Patent Publication Number: US-4484853-A

Title: Shelter carriage system

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a system for the carriage of an erected shelter such as a garage or the like building and in particular to a shelter carriage system of the type including a vehicle particularly adapted to form a carrier for such building and including also a shelter adapted to be so carried. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     To our knowledge, there have not been proposed heretofore a shelter carriage system of the above type. The trailers or trucks that have been proposed before were not adapted to carry a shelter in erected form on them and the shelters or buildings were not specifically made to be carried in erected form. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a general object of the present invention to provide a shelter carriage system of the above type; that is, wherein a truck or trailer and the shelter are cooperatively constructed and arranged to readily carry a shelter in erected form. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a trailer or truck particularly adapted to carry an erected shelter without dismantling it. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a shelter carriage system of the above type wherein the truck or trailer may be used to carry parts, tools, and/or materials on a work site and the shelter is made to form a garage for the trailer or truck to readily protect its load against bad weather and wherein the trailer or truck may engage under the shelter and carry it to another work site. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be better understood with reference to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof which is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings; in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a shelter carriage system according to the present invention and including a trailer and a garage operatively mounted on it; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevation view showing the mode of unloading the garage upon removal of the trailer from under it; 
     FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the garage in fully installed position on a work site; 
     FIG. 4 is a front view of the shelter carriage system, as seen from the right in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 is a transverse cross section through one lateral sill of the garage with the same installed on blocks on the work site; and 
     FIG. 6 is a similar transverse cross section as in FIG. 5 but showing the lateral sill in carried position on rollers and a lateral arm of the trailer. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The illustrated shelter or garage carriage system comprises a garage 10 and a trailer 11 adapted to carry it. 
     The garage 10 includes opposite side walls 12, a roof 13, a rear wall 14, and a front wall at 15. The latter is formed with an entrance aperture 16 of appropriate size for entrance of the trailer 11 in the garage 10. The front wall 15 also includes a curtain 17 of any foldable material such as canvas on each side of the entrance aperture 16. When the curtains 17 are rolled up as on the right in FIG. 4, the entrance aperture is thus widened laterally the full width of the garage 10. 
     An H shape metal extrusion member 18 is fixed with its web flat against the bottom edge of each side wall 12 to form a downwardly opening longitudinal groove in which is retained a lateral sill 19 of circular cross section. The garage 10 is operatively installed on blocks 20 spaced under the lateral sill 19. Curtain or skirts 21 are fixedly attached along the lower edge of each side wall 12 and operatively deployed to form a windscreen transversely under the lateral sills 19. 
     The trailer 11 comprises a vehicle body including mainly a rectangular box 22 having a pair of side walls 23. Lateral arms 24 are pivoted at one end to the lower edge portion of each side wall 23 and are spaced apart one from another along those side walls. The arms 24 are thus pivoted about a longitudinal axis. The outer end of each lateral arm 24 rotatably carries a pair of rollers 25 that rollingly engage under the corresponding lateral sill 19. Each roller 25 is peripherally grooved with a transversely-rounded profile complementary to the transverse profile of the lateral sill 19. A cable 26 is attached at a lower end each to a corresponding arm 24 at an upper end at the top of the corresponding side wall 23. A cable length adjusting device 27 is preferably serially attached to each cable 26. Each device 27 is preferably a hydraulic cylinder and piston unit with an independent hydraulic control circuit operated by the driver of the trailer truck. 
     The box 22 of the trailer 11 is used to carry any desired load on a work site and to the work site. Such load can, for instance, be parts, tools or materials required for a project. The garage 10 is used as a simple garage after its installation on a site. Then, the lateral sills 19 rest on blocks 20. The garage is carried away by successively engaging the rollers 25 under the lateral sills 19, while successively removing the blocks 20. 
     When the garage has reached a new site for its installation, the trailer is slowly driven out of the garage while blocks 20 are simultaneously placed under the lateral sills to support the garage when its load is shifted on them rather than on the arms 24 and rollers 25. 
     Selective operation of the hydraulic cylinder and piston units 27 permits to raise and lower portions of the garage within certain limits during transfer of the garage between rollers 25 and blocks 20 and to raise or lower the entire garage or portion thereof during its transport over rough ground in order to clear obstacles. 
     When only the trailer 11 is hauled by the trailer truck over a regular road, the arms 24 are attached in elevated vertical position along side walls 23.