DESC:FIELD
The present disclosure relates to the field of mechanical engineering. Particularly, the present disclosure relates to the field of vehicle carriers.
BACKGROUND
Typically vehicle transportation is carried out with the help of vehicle carrier trailers. Conventional vehicle carrier trailers have a double-decker design, and are generally equipped with a hydraulic upper deck tilting arrangement to facilitate the loading of a vehicle, that needs to be transported, on the upper deck. To load the vehicle on the upper deck, a rear half of the upper deck is tilted to form a ramp that connects the upper deck to the ground. The vehicle is then driven over the ramp to load on the upper deck. However, the ramp gradient, i.e., the angle between the ramp and the ground in the conventional trailers is 19 degrees, which is more than the acceptable gradient limit of 15 degrees. Therefore, such a steep ramp puts unnecessary load on the power train of the vehicle being loaded. To avoid such load, conventional solutions like scissor lifts, and mobile deck levelers are used. However, the conventional solutions are unsafe to use and also add a significant amount of cost.
Hence, there is felt a need of a ramp arrangement that alleviates the abovementioned drawbacks without adding much expenditure to manufacture the same.
OBJECTS
Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies, are as follows:
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a ramp arrangement that is less expensive to manufacture.
Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a ramp arrangement that is suitable for various types of vehicle carrier trailers.
Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a ramp arrangement that is easy to construct.
Other advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description, which is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
SUMMARY
The present disclosure envisages a reverse ramp comprising a first section, a second section, and a third section. The first section is arranged horizontally at a pre-determined level. The second section extends from the first section, and has a downward inclination at a pre-set angle with respect to the first section. The third section extends from the second section, and is parallel to and below the pre-determined level.
In an embodiment, the reverse ramp comprises a fourth section extending from the third section, and having an upward inclination with respect to the third section. Further, the reverse ramp comprises an auxiliary ramp configured to be disposed on the first section.
In one embodiment, the pre-determined level is a ground level. In another embodiment, the pre-set angle ranges between 5 to 25 degrees.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING
The reverse ramp of the present disclosure will now be described with the help of the accompanying drawing, in which:
Figure 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a conventional vehicle carrier trailer;
Figure 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of a reverse ramp, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of the reverse ramp of Figure 2 and a vehicle carrier trailer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
Figure 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of the reverse ramp of Figure 2 and the vehicle carrier trailer, in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.
LIST AND DETAILS OF REFERENCE NUMERALS USED IN THE DESCRIPTION AND DRAWING:
Reference Numeral Reference
100 Ground level
102 Trailer
104 Upper deck
106 Lower deck
108 Drive-up ramp
110 Door
112 Auxiliary ramp
200 Reverse ramp
200A First section
200B Second section
200C Third section
200D Fourth section

