Composite truck body kits
AssigneeWabash National, L.P.
InventorsScott Storz, Travis Smith McCloud, Bryan Yielding, Timothy Frederick Marling
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure provides a kit assembly for a truck body including a plurality of composite panels that may be shipped from a manufacturer to a customer for subsequent assembly of the truck body. The composite panels of the kit assembly may be flat, rigid, and lightweight to facilitate shipment. The composite panels of the kit assembly may also include embedded anchors and/or adhered connectors to facilitate alignment and subsequent assembly of the cargo body using common mechanical fasteners.
Claims10
A method for assembling a cargo body for a vehicle, the method comprising:
- manufacturing a composite floor assembly including an L-shaped connector continuous around an entire perimeter to the composite floor assembly, the L-shaped connector a vertical portion and a horizontal portion beneath the floor assembly;
- manufacturing a composite first sidewall and a composite second sidewall;
- manufacturing a composite front wall;
- manufacturing a composite roof having a perimeter rail;
- packaging the composite floor assembly, the composite first sidewall, the composite second sidewall, the composite front wall, the composite roof, and mechanical fasteners in a kit assembly;
- and
- shipping the kit assembly to a different location for subsequent assembly of the cargo body, wherein the kit assembly is configured for assembly using only the mechanical fasteners, the vertical portion of the L-shaped connector configured to couple to the composite first sidewall, the composite second sidewall, the composite front wall, and a rear door assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.