Side underride cable system for a trailer

Abstract

A side skirt and side underride cable system configured to be coupled to a trailer includes a side skirt wall configured to be coupled to one side of the trailer to extend below a side wall of the trailer at least partially along a length of the trailer, and a plurality of cables configured to be coupled to the trailer and configured to extend at least partially along a length of the one side of the trailer.

1 . A side skirt and side underride cable system configured to be coupled to a trailer, comprising
 a side skirt wall configured to be coupled to one side of the trailer to extend below a side wall of the trailer at least partially along a length of the trailer; and   a plurality of cables configured to be coupled to the trailer and configured to extend at least partially along a length of the one side of the trailer.   
     
     
         2 . The side skirt and side underride cable system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of cables and the side skirt wall are generally parallel to each other. 
     
     
         3 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 1 , wherein the side skirt wall is configured to tilt laterally outwardly and laterally inwardly with respect to a vertical axis generally parallel to the side wall of the trailer. 
     
     
         4 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 3 , further comprising a generally vertically oriented mounting bracket assembly coupled to the side skirt wall and configured to be coupled to a floor assembly of the trailer, wherein the mounting bracket assembly is configured to tilt laterally outwardly and laterally inwardly with the side skirt wall, and further wherein the mounting bracket assembly includes a spring configured to be coupled at a first end to the trailer and at a second end to the side skirt wall. 
     
     
         5 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of cables and the side skirt wall are coupled to each other. 
     
     
         6 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of cables and the side skirt wall are spaced apart from each other. 
     
     
         7 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of cables is positioned laterally outwardly from the side skirt assembly. 
     
     
         8 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of cables is positioned laterally inwardly from the side skirt assembly. 
     
     
         9 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 1 , wherein the side skirt wall includes a plurality of wall panels coupled to each other, and wherein each wall panel is made of a composite material. 
     
     
         10 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 9 , further comprising a mounting bracket assembly coupled to the side skirt wall and configured to be coupled to a floor assembly of the trailer, wherein the mounting bracket assembly is coupled to two adjacent wall panels. 
     
     
         11 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 10 , wherein the side skirt wall further includes a single flexible flap coupled to a bottom portion of each of the plurality of wall panels. 
     
     
         12 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 1 , wherein the side skirt wall extends below a lowermost cable of the plurality of cables. 
     
     
         13 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 1 , further comprising a front mounting bracket assembly configured to be coupled to the trailer and a rear mounting bracket assembly configured to be coupled to the trailer at a location spaced-apart from the front mounting bracket assembly, and wherein the plurality of cables is coupled to and extends between the front mounting bracket assembly and the rear mounting bracket assembly. 
     
     
         14 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 13 , wherein each of the front and rear mounting bracket assemblies includes a pair of spaced-apart corner posts and wherein each cable of the plurality of cables is coupled to one of the corner posts of the front and rear bracket assemblies. 
     
     
         15 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 14 , wherein each corner post includes a plurality of curved cable guides such that each cable guide is configured to receive a cable therethrough in order to change the orientation of the cable by approximately 90 degrees. 
     
     
         16 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 13 , further comprising a front plurality of cables coupled to the front mounting bracket assembly and extending across a front width of the trailer and a rear plurality of cables coupled to the rear mounting bracket assembly and extending across a rear width of the trailer. 
     
     
         17 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 1 , wherein each cable of the plurality of cables is parallel to each other cable and to the side wall of the trailer. 
     
     
         18 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 1 , wherein the side skirt wall is angled relative to the side wall of the trailer when the trailer is viewed from above such that the side skirt wall is angled outwardly from a front end of the side skirt wall to a rear end of the side skirt wall. 
     
     
         19 . The side skirt and underride cable system of  claim 1 , further comprising a second side skirt wall configured to be coupled a second side of the trailer to extend below a second side wall of the trailer at least partially along a length of the trailer, and a second plurality of cables configured to be coupled to the trailer and configured to extend at least partially along a length of the second side of the trailer, wherein the second plurality of cables and the second side skirt wall are generally parallel to each other.