Cargo moving apparatus for trucks

Abstract

A truck trailer has a movable load-supporting floor including a conveyor belt for fore and aft movement of cargo along the truck trailer, permitting cargo to be loaded into or unloaded from the trailer with minimal expenditure of human labor. The conveyor utilizes a pair of rigid, elongated members positioned along the sidewalls of the truck, spaced from one another, and generally parallel to one another. A plurality of elongated parallel rollers are closely spaced to one another and have their ends rotatably mounted to the elongated members, permitting rotation of the rollers about their longitudinal axes. The conveyor belt is supported by the rollers and mounted thereon for fore and aft movement along the trailer as the rollers rotate about their axes. Sprockets are fixed to the ends of each individual roller. A pair of endless chains extends along the lateral sides of the belt and engages the sprockets at each end of the rollers to rotate the rollers. The conveyor belt is fixed to the endless chains at both lateral sides of the belt to positively drive the belt in response to chain movement, and the rigid rollers support the load within the trailer. A generally upright barrier is fixed to the belt and to the chains to move forwardly and rearwardly with the conveyor belt and provides support to cargo adjacent the barrier. A pair of tracks is mounted to the sidewalls and supports and guides idler wheels on the barrier. The cargo moving apparatus may be installed as original truck equipment or added as an accessory to already existing trucks. The truck trailer may also be provided with a swingable tailgate having a cargo carrying conveyor belt confronting the conveyor belt of the truck trailer, and when placed in a rearwardly extending, horizontal orientation provides a loading deck at the rear cargo entrance of the truck trailer. A loading bar is mounted across the cargo entrance for upward and downward movement to control the tipping of cargo entering or leaving the conveyor belt and also to protect the conveyor belt from collision damage.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.