Variable wheelbase road truck

Claim 1

A variable wheelbase truck comprising an elongated, rigid chassis including a pair of spaced parallel channel-shaped longitudinal beams, each having a front end and a rear end, cross beams rigidly interconnecting said longitudinal beams, one of said cross beams, being the rearmost cross beams, rigidly interconnecting the rear ends of said longitudinal beams and including a central upwardly convex portion defining a central recess at its underside, elongated slide members secured within and extending longitudinally of said longitudinal beams and terminating at the rear end of the latter, a movable frame including a pair of spaced-apart longitudinal beams slidably fitted within the respective slide members for slidable movement within and longitudinally of said slide members, cross bars rigidly interconnecting said last-named longitudinal beams at longitudinally spaced zones of the latter and including a rearmost cross bar rigidly interconnecting the rear ends of said last-named longitudinal beams, and a second cross bar next to said rearmost cross bar and spaced forwardly thereof along said movable frame, a tongue upstanding from the central portion of said rearmost cross bar and rigid therewith, a double-acting cylinder and piston unit extending longitudinally of said chassis and frame along the center line thereof and with the cylinder of said unit pivotally attached to one of said cross beams and extending across said recess and underneath said rearmost cross beam, and with the rear end of the piston rod of said unit extending above the level of the rearmost cross bar and pivotally attached to said tongue, a bracket rigidly fixed under each longitudinal beams of said movable frame and under said second cross bar, a lever arm extending longitudinally of the truck, pivoted to said bracket at its front end, an adjustable pressure air suspension bag extending between and connected to the rear end of said lever arm and to the underside of the rear ends of the longitudinal beams of said movable frame and underneath said rearmost cross bar, a rear wheel and axle assembly secured at a fixed position to and underneath the longitudinal beams of said chassis and spaced forwardly from the rear ends of said longitudinal beams of said chassis, a supplementary wheel and axle assembly secured to said lever arms intermediate the ends thereof, said movable frame, upon action of said cylinder and piston unit, moving between an extended position in which said brackets and said supplementary wheel and axle assembly are located rearwardly of said rearmost cross beam, and a retracted position in which said rearmost cross bar lies directly underneath said rearmost cross beam and said movable frame, rearmost cross bar, air suspension bags and supplementary wheel and axle assembly do not protrude rearwardly of the rearmost cross beam and of the rear ends of the longitudinal beams of said chassis, the wheels of said rear wheel and axle assembly being disposed sufficiently forwardly of the rearmost cross beam to clear the wheels of the supplementary wheel and axle assembly in the retracted position of said movable frame.