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US 10,766,396 B2Granted
Insulated transportation trailer
AssigneeWabash National, L.P.
InventorsJohn Cannon, Thomas Hitchcock
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A transportation trailer can include a cargo tank with a shell that includes an outer wall, an inner wall, and an insulating core between the outer wall and the inner wall. The shell can be unsupported by structural rings, and the cargo tank can be a frameless cargo tank. The cargo tank can be formed by decoiling respective coils of inner-wall material, outer-wall material, and insulating-core material, joining the inner-wall material, the insulating-core material, and the outer-wall material to form a sandwich-type panel, and welding the sandwich-type panel to form the shell.
Claims21
A transportation trailer comprising:
- a cargo tank having a substantially cylindrical shell;
- the substantially cylindrical shell including:
- a rigid outer wall;
- an inner wall formed from metal;
- and
- an insulating core disposed between the rigid outer wall and the inner wall, the insulating core providing structural support to the substantially cylindrical shell,
- wherein the cargo tank does not include structural rings connected to the inner wall;
- wherein the cargo tank does not include a frame extending from a front end of the substantially cylindrical shell to a rear end of the substantially cylindrical shell.
5 more elements
A transportation trailer comprising:
- a cargo tank that includes:
- an inner wall;
- an outer wall;
- and
- an insulating core disposed between the outer wall and the inner wall;
- the inner wall, the outer wall and the insulating core forming a sandwich-type shell that includes at least one of:
- a plurality of sandwich-type panels connected by a plurality of substantially linear longitudinal welds;
- and
- a continuous spiral of at least one of the inner wall, the outer wall, and the insulating core, joined with a continuous spiral weld;
- the sandwich-type shell not being supported by structural rings;
- and
- the cargo tank being a frameless cargo tank.
9 more elements
A method of forming a cargo tank having a substantially cylindrical shell with a sandwich-type construction, the method comprising:
- providing a first coil of outer-wall material;
- providing a second coil of insulating-core material;
- providing a third coil of inner-wall material;
- decoiling the outer-wall material, the insulating-core material, and the inner-wall material from the first, second, and third coils, respectively;
- joining the insulating-core material to the inner-wall material and to the outer-wall material to form at least one sandwich-type panel;
- welding the at least one sandwich-type panel to form the substantially cylindrical shell, wherein the insulating core provides structural support to the substantially cylindrical shell;
- not including structural rings connected to the inner-wall material after the substantially cylindrical shell is formed;
- and
- not providing a frame extending from a front end of the substantially cylindrical shell to a rear end of the substantially cylindrical shell after the substantially cylindrical shell is formed.
6 more elements
A transportation trailer comprising:
- a cargo tank having a substantially cylindrical shell;
- the substantially cylindrical shell including:
- an outer wall;
- an inner wall;
- and
- a structural insulating core disposed between the outer wall and the inner wall;
- and
- the transportation trailer:
- not including structural rings connected to the inner wall;
- and
- not including a frame extending from a front end of the substantially cylindrical shell to a rear end of the substantially cylindrical shell.
8 more elements
A transportation trailer comprising:
- a cargo tank having a substantially cylindrical shell;
- the substantially cylindrical shell including:
- a rigid outer wall;
- an inner wall formed from metal;
- an insulating core disposed between the rigid outer wall and the inner wall, the insulating core providing structural support to the substantially cylindrical shell;
- a front mounting assembly coupled to a front end of the cargo tank;
- and
- a rear mounting assembly coupled to a rear end of the cargo tank;
- wherein the front mounting assembly is spaced apart from the rear mounting assembly and the transportation trailer does not include a frame member extending between the front mounting assembly and the rear mounting assembly to support the cargo tank.
6 more elements
A transportation trailer comprising:
- a cargo tank having a substantially cylindrical shell;
- the substantially cylindrical shell including:
- a rigid outer wall;
- an inner wall formed from metal;
- and
- an insulating core disposed between the rigid outer wall and the inner wall, the insulating core providing structural support to the substantially cylindrical shell,
- wherein:
- the substantially cylindrical shell does not include a substantially circumferential weld seam, and
- the substantially cylindrical shell is formed from a plurality of panels joined together by substantially longitudinal weld seams, each of the panels including an outer wall portion, an inner wall portion, and an insulating core portion between the inner wall portion and the outer wall portion.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.