The present invention relates to the dump body of a load carrying vehicle.
The invention has application to load carrying vehicles of the form to be used in earth moving and mining activities and which are used to carry earth and ore. Such vehicles can have a pay load capacity of the order of 100-200 tonnes. Generally the dump body of such vehicles comprises a floor, side walls and a headboard, and because of the magnitude of the load being carried, the nature of the materials being carried which may comprise large pieces of rock and the manner in which the material can be delivered into the vehicle the dump body must be constructed to be sufficiently robust to be able to withstand the forces exerted upon the dump body during loading of the materials, transporting the materials and depositing the materials. As a result of conventional design parameters it is established practice to construct the dump bodies to be able to withstand the anticipated forces such that as a result the, dump bodies have a significant tare weight. This considerable tare weight significantly reduces the pay load capacity of the vehicle as well as resulting in additional wear and tear on the vehicle and a significant consumption of fuel and consumables, such as tyres.
It is an object of this invention to provide a construction for a dump body which is able to significantly reduce the tare weight of the dump body.
Accordingly in one aspect the invention resides in a dump body for a load carrying vehicle having a floor, side walls at each side and a head board at the forward end of the dump body, the headboard comprising a generally upright panel extending between the floor and side walls and a forward panel extending forwardly from the upper edge of the upright panel, the connection between the forward panel and upright panel comprising a first torsion member fixed between the side walls, the upper edge of said upright panel being fixed at one or more locations along the length of the first torsion member and the forward panel being fixed at a plurality of locations to the first torsion member and wherein the forward panel comprises a plurality of panels each interconnected by a further torsion member extending between the sides of the forward panels, said further torsion members being parallel to the first torsion member.
According to a preferred feature of the invention a side panel extends along each side of the forward panel from each side wall and is fixed to the side wall and each side of the forward panel.
According to a further preferred feature of the invention the junction between the upright panel and the floor is of an arcuate profile.
According to a further preferred feature of the invention the junction between the each side wall and the floor is of an arcuate profile.
According to a further preferred feature the upright panel is forwardly inclined.
According to a further preferred feature the floor is defined by a panel which is removably mounted to the dump body. Accordingly to a further feature of the invention the panel is reversible. According to one embodiment the panel is supported by a support frame adapted to be mounted to the chassis of the load carrying vehicle, and said panel extends transversely between the side walls and longitudinally between the front wall and the rear of the body, said panel being fixed to the support frame by a plurality of removable fixings located at spaced locations on the panel which are adapted to be engagable with the support frame to clampingly retain the panel in position on the support frame.
According to another aspect the invention resides in a dump body for a load carrying vehicle having a floor, side walls at each side and a head board wherein the floor is supported by a support frame adapted to be mounted to the chassis of the load carrying vehicle, said floor being defined by a panel which extends transversely between the side walls and longitudinally between the front wall and the rear of the body, said panel being fixed to the support frame by a plurality of removable fixings located at spaced locations on the panel which are adapted to be engagable with the support frame to clampingly retain the panel in position on the support frame, said panel being configured to be reversible in the fore and aft axis of the dump body.
According to a preferred feature of the invention packing in the form of a resilient material is provided between the floor and the base frame of the dump body. According to alternative embodiments of the invention the packing comprises a high density polyethylene or polyurethane.
According to a further preferred feature of the invention the fixings are located at spaced intervals around the edge of the floor and at intermediate locations on the floor.
The invention will be more fully understood in the light of the following description of one specific embodiment.
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