Abstract:
The invention concerns a road trailer whose frame consists of profiles having a fin to support the floor and grooves on their upper and lower faces able to retain in rotation bolt heads and the lower edges of sidewalls ( 10 ). The side members and cross bars are joined by corner pieces which have a vertical orifice to receive the lower end of a post ( 9 ) comprising orthogonal grooves housing the side edges of the sidewalls ( 10 ). The corner pieces ( 30 ) have two perpendicular arms respectively fitted into the adjacent ends of profiles forming the frame. Mounting of the elements requires little tooling.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention pertains to the area of road trailers intended to be towed by a motor vehicle. 
     More precisely, it concerns a trailer comprising at least one cross axle connected to two wheels by side suspension arms, a tongue for hitching onto the vehicle, and having a rectangular frame supporting a floor optionally with sidewalls, said frame having two parallel side members, one front cross bar and one rear cross bar. 
     These trailers, towed by vehicles, are frequently used for transporting luggage, materials or sports machines. 
     These trailers and in particular the frame are generally made from metal beams cut to the right length and welded together. These operations, in particular the welding operation, require welding stations and qualified personnel. Such operations can only be conducted in workshops equipped with heavy, specific tooling. Finally the transport of the fully assembled trailers to customers requires major logistics. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The purpose of the invention is to provide a trailer which can be easily assembled, without requiring any welding, from elementary parts that are not voluminous, and are delivered to the customer in separate parts. 
     The invention attains this object by the fact that the side members and cross bars are made from metal profiles that are joined at their adjacent ends by means of corner pieces having two perpendicular arms which respectively fit into said adjacent ends and which are also provided with a through orifice perpendicular to the plane of said arms, said side members and said cross bars on their inner face comprising a fin extending inwardly into the frame and which is intended to give support to the floor, and on their lower and upper faces a groove leading into a channel able to receive bolt heads and the lower edges of the sidewalls and to immobilise the same in rotation, and by the fact that it also comprises four tubular corner posts whose lower ends fit into the orifices of the corner pieces, said posts having two vertical grooves along orthogonal planes intended to receive side edges of the sidewalls. 
     With this arrangement, the mounting of the frame is made by assembling the side members and cross bars by means of the corner pieces using no tools other than a key. The side members and cross bars may be cut to the right length in workshops specialized for this task and transported to the site of assembly as narrow-width products which considerably reduces their transport volume. The corner pieces and posts may be produced in other workshops. 
     Advantageously, the posts are made from a profile having two orthogonal grooves and are equipped at their lower end with an assembly piece for mounting onto a corner piece. 
     This assembly piece has a lower part which fits into the orifice of a corner piece and an upper part which fits into the lower end of a post profile. 
     The assembly piece also comprises angle positioning means and clipping means which cooperate with conjugate angle positioning means and clipping means respectively provided on the corner pieces and the lower ends of the post profiles. Preferably, the angle positioning means comprise a vertical groove provided on one of the pieces and a protuberance provided on the other piece. 
     The clipping means comprise a protuberance formed on an elastic tongue of the assembly piece which is able to enter a hole or slit provided in a post profile or corner piece. 
     Advantageously, the sidewalls on their lower edge have means able to slide within the upper groove of a side member or front cross bar during assembly. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent on reading the following description given as an example with reference to the appended drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a road trailer according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the trailer in  FIG. 1  without the sidewalls, the corner posts and floor; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of a profile used to manufacture the side members and cross bars; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a side member supporting the floor and whose lower groove comprises bolt heads; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a corner piece; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective, exploded view of a corner piece fitted into a side member and a cross bar, of a post with its assembly piece and of a post cover; 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-section of a front post; 
         FIG. 8  shows a plug for a corner piece; 
         FIGS. 9A to 9D  show the assembly of different types of sidewalls on a side member and the front cross bar; 
         FIG. 10  is partially exploded view of a trailer comprising bracing beams under the side members; 
         FIG. 11  is a side view of the trailer in  FIG. 10 ; 
         FIG. 12  shows how the end of an intermediate cross bar fits into a side member; 
         FIG. 13  is a side view of the tail wall; 
         FIG. 14  is a perspective view of an open trailer; 
         FIG. 15  is a perspective view of a trailer equipped with sidewalls; and 
         FIGS. 16A and 18B  give a side view and front view of the possible stacking of several trailers. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show a trailer  1  intended to be towed by a motor vehicle, which comprises an axle  2  connected to two wheels  3  by suspension arms  19  (see  FIGS. 10 and 11 ), and joined to a V-shaped trailer tongue  4  intended to hitch said trailer to the rear of a vehicle, the front end of said tongue  4  comprising a height-adjustable bar  5 . On the axle  2  and tongue  4  a platform is mounted consisting of a rectangular frame  7  giving support to a floor  8  and optionally a body  6  consisting of four corner posts  9  and sidewalls  10 , the tail wall  10   a  preferably being pivot-mounted around a lower transverse pin. 
