Side skirt system for a trailer
AssigneeWabash National, L.P.
InventorsJames Bruce Brown, Leonard William Baker
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A side skirt system for reducing drag on a trailer includes a side skirt wall configured to be coupled to one side of the trailer to extend below a side wall of the trailer along a length of the trailer. A mounting bracket assembly of the system is coupled to the side skirt wall and is configured to be coupled to a floor assembly of the trailer. The mounting bracket assembly is configured to tilt laterally outwardly and laterally inwardly with respect to a generally vertical axis parallel to the side wall of the trailer.
Claims14
A side skirt system for reducing drag on a trailer, comprising:
- a side skirt wall configured to be coupled to one side of the trailer to extend below a side wall of the trailer at least partially along a length of the trailer;
- and
- a mounting bracket assembly coupled to the side skirt wall and configured to be coupled to a floor assembly of the trailer, wherein the mounting bracket assembly and the side skirt wall are configured to tilt laterally inwardly with respect to a generally vertical axis parallel to the side skirt wall, and wherein the mounting bracket assembly includes a vertically-extending compression spring having a first end configured to be coupled to the floor assembly of the trailer and a second end configured to compress as the side skirt wall tilts laterally inwardly,
- wherein the mounting bracket assembly includes a vertically-extending channel mount coupled to the side skirt wall and configured to move with the side skirt wall, and wherein the compression spring is positioned above the channel mount.
A side skirt system for reducing drag on a trailer, comprising:
- a side skirt wall configured to be coupled to one side of the trailer to extend below a side wall of the trailer at least partially along a length of the trailer;
- and
- a mounting bracket assembly coupled to the side skirt wall and configured to be coupled to a floor assembly of the trailer,
- wherein the mounting bracket assembly and the side skirt wall are configured to tilt laterally inwardly with respect to a generally vertical axis parallel to the side skirt wall,
- wherein the mounting bracket assembly includes (i) a vertically-extending channel mount coupled to the side skirt wall and configured to move with the side skirt wall, (ii) a horizontal plate coupled to the channel mount for movement therewith, (iii) a vertically-extending post received through an aperture in the horizontal plate, (iv) a vertically-extending compression spring mounted on the post, wherein tilting movement of the channel mount urges the compression spring to compress, and
- wherein the spring is vertically spaced-apart from the channel mount and is positioned above a top edge of the side skirt.
A side skirt system for reducing drag on a trailer, comprising:
- a side skirt wall configured to be coupled to one side of the trailer to extend below a side wall of the trailer at least partially along a length of the trailer;
- and
- a mounting bracket assembly coupled to the side skirt wall and configured to be coupled to a floor assembly of the trailer, wherein the mounting bracket assembly and the side skirt wall are configured to tilt laterally inwardly with respect to a generally vertical axis parallel to the side skirt wall, and wherein the mounting bracket assembly includes a vertically-extending compression spring having a first end configured to be coupled to the floor assembly of the trailer and a second end configured to compress as the side skirt wall tilts laterally inwardly,
- wherein the first and second ends of the spring are each positioned above a top edge of the side skirt wall.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.