HEAVY-LOAD VEHICLE

Abstract

The invention relates to a heavy-load vehicle comprising at least two partial vehicles, namely a frontmost partial vehicle and a rearmost partial vehicle, said frontmost partial vehicle having connecting means, and said rearmost partial vehicle having counter-connecting means adapted and configured for cooperating with said connecting means, one of said connecting means and said counter-connecting means including an inner telescopic member guided in a hollow outer telescopic member in a telescoping manner. According to the invention said hollow outer telescopic member is integrally formed by a tubular or box-shaped central part of a partial vehicle frame of one of the partial vehicles, said hollow outer telescopic member and said inner telescopic member cooperating therewith being parts of the same partial vehicle.

Claims

1. A heavy-load vehicle comprising at least two partial vehicles, namely a frontmost partial vehicle including or being connected to a tow connection device for connecting said heavy-load vehicle to a towing vehicle not being part of the heavy-load vehicle, and a rearmost partial vehicle, said frontmost partial vehicle having connecting means, and said rearmost partial vehicle (104) having counter-connecting means adapted and configured for cooperating with said connecting means for operatively connecting said frontmost partial vehicle and said rearmost partial vehicle to each other, one of said connecting means and said counter-connecting means including an inner telescopic member guided in a hollow outer telescopic member in a telescoping manner, wherein said hollow outer telescopic member is integrally formed by a tubular or box-shaped central part of a partial vehicle frame of one of the partial vehicles, said hollow outer telescopic member and said inner telescopic member cooperating therewith being parts of the same partial vehicle.

2. The heavy-load vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said inner telescopic member has a length which is equal to or less than the length of the outer telescopic member.

3. The heavy-load vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a vehicle end unit attachable to a rear end of said rearmost partial vehicle.

4. The heavy-load vehicle according to claim 1, including at least three types of partial vehicles, namely said frontmost partial vehicle, said rearmost partial vehicle and at least one intermediate partial vehicle, said at least one intermediate partial vehicle having a hollow outer telescopic member and an inner telescopic member guided in said outer telescopic member in a telescoping manner, said hollow outer telescopic member being integrally formed by a tubular or box-shaped central part of a partial vehicle frame of said at least one of intermediate partial vehicle, said hollow outer telescopic member and said inner telescopic member cooperating therewith being parts of the same intermediate partial vehicle.

5. The heavy-load vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the inner telescopic member is adapted to extend out of the cooperating hollow outer telescopic member to the rear side of the respective partial vehicle.

6. The heavy-load vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the inner telescopic member is adapted to extend out of the cooperating hollow outer telescopic member to the front side of the respective partial vehicle.

7. The heavy-load vehicle according to claim 1, wherein an intermediate telescopic member is sandwiched in a telescoping manner between said inner telescopic member and said hollow outer telescopic member.

8. The heavy-load vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said outer telescopic member and said inner telescopic member, and optionally said at least one intermediate telescopic member, have a rectangular cross-section.

9. The heavy-load vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a first plate part of a bolt-plate coupling is mounted at the free end of the inner telescoping member of a first of two immediately consecutive partial vehicles, while a second plate part designed to cooperate with said first plate part via a bolt of said bolt-plate coupling is mounted to a facing end of a second of said two immediately consecutive partial vehicles.

10. The heavy-load vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the first plate part is welded to said free end of said inner telescopic member of the first of said two immediately consecutive partial vehicles, and wherein the second plate part is welded to the facing end of said partial vehicle frame of the second of said two immediately consecutive partial vehicles.

11. The heavy-load vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the tow connection device of the frontmost partial vehicle includes a gooseneck or a drawbar.

12. The heavy-load vehicle according to claim 1, wherein at least two of the partial vehicles, preferably all partial vehicles, include at least one wheeled axle, preferably at least two wheeled axles, more preferably at least three wheeled axles.

13. The heavy-load vehicle according to claim 12, wherein at least one wheeled axle includes two wheeled axle units, preferably two pendular axle units, more preferably two actively steerable pendular axle units or full-floating axle units.

