RU2387554C1 - Vehicle trailer and method for improvement of all-wheel drive vehicle flotation ability by means of it - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: transport.

SUBSTANCE: vehicle trailer contains support frame near the front edge of which on the same axis virtually perpendicular to main direction of trailer movement, upper ends of two pairs of carrying rods are pivotally mounted. At lower ends of rods in each pair, tyre cylinder with flanges is rotatably mounted. The flanges clamp pneumatic tyre mounted on this tyre cylinder along its sides. On support frame, two pairs of friction rollers are rotatably mounted on axes virtually perpendicular to main direction of trailer movement. Friction rollers in each pair are located in tandem and with possibility to rest on pneumatic tyre located under friction rollers when vehicle trailer is in operational state. Method for improvement of all-wheel drive vehicle flotation ability includes steps in which the mentioned vehicle is provided with two said trailers. Both trailers are connected in tandem using docking unit so that distance between pneumatic tyre axes of both trailer are approximately equal to interaxial distance of the said vehicle. The said vehicle is moved on connected trailers to place vehicle wheels on corresponding pairs of friction rollers of corresponding trailer. The said vehicle is fixed to support frames of both trailers.

EFFECT: increased vehicle flotation ability.

13 cl, 6 dwg

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to vehicles, in particular to vehicles intended for off-road driving.

State of the art

Currently, there are many devices for increasing the patency of land non-rail vehicles.

It is well known to use caterpillar propulsion to increase the cross-country ability of a vehicle. So, for example, in the patent of the Russian Federation No. 2309080 (published on October 27, 2007) a removable tracked unit of a vehicle is disclosed, which replaces the wheels of the vehicle. However, this design is quite complex and requires a long time to replace the wheels with tracked engines. At the same time, such movers allow moving only on the ground and are useless for forcing water barriers.

An improvement of this design is described in the patent of the Russian Federation No. 2229156 (publ. July 20, 2008) quick-detachable crawler attachment to the car. According to this document, the car is placed with wheels above the track rollers, which significantly speeds up the installation process of such a mover. However, water barriers remain impassable for him. In addition, in this technical solution - as in the previous one - a special place is required for transporting the caterpillar console (s) when driving on the highway.

The way out could be tires of low and even ultra-low pressure, such as those described in the RF patent for utility model No. 53999 (publ. 06/10/2006), in US patent No. 4538657 (publ. 09/03/1985) and in Japanese application No. 2006 -341783 (published on December 21, 2006). And in the patent of Canada No. 1233493 (publ. 01.03.1988) a device with a segmented air caterpillar is disclosed, which uses a “flattened” low-pressure tire in the form of a caterpillar. However, these movers are impractical when driving on the highway.

Also known is the patent of the Russian Federation No. 2036811 (publ. 09.06.1995), which describes a trailer container of a vehicle made with the possibility of transformation into an air cushion. Such a trailer is very useful in overcoming water barriers, but is not suitable when driving on unpaved roads.

The closest analogue to the claimed invention is a pneumatic caterpillar mover according to the patent of the Russian Federation No. 2284941 (publ. 10.10.2006), in which the mover is a pumped casing along which rolls transmitting movement roll. However, such a propulsion device, according to the calculations of the author of this patent, should have a minimum overall size of 4 × 7 m with a load capacity of 2 tons and 6 × 12 m with a load capacity of 10 tons. And although a vehicle with such a mover can be used to transport bulky and heavy loads outside public roads or, for example, when unloading transport ships from the sea to an unprepared shore, etc., such large dimensions make it unsuitable for driving on ordinary roads .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The aim of this invention is to develop such a propulsion device that would overcome the disadvantages of known analogues, i.e. It would make it possible to quickly convert a conventional vehicle into an all-terrain vehicle and even an amphibious all-terrain vehicle, and at the same time it would be practical enough when driving on flat ground to transport various cargoes as a towed car trailer.

