Granular material distributor
OwnerLeroy Vydrzalinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dispenser which fits between the box of a dump truck and its partially open tailgate includes a semicylindrical trough having an axially elongated slot in the bottom, an arcuate relatively narrow cover adjacent to and outside of the trough, end plates on the trough, end hangers supporting the cover and pivotally mounted on axles in the end plates, and a handle on one of the end hangers to rotate the cover to open and close the slot. A notched detent bar on an end plate holds the handle in selected positions. Clamps hold the structure to the tailgate and latch bars cooperate with latch hooks on the truck to hold the dispenser in place. A cage hooks on the tailgate to support an operator. Interior hook eyes are provided to lift the dispenser into attachment position on the truck.
Claims4
A material dispenser for selectively dispensing granular material from a dump truck of the type having a tiltable body portion with an open end and a tailgate pivotable about an axis near the top of said open end, said dispenser comprising the combination of
- an elongated upwardly opening, substantially semicylindrical trough having a central axis, said trough having a length greater than the width of said tiltable body portion;
- means in the lower portion of said trough defining a longitudinally extending slot dimensioned for permitting passage of granular material of a predetermined average size therethrough;
- an elongated arcuate cover plate having a length at least as great as the length of said slot and having a curvature substantially the same as said trough;
- hanger means for rotatably supporting said cover plate for concentric movement relative to and outside of said trough about an axis parallel with said central axis between a first position in which said cover plate lies immediately below and closes said slot and a second position in which said cover plate exposes said slot, said hanger means including
- first and second end plates having a tapered configuration to conform to the opening between said body portion and said partially open tailgate, said end plates being fixedly attached to opposite ends of said trough and having arcuate lower edges conforming to the shape of said trough,
- first and second hanger plates attached to opposite ends of said cover plate and extending parallel with said end plates, and
- axle means for rotatably supporting said hanger plates on said end plates;
- lever means attached to one of said hanger plates for manually moving said cover plate;
- and
- means for supporting said trough and said hanger means between the open end of said truck body portion and said tailgate with said tailgate in a partially opened position and with the upper portion of said trough at or below the level of the floor of said body portion, said means including
- first and second wall portions extending upwardly from said trough and inwardly from edges of said end plates toward and beyond the sides of said tailgate, and
- clamp means on each of said wall portions for engaging and gripping said sides of said tailgate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.