Locking mechanism for movable subframe of semi-trailers

• US 6,279,933 B1
• Filed: 04/10/2001
• Issued: 08/28/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hendrickson USA LLC (The Boler Company)
• Original Assignee: The Boler Company
• Inventors: Ross, Joseph M., Gibson, Marc A., Hess, Timothy V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rice, Kenneth R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): CUFF, MICHAEL A
• Application Number:
  US09/829,690
• Publication Number:
  US 20010013693A1
• Time in Patent Office: 140 Days
• Field of Search: 280/149.2, 280/407.1, 280/405.1
• US Class Current: 280/149.2
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 53/068 having devices to equalise or modify the load between the fifth wheel and the rear wheels adjustable couping saddles per se B62D53/0807; load transfer devices to permit coupling or uncoupling B62D53/0857; anti jack-knifing devices B62D53/0871

Abstract

A locking mechanism for a movable subframe of a semi-trailer includes at least a pair of transversely spaced pins. Each pin is extendable into and retractable from an opening formed in its respective longitudinally extending main member of the subframe and a selected aligned one of a plurality of openings formed in its respective longitudinally extending rail of the trailer main frame. An elastomeric bladder is disposed between the pins and is operatively connected to one or more cables and/or linkage members which in turn are operatively connected to the pins. When the bladder is voided of air and is in its collapsed state, sufficient slack exists in the bladder, cables and/or linkage members to enable the bias force of a coil spring disposed about each of the pins to independently cause the pins to extend through their respective aligned openings to lock the subframe in a selected longitudinal position with respect to the trailer main frame. When air is introduced into the bladder, it distends or elongates and in turn shortens the length of the portions of the bladder, cables and/or linkage members which are in transverse alignment with the pins, to impart a linear retraction force on the pins which overcomes the bias force of the springs to independently retract each of the pins from its respective main frame opening enabling repositioning of the subframe beneath the trailer frame. The subframe is free of additional structure for bearing reactive forces generated during normal operation of the locking mechanism.

Claims

1. A locking mechanism for a movable subframe of a vehicle, said mechanism including:

a) at least a pair of transversely spaced locking pins movably mounted on said subframe, each of said locking pins being mounted adjacent to an opening formed in a respective one of a pair of spaced apart, longitudinally extending main members of the subframe; and

b) a linkage operatively connected to said locking pins,

said linkage including an inflatable member disposed inboardly of said locking pins, said linkage further including at least one link operatively connected to and extending inboardly from said locking pins, said link further being connected to said inflatable member, so that upon inflation of said inflatable member, a transverse length of the linkage is shortened and opposed retraction forces are imparted on said pins to enable each of the pins to overcome an outboard bias force of a spring disposed about said pin, thereby independently retracting each of the pins from a selected aligned one of a plurality of openings formed in a respective one of a pair of spaced apart, longitudinally extending rails of a main frame of said vehicle, to enable longitudinal repositioning of the subframe beneath said vehicle main frame, said inflatable member upon deflation further enabling lengthening of said transverse length of said linkage so that said bias force of each of said springs independently urges its respective pin outboardly through said aligned openings to lock said subframe relative to the main frame.

2. The locking mechanism of claim 1, in which said inflatable member for shortening said transverse length of said linkage is an elastic bladder;

in which said elastic bladder communicates with an air reservoir of said vehicle; and

in which said spring is a coil spring.

3. The locking mechanism of claim 2, in which said elastic bladder elongates when air is introduced into the bladder from said air reservoir.

4. The locking mechanism of claim 2, in which said elastic bladder distends and shortens when air is introduced into the bladder from said air reservoir.

5. The locking mechanism of claim 3, in which said bladder is disposed longitudinally on said subframe;

in which said link is a cable extending transversely between said pins and is connected at each of its ends to a respective one of the pins; and

in which said cable is operatively connected to the bladder, so that upon introduction of air into said bladder, the bladder elongates in a longitudinal direction and shortens the transverse length of the cable to retract each of said pins from its respective aligned openings, and further upon deflation of said bladder to a collapsed state said transverse length of said cable lengthens to enable said bias of each of said coil springs to urge its respective pin into its respective aligned openings.