To achieve this goal and obtain the specified technical result, in the first object of the claimed group of inventions, a trailer is proposed comprising a support frame, near the front edge of which, on the same axis, practically perpendicular to the main direction of movement of the trailer, the upper ends of two pairs of bearing rods are pivotally mounted the lower ends of which, in each pair, are mounted rotatably tire cylinders with flanges clamping on the sides mounted on these tire cylinders pneumatic the tire, while two pairs of friction rollers are mounted on the support frame to rotate on axes that are practically perpendicular to the main direction of movement of the trailer, and the friction rollers in each pair are placed one after another and can be supported on the pneumatic tire located under them in the operating state of the trailer .

A feature of this trailer is that pneumatic tires are preferably low pressure tires.

Another feature of this trailer is that the supporting rods in the working state of the trailer can be deflected from the plane of the support frame by an angle ranging from 30 to 60 degrees.

Another feature of this trailer is that the inner and outer bearing rods in each pair can be connected to the support frame, respectively, by a transverse link and a shock absorber.

Another feature of this trailer is that each tire cylinder can be equipped with hub assemblies that enable the rotation of this tire cylinder at the end of the respective support rod.

Another feature of this trailer is that the support frame can be equipped with a docking means for connecting two trailers one after another. At the same time, at least two friction rollers located on the same axis of each of the two connected trailers can be equipped with brakes placed one on each side of one of the trailers, while on a docking tool mounted on the front side of the support frame of the front trailer , an overtaking brake clutch with lever-cable drive for both brakes is installed.

Finally, another feature of this trailer is that the support frame can be equipped with removable sides, made with the possibility of their use as ramps for a car to enter the trailer.

To achieve the same goal and obtain the same technical result, a second object of the claimed group of inventions proposes a method for increasing the cross-country ability of an all-wheel drive vehicle, which includes the steps of: supplying the car with two trailers for the first object of the claimed group of inventions; connecting both trailers one after another by means of a connecting means so that the distance between the axles of the pneumatic tires of both trailers is approximately equal to the center distance of the vehicle; moving the car to the connected caravans to place the car wheels on the respective pairs of friction rollers of the corresponding caravan; and fix the car to the supporting frames of both caravans.

A feature of this method is that the vehicle is fixed to the supporting frames of the respective trailers mainly behind the front and rear axles of the car using fasteners made with the possibility of providing a predetermined pressing force of the wheels of the car to the friction rollers and eliminates the movement of the vehicle bridges relative to the supporting frames of both trailers.

Another feature of this method is that it can further comprise stages in which: at least two friction rollers located on the same axis of each of the two connected trailers are equipped with brakes placed one on each side of one of the trailers; set the braking controls of each of the brake cylinders in the car cabin; and connect the installed controls with lever cable drives of the respective brakes.

Another feature of this method is that the vehicle can be moved to connected caravans on ramps from removable sides, which caravans are equipped with in advance.

Finally, another feature of this method is that pneumatic tires are low pressure tires.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The claimed group of inventions is further illustrated by drawings in which the same or similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a trailer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a top view of the trailer of figure 1.

Figure 3 is a rear view of the trailer of figure 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional front view of one wheel of the trailer of FIGS. 1-3.

Figure 5 shows the location of the vehicle on two connected trailers in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a schematic view of a fastener for mounting a vehicle to a trailer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description of Embodiments

The invention is further described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a caravan in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention has a support frame 1, which can be made, for example, of steel corner elements welded or otherwise connected to each other. The rectangular shape shown in the drawings, as well as the number of longitudinal and transverse elements are given only for illustration, and in no way limitation of the claimed invention. So, the shape of the support frame 1 of the trailer can be, say, trapezoidal, pentagonal, hexagonal, etc., and the elements can be arranged as it will be convenient or convenient for the user.

The trailer of figure 1 is intended for preferential movement from right to left in figure 1. Those. the lateral element shown on the left defines the leading edge 2 of the support frame on which the docking means 3 is mounted. This can be, for example, a traction like a conventional trailer or two rods connected to the front ends with a loop, as shown in Fig. 1, or any other known construction , which allows you to dock the trailer to the driving car.