14. The heavy-load vehicle according to claim 1, further including at least one additional component, e.g. at least one long load receiving unit or a drop deck

Description

[0023] In the following, the invention will be described in more detail with respect to a specific embodiment referring to the enclosed drawings, in which:

[0024] FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a heavy-load vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention in its extended state;

[0025] FIG. 2 shows a side view of the heavy-load vehicle of FIG. 1;

[0026] FIG. 3 shows a side view similar to FIG. 2 of the heavy-load vehicle of FIG. 1 in its compact state;

[0027] FIGS. 4 and 5 show a side view (FIG. 4) and a plan view (FIG. 5) of parts of two consecutive, but separated partial vehicles; and

[0028] FIGS. 6 to 10 show further embodiments of heavy-load vehicles according to the present invention.

[0029] In FIGS. 1 to 5 a heavy-load vehicle according to the present invention is generally designated by reference numeral 100. The heavy-load vehicle 100 comprises a frontmost partial vehicle 102 and a rearmost partial vehicle 104. The frontmost partial vehicle 102 has a gooseneck 106 including a fifth-wheel coupling 108 (see FIG. 3) as a tow connection to a tractor or towing vehicle not shown.

[0030] A chassis 110 of the frontmost partial vehicle 102 includes a frame 112 and three wheeled axles 114a, 114b and 114c, each having two wheeled axle units, namely a left axle unit 116L and a right axle unit 116R, indicated only for the first wheeled axle 114a.

[0031] Analogously, a chassis 120 of the rearmost partial vehicle 104 includes a frame 122 and three wheeled axles 124a, 124b and 124c, each having two wheeled axle units, namely a left axle unit 126L and a right axle unit 126R.

[0032] As may be seen from FIGS. 4 and 5, the frontmost partial vehicle 102 has connecting means 118, while the rearmost partial vehicle 104 has counter-connecting means 128 adapted and configured for cooperating with said connecting means 118 for operatively connecting the frontmost partial vehicle 102 and the rearmost partial vehicle 104 to each other. Both connecting means include elements of a bolt-plate coupling. In particular, the connecting means 118 of the frontmost partial vehicle 102 includes a plate part 118a of the bolt-plate coupling, while the counter-connecting means 128 of the rearmost partial vehicle 104 includes a counter-plate part 128a of the bolt-plate coupling. Both plate parts 118a, 128a may be connected to each other by means of a bolt 129.

[0033] The plate parts 118a and 128a are mounted to cross-beams 118b and 128b, respectively. While the cross-beam 128b is rigidly mounted to the frame 122 of the rearmost partial vehicle 104, the cross-beam 118b is rigidly mounted to an inner telescopic member 118c telescopably guided in a hollow outer telescopic member 118d (see FIG. 5) which is integral part of the frame 112 of the frontmost partial vehicle 102.

[0034] It is important to note that inner telescopic member 118c and the outer telescopic member 118d are parts of one and the same partial vehicle, namely in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 5 part of the frontmost partial vehicle 102. Accordingly, the inner telescopic member 118c may be retracted into the outer telescopic member 118d, thus shortening the length of the frontmost partial vehicle 102. As may be seen, for example, from FIG. 3, the inner telescopic member 118c advantageously may be fully retracted into the outer telescopic member 118d resulting in a minimum length of the frontmost partial vehicle 102 in its compact state.

[0035] Although, according to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 5, the inner telescopic member 118c and the outer telescopic member 118d merely provide for a one-level telescopability, an intermediate telescopic element schematically indicated in FIG. 5 by dashed lines 118e, may be sandwiched in a telescoping manner between the outer telescopic member 118d and the inner telescopic member 118c in order two provide a two-level telescopability. And, in principle, even higher-level telescopabilities are conceivable by providing further intermediate telescopic elements.

[0036] As schematically indicated in FIG. 1 by a dashed line, the rearmost partial vehicle 104 may be equipped at its rear end 104a with a vehicle end unit 130 which forms an integral part of the rearmost partial vehicle 104. This vehicle end unit 130 may, for example, include indication elements, e.g. brake lights, turn indicators and the like, which might be required according to national laws.

