Device for leveling a trailer floor
An axle/suspension system for the trailer of a tractor-trailer vehicle combination includes a device for leveling the trailer floor. A selected one of a pair of suspension assemblies of the system is pivotally attached to a vehicle frame bracket or hanger having vertically-oriented oval sidewall openings and vertically-spaced horizontally extending eccentric collar guide tabs. The frame hanger, upon a certain manual rotational adjustment of an eccentric alignment collar with a breaker bar, causes a bolt which pivotally attaches the suspension assembly beam to the hanger to be vertically adjusted, which in turn causes vertical adjustment of the beam and the axle attached to the beam, resulting in the raising or lowering of a sidewardly leaning trailer floor to a generally horizontally level position.
1 . An axle/suspension system for a trailer of a tractor-trailer vehicle combination, said trailer including a floor mounted on a longitudinally-extending frame of the trailer, said axle/suspension system including a pair of transversely-spaced suspension assemblies, each one of said suspension assemblies including a longitudinally-extending beam, said beams capturing a transversely extending axle, means for pivotally mounting each one of said beams on a bracket mounted on and depending from said trailer frame, said pivotal mounting means including a bolt passing through aligned openings formed in a pair of transversely-spaced inboard and outboard sidewalls of said bracket and being secured thereto with a nut, wherein the improvement comprises:
said bracket sidewall openings each being generally elongated and vertically disposed, and means for vertically moving said bolt in said openings, so that upon loosening of said nut on said bolt and selective adjustment of said bolt movement means in a certain direction, said bolt, said beam, and said axle are vertically adjusted for transversely horizontally leveling said trailer floor.
2 . The axle/suspension system of claim 1 , in which said bolt movement means is an eccentric collar through which said bolt passes; in which a pair of vertically-spaced eccentric collar guide tabs is located on said outboard sidewall adjacent to and above and below said collar and said outboard sidewall opening; and in which upon rotation of the eccentric collar in a certain direction, said bolt, said beam, and said axle are vertically adjusted for transversely horizontally leveling said trailer floor.
3 . The axle/suspension system of claim 2 , in which each one of said eccentric collar guide tabs is an elongated generally longitudinally-extending tab; and in which said tab protrudes outboardly from said outboard sidewall.
4 . The axle/suspension system of claim 1 , in which each one of said bracket sidewall openings is generally oval-shaped.
5 . The axle/suspension system of claim 1 , in which said bracket is a generally U-shaped integral one-piece member having said pair of transversely-spaced sidewalls interconnected with a front wall.
6 . The axle/suspension system of claim 1 , in which said bolt movement means is a vertically disposed bolt; in which said vertically disposed bolt threadably engages a collar through which said pivot bolt passes; and in which upon rotation of said vertically disposed bolt in a selected direction, said collar, said pivot bolt, said beam, and said axle are vertically adjusted for transversely horizontally leveling said trailer floor.