SELF-REPOSITIONING AERODYNAMIC SKIRT
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A resilient strut adapted to secure an aerodynamic skirt to a trailer is provided, the aerodynamic skirt comprising a skirt panel including a front portion and a rear portion adapted to be substantially longitudinally mounted to the trailer, the skirt panel being adapted to move away from the aerodynamic configuration when contacting a foreign object and to recover its aerodynamic configuration thereafter, the resilient strut includes a shape variation adapted to change the mechanical strength thereof and also adapted to sustain an elastic deformation allowing the resilient strut to bend when a load is applied to the resilient strut when the skirt panel moves away from the aerodynamic configuration and to self-recover its original shape when the load is removed. A kit of resilient struts, a method thereof and a trailer equipped with same are also provided.
0 Citations
39 Claims
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1-20. -20. (canceled)
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21. An aerodynamic skirt assembly comprising:
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a pair of skirt panels each adapted to be mounted to respective longitudinal sides of a trailer, each skirt panel including a front portion and a rear portion, the front portion being adapted to be mounted toward a forward portion of the trailer and the rear portion being adapted to be mounted toward a rear portion of the trailer in an original skirt panel aerodynamic configuration adapted to reduce air drag about the trailer when the trailer is in movement, and each skirt panel being adapted to independently move away from the original skirt panel aerodynamic configuration as a consequence of an external force caused by a physical contact between the skirt panel and an object not associated with the aerodynamic skirt assembly and the trailer to a visibly altered position detrimental to the air drag reduction obtained when the skirt panel is in the original skirt panel aerodynamic configuration, and to self-recover the original skirt panel aerodynamic configuration when the skirt panel is not in physical contact anymore with the object, for regaining the air drag reduction obtained when the skirt panel is in the original skirt panel aerodynamic configuration, and a plurality of struts associated with each skirt panel and adapted to secure the skirt panel to the trailer, each strut comprising a skirt connecting portion, adapted to be secured to the skirt panel, and a trailer connecting portion, adapted to be secured to the trailer, each strut being flexible to accommodate relative movements between the skirt connecting portion and the trailer connecting portion thereof, each strut being adapted to sustain a substantial reversible elastic deformation from an original strut configuration when a force is applied thereon by the skirt panel moving away from the original skirt panel aerodynamic configuration as a result of an external force, and to self-recover the original strut configuration when the skirt panel is not sustaining the external force anymore, each strut being constructed with a material allowing a substantial elastic deformation thereof without recording substantial plastic deformation thereof, which allows the strut to move away from the original strut configuration and support the skirt panel away from the skirt panel aerodynamic configuration in the visibly altered position detrimental to the air drag reduction obtained when the skirt panel is in the original skirt panel aerodynamic configuration, and to self-recover the original strut configuration when the skirt panel is not sustaining the external force anymore, for recovering the air drag reduction obtained when the skirt panel is in the original skirt panel aerodynamic configuration. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37)
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35. (canceled)
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38. An aerodynamic skirt assembly kit for reducing air drag of a trailer, the aerodynamic skirt assembly kit comprising:
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a pair of skirt panels respectively including a front portion and a rear portion, each of the pair of skirt panels being adapted to be mounted to a respective longitudinal side of the trailer, the front portion being adapted to be mounted toward a forward portion of the trailer and the rear portion being adapted to be mounted toward a rear portion of the trailer in an original skirt panel aerodynamic configuration adapted to reduce air drag about the trailer when the trailer is in movement, each of the skirt panels being adapted to independently move away from the original skirt panel aerodynamic configuration as a consequence of an external force caused by a physical contact between the skirt panel and an object not associated with the aerodynamic skirt assembly and the trailer to a visibly altered position detrimental to the air drag reduction obtained when the skirt panels are in the original skirt panel aerodynamic configurations, and to self-recover the original skirt panel aerodynamic configuration when the skirt panel is not in physical contact anymore with the object, for regaining the air drag reduction obtained when the skirt panel is in the original skirt panel aerodynamic configuration, a plurality of struts each comprising a skirt connecting portion and a trailer connecting portion adapted to accommodate relative movements thereof, each of the plurality of struts being adapted to sustain a substantial reversible elastic deformation from an original strut configuration when a force is applied thereon by one of the skirt panels when moving away from its original skirt panel aerodynamic configuration as a result of an external force, and to self-recover the original strut configuration when the skirt panel is not sustaining the external force anymore, the plurality of resilient struts being constructed with a material allowing a substantial elastic deformation without recording substantial plastic deformation, which allows the plurality of struts to move away from the original strut configurations and support the skirt panels away from the skirt panel aerodynamic configurations in the visibly altered position detrimental to the air drag reduction obtained when the skirt panels are in the original skirt panel aerodynamic configurations, and to self-recover the original strut configurations when neither of the skirt panels is in physical contact with an object, for recovering the air drag reduction obtained when the skirt panels are in the original skirt panel aerodynamic configurations. - View Dependent Claims (39)
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Specification