Login| Sign Up| Help| Contact|

Patent Searching and Data


Title:
A STEERABLE TRAILER OR DOLLY FOR A MULTI-COMBINATION ROAD VEHICLE
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/2015/164914
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
A dolly (20) has chassis (22). A set of rear axles (36) is supported from a rear end of the chassis (22) and a set of landing legs (38) extend downwardly from a front end of the chassis (22). Coupled to the landing legs (38) is a set of steerable wheels (40). More particularly the steerable wheels (40) are coupled to an axle (41) that in turn is connected to the landing legs (38). The landing legs (38) are telescopically extendible between an extended position and a retracted position. When in the extended position the legs (38) are extended so that the wheels (40) engage the road or other surface on which the dolly (20) travels. When the legs (38) are in the retracted position the wheels (40) are lifted from the road. The dolly is provided with motive power by way of one or both of an engine (24) and a steerable wheel power system. An on-board controller (52) is operatively associated with the steerable wheels (40) and the motive power source. A remote control unit can communicate with the on-board controller to enable remote steering and driving of the dolly (20).

More Like This:
WO/2021/164845DOLLY
WO/2015/055514TRANSPORT SYSTEM
Inventors:
TURNER JOHNATHAN LESLIE (AU)
Application Number:
PCT/AU2015/000255
Publication Date:
November 05, 2015
Filing Date:
May 01, 2015
Export Citation:
Click for automatic bibliography generation   Help
Assignee:
BIS IND LTD (AU)
International Classes:
B62D53/08; B62D13/04; B62D59/04; B62D61/12
Foreign References:
US20110074132A12011-03-31
AU2012216710A12012-09-27
US4762192A1988-08-09
US5332052A1994-07-26
DE4119014A11992-12-10
US5492402A1996-02-20
US20120098243A12012-04-26
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
GRIFFITH HACK (109 St Georges TerracePerth, Western Australia 6000, AU)
Download PDF:
Claims:
CLAIMS

1. A steerable trailer or dolly for a multi-combination road vehicle the trailer or dolly comprising: a first end and an opposite second end; at least one steerable wheel near the first end and at least one axle near the second end, the at least one axle at the second end having at least one wheel at each of its opposites ends.

2. The steerable trailer or dolly according to claim 1 comprising an axle at the first end and wherein the at least one steerable wheel comprises at least one steerable wheel at each end of the axle at the first end.

3. The steerable trailer or dolly according to claim 2 wherein the axle at the first end is fixed against rotation or pivot motion about a vertical axis.

4. The steerable trailer or dolly according to any one of claims 1 - 3 wherein the steerable wheels are capable of being moved between: a retracted position where the steerable wheels are lifted from a ground surface; and, an extended position where the steerable wheels contact the ground surface.

5. The steerable trailer or dolly according to claim 4 comprising a support structure which couples the steerable wheels to the chassis and wherein the support structure is arranged to enable the steerable wheels to be moved between the retracted and extended positions.

6. The steerable trailer or dolly according to claim 5 wherein the support structure comprises at least one extendable and retraceable leg.

7. The steerable trailer or dolly according to any one of claims 1 - 6 comprising a steerable wheel power system arrange to provide torque to the steerable wheels to facilitate motion of the trailer or dolly.

8. The steerable trailer or dolly according to claim 7 wherein the steerable wheel power system comprises a hydraulic motor for each axle end of the axle at the first end of the trailer or dolly.

9. The steerable trailer or dolly according to any one of claims 1 - 8 comprising an engine arranged to provide torque to at least one set of wheels at the least one axle at the second end to facilitate motion of the trailer or dolly.

10. The steerable trailer or dolly according to any one of claims 1 - 9 comprising an onboard controller coupled with the steerable wheels and a remote control unit arranged to communicate with the on-board controller wherein the controllers enable a user to remotely steer and drive the trailer or dolly.

Description:
A STEERABLE TRAILER OR DOLLY FOR A MULTI-COMBINATION ROAD VEHICLE

Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a steerable trailer or dolly for a multi-combination road vehicle.

Background Art Operators of mines are constantly searching for ways to reduce the costs associated with mined products. One of the most significant costs in operating a mine is transporting the mined material from the ore face to a processing plant. This is exacerbated when the mined payload is of low grade, that is, the desired mineral or metal is only a small percentage by weight and/or volume of the mined ore so that substantial amounts of ore have to be handled to extract a small percentage of desired material. A further problem that occurs is where the ore has to be handled several times.

Underground mines often have a central lifting or winding shaft to bring the mined ore to the surface. These shafts require a dedicated receival point. To get the ore to that point a dedicated rail system may be provided. The rail system is level and route specific. This reduces flexibility and adaptability to changing routes.