Near the front edge 2 of the supporting frame 1, the upper ends of two pairs of bearing rods 4, 5 and 6, 7 are pivotally mounted. Moreover, the articulated joints of all these bearing rods 4-7 are on the same axis 8 (see Figs. 1 and 2) , which is almost perpendicular to the main direction of movement of the trailer (figure 1 is the direction from right to left). The “main” direction is mentioned here because in some embodiments, the possibility of rotation is provided for the trailer.

In each pair at the lower ends of the bearing rods 4, 5 and 6, 7, hub units are installed, respectively, 9, 10 and 11, 12 (see figure 2). Each pair of hub assemblies 9, 10 and 11, 12 is designed to be rotatably fastened to tire cylinders 13 and 14, respectively (see the dotted line in FIG. 3). The flanges 15, 16 (or 17, 18) of the tire cylinder 13 (or 14) clamp on the sides of the pneumatic tire 19 (or 20) mounted on this tire cylinder 13 (or 14). In a preferred embodiment, the pneumatic tires 19, 20 are low pressure tires, and in the most preferred embodiment, the pneumatic tires 19, 20 are ultra low pressure tires. Tires 19, 20 are sandwiched between the respective flanges 15, 16 or 17, 18, which fix the position of the pneumatic tires 19, 20 on the tire cylinders 13, 14, respectively.

In more detail, the mounting of the tire 19 on the tire cylinder 13 is shown in figure 4. The tire 19 has an arched tire 21, inside of which there is a chamber 22 of low or even ultra-low pressure. The edges of the arched tire 21 are fixed to the flanges 15, 16 from the inside using patch rings 23, 24 with mounted bolts 25, 26 mounted outwards. The flange 15 is made integrally with the tire cylinder 13, and the hub assembly 9 is attached to this flange 15. The flange 16 is removable and fastens to the opposite end of the tire cylinder 13 together with the hub assembly 10. The removable flange 16 is fixed after first, the edge of the arch cover 21 is fixed to the fixed flange 15 with nuts screwed on the bolts 25 of the overlay ring 23, after which the chamber 22 is inflated until the bolts 26 of the other overlay ring 24 enter the holes of the removable flange 16 for and respective fastening nuts.

As the hub assemblies 9-12, conventional automobile front wheel hub assemblies are used, which consist of a rotary cam, an internal large and an external small roller bearings, a hub with a flange for mounting the wheel, a nut, and a protective cap. In this case, the hubs are flipped inside the wheel with protective caps, and the flanges for attaching the hub wheels are bolted to the flanges 15-18.

Figure 1-3 also shows two pairs of friction rollers 28, 29 and 30, 31 (only the rear friction rollers 30, 31 are shown in Fig. 3) mounted on a support frame 1 with the possibility of rotation on axes practically perpendicular to the main direction of movement trailer (or parallel to the axis 2, on which the upper ends of the bearing rods 4-7 are pivotally mounted). The friction rollers 28, 29 and 30, 31 in each pair are placed one after another in the main direction of movement of the trailer and can be supported on the corresponding pneumatic tire 19, 20, which is under them in the working state of the trailer. Friction rollers can be made in the form of, for example, metal rollers with a rubberized surface, although any other materials suitable for adhesion of the friction rollers both to the wheels of the car and to the pneumatic tires 19, 20 are suitable for coating.

The said “operating state” of the trailer is a state in which the trailer of the present invention moves on any surface on the pneumatic tires 19, 20, in contrast to the state when this trailer lies, say, “upside down” or abuts against its moving surface front or rear edge, or turned sideways. As can be seen in figure 1, the bearing rods 4-7 are rejected in the operating state of the trailer from the plane of the support frame 1 by an angle in the range from 30 to 60 degrees. The articulated suspension of the supporting rods 4-7 provides the possibility of cushioning when moving the trailer. As can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lower ends of the inner supporting rods 5 and 6 are connected to the supporting frame 1 by respective transverse rods 32, 33. The lower ends of the external supporting rods 4 and 7 are connected to the supporting frame 1 by corresponding shock absorbers 34, 35 (in FIG. .1 only the left shock absorber 34 is shown, and the arrow at 35 indicates the right shock absorber invisible in FIG. 1). These shock absorbers can be performed, for example, as conventional hydraulic automobile shock absorbers, each of which is attached at one end to the corresponding external supporting rod 4, 7 closer to the wheel axis, and on the other hand, to the supporting frame 1 between the friction rollers of the corresponding side.

