Fracturing sand dump trailer
AssigneeMidland Manufacturing Corp.
InventorLeroy J. Friesen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A trailer for particulates, especially for fracturing sand, but also for other materials, has a clam shell gate, which sealingly engages when closed preventing egress of particulates. The gate is attached to a hopper which has an exterior control mechanism thus avoiding wear and tear from particulates. The hopper is an inverted pyramid with downward and inward inclined walls below the trailer. The trailer itself has a cargo compartment with forward and rear sloping walls and upright side walls. The sloping walls of the trailer and the inclined walls of the hopper are inclined at about 38° to the horizontal, which is greater than the angle of repose of fracturing sand to allow complete or near complete discharge of fracturing sand.
Claims21
A clam shell gate for attachment to a hopper of a trailer for particulates, said gate comprising paired opposed side walls and paired opposed end walls;
- and said paired opposed end walls and said paired opposed side walls having bottom edges;
- clam shell plates pivotally mounted in said end walls, said clam shell plates being pivotally movable between an open position and a closed position, said clam shell plates being mounted on supporting arms, said supporting arms adjacent each end wall having teeth on each supporting arm which engage teeth on the other supporting arm;
- said clam shell plates in closed position sealingly engaging each other and said bottom edges of said paired opposed side walls and said paired opposed end walls to prevent egress of particulates through said gate.
A trailer including a hopper for particulates comprising a gate operating mechanism exterior to said gate, mounted exterior to said hopper, whereby said gate operating mechanism is isolated from said particulates, said gate operating mechanism being adapted to move said clam shell plates between said closed and open positions, said gate comprising paired opposed side walls and paired opposed end walls;
- and said opposed end walls and paired opposed side walls having bottom edges and clam shell plates pivotally mounted in said end walls, said clam shell plates being pivotally movable between an open position and a closed position, said gate operating mechanism having a control arm, a first end of said control arm being attached to an outer edge of one said clam shell plate, and a second end of said control arm being fixedly mounted on a rotatable shaft, said shaft being journally mounted in shaft support brackets attached to said hopper and at least one lever having a handle attached to said shaft, said shaft and said control arm being rotatable between a first position wherein said clam shell gate is closed and a second position wherein said clam shell gate is open.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.