SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LOADING A TRAILER AND LIMITING THE WEIGHT ON AN AXLE

Abstract

A system and method comprising a feed delivery system that is adapted to load material into a trailer. The trailer may have at least one moveable axle that allows for the axle to be positioned such that there is not excessive weight on the axle due to the trailer.

Claims

1. A system comprising: a feed delivery system adapted to deliver material; a trailer adapted to receive material delivered by said feed delivery system; and at least one axle in association with said trailer to facilitate movement of said trailer, said at least one axle adapted to be moved to reduce an amount of weight on said at least one axle due to said trailer.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said feed delivery system is a screw feeder.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein said screw feeder comprises a cantilevered screw.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein said trailer comprises a rear wall that defines an opening through which said feed delivery system is adapted to deliver material.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein said feed delivery system is adapted to be aligned with or extend through said opening in order to load material into said trailer.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one axle is adapted to be moved such that said at least one axle extends beyond a side of said trailer.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein said at least one axle is adapted to be moved such that said at least one axle extends beyond a rear of said trailer.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one axle comprises a set of three axles.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein said trailer comprises said at least one axle.

10. The system of claim 1 further comprising: a transport chassis that comprises said at least one axle; wherein said trailer is positioned on said transport chassis.

11. A method comprising: providing a feed delivery system and a trailer; feeding material from said feed delivery system into said trailer; and after filling said trailer with said material to a desired amount, moving at least one axle that is in association with said trailer to reduce an amount of weight on said at least one axle due to said trailer.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said feed delivery system is a screw feeder.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said screw feeder comprises a cantilevered screw.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein said trailer comprises a rear wall that defines an opening through which said feed delivery system feeds said material into said trailer.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein said feed delivery system is aligned with or extends through said opening in order to feed said material into said trailer.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein said at least one axle is moved such that said at least one axle extends beyond a side of said trailer.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein said at least one axle is moved such that said at least one axle extends beyond a rear of said trailer.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein said at least one axle comprises a set of three axles.

19. The method of claim 11 wherein said trailer comprises said at least one axle.

20. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of: providing a transport chassis that comprises said at least one axle; wherein said trailer is positioned on said transport chassis.

21. The method of claim 11 wherein said at least one axle is in a retracted position when said material is fed from said feed delivery system into said trailer.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of a system for loading and transporting a trailer.

[0012] FIG. 2 is a detail view of the exemplary embodiment of a screw feeder shown in FIG. 1.

[0013] FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the system of FIG. 1 showing an exemplary embodiment of a transport chassis with the rear axles repositioned to limit weight on the rear axles.

[0014] FIG. 4 is a detail view of the exemplary embodiment of a screw feeder shown in FIG. 3.

[0015] FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the exemplary embodiments of the trailer and transport chassis of FIG. 3, wherein the rear axles of the transport chassis are in the extended position shown in FIG. 3.

[0016] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the exemplary embodiment of a screw feeder shown in FIGS. 1-4.

[0017] FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of another system for loading and transporting a trailer, which comprises a ram compactor for loading material into the trailer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT(S)

[0018] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to a system and method for loading material into a trailer for transport. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be particularly advantageous for the loading and transport of waste materials. Nevertheless, unless expressly set forth otherwise, it is not intended to limit an exemplary embodiment of the present invention to use with any particular type of material, unless expressly set forth otherwise.

[0019] FIGS. 1 and 3 show an exemplary embodiment of a system 10 of the present invention. System 10 is comprised of a screw feeder 20 that is adapted to feed material into a trailer 30. In this exemplary embodiment, trailer 30 is positioned on and secured to a transport chassis 40, which has a set of moveable rear axles 50 to facilitate movement of the trailer. In an exemplary operation, trailer 30 may be backed up or otherwise moved to screw feeder 20 (or vice versa) in order to be loaded with material. The set of moveable rear axles 50 are in an unextended or retracted position beneath trailer 30 in FIG. 1, which allows for trailer 30 to be positioned closely to screw feeder 20. Such as in this manner, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may eliminate the need for a further elongated screw to feed material into a trailer.

[0020] In an exemplary embodiment, screw feeder 20 or another feed mechanism (e.g., ram compactor) may fill trailer 30 to or near its maximum capacity for optimum efficiency. However, in some exemplary methods, a screw feeder or other feed mechanism may fill a trailer to a lesser degree, if desired.