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Typically vehicle transportation is carried out with the help of vehicle carrier trailers. A conventional vehicle carrier trailer is illustrated in Figure 1 (herein after referred to as a trailer 102). The trailer 102 has a double-decker design, having an upper deck 104 and a lower deck 106. The trailer 102 is generally equipped with a hydraulic upper deck tilting arrangement to facilitate the loading of a vehicle that needs to be transported. For this, a rear half of the upper deck 104 is configured to tilt and to be lowered to form a drive-up ramp 108. The drive-up ramp 108 facilitates the loading of the vehicles on the upper deck 104. A door 110 of the lower deck 106 is configured to form a drive way in an open position to connect the drive-up ramp 108 to a ground level 100. The trailer 102 is rested on the ground and is positioned at the ground level 100. In this configuration, the vehicles are loaded at the upper deck 104 via the drive-up ramp 108. For the trailer 102, the ramp gradient, i.e., the angle between the drive-up ramp 108 and the ground level 100 is 19 degrees as opposed to the acceptable ramp gradient limit of 15 degrees. Higher ramp gradient makes the drive-up ramp 108 steep, thereby imposing an unnecessary load on the power train of the vehicle to be loaded at the upper deck 104. Further, the steepness of the drive-up ramp 108 creates difficulty in manual loading of the vehicles. Conventionally, a scissor lift, a mobile deck leveler, or a special trailer having the ramp gradient below 15 degrees is used that reduces the load on the power train of the vehicle. However, these solutions are expensive to implement and are also unsafe to use. Hence, there is felt a need to provide a reverse ramp that alleviates the abovementioned drawbacks.
The present disclosure envisages a reverse ramp that is less expensive to implement than the aforementioned conventional solutions, and which facilitates reduction in the ramp gradient. The reverse ramp of the present disclosure is now described with reference to Figures 2 through 4, of the accompanying drawing.
The reverse ramp 200 comprises a first section 200A, a second section 200B, and a third section 200C. The first section 200A is arranged horizontally at a pre-determined level. In one embodiment, the pre-determined level is the ground level 100. However, the first section can be placed at a preferred level. The second section 200B extends from the first section 200A, and has a downward inclination at a pre-set angle with respect to the first section 200A. In an embodiment, the pre-set angle ranges between 5 to 25 degrees. The third section 200C extends from the second section 200B, and is parallel to and below the pre-determined level.
In one embodiment, the reverse ramp 200 comprises a fourth section 200D extending from the third section 200C, and having an upward inclination with respect to the third section 200C. In another embodiment, the fourth section 200D has an upward inclination such that one operative end of the fourth section 200D extends from the third section 200C, and other operative end of the fourth section 200D extends to a section having a level similar to the ground level 100.
In an exemplary embodiment, the trailer 102 is partially rested on the first section 200A and partially on the second section 200B of the reverse ramp 200. Due to the inclined configuration of the second section 200B, the ramp gradient, i.e., the angle between the drive-up ramp 108 and the ground level 100 reduces, thereby reducing the load on the power train of the vehicles to be loaded on the upper deck 104. After loading the vehicles, the trailer 102 can be easily driven via the third section 200C and the fourth section 200D. The fourth section 200D typically facilitates easy movement of the trailer 102.
In one embodiment, the reverse ramp 200 comprises an auxiliary ramp 112 configured to be disposed on the first section 200A. The auxiliary ramp 112 facilitates loading of the vehicles from the ground to the door 110 of the lower deck 106.
In an embodiment, the ramp gradient is reduced by 7 degrees when the reverse ramp 200 of the present disclosure is used to rest the trailer 102 and to load the vehicles therein. Therefore, the effective ramp gradient becomes 12 degrees which is well below the acceptable ramp gradient of 15 degrees.
The reverse ramp 200 is safe to use and provides comfort to driver of a vehicle to load the vehicle on the upper deck 104 of the trailer 102. In one embodiment, the second section 200B of the reverse ramp 200 is configured to be alterable such that it can be used for various types and sizes of trailers/vehicle carriers, thus reducing the cost to manufacture separate ramps for different types and sizes of the trailers.
Further, the reverse ramp 200 reduces time to load the vehicles as compared to the conventional solutions. In an embodiment, a vehicle is loaded in five minutes in the lower deck 106, and in seven minutes in the upper deck 104 of the trailer 102, using the reverse ramp 200. Whereas, same loading takes fifteen minutes when the conventional scissor lift mechanism is used. Furthermore, lesser expenditure is required to manufacture the reverse ramp 200 as compared to the conventional mobile dock leveler or scissor lift mechanism.
TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS
The present disclosure described herein above has several technical advantages including, but not limited to, the realization of a reverse ramp, that:
• is less expensive to manufacture;
• is suitable for various types of vehicle carrier trailers; and
• is easy to construct.
The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained with reference to the non-limiting embodiments in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.
Throughout this specification the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.
The use of the expression “at least” or “at least one” suggests the use of one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as the use may be in the embodiment of the disclosure to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like that has been included in this specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the disclosure. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form a part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the disclosure as it existed anywhere before the priority date of this application.
The numerical values mentioned for the various physical parameters, dimensions or quantities are only approximations and it is envisaged that the values higher/lower than the numerical values assigned to the parameters, dimensions or quantities fall within the scope of the disclosure, unless there is a statement in the specification specific to the contrary.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the components and component parts of the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the disclosure. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment as well as other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the disclosure and not as a limitation.

,CLAIMS:WE CLAIM:
1. A reverse ramp (200) comprising:
a first section (200A) arranged horizontally at a pre-determined level;
a second section (200B) extending from said first section (200A), said second section (200B) having a downward inclination at a pre-set angle with respect to said first section (200A); and
a third section (200C) extending from said second section (200B), said third section (200C) being parallel to and below said pre-determined level.

2. The reverse ramp (200) as claimed in claim 1, which comprises a fourth section (200D) extending from said third section (200C), and having an upward inclination with respect to said third section (200C).

3. The reverse ramp (200) as claimed in claim 1, which further comprises an auxiliary ramp (112) configured to be disposed on said first section (200A).

4. The reverse ramp (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pre-determined level is a ground level.

5. The reverse ramp (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pre-set angle ranges between 5 to 25 degrees.