# US 2021/0276474 A1 · Transporter Having Lowerable Bed > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0276474 A1 - Document ID: US20210276474A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/194,810 - Filed: 2021-03-08 - Published: 2021-09-09 - Earliest claimed: 2020-03-09 - Assignees: Metalcraft of Mayville, Inc. - Applicants: Metalcraft of Mayville, Inc. - Inventors: Dennis Roskopf - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210276474A1 ## CPC - B60P 1/435: {the ramp being attached to or making part of the side- or tailboards of the vehicle} - B60P 1/433: {the loading floor or a part thereof being movable to form the ramp} - B62D 29/007: {predominantly of special steel or specially treated steel, e.g. stainless steel or locally surface hardened steel} - B62D 33/02: Platforms; Open load compartments {(flat wagons including posts or standards B61D3/08)} - B60P: VEHICLES ADAPTED FOR LOAD TRANSPORTATION OR TO TRANSPORT, TO CARRY, OR TO COMPRISE SPECIAL LOADS OR OBJECTS (vehicles with special provisions for transporting patients or disabled persons, or their personal conveyances A61G3/00) - B62D: MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS (steering, or guiding on a desired track, of agricultural machines or implements A01B69/00; wheels, castors, axles, increasing wheel adhesion B60B; vehicle tyres, tyre inflation or tyre changing B60C; connections between vehicles of a train or the like B60D; vehicles for use on rail and road, amphibious or convertible vehicles B60F; suspension arrangements B60G; heating, cooling, ventilating or other air treating devices B60H; windows, windscreens, non-fixed roofs, doors or similar devices, protective coverings for vehicles not in use B60J; propulsion plant arrangements, auxiliary drives, transmissions, controls, instrumentation or dashboards B60K; electric equipment or propulsion of electrically-propelled vehicles B60L; power supply for electrically-propelled vehicles B60M; passenger accommodation not otherwise provided for B60N; adaptations for load transportation or to carry special loads or objects B60P; arrangement of signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor, for vehicles in general B60Q; vehicles, vehicle fittings or vehicle parts not otherwise provided for B60R; servicing, cleaning, repairing, supporting, lifting, or manoeuvring, not otherwise provided for, B60S; brake arrangements, brake control systems or parts thereof B60T; air-cushion vehicles B60V; motor-cycles, accessories therefor B62J, B62K; testing of vehicles G01M) ## Abstract A transporter includes a frame supported on wheels, a cab mounted on a front portion of the frame, and a bed mounted on the rear portion of the frame. The bed includes deck plates and supports mounting the deck plates on the frame. At least a rear end portion of the bed is raiseable and lowerable relative to the frame. The bed is sufficiently lightweight that the transporter has a hauling capacity of at least 10,000 lbs. and a fully loaded gross vehicle weight of no more than 26,000 lbs. At least portions of the bed may be made from high strength steel (HSS) such as ASTM A1011/1011M steel having a grade of 80 or higher. A ramp, which may also be made of HSS, may be attachable to the rear of the bed and may have longitudinally extending supports and slats that may be arranged in a herringbone pattern. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A transporter comprising: (A) a frame supported on wheels; (B) a cab mounted on a front portion of the frame; and (C) a bed mounted on the rear portion of the frame, the bed including deck plates and supports mounting the deck plates on the frame, at least a rear end portion of the bed being raiseable and lowerable relative to the frame, wherein the transporter has a hauling capacity of at least 10,000 lbs. and a fully-loaded gross vehicle weight of no more than 26,000 lbs. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The transporter of claim 1, wherein at least portions of the bed are made from high strength steel (HSS). ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The transporter of claim 2, wherein the HSS is a ASTM A1011/1011M steel having a grade of 80 or higher. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The transporter of claim 1, wherein the bed includes a front portion and a rear portion, the rear portion being swingable about an arc to raise and lower the rear end of the rear portion relative to the frame. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The transporter of claim 4, further comprising airbags disposed between the frame and the bed and being selectively inflatable to raise at least a rear end portion of the bed relative to the frame. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The transporter of claim 1, further comprising a ramp that is attached to the rear portion of the bed, the ramp having longitudinally extending supports and slats that are mounted on the supports and that extend at an acute angle relative to the lateral. