Cable-driven trailer loading system for liner
View Patent ↗A cable-driven liner loading system for loading of an invertible liner onto a trailer bed and unloading the invertible liner from the trailer bed. A movable trolley is supported between a pair of tracks defined by C-shaped members. The movable trolley is actuated by a cable system that is driven by a winch and a set of pulleys, permitting the movable trolley to move along an axis of the trailer bed to facilitate loading of the invertible liner in a serpentine-like manner.
1. A cable-driven liner loading system comprising:
a rectangular-shaped frame;
two inner-facing C-shaped channels running the length of the frame on opposite sides of the frame, each of the C-shaped channels defining a track;
a movable trolley engaged with the tracks;
a pulley system having a first frame pulley assembly secured to an upper rear portion of the frame, second and third frame pulleys secured to an upper front portion of the frame, a winch disposed below the second and third frame pulleys, and a cable networking the first frame pulley, the winch, the trolley, and the second and third frame pulleys such that movement of the cable drives the trolley along the tracks; and
a fixed displacement pump operably connected to the winch, the fixed displacement pump being in communication with a controller, the controller regulating operation of the winch by the displacement pump.
2. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 1 , further including a plurality of halos connecting upper webs of the C-shaped channels, each halo including a crossbar assembly connected perpendicularly to each side of the frame, the halos disposed at spaced intervals from one another.
3. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 2 , wherein the frame includes an odd number of halos.
4. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 2 , wherein the crossbar assembly is a single beam.
5. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 2 , wherein the frame is laterally collapsible.
6. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 5 , wherein the crossbar assembly includes at least three crossbars arranged telescopically, with an inner crossbar extending substantially the width of the frame encircled at each end by invertible cross bars connected perpendicularly to opposite sides of the frame.
7. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 1 , wherein the first frame pulley assembly secured to the upper rear portion of the frame includes two pulleys disposed along a plane perpendicular to the second and third frame pulleys.
8. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 7 , wherein the two pulleys of the first frame pulley assembly are offset from one another in longitudinal and latitudinal directions within the plane perpendicular to the second and third frame pulleys.
9. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 1 , further including a back roller rotatably connected to an upper rear end of the frame.
10. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 8 , wherein the back roller is covered in a friction-increasing material.
11. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 9 , wherein the friction-increasing material is vulcanized rubber.
12. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 9 , further comprising a back roller driving mechanism operably connected to the back roller.
13. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 12 , wherein the back roller driving mechanism includes a pressure compensated pump.
14. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 13 , wherein the fixed displacement pump operably connected to the winch and the pressure compensated pump operably connected to the back roller are arranged with an engine in a stacked manner.
15. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the fixed displacement pump operably connected to the winch, or the pressure compensated pump operably connected to the back roller, is controllable via a remote control.
16. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 15 , wherein the remote control is a wireless remote control.
17. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 1 , wherein the winch has a plurality of circumferential cable grooves and a ratio of the number of cable grooves containing the cable of the pulley system relative to the number of cable grooves in total is less than one.
18. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 1 , wherein the fixed displacement pump is operably connected to a battery-operated engine.
19. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 18 , further comprising a housing for the battery-operated engine containing a cooling fan.
20. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of D-rings attached to vertical members of a rear end of the frame.
21. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 1 , wherein the movable trolley includes a wheel assembly and wheel assembly housing.
22. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 21 , wherein each wheel assembly includes a plurality of wheel bearings.
23. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 22 , wherein each wheel assembly includes two upper wheel bearings and two lower wheel bearings.
24. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 23 , wherein one upper wheel bearing is adjacent to a leading end of the wheel assembly housing and the other upper wheel bearing is adjacent to a trailing end of the wheel assembly housing, with the lower wheel bearings disposed in a direction along the length of the rectangular frame, inboard of the upper wheel bearings.
25. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 1 , wherein a friction-reducing pad is secured to an outer side of the wheel assembly housing between the vertical web of the C-channel and the wheel assembly housing.
26. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 1 , wherein the control is a manual controller.
27. The cable-driven liner loading system of claim 21 , wherein the controller is an automated controller having a microswitch located in the lower web of the C-channel near either end of the track, which signals to the fixed displacement pump to selectively stop, or reverse direction of, the trolley upon contact between a microswitch and the wheel assembly.
28. A method of loading a liner onto a trailer bed using a cable-driven liner loading system, comprising:
arranging a cable-driven liner loading system in a trailer;
threading a liner over a movable trolley driven by a winch driven by a pressure compensated pump of the cable-driven liner loading system;
laying down a first layer of the liner on a trailer bed by moving the movable trolley in a first direction, causing the liner to be fed over the top of the movable trolley onto the trailer bed;
reversing the direction of the movable trolley after the trolley has traveled at least substantially the length of the trailer bed in the first direction using the cable-driven liner loading system;
laying down a second layer of the liner on the first layer of the liner by moving the movable trolley in a second direction, causing the liner to be fed over the top of the movable trolley onto the first layer of the liner;
continuing to stack the liner upon itself in a serpentine manner by feeding the liner over the top of the movable trolley and repeatedly reversing the direction of the movable trolley from the first direction to the second direction after the trolley has traveled at least substantially the length of the trailer bed in the first direction and from the second direction to the first direction after the trolley has traveled at least substantially the length of the trailer bed in the second direction using the cable-driven liner loading system.
29. The method of loading a liner onto a trailer bed using a cable-driven liner loading system of claim 28 , wherein reversing the direction of the movable trolley using the cable-driven liner loading system is automated and occurs by switching a microswitch disposed in a track of the cable-driven liner loading system by contact between the microswitch and a wheel assembly of the movable trolley.
30. The method of loading a liner onto a trailer bed using a cable-driven liner loading system of claim 28 , additionally comprising the step of threading a liner over a back roller of the cable-driven liner loading system.