Freight vehicle with a convertible cargo space

Claim 1

A freight vehicle having a cargo space convertible from a space suitable for piece goods to a space suitable for bulk granular aterial, the vehicle comprising; (a) means defining a cargo space having a load-bearing bottom floor, side walls and end walls, and a roof, (b) door means providing access to the cargo space for loading and unloading piece goods cargo therein, (c) means defining at least two discharge openings in the bottom floor for emptying bulk, granular material cargo from the cargo space, (d) at least two inflatable double-walled, generally cup-shaped bags for containing bulk cargo, each bag having an opening in its bottom positioned to register with one of the openings in the floor of the cargo space, each bag having a width dimension when the space between the bag walls is inflated less than the distance between the cargo space side walls so that none of the bags contact the cargo space side walls, (e) a rigid bag bottom support platform means having openings therethrough in registery with the discharge openings in the bags and in the floor, the platform means positioned beneath the bag bottom, secured to the bag bottom and resting on and transmitting the weight of bulk cargo in the bag to the floor and not to the side walls when the cargo space is used in a bulk material handling mode, (f) means for raising and lowering the bag bottom support platform means from the floor of the cargo space to a position with the bag support platform adjacent to the roof of the cargo space with the bag collapsed, to thereby convert the cargo space to space suitable for piece goods handling, (g) mechanical means on the cargo space side walls for maintaining the bag in an erected position when the bag support platform means is on the floor and the cargo space is in the bulk handling mode, and for maintaining each bag spaced from the cargo space side walls during operation of the raising and lowering means, (h) a fill opening means in the roof of the cargo space, (i) a flexible member means connected to the fill opening means and connected to the top of each bag to provide an enclosure for the area around the fill opening means to the top of each bag, (j) means for inflating and deflating the space between the walls of each bag, the inflation causing expansion of the inner wall from the top downward to assist in gravity discharge of the granular bulk material after its angle of repose is reached.