The friction rollers 28-31 are configured to transmit force from the wheels of the automobile mounted on them to the pneumatic tire 19, 20 below them. As shown in FIG. 2, at least two friction rollers located on the same axis (for example, 28 , 30 or 29, 31) the trailer can be equipped with brakes 36, 37. As these brakes, you can use any brakes known in the art, for example, hydraulic disc brakes or drum brakes with a mechanical cable drive. At the same time, on the docking means 3 mounted on the front side 2 of the support frame 1 of the trailer, an overtaking brake clutch 38 with a lever cable drive 39 is installed on both brakes 36, 37.

The supporting frame 1 can be equipped with removable sides, made with the possibility of their use as ramps for the arrival of the car on the trailer. 1 shows two such sides, which are used as ramps 40, 41, in dotted lines. Removable displacement tanks can also be hung on these sides to increase the buoyancy of the trailer and the car, depending on their total weight.

In order for the car to be mounted on trailers, it is necessary to use two trailers made in accordance with the shown embodiments. FIG. 5 illustrates a vehicle 42 mounted on two coupled in series of the caravan of FIGS. 1-3. To distinguish the same elements of different trailers in figure 5, indexation of the reference positions by the letters "p" and "h" is introduced, designating the front and rear trailers, respectively. As can be seen from figure 5, the car 42 is mounted on coupled trailers so that the wheels 43p and 43z of the car 42 are placed almost above the corresponding pneumatic tires 19p and 19z of the respective trailers. Each wheel 43 is mounted on the respective friction rollers 28, 30. It is clear that in Fig. 5 only the left wheels 43 of the car 42 are shown, but its right wheels, not shown in Fig. 5, are mounted exactly the same on the friction rollers 29, 31, not shown in FIG. Thus, the distance between the axles of the pneumatic tires 19p, 19z (or 20p, 20z) of both trailers is approximately equal to the center distance of the car 42.

The car 42 is fixed to the support frames 1p and 1z of both trailers for the front and rear axles of the car 42. Fig. 6 shows an example of such fixing of the rear axle 44 (shown by a dotted line) of the car 42 using at least one fastener 45, each of which is made with the possibility of providing a predetermined pressing force of the wheels 43 of the car 42 to the friction rollers 28-31 and excluding the movement of the axles of the car 42 relative to the support frames 1p and 1z of trailers. The fastener 45 in FIG. 6 is a bracket 46 spanning the corresponding bridge (rear axle 44 in FIG. 6) of the vehicle 42, with a plate 47 extending under the corresponding transverse element of the support frame 1z and fixed by nuts 48 to the threaded ends of the bracket 46. However, the fastening element 45 may also be of any other design providing the aforementioned predetermined pressing force of the wheels 43 against the friction rollers 28-31 in order to exclude the possibility of moving the friction rollers 28-31 by the wheels 43 of the vehicle 42 during movement. The specific value of this predetermined pressure of the wheels 43 against the friction rollers 28-31 will depend on the pressure in the wheels 43 of the car 42.

As shown in FIG. 5, when using caravans in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, brakes 36, 37 of the friction rollers 28, 30 on each caravan are connected by lever-cable drives to controls 49 that are mounted in the cab of the vehicle 42. In FIG. 5, only one left brake control 49 is shown, but it is understood that a second same control 49 is also installed in the cab of the right brake 42. It can be simple levers such as parking brake levers, or a remote control with buttons, toggle switches, etc. depending on the specific type of brakes used.

