Rolling mount for an electric motor used to roll and unroll truck tarpaulins

摘要

A method of employing an electric motor that is used to roll and unroll tarpaulin covers that is mounted to the front portion of a belly dump trailer in a fashion that allows it to move both fore and aft as the tarpaulin is rolled over the trailer box is provided. This mounting of the motor is primarily accomplished by the use of a pair of tubular slide rails that are horizontally positioned above a cross member of the trailer frame. The mounting of the electric motor to these slide rails is accomplished by the use of a pair of tubular motor runners that fit over the slide rails prior to the mount's final assembly. This design allows the electric motor assembly to move freely fore and aft within the confines of the horizontal slide rails. The motor assembly is then connected through a universal joint to the solid drive shaft which is connected through an additional universal joint to the tarpaulin roll tube. The use of the solid drive shaft shifts the compensation mechanism for the varying distance between the front of the roll tube and the electric motor mount assembly during the rolling and unrolling of the tarpaulin from the drive shaft to the mount assembly itself.