Slope plates for particulate material truck box

A slope plate assembly for use in a truck box having a floor, opposite side walls extending upwardly from the floor, and an auger system residing below the floor for discharging particulate material from the box, the assembly comprising:

• a plurality of slope plate sections pivotally mountable on each side wall for pivotal movement between a raised position adjacent the one side wall and a lowered position extending angularly between the one side wall and the auger system;
• the slope plate sections having opposite side edges, with one of the side edges having a C-shaped channel and the other side edge having a lip;
• and
• the adjacent edges of adjacent slope plate sections overlapping one another with the lip of one plate being received in the C-shaped channel of an adjacent plate.

An improved truck box for transporting particulate material, comprising:

• a substantially horizontal floor having opposite forward and rearward ends, opposite sides, and an elongated opening extending longitudinally along the length of the floor;
• opposite first and second side walls extending substantially vertically upwardly from each side of the floor;
• a first slope plate assembly pivotally connected to the first side wall for pivotal movement between a substantially vertical raised position adjacent the first side wall and a lowered position extending angularly between the first side wall and the floor;
• a second slope plate assembly pivotally connected to the second side wall for pivotal movement between a substantially vertical raised position adjacent the second side wall and a lowered position extending angularly between the second side wall and the floor;
• each slope plate assembly including a plurality of slope plate sections which are individually pivotal between the raised and lowered positions;
• the slope plate sections having opposite side edges with one edge having a tongue and the opposite edge having a groove, with adjacent edges of adjacent slope plate sections overlapping one another, with the tongue of one plate being received in the groove of the adjacent plate, the tongue and groove each having a width with the groove width being substantially greater than the tongue width to provide tolerance between the tongue and groove of adjacent overlapped plates.