Movable vehicle partition assembly

摘要

Independently movable rigid walls or barriers are mounted within a vehicle body, such as a truck or trailer. They can be located with respect to the vehicle body in a first position juxtaposed parallel to one wall, a second position parallel to and spaced from the wall, and a third position arranged at an angle to the wall. By so arranging selected panels, one can divide the vehicle body into two compartments both open to the rear of the vehicle body, where conventional access doors are typically provided. In this way, palletized loads of refrigerated or frozen products can be physically separated from palletized loads of "dry" or non-refrigerated products. Partial flexible curtains are used to seal the top edges of the panels with respect to the vehicle body. Pivoted panels are used to seal the bottom edges and to assist in holding the panels in place when the vehicle body is loaded. Where refrigeration is necessary, the cooled air is ducted to selected outlets along one side of the vehicle body so as to lead to the enclosed area. In this way, cooled air is contained within an area partially bounded by the panels so as to maintain the area at a temperature lower than that of the remainder of the vehicle body. The size of the cooled area may be changed each time the vehicle body is loaded.