Refuse collection vehicle having bolt-on fenders
AssigneeCon-Tech Manufacturing, Inc.
InventorsGrant McNeilus, Garwin McNeilus, Jay Attleson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
To provide additional flexibility for a refuse collection vehicle, a removable fender panels are used on an outside portion of the main collection body. The removable fender panels are formed to have a sloped section that will cause rain, snow and other materials to naturally drain from the panel, thus helping to maintain the appearance of the vehicle. Since the fender panels are removable, they can be easily replaced when excessive signs of wear begin to appear. Further, this provides further flexibility during the manufacturing process since the panels can be manufactured from a wide variety of materials including steel, stainless steel, aluminum and many non-metallic materials.
Claims14
A refuse collection vehicle comprising:
- a frame assembly supporting a cab, motor, wheels and a transmission assembly;
- a main collection body mounted to the frame and defining a main collection chamber, wherein the collection chamber has a main opening at a first end thereof and wherein the main opening is situated at the rear of the collection vehicle;
- a collection mechanism coupled to the main collection body and positioned adjacent the main opening;
- and
- a fender assembly coupled to the outer portion of the main collection body, the fender assembly comprising a plurality of support brackets and a removable fender panel, wherein the support brackets are attached to the main collection body at a side location thereof, and wherein the fender panel has at least one sloped surface which, when coupled to the support brackets is situated at a predetermined angle with respect to horizontal.
A refuse collection vehicle comprising:
- a vehicle frame;
- a main collection body supported by the vehicle frame, the main collection body having a collection hopper at a rear portion thereof, a pair of sidewalls and a front wall structure, wherein the pair of sidewalls and front wall structure form a collection housing for the receipt of refuse during refuse collection operations, wherein each sidewall has a top edge and a bottom edge, and each sidewall is situated on opposite sides of the collection vehicle;
- a plurality of fender brackets coupled to the main collection body at the bottom edge of the each sidewall, therein the fender brackets have a sloped supporting surface and a vertical supporting surface, with the vertical supporting surface being oriented in a near vertical orientation when the refuse vehicle is operating, wherein the sloped supporting surface is oriented at a predetermined angle with respect to horizontal;
- a pair of removable fender panels configured to be removably coupled to the plurality fender brackets, wherein each fender panel will have a sloped panel surface, vertical panel surface and a bottom surface, wherein the sloped panel surface is configured to be closely positioned adjacent the sloped supporting surface of the fender brackets and positioned such that a top edge of the fender panel is adjacent the sidewall, and wherein the vertical panel surface is configured to be adjacent the vertical surface of the fender bracket, and wherein the bottom surface is positioned below the fender brackets;
- and
- a plurality of connectors removably coupling the removable fender panels to the plurality of fender brackets.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.