Rear impact guard assembly for trailers
First Claim
1. A rear impact guard assembly for a vehicle from protection against forces applied by rear impacts comprising a plurality of vertical guards being affixed to a rear of the vehicle and having upper and lower end portions,a horizontal member being affixed to the lower end portion of said plurality of vertical guards, said upper portion of said vertical guard being attached to a structural beam of a vehicle frame, said vertical guards undergoing plastic deformation in response to rear impacts for absorption of the forced applied without damage to the vehicle, said plurality of vertical guards include a U-shaped configuration, said U-shaped configuration includes a rearwardly facing wall and a pair of flanges, one of said flanges being wider than another of said flanges.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A rear impact guard assembly for trailers for absorbing the energy of a rear impact from another vehicle including a pair of tubular vertical guards having a lower tubular horizontal tube mounted at their lower ends. The upper ends of the vertical guards are attached to a horizontal beam, which in turn is affixed to longitudinally extending side rails. The vertical guards are removably affixed to the horizontal beam and respectively removable affixed to the slide rails. Tubular members extend through holes
70 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A rear impact guard assembly for a vehicle from protection against forces applied by rear impacts comprising a plurality of vertical guards being affixed to a rear of the vehicle and having upper and lower end portions,
a horizontal member being affixed to the lower end portion of said plurality of vertical guards, said upper portion of said vertical guard being attached to a structural beam of a vehicle frame, said vertical guards undergoing plastic deformation in response to rear impacts for absorption of the forced applied without damage to the vehicle, said plurality of vertical guards include a U-shaped configuration, said U-shaped configuration includes a rearwardly facing wall and a pair of flanges, one of said flanges being wider than another of said flanges.
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2. A rear impact guard assembly for a vehicle from protection against forces applied by rear impacts comprising
a plurality of vertical guards being affixed to a rear of the vehicle and having upper and lower end portions, a horizontal member being affixed to the lower end portion of said plurality of vertical guards, said upper portion of said vertical guard being attached to a structural beam of a vehicle frame, and said vertical guards undergoing plastic deformation in response to rear impacts for absorption of the forced applied without damage to the vehicle, and each of said plurality of vertical guards are removably attached to a rear sill of a trailer, and reinforcement means attached to the upper portion of the vertical guard for strengthening the rear sill of the trailer.
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7. A rear impact guard assembly for a vehicle from protection against forces applied by rear impacts comprising
a plurality of vertical guards being affixed to a rear of the vehicle and having upper and lower end portions, a horizontal member being affixed to the lower end portion of said plurality of vertical guards, said upper portion of said vertical guard being rigidly attached to a structural beam of a vehicle frame, and said vertical guards undergoing plastic deformation in response to rear impacts for absorption of the forced applied without damage to the vehicle, and each of said plurality of vertical guards are removably attached to a rear sill of a trailer, and a plurality of downwardly extending projections mounted on the rear sill, said projections engaging the upper end portion of said vertical guards for securement.
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12. A rear impact guard assembly for protection against rear impact forces for a vehicle a having frame structure and plurality of longitudinally extending slide rails comprising
a plurality of vertical guards having upper and lower end portions, a horizontal member being affixed to said lower end portions, means for rigidly affixing said upper portions of said vertical guards to a lateral horizontal beam of the frame structure, bracket means for affixing the plurality of slide rails to the lateral horizontal member and to said vertical guards, and said vertical guards being subject to plastic deformation to absorb energy from the rear forces and prevent damage to the frame structure and the slide rails.
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16. A rear impact guard assembly for a vehicle from protection against forces applied by rear impacts comprising
a plurality of vertical guards being affixed to a rear of the vehicle and having upper and lower end portions, a horizontal member being affixed to the lower end portion of said plurality of vertical guards, said upper portion of said vertical guard being rigidly attached to a structural beam of a vehicle frame, and aid vertical guards undergoing plastic deformation in response to rear impacts for absorption of the forces applied as a result of said plastic deformation without damage to the vehicle, said plurality of vertical guards include a U-shaped configuration, and said U-shaped configuration includes a pair of spaced flanges, a shim connecting said spaced flanges for controlling plastic deformation of said vertical guards.
Specification