     The frame  7  comprises two parallel side members  11   a ,  11   b , a front cross bar  12  and a rear cross bar  13 . The side members  11   a ,  11   b  and cross bars  12  and  13  are made from a profile  14  shown  FIGS. 3 and 4  of globally rectangular cross-section which in its upper region and lower region comprises two grooves referenced  15   a  in the lower region and  15   b  in the upper region which lead into the lower and upper faces respectively of profile  14  via longitudinal channels  16   a  and  16   b . Grooves  15   a  are able to immobilise in rotation the heads  17  of bolts  18  whose shanks pass through channel  16   a . Groove  15   b  is able to receive the sidewalls of the trailer. Profile  14  on a side face  14   a , intended to be positioned on the inner side of frame  7 , has a fin  20  arranged substantially in the plane of the bottom of the upper groove  15   b  and intended to give support to the floor  8 , the latter being attached onto the side members  11   a ,  11   b  and cross bars  12  and  13  by riveting. Side members  11   a,    11   b  and cross bars  12 ,  13  between the bottoms of grooves  15   a  and  15   b  therefore have an inner cavity  21  open at the ends of profile  14 . The inner side face  14   a  of side members  11   a ,  11   b , underneath the fins  20 , may also have openings intended to receive the ends of intermediate cross bars  12   a  connecting side members  11   a,    11   b  and parallel to the front  12  and rear  13  cross bars as shown  FIG. 12 . The under face of the ends of the intermediate cross bars  12   a  bears upon the bottom of the lower groove  15   a  of side members  11   a ,  11   b , while the fins  20  of the side members bear upon the upper face of the intermediate cross bars  12   a . Rivets are used to join together the floor  8 , fins  20  and intermediate cross bars  12   a.    
     The side members  11   a ,  11   b  and cross bars  12  and  13  are joined together at their adjacent ends by corner pieces or angle brackets  30  which each comprise two arms  31   a ,  31   b , orthogonal to one another and able to fit into cavities  21  and  15   a  at the adjacent ends of a side member and cross bar. These arms  31   a ,  31   b  have holes  32  facing holes provided in the side surfaces at the ends of the side members and cross bars to fix the angle brackets  30  by bolting. 
     As shown  FIG. 5 , the angle brackets comprise two pairs of superimposed arms  31   a ,  33   a  and  31   b ,  33   b  orthogonal to one another and separated by a slot  34 , the upper arms  31   a ,  31   b  being housed in cavities  21  and grooves  15   a  and the lower arms  33   a ,  33   b  being housed in the lower grooves  15   a  of a side member  11   a  or  11   b  and a cross bar  12  or  13 , the wall separating the groove  15   a  from the cavity  21  being housed in a slot  34 . 
     Each corner piece or angle bracket  30  also has a through orifice  35  that is globally cylindrical and perpendicular to the plane defined by arms  31   a  and  31   b . This orifice  35  is intended to receive the lower part  40   a  of an assembly piece  40  whose upper part  40   b  fits into a cavity provided on the lower end of a post profile  9 . 
     As can be seen  FIG. 6 , the lower part  40   a  of the assembly piece  40  is globally cylindrical and its diameter is substantially equal to or slightly smaller than the diameter of orifice  35 . In its upper zone it has a lug  41  which comes to be housed in a notch  42  provided in the upper zone of the wall delimiting orifice  35 . The lower part  40   a  at its lower end also has elastic tongues  43   a ,  43   b  which on their outer face have protuberances or hooks  44   a ,  44   b  intended to cooperate with slots provided in the wall delimiting orifice  35  or with the lower end of this wall to immobilise the assembly piece  40  when it is mounted on angle bracket  30 . 