The trailer of the present invention can be used in two ways. Firstly, when traveling on various roads, flat ground or off-road, such a trailer can be used for its intended purpose, for example, for transporting goods behind a towing vehicle. Such a tool can be an ordinary car, an all-terrain vehicle, a tractor, a snowmobile, a swamp, a tank, a boat, etc. The caravan of the present invention can be used as a raft for crossing a water obstacle. You can attach a boat motor to it and sail on water if the desired buoyancy is provided by mounted displacement tanks on the sides. In this case, the trailer of the present invention (one or each used with one car 42), towed in the usual way by the car 42, can be equipped with sides 40, 41 (dotted line in figure 3), or can be used in tandem with another same trailer without sides for transportation of long loads. Secondly, the two caravans of the present invention can be used to increase the cross-country ability of an all-wheel drive vehicle 42 as follows.

If it is necessary to overcome a muddy or blurry ground surface (off-road) such as arable land, deep snow, wetland or a water surface, two-wheel drive vehicle 29 is driven onto two coupled caravans of the present invention, for example, along the removable sides 40, 41 used as ramps (see figure 1). When the car 42 rises with wheels 43 on the corresponding friction rollers 28-31, its front and rear axles are fixed to the supporting frames 1 of the respective caravans, providing the proper force of pressing the wheels 43 to the friction rollers 28-31. Then, the control bodies 49 are installed in the car cabin 42 and connected to the brakes 36, 37 mounted on the respective friction rollers 28, 30 of both trailers.

After that, the car 42 turns on the engine, and the wheels 43 drive the friction rollers 28-31, on which these wheels 43 are mounted. The friction rollers 28-31 rotate in the opposite direction with respect to the direction of rotation of the wheels 43 and rotate the pneumatic tires 19, 20, which as a result rotate in the same direction as the wheels 43. Car 42 on trailers made according to the present invention, begins to move in the same direction, as if he was driving on his own wheels 43. If necessary, turn the driver using the controls 49 includes the corresponding brakes 36 or 37, which leads to a stop or slowdown of rotation of the pneumatic tires 19 or 2 0 of both trailers, and there is a turn in the required direction.

In the proposed design, the weight of the car (in general, the weight of the load lying on the support frame 1, and the weight of the support frame 1 itself) is transmitted to the pneumatic tires 19, 20 directly through the friction rollers 28-31, and not through the bearing rods 4-7 and tire cylinders 13 -fourteen. Pneumatic tires 19, 20 due to low or even ultra-low pressure in them provide pressure on the ground about an order of magnitude lower than the pressure of a conventional car. For example, a Niva car mounted on two caravans of the present invention with low-pressure pneumatic tires (“Shain tires”) measuring 920 × 500 × 406 mm (where 920 mm is the outer diameter of the wheel, 500 mm is the width, and 406 mm is the landing bead size of the tire on the disk) with a total estimated mass of the entire system of 1600 kg creates a pressure on the ground of only 0.17 kg / cm ² , while the pressure of the car itself on the ground is 1.7 kg / cm ² .

It is important to note that the trailer clearance of the present invention is 76 cm instead of 22 cm for the same Niva car.

The displacement volume of pneumatic tires is approximately one cubic meter (one tire 0.27 m ³ , four tires 1.08 m ³ ), which ensures the buoyancy of two trailers with a total weight of up to 1000 kg. With additional displacement tanks, the trailers of the present invention provide buoyancy with a total weight of up to 2000 kg.

The dignity of the proposed system should also be pointed out. The wheels 43 of the car 42, the friction rollers 28-31, and the pneumatic tires 19, 20 form four friction wheel reducers with a transmission coefficient equal to the quotient of dividing the diameter of the wheels 43 by the diameter of the pneumatic tires 19, 20. These friction wheel reducers work as safety couplings, which the excess torque is cut off from the transmission of the car-trailer system when the pneumatic tires 19, 20 are blocked for some reason.