Underground mine haulage or dump trucks are used to transport the ore from various mining levels both above and below the rail haulage level to the dedicated rail system that then transports the ore to the lifting shaft receival point. The trucks are always a single unit that is either rigid or pivot steer. This type of arrangement has a number of distinct disadvantages.

The dump trucks cause a significant amount of hot air per ton of ore hauled, which is exhausted into the mine. This must be taken into account when designing the ventilation system of the mine. Mine ventilation systems are used to pump cold air into the mine. The construction and drilling of ventilation shafts is one of the major costs in establishing an underground mine.. Due to the limitation of currently known dump trucks, the time that they can operate underground is limited, particularly due to excess heat they produce. To reduce the heat, the dump trucks have to move relatively slowly.

Another way of transporting the ore is using highway type road vehicle combinations or multi-combination road vehicles (MCRVs). MCRVs (also known as "road trains") may be constituted by a prime mover or truck coupled to a plurality of trailers and converter dollies. These vehicles are limited by their horsepower, tractive or braking efforts/capacities, manufacturer componentry ratings, directional stability behaviour, swept path characteristics, gradability and startability.

As a result, currently known systems for the extraction of ore from mines set limits on the commercial usefulness of mines simply due to the cost of transporting the ore.

The term "trailer" is sometimes understood to mean a vehicle capable of carrying goods and being connectable at either a front end or both a front end and a back end to other vehicles, trailers and dollies. The term "dolly" is sometimes understood to mean a vehicle that in not capable of carrying goods but is connectable at either a front end or both a front end and a back end to other vehicles and trailers. In a practical sense one difference between a trailer and dolly is that a trailer has a receptacle or tray that can receive and carry goods but a dolly does not. Another difference is that a dolly has one or more axles at one (the rear) end and landing legs at an opposite (front) end. Therefore a dolly must be hooked up to a trailer or other component of the road train in order to move or be moved. A trailer usually has axles at both front and back ends, although at times a trailer may also be provided with landing legs at the front end and one or more axles at the rear end.

A trailer and a dolly are distinguished from a prime mover or truck by the absence of a cabin with driver controls such as an ignition switch, steering wheel, throttle, gear selector brake and indicator selector. The above described background art is not intended to limit the application of the trailer or dolly as disclosed herein. In particular, embodiments of the disclosed trailer or dolly have application in many industries and endeavors including but limited to: ore haulage in a mine, be it open cut or underground; and, open road transport for example on highways of any goods such as for example bulk agricultural or mining commodities, containers, or manufactured goods and machines.

Summary Of The Disclosure

In broad terms this specification discloses a steerable trailer or dolly for a multi-combination road vehicle (hereinafter also referred to as a "MCRV"). In one embodiment the trailer or dolly has at least one steerable wheel. The at least one steerable wheel may be coupled at a lower end of a support structure that extends from a chassis of the trailer or dolly. The at least one steerable wheel may be arranged to be steered remotely. The remote control can be for example a hand held controller.

In a first aspect there is disclosed a steerable trailer or dolly for a multi-combination road vehicle the trailer or dolly comprising: a first end and an opposite second end; at least one steerable wheel near the first end; and at least one axle near the second end, the at least one axle at the second end having at least one wheel at each of its opposites ends.

In one embodiment the steerable trailer or dolly comprises an axle at the first end and the at least one steerable wheel comprises at least one steerable wheel at each end of the axle at the first end.

In one embodiment the axle at the first end is fixed against rotation or pivot motion about a vertical axis. In one embodiment the steerable wheels are capable of being moved between: a retracted position where the steerable wheels are lifted from a ground surface; and, an extended position where the steerable wheels contact the ground surface.

In one embodiment the steerable trailer or dolly comprises a support structure which couples the steerable wheels to the chassis and wherein the support structure is arranged to enable the steerable wheels to be moved between the retracted and extended positions.

In one embodiment the support structure comprises at least one extendable and retraceable leg.

In one embodiment the steerable trailer or dolly comprises a steerable wheel power system arranged to provide torque to the steerable wheels to facilitate motion of the trailer or dolly.

In one embodiment the steerable wheel power system comprises a hydraulic motor for each axle end of the axle at the first end of the trailer or dolly.

In one embodiment the steerable trailer or dolly comprises an engine arranged to provide torque to at least one set of wheels at the least one axle at the second end to facilitate motion of the trailer or dolly.

In one embodiment the steerable trailer or dolly comprises an on-board controller operatively associated with the steerable wheels and a remote control unit arranged to communicate with the on-board controller wherein the controller and the control unit enable a user to remotely steer and drive the trailer or dolly.