     The lug  41  and notch  42  ensure the angle positioning of the assembly piece  40  with respect to angle bracket  30 , enabling blind assembly. When the lug  41  is positioned in notch  42 , the protuberances  44   a  and  44   b  move away from each other radially on account of the elasticity of tongues  43   a  and  43   b , and immobilise the assembly piece  40  on corner piece  30  by clipping. When the lower part  40   a  of the assembly piece  40  slides within orifice  35 , the protuberances  44   a  and  44   b  retract into the orifice  35  on account of the elasticity of the tongues  43   a  and  43   b.    
     Each post  9  is made from a profile  50  whose section is shown  FIG. 7 . This section is adapted in relation to the geometry of the corner piece  30 . This profile comprises in particular two orthogonal U-section grooves  51   a ,  51   b  intended to house and retain the side edges of two adjacent sidewalls; a wall  52  of quarter-cylinder shape joining the bottoms of the two grooves  51   a  et  51   b  and which is intended to lie against the wall delimiting orifice  35  of a corner piece  30 ; and a wall  53  connecting the outer wings  54   a  and  54   b  of grooves  51   a  and  51   b  and following the contour of the outer wall of corner pieces  30  after the mounting of assembly pieces  40  and profiles  50  of posts  9 . Walls  52  and  53  are joined by a rigidifying sheet  55  which delimits the inside of post  9  into at least two cavities  56   a  and  56   b  substantially symmetrical with respect to sheet  55 . Preferably sheet  55  close to outer wall  53 , also delimits a cylindrical cavity  58  whose upper end can receive the ends of hoops for a tarpaulin covering the body  6 . 
     The upper part  40   b  of the assembly piece  40  is intended to be housed in cavities  56   a  and  56   b  at the lower end of a post profile  9 . For this purpose, the upper part  40   b  comprises two blocks  46   a  and  46   b  separated by a slot  47  intended to house the sheet  55 . Blocks  46   a  and  46   b  are arranged symmetrically either side of this slot  47  and have a configuration adapted to the configuration of cavities  56   a  and  56   b . The peripheral walls of blocks  46   a  and  46   b  also comprise protuberances  48   a  and  48   b  at the lower ends of elastic tongues  49   a  and  49   b . These protuberances  48   a  and  48   b  are intended to enter into holes  57   a ,  57   b  provided in the bottoms of grooves  51   a ,  51   b  of the post profile  9  to immobilise the post  9  after assembly. 
     A cover  60  may be mounted on the upper end of post  9 . The lower part of this cover  60  is similar to the lower zone of the upper part  40   b  of the assembly piece  40 . In particular it comprises protuberances  48   a  and  48   b  on the elastic tongues  49   a  and  49   b  able to cooperate with holes  57   a  and  57   b  provided at the upper end of post  9 . The upper wall  61  of cover  60  has orthogonal extensions  62   a ,  62   b  which come to cover grooves  51   a  and  51   b  of post  9 . These extensions on their lower face have lugs  65   a ,  65   b  used to lock the sidewalls  10 . The upper wall  61  may have an orifice in the continuation of the cylindrical cavity  58  of post profiles  50 . 
       FIG. 8  shows a platform plug  64  which adapts directly onto a corner piece  30 . This plug  64  comprises a lower part  63  identical to the lower part  40   a  of the assembly piece. This plug  64  is used when the trailer comprises only the platform without the sidewalls. The upper grooves  15   b  of the side members and cross bars are then used as anchoring points for devices to fix straps or other fastening elements. 
     It is to be noted that on the rear posts  9  of the trailer, the wing  54   a  of groove  51   a  may be eliminated to transform groove  51   a  into a rabbet to receive a side edge of a tipping tail wall. 
       FIGS. 9A to 9D  show different types of sidewalls  10  able to be mounted on the side members  11   a  and  11   b  and front cross bar  12 . They may also be mounted on the rear cross bar  13 , but preferably the tail wall  10   a  is a door that is swing-mounted around a horizontal pin on the rear cross bar  13 . 