[0037] As a consequence of this design, the rearmost partial vehicle 104 doesn't include any telescoping element. It is, however, also conceivable that the telescopic element is provided in the rearmost partial vehicle and extends from the front end thereof towards the frontmost partial vehicle.

[0038] FIG. 6 shows a plan view of a further heavy-load vehicle according to the present invention, which substantially corresponds to the heavy-load vehicle of FIG. 1 to 5. As a consequence, analogous parts are designated by the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 1 to 5, but increased by 100. Furthermore, the heavy-load vehicle 200 of FIG. 6 will be described only insofar it differs from the heavy-load vehicle 100 of FIGS. 1 to 5 to the description of which reference is made in all other respects.

[0039] The main difference between the heavy-load vehicle 200 of FIG. 6 and the heavy-load vehicle 100 of FIGS. 1 to 5 is that it includes three partial vehicles, namely a frontmost partial vehicle 202 having the same design as the frontmost partial vehicle 102 of the heavy-load vehicle 100, a rearmost partial vehicle 204 having the same design as the rearmost partial vehicle 104 of the heavy-load vehicle 100 and carrying the vehicle end unit 230, and an intermediate partial vehicle 232.

[0040] The intermediate partial vehicle 232 has a frame 234 similar to the frame 120 of the rearmost partial vehicle 104 of the heavy-load vehicle 100. In particular, the frame 234 includes at its front end counter-connecting means 236 identical to the counter-connecting means 128 of the rearmost partial vehicle 104. At its rear end, however, it includes telescopable connecting means 238 identical to the connecting means 118 of the frontmost partial vehicle 102. Accordingly, the intermediate partial vehicle 232 easily fits between and may be connected to the frontmost partial vehicle 202 and the rearmost partial vehicle 204, increasing the length of the heavy-load vehicle 200 to three partial vehicles.

[0041] It goes without saying that, by providing a plurality of intermediate partial vehicles all having the identical design as intermediate partial vehicle 232, the length of the heavy-load vehicle may be increased as needed and/or desired.

[0042] If the afore-mentioned vehicle end unit 230 is designed as a separate part which may be attached to the rear end of intermediate partial vehicle 232, a heavy-load vehicle of arbitrary length may be obtained by using only two types of partial vehicles, namely said frontmost partial vehicle and a plurality of identically designed intermediate partial vehicles, one of which constitutes the rearmost partial vehicle by having the vehicle end unit attached thereto. Examples of a heavy-load vehicle 300 having three partial vehicles, namely a frontmost partial vehicle 302 and two intermediate partial vehicles 332, one constituting the rearmost partial vehicle 304 to which the vehicle end unit 330 is mounted, and of a heavy-load vehicle 400 having four partial vehicles, namely a frontmost partial vehicle 402 and three intermediate partial vehicles 432, one constituting the rearmost partial vehicle 404 to which the vehicle end unit 430 is mounted, are shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, respectively.

[0043] It should be noted that heavy-load vehicles according to the present invention may be used according to a plurality of different configurations depending upon the respect load transporting purpose. Referring to FIG. 9, it is, for example, conceivable to use the inventive concept for transporting long loads, e.g. concrete beams or steel pipes, schematically indicated as a dashed rectangle. In this case four partial vehicles 552, 554, 556, 558 may be combined in a paired arrangement, and each of the pairs 560, 562 of the heavy-load vehicle 500 may be equipped with a long load receiving unit 564, 566, respectively.

[0044] A further application may, for example, be to mount a drop deck between the frontmost partial vehicle and the rearmost partial vehicle. In the heavy-load vehicle 600 of FIG. 10, a drop deck 668 is mounted between a frontmost partial vehicle 602 and a pair of intermediate partial vehicles 632, one of which constitutes the rearmost partial vehicle 604. With respect to the present invention, it is to be noted that, although the frontmost partial vehicle 602 actually isn't connected to the intermediate partial vehicle 632, the connecting means 618 of the frontmost partial vehicle 602 and the counter-connecting means 628 of the intermediate partial vehicle 632 are adapted and configured for cooperating with each other for operatively connecting said frontmost partial vehicle 602 and said intermediate partial vehicle 632 to each other.