Appeal No. 1997-3449 Page 2
Application No. 08/424,806
BACKGROUND
Dump trucks are commonly used to haul materials (e.g.,
sand, gravel, asphalt, trash) in a bin. Materials in the bin
are dumped by elevating the front of the bin and allowing the
materials to slide- out through a back door or gate.
Elevating the front, however, creates a moment arm. If the
truck is tilted to the side, it is likely to roll over,
severely damaging the truck and possibly injuring its
operator.
The invention at issue in this appeal measures the side-
to-side tilt of a dump truck and displays the tilt to an
operator in or near the truck. If a safe tilt is exceeded,
the invention stops elevation of the front of the truck’s bin.
More specifically, a curved, transparent tube filled with
liquid and a gas bubble is mounted on the truck. A series of
light emitters is arranged along one side of the tube;
a corresponding series of light detectors, along the other
side. The detectors detect light passing through the liquid
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007