08-08-2015, 04:55 PM
|
#1 (permalink)
|
Master EcoModder
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Sanger,Texas,U.S.A.
Posts: 16,314
Thanks: 24,440
Thanked 7,386 Times in 4,783 Posts
|
variable-roof semi-trailer
Here's a link to a German patent for an articulated-roof semi-trailer which could morph into a more streamlined contour when dead-heading between loads,or as loads were delivered incrementally,as trailer space allowed. EP2529966A1 LKW-Anhänger mit aerodynamisch variabler und optimierter Form | Patent
__________________
Photobucket album: http://s1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/aerohead2/
|
|
|
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to aerohead For This Useful Post:
|
|
Today
|
|
|
Other popular topics in this forum...
|
|
|
08-08-2015, 06:06 PM
|
#2 (permalink)
|
EcoModding Jack
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sacramento
Posts: 335
Thanks: 12
Thanked 58 Times in 40 Posts
|
That was the basic idea for an RV, it lifts up to make space when parked.
Should work too for cargo trucks.
Just as with the RV idea, the 'challenge' is to get a watertight seal for the flexible area. It can't leak or need a lot of maintainance.
|
|
|
08-08-2015, 08:41 PM
|
#3 (permalink)
|
Master EcoModder
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Missoula, MT
Posts: 2,668
Thanks: 305
Thanked 1,187 Times in 813 Posts
|
Even if the truck wasn't empty often times they aren't completely full either. I believe they load from the front back so whatever empty space they might have would be where they could collapse the roof after loading.
Lots of slide in truck campers have a pop up roof, as do some towables. They are usually toward the low end of pricing. RVs cost so much new and are such a luxury in the first place for most people, mpg doesn't start to enter their mind until years later and probably the 2nd or 3rd owner and it's too late then.
|
|
|
08-09-2015, 01:23 AM
|
#4 (permalink)
|
Master EcoModder
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Tacoma WA
Posts: 1,399
Thanks: 743
Thanked 528 Times in 344 Posts
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by nimblemotors
That was the basic idea for an RV, it lifts up to make space when parked.
Should work too for cargo trucks.
Just as with the RV idea, the 'challenge' is to get a watertight seal for the flexible area. It can't leak or need a lot of maintainance.
|
That's what I have brewing in my brain for the last 5 years or so. Why haul around a draggy box of air?
__________________
2007 Dodge Ram 3500 SRW 4x4 with 6MT
2003 TDI Beetle
2002 TDI Beetle
currently parked - 1996 Dodge 2500 Cummins Turbodiesel
Custom cab, auto, 3.55 gears
|
|
|
08-10-2015, 05:54 PM
|
#5 (permalink)
|
Master EcoModder
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Sanger,Texas,U.S.A.
Posts: 16,314
Thanks: 24,440
Thanked 7,386 Times in 4,783 Posts
|
RV
The Alto RV travel trailer is an example of a variable-roof concept
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...1649c5d6be.jpg
__________________
Photobucket album: http://s1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/aerohead2/
|
|
|
08-11-2015, 11:12 AM
|
#6 (permalink)
|
Master EcoModder
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Tacoma WA
Posts: 1,399
Thanks: 743
Thanked 528 Times in 344 Posts
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead
|
What troubles me with that design is trying to keep rain out of those long joints. It is the opposite of my design.
__________________
2007 Dodge Ram 3500 SRW 4x4 with 6MT
2003 TDI Beetle
2002 TDI Beetle
currently parked - 1996 Dodge 2500 Cummins Turbodiesel
Custom cab, auto, 3.55 gears
|
|
|
|