Brief Description Of The Drawings Notwithstanding any other forms which may fall within the scope of the trailer or dolly as set forth in the Summary, specific embodiments will now be described, by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic representation from a side of a first embodiment of the disclosed dolly;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the dolly shown in Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a perspective close-up view of steerable wheels incorporated in the steerable dolly;

Figure 4 is a perspective underside view of the steerable wheels ;

Figure 5 is a schematic representation of a front end of a second embodiment of the disclosed steerable dolly;

Figure 6 is a upper perspective view of the steerable landing legs shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a top view of the steerable landing legs shown in Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a back perspective view of steerable landing legs shown in Figure 7; and

Figure 9 is a schematic representation of a trailer embodiment of the disclosed steerable trailer or dolly.

Detailed Description Of The Invention In the accompanying drawings certain parts of the disclosed dolly and trailer are not necessarily to scale and in particular certain parts may have been shown out if proportion for the purposes of clarity or illustration.

Figures 1-4 illustrate a first embodiment of the disclosed dolly 20. The dolly 20 has a chassis 22 with two I-beams 23, one of each extending along opposite side of the chassis

22. In this embodiment the dolly 20 is provided with an engine 24 suspended beneath the chassis. The engine may be in the form of a combustion engine such but not limited to a diesel engine. The engine 24 is protected by a skid pan 26 supported form the chassis 22. Extending below a front end 28 of the dolly 20 is a king pin 30 that is adapted to engage a turntable or fifth wheel (not shown) on either a prime mover or trailer chassis.

The dolly 20 also includes a turntable 32 located generally centrally on its rear end 34. A set of rear axles 36 is supported from the chassis generally beneath the turntable 32. There can be any number of axles in the set, although two rear axles 36 are illustrated in Figure 1. The axles 36 are rotationally fixed relative to the chassis 22. Each axle 36 may be provided with one or two wheels 37 at each end. A suspension system (not shown) acts between the wheels and the chassis. The turntable 32 is adapted to be engaged by a king pin located at the front end of a towed trailed (not shown). The engine 24 powers wheels 37 on at least one of the rear axles 36 through a drive train (not shown), thus providing additional motive power force to a MCRV which incorporates the dolly 20. A cooling system/radiator 39 engine 24 is supported on the chassis 22. The dolly 20 further includes a support structure in the form of a set of landing legs 38. The landing legs 38 are fixed to and extend downwardly from the chassis 22. The landing legs 38 enable supporting of the front end of the dolly 20 when the dolly is not connected at its front end to another vehicle such as a trailer, truck or prime mover. Coupled to the landing legs is a set of steerable wheels 40. More particularly the steerable wheels 40 are coupled to an axle 41 that in turn is connected to the landing legs 38. The axle 41 is fixed against rotation or pivot motion about a vertical axis.

The landing legs 38 are telescopically extendible between an extended position and a retracted position. When in the extended position the legs 38 are extended so that the wheels 40 engage the road or other ground surface on which the dolly 20 travels. When the legs 38 are in the retracted position the wheels 40 are lifted from the road. When the dolly 20 is coupled into and part of a MCRV the legs 38 are in the retracted position so that the wheels 40 do not engage the road. However when the dolly 20 is decoupled from a MCRV the legs 38 are in the extended position so the legs 38 together with the wheels 40 support a front end of the dolly 20.

The support structure/legs 38 may comprise for example hydraulic rams. Further the support structure/legs 38 may be extendible to an extent to raise the front end of the trailer or dolly to enable the king pin 30 to be selectively coupled with and decoupled from a leading vehicle.

Instead of or in addition to the engine 24, the dolly 20 may be provided with a steerable wheel power system arranged to provide torque to the steerable wheels 40 to facilitate motion of the trailer or dolly. The steerable wheel power system can be in the form of hydraulic motors 29 coupled to each wheel 40. The steerable wheel power system also has a power source such as a combustion engine or an electric motor and battery (not shown) to power the hydraulic motors 29. Thus in one embodiment the dolly 20 may have only the hydraulic motors 29 (and associated power source) to enable self-propelling of the dolly 20 when decoupled from a leading prime mover or other vehicle. In this case the dolly 20 will be a front wheel drive vehicle.

When the dolly has both the engine 24 and the steerable wheel power system, the engine 24 may be used to provide additional motive power to a MCRV in which it is coupled; while the steerable wheel power system can be used either by itself or in combination with the engine 24 to drive or otherwise propel the dolly 20 when decoupled from a leading prime mover or other vehicle including a trailer.

In Figures 1 - 4 the steerable wheels 40 are shown as being pivotally coupled at opposite ends to the axle 41 . An actuator 44 is coupled to the wheels 40 by links 46. The actuator 44 may be for example dual piston hydraulic or pneumatic ram, or an electric screw jack. Irrespective of the nature of the actuator 44 it is operable to pivot or turn the wheels 40 to providing the steering functionality to the wheels 40. Power to the actuator 44 may be provided by the engine 24 or via the separate wheel power system if provided.

