Particulate material trailer hopper door opening apparatus
AssigneeSioux City Tarp, Inc.
InventorsDonald W. Bremer, Terry L. Berg
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hopper door opening and closing apparatus operates a door on a hopper discharge opening. A pair of motorized linear actuators, each having an extendable rod, are mounted to support rails on opposite sides of the door. A bracket connects the rods to the door. A controller selectively activates the linear actuators to extend the rods and thereby move the door to an open position that permits material to flow through the lower opening and selectively activates the linear actuators to retract rods and thereby move the door to a closed position covering the lower opening.
Claims16
An improved particulate material trailer having a hopper with a discharge chute and a discharge opening, and a horizontally slidable door movable between opposite S-shaped support rails and between open and closed positions relative to the discharge opening, the improvement comprising:
- a pair of motorized linear actuators mounted on opposite sides of the chute;
- the linear actuators being spaced laterally from the discharge opening on exterior and lower sides of the support rails so as to avoid particulate material discharged through the opening;
- each actuator having a cylindrical housing with opposite first and second ends and an axially extensible and retractable arm having an outer end operatively connected to the door;
- a pair of electrical, reversible motors mounted on opposite sides of the chute adjacent to the first ends of the housings and operatively connected to the arms of the actuators;
- and
- whereby actuation of the motors in one direction extends the arms from the second ends of the housings to open the door, and actuation of the motors in an opposite direction retracts the arms into the second ends of the housings to close the door.
A method of operating a horizontally slidable door on a discharge chute of a particulate material hopper on a truck trailer, comprising:
- activating a pair of motors adjacent a first end of a pair of linear actuators in a first direction to axially extend a pair of rods from a second end of the linear actuators, with the rods having first ends residing within housings of the linear actuators and outer ends connected to the door so as to open the door and thereby allow particulate material to discharge past the open door from the hopper;
- spacing the linear actuators laterally apart from a discharge opening of the chute on exterior and lower sides of elongated S-shaped rails to avoid damage of the actuators by particulate material discharged through the opening when the door is open;
- and
- activating the motors in an opposite second direction to retract the rods into the linear actuators so as to close the door.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.