Reciprocating floor conveyors are presently being used in a number of environments. They are being installed as floors in the bottom of large trucks and trailers for use in both loading and unloading cargo. They can also be used in railroad cars. The types of loads that may be moved by a reciprocating floor conveyor vary widely and include liquid laden loads, such as garbage. It is undesirable to allow liquid to drip downwardly from a vehicle or railroad car while the vehicle or car is in use. Therefore, there is a need for a reciprocating floor conveyor that is substantially leakproof.
The patent literature includes a number of examples of reciprocating floor conveyors that are substantially leakproof, or intended to be so. One example is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,360, granted Aug. 24, 1993. This patent discloses a conveyor base structure having a plurality of longitudinal base sections that are connected together along longitudinal side edges.
The main object of the present invention is to provide an improvement in the connection between adjacent base sections in a base structure of a reciprocating floor conveyor.