Cargo box

In an elongated cargo box for an overland vehicle having a longitudinal axis extended between the front and rear ends thereof and particularly suited for use in transporting bulk cargo, such as refuse, the improvement comprising:

• a pair of vertically oriented side walls disposed in a pair of forwardly converging planes, an inclined floor of a planar configuration inclined downwardly toward the rear end of the cargo box, means defining at the rear end of the cargo box a discharge opening disposed in a vertical plane, an endless conveyor for advancing bulk along the floor of said cargo box including a plurality of conveyor chains extended through the discharge opening, each of said chains being characterized by an upper and a lower run, a plurality of T-bars extended transversely of each of said chains and rigidly affixed thereto, and means for closing said discharge opening including an angularly displaceable door, cantilevered pivot means spaced rearwardly of the plane of said opening a distance sufficient for supporting said door in suspension for gravitation from a vertical disposition to an inclined disposition wherein the panel is inclined away from the opening, including support members extending rearwardly from the opposite sides of said opening, mounting means affixed to said door and coupling means pivotally coupling said mounting members to said support members in rearwardly spaced relation with said discharge opening, a spring biased latching dog for securing said door in a closed configuration, and means for releasing said door for angular displacement toward an open position wherein the door is inclined away from the plane of said opening.

In an overland vehicle having a longitudinal axis extending between the front and rear ends thereof, particularly suited for use in transporting bulk cargo, an elongated cargo box having a longitudinal axis extended in parallelism with the longitudinal axis of the vehicle comprising:

• A. a pair of vertically oriented side walls disposed in a pair of forwardly converging planes, a floor of a planar configuration, conveyor means for advancing bulk cargo along said cargo box including a plurality of chains, each being characterized by upper and lower runs extended between the ends of the cargo box, a plurality of T-bars extended transversely of each of said chains and rigidly affixed thereto, and means defining at the rear end of said cargo box a discharge opening disposed in a transverse plane;
• B. a drive unit mounted at the rear end of said cargo box including a drive shaft, a plurality of coaxially aligned sprockets mounted on said drive shaft for receiving the plurality of chains, journal means for supporting said drive shaft at each of its opposite ends, and means for releasably coupling said journal means to said box;
• and
• C. an angularly displaceable door for closing said discharge opening, cantilevered pivot means spaced rearwardly of said opening for supporting said door in suspension, a spring biased latching dog for securing said door in a closed configuration, means for releasing said door for angular displacement, and visual indicator means for providing intelligence indicative of a closed configuration for said door.

In combination with a cargo box for an overland vehicle characterized by a vertically oriented, rear discharge opening closure means adapted to alternately engage and disengage contents of said box for first confining contents of the box and then accommodating a discharge of the contents through said vertically oriented opening, comprising:

• A. a planar closure panel for said discharge opening moveable between a closed position wherein the panel is vertically disposed in engaged relation with contents of the box and an open position wherein the panel is inclined away from the opening in substantially disengaged relation with the contents of the box;
• and
• B. suspension means for supporting said panel for angular displacement between said closed and open positions including a first pair of arms rigidly mounted on the upper portions of the box and projected in a rearward horizontal direction away from opposite sides of said opening, a second pair of arms rigidly mounted on the upper position of said closure panel and projected in parallelism therefrom and characterized by end portions disposed in contiguous relation with the extended end portions of said first pair of arms, and means disposed in displaced relation with said discharge opening pivotally connecting the extended end portions of said first pair of arms to the contiguous end portions of said second pair of arms for supporting said panel in pivotal suspension at a distance from said opening such that the weight of the panel causes the panel to move downwardly about an axis arranged in spaced relation with said discharge opening and away from the discharge opening a distance sufficient for substantially disengaging the contents of the cargo box.