6. The locking mechanism of claim 3, in which said bladder is disposed transversely between said pins;

in which said link is a slidably engaged assembly extending transversely between said pins and is connected at each of its ends to a respective one of the pins; and

in which said slidably engaged assembly is operatively connected to the bladder, so that upon introduction of air into said bladder, the bladder elongates in a transverse direction and shortens the transverse length of the slidably engaged assembly to retract each of said pins from its respective aligned openings, and further upon deflation of said bladder to a collapsed state said transverse length of said slidably engaged assembly lengthens to enable said bias of each of said coil springs to urge its respective pin into its respective aligned openings.

7. The locking mechanism of claim 4, in which said bladder is an elongated bias ply bladder;

in which the bladder is disposed transversely between said pins; and

in which each of the ends of said bladder is operatively connected to a respective one of the pins by a respective one of a pair of said links, said links each comprising a non-elastic attachment member, so that upon introduction of air into said bladder, said bladder distends and shortens the transverse length of the bladder and said attachment members to retract each of said pins from its respective aligned openings, and further upon deflation of said bladder to a normal elongated state said transverse length of the bladder and the attachment members lengthens to enable said bias of each of said coil springs to urge its respective pin into its respective aligned openings.

8. The locking mechanism of claim 4, in which said bladder is elongated and is encased within a bias ply sheath;

in which said sheathed bladder is disposed transversely between said pins; and

in which each one of the ends of the sheathed bladder is operatively connected to a respective one of the pins by a respective one of a pair of said links, said links each comprising a non-elastic attachment member, so that upon introduction of air into said sheathed bladder, the sheathed bladder distends and shortens the transverse length of said sheathed bladder and said attachment members to retract each of said pins from its respective aligned openings, and further upon deflation of the sheathed bladder to a normal elongated state said transverse length of said sheathed bladder and the attachment members lengthens to enable the bias of each of said coil springs to urge its respective pin into its respective aligned openings.

9. The locking mechanism of claim 4, in which said locking mechanism includes a front pair of transversely spaced locking pins and a rear pair of transversely spaced locking pins, said front pair of pins being longitudinally spaced from said rear pair of pins;

in which said bladder is elongated and is disposed longitudinally and generally intermediate said pairs of pins;

in which said link includes front and rear cables and front and rear non-elastic attachment members;

in which said front cable extends between and is connected at each of its ends to a respective one of the front pair of pins and said rear cable extends between and is connected at each of its ends to a respective one of the rear pair of pins;

in which said front attachment member is connected to a front end of the bladder and said rear is attachment member is connected to a rear end of said bladder; and

in which said front cable is operatively connected to said front attachment member and said rear cable is operatively connected to said rear attachment member, so that upon introduction of air into the bladder, said bladder distends and shortens the longitudinal length of the bladder and each of the attachment members which in turn shortens the transverse length of each of the cables to retract each of said pins from its respective aligned openings, and further upon deflation of said bladder to a normal elongated state said longitudinal length of the bladder and the attachment members lengthens and the transverse length of each of said cables lengthens to enable said bias of each of said coil springs to urge its respective pin into its respective aligned openings.

10. The locking mechanism of claim 9, in which said bladder is a bias ply bladder.

11. The locking mechanism of claim 9, in which said bladder is encased in a bias ply sheath.

12. A locking mechanism for a movable subframe of a vehicle, said mechanism including:

a) at least a pair of spaced-apart locking pins movably mounted on said subframe, each of said locking pins being mounted adjacent to a respective one of a pair of openings formed in the subframe; and

b) a linkage operatively connected to the locking pins, said linkage including an inflatable member disposed inboardly of said locking pins, said linkage further including at least one link operatively connected to and extending inboardly from said locking pins, said link further being connected to said inflatable member, so that upon inflation of said inflatable member, the length of the linkage is shortened and opposed retraction forces are imparted on said pins to enable each of the pins to overcome an outboard bias force of a spring disposed adjacent to and acting on said pin, so that each of the pins can be independently retracted from a selected aligned one of a plurality of openings formed in a main frame of said vehicle, to enable repositioning of the subframe beneath said vehicle main frame, said inflatable member upon deflation further enabling an increase in the length of said linkage so that said bias force of each of said springs independently urges its respective pin outboardly through said aligned openings to lock said subframe relative to the main frame.

