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US 4,392,682 AGranted
Expansible and retractable vehicle body
OwnerKasper Norkus, Jr.inventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerKasper Norkus, Jr.inventor
Estimating the term…
A cargo truck trailer has telescoped box-like top and bottom body portions with mechanism operated from a single control station which will raise and lower the top body portion to provide maximum cargo space that will clear overhead structures such as viaducts along the intended travel route so that a single vehicle trailer becomes useful at maximum capacity over a designated route. The top or roof body portion is guided by ribs or struts of the bottom body portion. The mechanism which raises and lowers the top body portion is housed within the bottom body portion preferably between its outer skin and inner liner. The control station is a single crank which drives gears and chains to simultaneously rotate a plurality of vertical screw rods at the corners and midsection of the body to raise and lower nut members carried by the top body portion. An access door or tailgate is supported on telescoped tracks which accommodate the raising and lowering of the top body or roof portion so that the cargo section may be completely closed regardless of its selected height.
A closed cargo carrying expansible and contractable rigid vehicle body which comprises a main bottom body portion having upright side walls defining an open top and a rear doorway, a top roof body telescoped over said bottom body, vertical guides on the bottom and top telescoped body portions, mechanisms for raising and lowering the top body relative to the bottom body cooperating with said guides to vary the height of the body and doorway, a power input for said mechanisms, means connecting all of said mechanisms to said power input for simultaneous operation, a multi-panel overhead door closing said doorway and telescoped tracks on said bottom and top bodies supporting said panels for movement between a doorway closing upright position and a horizontal overhead doorway opening position throughout the varied height of the doorway.
A closed rigid cargo vehicle which comprises a wheeled main vehicle body with upright side walls defining an open top cargo chamber, a roof body telescoped on said main body, upright ribs on said main body, upright ribs on said top body in straddled relation with the ribs on the main body, said straddled ribs providing guide tracks for guiding the top body to an extended raised position and a retracted lower position, lift rod mechanisms for raising and lowering the top body, means for simultaneously driving said mechanisms, anti-friction means carried by adjacent straddled ribs to facilitate raising and lowering of the top body by said mechanisms, an overhead door closing a rear doorway, and telescoped door guiding tracks on said top and main bodies whereby said door will close the entire door way regardless of variations in the height thereof caused by the raising and lowering of said top body.
An expansible and contractable trailer body which comprises a lower main body with a bottom floor, upright side and front end walls, a rear doorway and an open top, a roof top body telescoped over the open top of the lower body, means raising and lowering said top body on said lower body, an overhead door closing said doorway, and telescoped door guiding tracks on said top and lower bodies whereby said door will close the entire doorway regardless of variations in the height thereof caused by the raising and lowering of said top body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.