     The special characteristic of sidewalls  10  according to the invention is that their side edges are retained in the opposite facing grooves  51   a ,  51   b  of two posts  9  and that their lower edge  70  comprises means  71  able to slide, during assembly, in the upper groove  15   b  of a side member  11   a ,  11   b  or cross bar  12 .  FIG. 9A  shows a sidewall  10  drawn from sheet metal that is cold formed so that the lower edge  70  has a configuration that is complementary to that of groove  15   b . Its upper edge  72  has folded back parts in the sheet metal which engage in grooves  51   a  and  51   b  of posts  9 . On their end parts, these folded back parts  72  have holes  72   b  to receive lugs  65   a  and  65   b  of covers  60 . Sidewall  10  also has horizontal rigidifying ripples  72   a  of semi-cylindrical section. 
       FIG. 9B  shows a sidewall  10  made from a wood panel whose lower edge  73  engages in the upper groove  74  of a profile  75  whose lower part engages by sliding in the upper groove  15   b  of a side member  11   a ,  11   b  or cross bar  12 ,  13 . The upper edge  76  of the wood panel is also engaged in groove  77  of a profile  78  whose width is equal to the width of grooves  51   a  and  51   b  of posts  9  and which also has holes  72   b  to receive lugs  65   a ,  65   b  of covers  60 . 
       FIG. 9C  shows a third type of sidewall, made in aluminium or in a plastic material, in a single piece or in several inter-fitting pieces one on top of the other. The lower edge of these sidewalls  10  is configured to permit is assembly onto a side member or a cross bar by sliding. 
       FIG. 9D  gives a fourth example of a sidewall made in an extruded plastic material which comprises several superimposed elements which fit into each other. 
       FIGS. 10 and 11  show a trailer  1  in which the side members  11   a  and  11   b  are reinforced by two bracing beams, one  80   a  at the front of the axle  2  and the other  80   b  at the rear of the axle  2 . These beams  80   a  and  80   b  in inverted 90° U-shape comprise on their upper wing a plurality of holes to insert bolts whose heads  17  are trapped in the lower groove  15   a  of side members  11   a  and  11   b . The neighbouring ends of the two beams  80   a  and  80   b  comprise folded back parts which are pierced for their attachment by bolting to the sides of plates  81  of axle  2  so as to form a single beam underneath the platform of the trailer. The section of beams  80   a  and  80   b  is calculated in relation to the intended carrying load of the trailer. In the example shown  FIG. 10 , the trailer  1  only has one axle  2 . Evidently, this trailer could comprise tandem axles without departing from the scope of the invention. 
       FIG. 13  shows an example of the assembly of a tail wall  10   a  on the rear cross bar  13  by means of hinges  90  having a horizontal articulating pin  91 . 
       FIG. 14  shows a trailer with no sidewalls. The corner pieces  30  are covered by plugs  64  whose upper face lies within the continuity of floor  8 . When this trailer is used for the transport of sports machines the floor  8  may be equipped with wedge blocks to lock the machine wheels in position, and loading ramps may be articulation-mounted on the rear cross bar  13 . 
     It is to be noted also that the sidewalls  10  may be placed in position by sliding on side members  11   a  and  11   b  and cross bar  12  before placing in position the assembly piece  40  and posts  9 . 
     The side members  11   a ,  11   b  and cross bars  12  and  13  are made by cold profiling of metal strips. The corner pieces  30  and assembly pieces  40  are preferably made by casting a plastic material or metal, such as aluminium or an aluminium alloy. 
       FIG. 15  shows trailer equipped with its sidewalls  10  and  10   a.    
       FIGS. 16A and 16B  illustrate another advantage of the invention which consists of the possible stacking of trailers whose essential parts have already been assembled. 
     As can be seen in these figures the trailers are already equipped with their trailer tongue  4  and axle plates  81 . 
     On the other hand, the sidewalls  10 ,  10   a , corner posts  9  and wheels are removed. 
     Stacking is made possible by using the upright elements  100  whose ends are engaged in orifices  35  of the respective corner pieces  30  of two adjacent trailers. To rigidify the upright elements  100 , struts  102  are provided of which one end  102   a  is fixed onto the upright element and the other end  102   b  is fixed in the lower groove  15   a  of frame  7  of the trailer. 
     Two cross struts  104  are also provided.