Thus, the inventive trailer provides a quick conversion of a conventional four-wheel drive vehicle into an all-terrain vehicle and even an amphibious all-terrain vehicle, and at the same time it is quite suitable for driving on any soil and water, snow, ice, etc. for the appropriate towing means with the ability to transport goods. At the same time, as noted above, the wheel arch design is used with a load on the upper surface of the wheel, which allows to increase the load capacity of the pneumatic tire twice from the passport data. Such a tire works like a pneumatic jack. When using the wheel, the dimensions of the wheel should be about 920 mm in diameter, about 500 mm in width, and a maximum passport load of 300 kg per wheel with the sidewalls of the wheel folded inward. In the proposed arched version, the dimensions are about 850 mm in diameter, about 600 mm in width, with a pressure of 0.4 atm and a load of 600 kg per wheel, the rollers are drawn in about 40 mm without bending the sides, the arch tends to the cylinder. Four of these wheels can be loaded 2400 kg instead of 1200 kg. This is a fundamental change in the normal use of tires.

Although the claimed invention has been described and illustrated with specific examples of its implementation, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made in these embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is defined only by the appended claims taking into account equivalents.

Claims (13)

1. A trailer containing a support frame, near the front edge of which on the same axis, almost perpendicular to the main direction of movement of the trailer, the upper ends of two pairs of bearing rods are pivotally mounted, at the lower ends of which a tire cylinder with flanges is mounted for rotation in each pair clamping the pneumatic tire mounted on this tire cylinder on the sides, while two pairs of friction rollers are mounted on the support frame on the axes, which are practically perpendicular to novnomu direction of movement of the trailer, wherein the friction rollers in each pair are arranged one behind the other and with the possibility of relying on a pneumatic tire which is under friction rollers in the operating condition of the caravan. 2. The trailer according to claim 1, in which the pneumatic tires are low pressure tires. 3. The trailer according to claim 1, in which the supporting rods in the operating state of the trailer are deflected from the plane of the support frame by an angle in the range from 30 to 60 °. 4. The trailer according to claim 1, in which the inner and outer bearing rods in each pair are connected to the support frame, respectively, by a transverse link and a shock absorber. 5. The caravan according to claim 1, in which each tire cylinder is equipped with hub units that enable rotation of this tire cylinder at the ends of the respective support rods. 6. The trailer according to claim 1, in which the supporting frame is equipped with a docking means for connecting two trailers one after another. 7. The trailer according to claim 6, in which at least two friction rollers located on the same axis of each of the two connected trailers are equipped with brakes placed one on each side of one of the trailers, while on a docking means mounted on front side of the supporting frame of the front trailer, an overtaking brake clutch is installed with a lever-cable drive for both brakes. 8. The trailer according to claim 1 or 6, in which the supporting frame is equipped with removable sides, made with the possibility of their use as ramps for the arrival of the car on the trailer. 9. A method of increasing the cross-country ability of an all-wheel drive vehicle, which includes the steps in which:
supplying said vehicle with two trailers according to claim 1;
connecting both trailers one after another by means of a connecting means so that the distance between the axles of the pneumatic tires of both trailers is approximately equal to the center distance of the said vehicle;
moving said vehicle onto connected caravans to place the wheels of the car on respective pairs of friction rollers of the corresponding caravan;
fix the aforementioned car to the supporting frames of both trailers. 10. The method according to claim 9, in which the said vehicle is fixed to the supporting frames of the respective trailers by the front and rear axles of the vehicle using fasteners configured to provide a predetermined pressing force of the vehicle wheels to the friction rollers and to prevent the vehicle axles from moving relative to the supporting axles frames of both caravans. 11. The method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of:
supplying at least two friction rollers located on the same axis of each of the two connected trailers with brakes placed one on each side of one of the trailers;
set the braking controls of each of the brakes in the cabin of the said vehicle;
connect the installed controls with lever-cable drives of the respective brakes. 12. The method according to claim 9, in which the step of moving the car to the connected trailers is carried out on the ramps from the removable sides, which are equipped with trailers in advance. 13. The method according to claim 9, in which the pneumatic tires are low pressure tires.

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