Deployable truck ramp with bladders

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12410021-B2
Application number	US-202318165474-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 7, 2023
Priority date	Feb 7, 2023
Publication date	Sep 9, 2025
Grant date	Sep 9, 2025

Abstract

A deployable ramp is provided for a cargo loading system of a vehicle. The ramp includes one or more rigid element having a surface for supporting a load. The ramp further includes one or more bladders defining a chamber that is fluidly connected to an outlet of a compressor. The chamber is adapted to receive a fluid from the compressor. The bladder is attached to rigid element, and the at bladder is movable to a collapsed state where the chamber has a first volume. The bladder is further movable to an expanded state where the chamber has a second volume and contains a pressurized fluid for supporting the rigid element, in response to the bladder receiving the fluid from the compressor. The second volume is higher than the first volume.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cargo loading system for a vehicle, the cargo loading system comprising:
a compressor having an inlet and an outlet, the compressor for pressurizing a fluid; and
a deployable ramp comprising:
at least one rigid element having a surface for supporting a load; and
at least one bladder defining a chamber fluidly connected to the outlet of the compressor and adapted to receive the fluid from the compressor, the at least one bladder attached to the at least one rigid element, the at least one bladder is movable to a collapsed state where the chamber has a first volume, the at least one bladder is further movable to an expanded state where the chamber has a second volume and contains a pressurized fluid for supporting the at least one rigid element in response to the at least one bladder receiving the fluid from the compressor, with the second volume being higher than the first volume, wherein the inlet of the compressor is adapted to fluidly connect to the chamber of the at least one bladder and configured to draw fluid from the at least one bladder, and wherein the at least one bladder comprises:
a first wall portion;
a second wall portion facing the first wall portion; and
a plurality of tethers attaching the first and second wall portions to one another.

2. The cargo loading system of claim 1 wherein the at least one rigid element is attached to at least one of the first and second wall portions.

3. A deployable ramp for a cargo loading system of a vehicle, the deployable ramp comprising:
at least one rigid element having a surface for supporting a load; and
at least one bladder defining a chamber fluidly connected to an outlet of a compressor and adapted to receive a fluid from the compressor, the at least one bladder attached to the at least one rigid element, the at least one bladder is movable to a collapsed state where the chamber has a first volume, the at least one bladder is further movable to an expanded state where the chamber has a second volume and contains a pressurized fluid for supporting the at least one rigid element in response to the at least one bladder receiving the fluid from the compressor, with the second volume being higher than the first volume, wherein the at least one bladder comprises:
a first wall portion;
a second wall portion facing the first wall portion; and
a plurality of tethers attaching the first and second wall portions to one another.

4. The deployable ramp of claim 3 wherein the at least one rigid element is attached to at least one of the first and second wall portions.

5. The deployable ramp of claim 3 wherein the plurality of tethers have a common length, with the first and second wall portions being planar and positioned parallel relative to one another in response to the at least one bladder being moved to the expanded state, with the first and second wall portions being spaced from one another by the common length of the tethers.

6. The deployable ramp of claim 5 wherein the at least one rigid element comprises at least one plate attached to at least one of the first and second wall portions.

7. The deployable ramp of claim 5 wherein the at least one plate comprises a single upper plate attached to the first wall portion.

8. The deployable ramp of claim 5 wherein the at least one plate comprises a single upper plate attached to the first wall portion and a single lower plate attached to the second wall portion.

9. The deployable ramp of claim 5 wherein the at least one plate comprises a plurality of upper plates, with each of the upper plates having a peripheral edge portion surrounding a center portion, and the peripheral edge portion being attached to the first wall portion.

10. The deployable ramp of claim 9 wherein the first wall portion includes a plurality of attachment surface areas attached to an associated one of the peripheral edge portions of the plates, and the first wall portion further includes a plurality of adjoining surface areas between the attachment surface areas, with the adjoining surface areas being free of the plates to permit the at least one bladder to fold along the adjoining surface areas of the first wall in response to the at least one bladder moving to the collapsed state.

11. The deployable ramp of claim 10 wherein the at least one bladder further includes a pair of non-perpendicular tethers, with each non-perpendicular tether attaching a pair of predetermined anchor points of an associated one of the first and second wall portions, the anchor points being disposed on opposite sides of an adjoining surface, each of the non-perpendicular tethers is configured to be positioned non-perpendicular to the first and second wall portions when the bladder is moved to the expanded state, the length of one of the non-perpendicular tethers is different from the length of the other of the non-perpendicular tethers, such that the non-perpendicular tethers pull the first and second wall portions toward one another and increase resistance to folding when the bladder is moved to the expanded state.

12. The deployable ramp of claim 5 wherein the at least one plate includes:
a plurality of upper plates attached to the first wall portion of the at least one bladder, with each of the upper plates having a first peripheral edge portion; and
at least one lower plate is attached to the second wall portion of the at least one bladder, with the at least one lower plate having a second peripheral edge portion;
where the at least one bladder has a bisecting axis, and the upper and lower wall portions are disposed on an associated one of two opposing sides of the bisecting axis; and
where the first peripheral edge portion of the upper plate is spaced from the second peripheral edge portion of the lower plate by an offset distance in a direction along the bisecting axis;
where the first and second wall portions are spaced from one another by a bladder thickness; and
where the bladder thickness is greater than the offset distance.

13. The deployable ramp of claim 5 wherein the at least one rigid element comprises a frame with a grating having the surface for supporting the load, and the at least one bladder comprises a plurality of closed air tubes, with each of the closed air tubes having a length that is less than a predetermined maximum threshold.

14. The deployable ramp of claim 13 wherein the frame includes at least two sub-panels attached to one another at a coupling, such that the at least one bladder moves to the expanded state in response to the sub-panels being co-planar with one another and the at least one bladder is moved to the collapsed state in response to the sub-panels being folded on top of one another.

15. The deployable ramp of claim 5 wherein the at least one rigid element comprises a frame comprising:
a pair of side rails attached to an associated one of opposing sides of the at least one bladder, with each of the side rails having first and second ends; and
a first linkage assembly attaching the first ends of the associated side rails to one another; and
a second linkage assembly attaching the second ends of the associated side rails to one another; and
where each of the first and second linkage assemblies are configured to move the side rails toward one another such that the at least one bladder is disposed in the collapsed state and away from one another such that the at least one bladder is disposed in the expanded state.

16. A method of operating a deployable ramp for a cargo loading system of a vehicle, the method comprising:
fluidly connecting a chamber defined by at

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Alexander Paul W
• Kim Wonhee Michael
• Kollar Craig A
• Polewarczyk Joseph M
• Shah Bhavesh
• Casalduc Rafael Gabriel

Classifications

• B60P1/43 Primary

  using a loading ramp mounted on the vehicle (loading ramps per se B65G69/28) · CPC title

• B62D33/0273 Primary

  Movable tailboards for vehicles comprising non-movable sideboards, e.g. pick-up trucks (B62D33/037 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B65G69/30

  Non-permanently installed loading ramps, e.g. transportable · CPC title

• B65G69/28 Primary

  Loading ramps; Loading docks (as road or railway equipment B61B1/00, E01F1/00) · CPC title