13. The locking mechanism of claim 12, in which the inflatable member for shortening said length of said linkage is an elastic bladder;

and in which said elastic bladder communicates with an air reservoir of said vehicle.

14. The locking mechanism of claim 13, in which said elastic bladder elongates when air is introduced into the bladder from said air reservoir.

15. The locking mechanism of claim 13, in which said elastic bladder includes means for distending and shortening the bladder when air is introduced into said bladder from said air reservoir.

16. The locking mechanism of claim 14, in which said bladder is disposed on said subframe in a first direction;

in which said link is a cable extending in a second direction between said pins and is connected at each of its ends to a respective one of the pins; and

in which said cable is operatively connected to the bladder, so that upon introduction of air into said bladder, the bladder elongates in said first direction and shortens the length of the cable in said second direction to retract each of said pins from its respective aligned openings, and further upon deflation of said bladder to a collapsed state said cable lengthens in the second direction to enable said bias of each of said springs to urge its respective pin into its respective aligned openings.

17. The locking mechanism of claim 14, in which said bladder is disposed between said pins in a first direction, in which said link is a slidably engaged assembly extending between said pins in said first direction and is connected at each of its ends to a respective one of the pins;

and in which said slidably engaged assembly is operatively connected to the bladder, so that upon introduction of air into said bladder, the bladder elongates in the first direction and shortens the length of the slidably engaged assembly to retract each of said pins from its respective aligned openings, and further upon deflation of said bladder to a collapsed state said slidably engaged assembly lengthens in said first direction to enable said bias of each of said springs to urge its respective pin into its respective aligned openings.

18. The locking mechanism of claim 15, in which said bladder is an elongated bias ply bladder;

in which the bladder is disposed between said pins; and

in which each one of the ends of said bladder is operatively connected to a respective one of the pins by a respective one of a pair of said links, said links each comprising a non-elastic attachment member, so that upon introduction of air into the bladder, said bladder distends and shortens the length of the bladder and attachment members to retract each of said pins from its respective aligned openings, and further upon deflation of said bladder to a normal elongated state said length of the bladder and the attachment members lengthens to enable said bias of each of said springs to urge its respective pin into its respective aligned openings.

19. The locking mechanism of claim 15, in which said bladder is elongated and is encased within a bias ply sheath;

in which said sheathed bladder is disposed between said pins; and

in which each one of the ends of the sheathed bladder is operatively connected to a respective one of the pins by a respective one of a pair of said links, said links each comprising a non-elastic attachment member, so that upon introduction of air into said sheathed bladder, the sheathed bladder distends and shortens the length of said sheathed bladder and said attachment members to retract each of said pins from its respective aligned openings, and further upon deflation of the sheathed bladder to a normal elongated state said length of said sheathed bladder and the attachment members lengthens to enable said bias of each of said springs to urge its respective pins into its respective aligned openings.

20. The locking mechanism of claim 15, in which said locking mechanism includes a first pair of locking pins spaced apart in a first direction and a second pair of locking pins spaced apart in said first direction, said first pair of pins being spaced from said second pair of pins in a second direction;

in which said bladder is elongated and is disposed in said second direction and generally intermediate said pairs of pins;

in which said link includes first and second cables and first and second non-elastic attachment members;

in which said first cable extends between and is connected at each of its ends to a respective one of the first pair of pins and said second cable extends between and is connected at each of its ends to a respective one of the second pair of pins;

in which said first attachment member is connected to a first end of the bladder and said second attachment member is connected to a second end of the bladder; and

in which said first cable is operatively connected to said first attachment member and said second cable is operatively connected to said second attachment member, so that upon introduction of air into the bladder, said bladder distends and shortens the length of the bladder and each of the attachment members in said second direction which in turn shortens the length of each of the cables in said first direction to retract each of said pins from its respective aligned openings, and further upon deflation of said bladder to a normal elongated state said length of the bladder and the attachment members lengthens in the second direction and said length of each of said cables lengthens in said first direction to enable said bias of each of said springs to urge its respective pin into its respective aligned openings.