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The transporter of claim 6, wherein the slats are arranged in a herringbone pattern. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The transporter of claim 6, wherein the slats form opposed first and second opposed support surfaces of the ramp, and wherein the ramp is swingable about the truck bed from a deployed position in which a free end of the ramp engages a surface behind the truck bed and the first support surface of the ramp faces upwardly, to a stowed position in which the free end of the ramp rests on the truck bed and the second support surface of the ramp faces upwardly ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The transporter of claim 6, wherein the slats and the supports are wherein at least portions of the ramp are made from a ASTM A1011/1011M steel having a grade of 80 or higher. ### Claim 10 A truck comprising: (A) a frame supported on wheels; (B) an operator's cab mounted on a front portion of the frame; (C) a bed mounted on the rear portion of the frame, the bed including deck plates and deck plate supports mounting the deck plates on the frame, wherein the bed includes a front portion and a rear portion, the rear portion being swingable about an arc to raise and lower the rear end of the rear portion relative the frame; and (D) a ramp attached to the rear portion of the bed, the ramp having longitudinally extending supports and slats that are mounted on the supports and that extend at an acute angle relative to the lateral, wherein the truck has a hauling capacity of at least 10,000 lbs. and a fully loaded gross vehicle weight of no more than 26,000 lbs., wherein at least the deck plates, the deck plate supports, the slats, and the slat supports are made from a ASTM A1011/1011M steel having a grade of 80 or higher. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The truck of claim 10, further comprising airbags disposed between the frame and the bed and being selectively inflatable to raise at least a rear end portion of the bed relative to the frame. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The truck of claim 10, wherein the slats form opposed first and second opposed support surfaces of the ramp, and wherein the ramp is swingable about the truck bed from a deployed position in which a free end of the ramp engages a surface behind the truck bed and the first support surface of the ramp faces upwardly, to a stowed position in which the free end of the ramp rests on the truck bed and the second support surface of the ramp faces upwardly. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The truck of claim 10, wherein the slats are arranged in a herringbone pattern. ### Claim 14 A method of operating a transporter, the transporter comprising a frame supported on wheels, an operator's cab mounted on a front portion of the frame, and a bed mounted on a rear portion of the frame, the method comprising: (A) lowering at least a rear end portion of the bed relative to the frame; (B) loading cargo onto the bed to form a loaded transporter, the cargo having a mass of at least 10,000 lbs., and the loaded transporter having a gross vehicle weight of no more than 26,000 lbs.; (C) raising the rear end portion of the bed relative to frame; and (D) legally driving the loaded transporter on a highway in the United States without a CDL license. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the loading step comprises moving the cargo along a first support surface of a ramp that extends forwardly from a free end of the ramp to a rear end of the bed, and further comprising pivoting the ramp to a stowed position in which the free end of the ramp rests on the bed and a second support surface of the ramp faces upwardly, the second support surface being disposed opposite the first support surface. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the free end of the ramp rests on one of the ground and a loading dock during the loading step. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the bed includes deck plates and deck plate supports mounting the deck plates on the frame, wherein the ramp has longitudinally extending supports and slats that are mounted on the supports and that extend at an acute angle relative to the lateral, and wherein at least the deck plates, the deck plate supports, the slats, and the slat supports are made from a ASTM A1011/1011M steel having a grade of 80 or higher. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, wherein the bed includes deck plates and deck plate supports mounting the deck plates on the frame, and wherein at least the deck plates and the deck plate supports are made from a ASTM A1011/1011M steel having a grade of 80 or higher.