Nose gap reducers for trailers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016339969-A1
Application number	US-201615161583-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 23, 2016
Priority date	May 22, 2015
Publication date	Nov 24, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A nose gap reducer for reducing drag on a vehicle is disclosed. The nose gap reducer may be coupled to a vehicle such as a trailer of a semi-trailer truck for example. The trailer may be positioned between a tractor unit or between another trailer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A trailer assembly comprising:
a trailer formed to include a front end wall having a height, a rear end opposite the front end wall, a first side wall extending along a length of the trailer between the front end wall and the rear end, a second side wall extending between the front end wall and the rear end and the second side wall being spaced apart from the first side wall to define a width of the trailer, and a roof coupled to the first and second side walls, and an aerodynamic nose gap reducer coupled to the front end wall of the trailer, the nose gap reducer having an upper fin assembly that extends across the width of the trailer, a first side fin assembly that extends downwardly away from the upper fin assembly, and a second side fin assembly coupled to the upper fin assembly and spaced apart from the first side fin assembly, and at least one of the upper, first side, and second side fin assemblies is spaced apart from the front end wall of the trailer to form a vent gap between the nose gap reducer and the trailer to allow air to flow between the nose gap reducer and the trailer.

2 . The trailer assembly of claim 1 , wherein the roof defines a roof plane, the upper fin assembly includes an upper edge that lies in the roof plane, a lower edge, and an upper surface that extends downwardly from the upper edge to the lower edge at an angle alpha relative to the roof plane, and the angle alpha is between about 15 degrees and about 40 degrees.

3 . The trailer assembly of claim 2 , wherein the first side wall of the trailer defines a side plane, the first side fin assembly includes an outer edge that lies in the side plane, an inner edge spaced apart from the outer edge, and an outer surface that extends inwardly toward the second side fin assembly from the outer edge to the inner edge at an angle theta relative to the side plane, and the angle theta is between about 15 degrees and about 40 degrees.

4 . The trailer assembly of claim 3 , wherein the trailer further includes a curved corner joint that extends generally vertically and couples the first side wall of the trailer with the front end wall of the trailer to form a rounded corner of the trailer and the rounded corner and the outer edge of the first side fin assembly define the vent gap.

5 . The trailer assembly of claim 4 , wherein the side fin assembly further includes a side extender coupled to the outer edge of the first side fin assembly, the side extender extends rearwardly away from the outer edge of the first side fin assembly toward the rear end of the trailer, and the side extender is spaced apart from and overlaps the curved corner joint.

6 . The trailer assembly of claim 1 , wherein the nose gap reducer is configured to compress to reduce a length of the nose gap reducer in response to a compression force being applied to the nose gap reducer and to return to a pre-compressed length in response to the compression force being removed from the nose gap reducer.

7 . An aerodynamic nose gap reducer for reducing drag on a trailer, the nose gap reducer comprising:
a rigid support backer that extends along a width of the nose gap reducer, a compressible fin insert that extends outwardly away from the rigid support backer, the compressible fin insert being configured to compress to reduce a length of the nose gap reducer in response to a compression force being applied to the compressible fin insert and to return to a pre-compressed shape in response to the compression force being removed from the compressible fin insert, and a deformable housing arranged around the compressible fin insert and the rigid support backer, the deformable housing being configured to change shape with the compressible fin insert.

8 . The nose gap reducer of claim 7 , further comprising a first surface and a second surface connected to the first surface, the first surface is angled relative to the second surface by an angle alpha, and the angle alpha is between about 15 degrees and about 40 degrees.

9 . The nose gap reducer of claim 8 , wherein the angle alpha is about 33 degrees.

10 . The nose gap reducer of claim 8 , further comprising a third surface that extends between the first and second surfaces along the width of the nose gap reducer and a fourth surface that interconnects the first, second, and third surfaces, the fourth surface is angled relative to the third surface by an angle beta, and the angle beta is between about 15 degrees and about 40 degrees.

11 . The nose gap reducer claim 10 , wherein the angle beta is between about 30 degrees and about 35 degrees.

12 . The nose gap reducer of claim 7 , wherein the compressible fin insert includes a compressible body comprising foam material and an inner layer arranged around the compressible body, the compressible body has a triangular cross-section when viewed along the width of the nose gap reducer, the compressible fin insert is configured to be compressed to between about 80 percent and about 30 percent of a pre-compressed length of the compressible fin insert and to return to about 100 percent of the pre-compressed length in response to the compression force being removed.

13 . The nose gap reducer of claim 12 , wherein the inner layer is formed to define a plurality of evacuation apertures that extend through the inner layer and the evacuation apertures are located at an upper end of the compressible fin insert relative to ground.

14 . The nose gap reducer of claim 13 , wherein the deformable housing is formed to include a plurality of purge holes extending through the deformable housing and the purge holes are located at a lower end of the nose gap reducer relative to ground.

15 . The nose gap reducer of claim 7 , wherein the rigid support backer includes an outer wall and a plurality of ribs coupled to the outer wall and the housing includes a plurality of brackets coupled to the outer wall of the rigid support backer.

16 . A method of making and using a compressible nose gap reducer for a trailer, the method comprising:
providing a compressible upper fin assembly, a compressible first side fin assembly, and a compressible second side fin assembly, each of the compressible fin assemblies being configured to compress and reduce in length in response to a compression force being applied to the corresponding upper fin assembly, first side fin assembly, and second side fin assembly and to return to a pre-compressed shape in response to the compression force being removed from the corresponding upper fin assembly, first side fin assembly, and second side fin assembly, and coupling together the upper fin assembly, the first side fin assembly, and the second side fin assembly to form the nose gap reducer.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising applying the compression force to the nose gap reducer to compress at least one of the upper fin assembly, the first side fin assembly, and the second side fin assembly to reduce a length of the nose gap reducer by between about 30 percent and about 80 percent of a pre-compressed length of the corresponding upper fin assembly, first side fin assembly, and second side fin assembly.

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising removing the compression force to cause the corresponding upper fin assembly, first side fin assembly, and second side fin assembly to return to the pre-compressed length when the compression force is removed.

19 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising coupling the nose gap reducer to a first trailer to form a ven

Assignees

• Wabash National Lp

Inventors

• Baker Leonard W
• Haan Brian
• Sweet James A
• Courtney Michael J

Classifications

• B62D35/001 Primary

  For commercial vehicles or tractor-trailer combinations, e.g. caravans · CPC title

• B62D35/005

  Front spoilers (B62D35/001 takes precedence) · CPC title