[0021] An exemplary embodiment of trailer 30 may be any suitable type and size of trailer. In an exemplary embodiment, a trailer 30 may be a 60 cubic yard box trailer having a capacity of at least 20 tons. Such a box trailer may provide optimum efficiency and ease of transportation for many applications, especially for waste materials. Another suitable type of container is a roll off container (e.g., a 40 cubic yard roll off container having a capacity of at least 9 tons). In view of such examples, other types and sizes of trailers may also be useful in some exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

[0022] Once trailer 30 has been filled to a desired amount by screw feeder 20, trailer 30 and transport chassis 40 may be prepared for transport. Such as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the set of moveable rear axles 50 may be repositioned to prevent being subject to excess weight. In particular, the set of moveable rear axles 50 extend away from the body of transport chassis 40 and at least partially beyond a side (e.g., rear) of trailer 30. In this example, a slider block 52 slides on roller bearings to facilitate the repositioning of the set of moveable rear axles 50. An example of this type of transport chassis is commercially available from Pro-Haul of Gallipolis, Ohio. Other types of transport chassis are also commercially available from Pro-Haul, or may be available from other sources. Other suitable movement mechanisms for an axle may also be utilized. In this example, transport chassis 40 has three moveable axles. Other exemplary embodiments may have fewer or more moveable axles, and/or the axle(s) may be at another location on the transport chassis. In addition, other exemplary embodiments may have at least one other moveable axle at another location on the transport chassis (e.g., at a rear location and a front or side location on the transport chassis). As a result, in an exemplary embodiment, a moveable axle may be positioned such that it is adapted to extend at least partially beyond any side (e.g., rear, front, or intermediate side) of a trailer.

[0023] Some exemplary embodiments may not have transport chassis. For example, any of the aforementioned moveable axles may instead be an integral portion of or otherwise be in association with a trailer (instead of being a component of a transport chassis that is secured to a trailer such as by welding, mechanical fasteners, etc.). A moveable axle on or in association with a trailer may otherwise be similar to a moveable axle on a transport chassis.

[0024] FIG. 6 provides another view of screw feeder 20. This embodiment of screw feeder 20 is comprised of a single screw 22. Other embodiments may be comprised of multiple screws. Furthermore, an example of a screw may be straight or have a forward or reverse taper. For example, various types of screw feeders are available from Komar Industries. One such example is a cantilevered screw assembly such as shown in FIG. 6. In an exemplary embodiment, as the screw feeder 20 loads material into trailer 30, it may also compact the material in trailer 30 to facilitate filling trailer 30 to an optimal capacity.

[0025] Screw feeder 20 may be positioned at any height in order to feed material into trailer 30. In this example, trailer 30 has a rear wall 32 in order to block material from inadvertently exiting trailer 30, whereas an opening 34 in wall 32 provides an entry point into trailer 30. Such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the output (i.e., screw) of screw feeder 20 may be aligned with and/or extend through opening 34 (or vice versa) in order to load material into trailer 30.

[0026] A screw feeder is particularly beneficial for loading a trailer. In particular, an exemplary embodiment of a screw feeder may be configured to substantially continuously feed material into a trailer for optimal efficiency. Moreover, a screw feeder may have a cantilevered screw, which may be particularly useful for feeding material into a trailer (e.g., such as described in the above example). However, some embodiments of a screw feeder may not have a cantilevered screw.

[0027] Other suitable feed mechanisms may also be used. For example, a feed mechanism may have any suitable power source and any suitable means for inputting material, unless expressly set forth otherwise. FIG. 7 shows an example that uses a ram compactor 60 to load material into a trailer 30. For example, a ram compactor 60 or any other type of feed delivery system may also be aligned with and/or extend through opening 34 (or vice versa) in order to load material into trailer 30.

[0028] Any embodiment of the present invention may include any of the optional or preferred features of the other embodiments of the present invention. The exemplary embodiments herein disclosed are not intended to be exhaustive or to unnecessarily limit the scope of the invention. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain some of the principles of the present invention so that others skilled in the art may practice the invention. Having shown and described exemplary embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art will realize that many variations and modifications may be made to the described invention. Many of those variations and modifications will provide the same result and fall within the spirit of the claimed invention. It is the intention, therefore, to limit the invention only as indicated by the scope of the claims.