In the embodiment of the dolly 20 shown in Figures 1 - 4, the legs 38 are fixed to an outside of the I beams 23 which form part of the chassis 22. Each leg 38 comprises a fixed outer square tubular portion 48 and a portion 50 that can be telescopically extended from or retracted into the portion 48. The axle 41 is attached to the portions 50. The portions 50 are controlled to move in unison. An on-board controller 52 (see Fig 4) is supported on the dolly 20 and operatively associated with: the steerable wheels 40; and one or both of the engine 24 and the steerable wheel power source (whichever are provided). The on-board controller 52 is arranged to receive signals from the remote control unit to cause the actuator 44 to operate and turn or otherwise steer the wheels 40, and to turn ON and enable control of the engine 24 and/or steerable wheel power system.

When the dolly 20 is decoupled from a MCRV the legs 38 are in the extended position as shown in Figure 1. It may be driven and steered by remote control. Drive can be provided by: (a) the steerable wheel power system and associated hydraulic motors 29 if provided; (b) the engine 24 if provided; or (c) either the steerable wheel power system only or a combination of the steerable wheel power system and engine 24 if both are provided. Irrespective of the specific power source the dolly 20 is remotely steerable via the steerable wheels 40. If one or more trailers are coupled at the second (rear) end of the dolly they can be towed by the dolly. This enables the dolly and trailers to be driven by remote control and subsequently hitched to a prime mover or a trailer coupled to a prime mover.

Figures 5 - 8 depict a second embodiment of the steerable dolly denoted by reference number 20'. In describing the dolly 20' those features that are the same as for the dolly 20 are denoted with the same reference numbers, while features which are similar in function or structure but not identical to those of the dolly 20 are denoted with the same reference number but with the addition of a ' symbol. The dolly 20' differs from the dolly 20 mainly only in terms of the configuration of the: chassis 22'; the legs 38'; axle 41 '; and the actuator 44'. The operation and functionality the dolly 20' is identical to the dolly 20. In the dolly 20' however the legs 38' are attached to mounting blocks 53 located beneath the chassis 22. The legs 38' have a circular outer upper portion 48' and telescopically extendable and retractable lower portion 50'.

The axle 41 ' is also of a slightly different configuration having an intermediate portion 54 and integrally formed offset axle ends 56. The axle ends 56 are located vertically above the intermediate portion 54. The legs 38' connected to the intermediate portion 54. The actuator 44' is connected by respective pivot links 46' to the respective wheels 40. The actuator 44' may be in the form of a dual piston hydraulic or pneumatic ram, or electric screw jack.

As with the dolly 20, the legs 38' can be moved to respective extended and retracted positions. In both embodiments of the dolly the respective legs 38, 38' are retracted to lift the wheels 40 from the ground when coupled to a MCRV, at least when the MCRV is in motion.

By virtue of the steerable wheels 40 the dolly 20, 20' (with or without following attached conventional trailers) can be driven forward and steered into a correct and accurate position for attachment and detachment to other components of a MCRV quickly and easily. This saves time when the components are required to be serviced or any other time that the MCRV is assembled or disassembled. A particularly significant benefit or advantage of the steerable dolly is in the situation where maintenance may be required of the dolly or a trailer behind the dolly. Consider for example a MCRV consisting of a prime mover having three connected trailers, then an intervening dolly 20 and three further trailers. Say now that there is a problem with the dolly 20. A front part of the MCRV can be decoupled at a location between the third trailer and the dolly 20 and continue operation. When the dolly 20 has been repaired the MCRV can be reconstituted by driving the dolly 20 forward with its coupled trailers so as to hitch onto the third trailer behind the prime mover. This can be done because the power dolly 20 can be steered by virtue of the steerable wheels 40. In contrast it is not possible to back up a prime mover with three trailers to reconstitute the full MCRV. Without the steerable dolly 20 it would be necessary to decouple all of the trailers and the dolly from the prime mover using a crane and then reconstitute the same using a crane. During this period there would be no ability to transport commodities.

Figure 9 depicts a trailer embodiment 200 of the disclosed steerable trailer or dolly. The trailer 200 differs from the dollies 20, 20' in substance only by the provision or inclusion of a tray 202 or other receptacle for holding bulk commodities or otherwise carrying a payload. In all other aspects the trailer 200 has the same substantive features of either of the dolly 20 or 20'. On minor difference is that the trailer 200 has three rear axles 36. All reference numbers marked on Fig 9 denote the same features as in the dolly 20.

Whilst a number of specific embodiments of the disclosed steerable trailer or dolly have been described, it should be appreciated that the steerable dolly or trailer may be embodied in many other forms.

In the claims which follow, and in the preceding description, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" and variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" are used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the steerable trailer or dolly as disclosed herein.