 , and opposite sides  28  and  30 . A plurality of horizontally spaced first supports  32  are secured to the wheeled frame at one side thereof while a plurality of spaced-apart second supports  34  are secured to the wheeled frame at the other side thereof. Pivot pins  35  engage the supports  32  and  34  in conventional fashion. 
     Side dump unit  12  includes a body or tub  36 . Body  36  includes at least a rear bulkhead  38  and a front bulkhead  42 . In some cases, an intermediate bulkhead  40  may be utilized. 
     In FIG. 3, it can be seen that the tub  36  includes a bottom wall  44  and side walls  46  and  48  extending upwardly therefrom. Bottom wall  44  is formed by overlapping a pair of sheet members S 1  and S 2 , as illustrated in FIG. 3, and welding the inner end of sheet member S 2  to the top surface of sheet member S 1 . The inner end of sheet  15  member S 1  is welded to the bottom surface of sheet member S 2 . 
     FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the tub  36 A wherein side wall  46  is formed from a pair of sheet members S 3  and S 1 . Side wall  48  is formed from sheet members S 4  and S 2 . The lower ends of sheet members S 3  and S 4  overlap the upper ends of sheet members S 1  and S 2  and are welded thereto. The lower edge of sheet member  20  S 3  is welded to the inner surface of sheet member S 1  and the upper edge of sheet member S 1  is welded to the exterior surface of sheet member S 3 . Similarly, the upper end of sheet member S 2  is welded to the exterior surface of sheet member S 4  and the lower end of sheet member S 4  is welded to the inner surface of sheet member S 2 . 
     In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the bottom wall  50  is curved and is formed from a pair of sheet members S 1  and S 2  similar to that illustrated in FIG. 3, except that the bottom wall  50  is curved. The lower ends of sheet members S 1  and S 2  overlap one another and welded together as in the embodiment of FIG.  3 . FIG. 6 illustrates a further embodiment wherein the side walls  46  and  48  are comprised of overlapping sheet members in the manner of FIG.  4 . Side wall  46  in FIG. 6 is formed by overlapping sheet members S 1  and S 3  while side wall  48  is formed from overlapping sheet members S 2  and S 4 . The overlapping portions of the sheet members in FIG. 6 are welded in the manner as described in the embodiment of FIG.  4 . FIG. 7 illustrates a further embodiment and is quite similar to the embodiment of FIG.  3 . The only difference between the embodiment of FIG.  7  and that of FIG. 3 is that sheet member S 2  is provided with a lip portion  52  which receives the inner end of sheet member S 1  so that a relatively smooth interior bottom wall surface is achieved. 
     In each of the embodiments, the overlapping of the sheet members and the welding together thereof results in a much stronger weldment than if the sheet members were joined together in an end-to-end fashion and then welded. Further, the welding of the sheet members as described herein takes less time than the prior art welding methods. 
     Thus it can be seen that the invention accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.