CA1102752A - Freight transporter with load shifting mechanism - Google Patents
Freight transporter with load shifting mechanismInfo
- Publication number
- CA1102752A CA1102752A CA321,065A CA321065A CA1102752A CA 1102752 A CA1102752 A CA 1102752A CA 321065 A CA321065 A CA 321065A CA 1102752 A CA1102752 A CA 1102752A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- load
- support
- carriage
- face
- rails
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G1/00—Storing articles, individually or in orderly arrangement, in warehouses or magazines
- B65G1/02—Storage devices
- B65G1/04—Storage devices mechanical
- B65G1/06—Storage devices mechanical with means for presenting articles for removal at predetermined position or level
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G25/00—Conveyors comprising a cyclically-moving, e.g. reciprocating, carrier or impeller which is disengaged from the load during the return part of its movement
- B65G25/02—Conveyors comprising a cyclically-moving, e.g. reciprocating, carrier or impeller which is disengaged from the load during the return part of its movement the carrier or impeller having different forward and return paths of movement, e.g. walking beam conveyors
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G47/00—Article or material-handling devices associated with conveyors; Methods employing such devices
- B65G47/22—Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors
- B65G47/26—Devices influencing the relative position or the attitude of articles during transit by conveyors arranging the articles, e.g. varying spacing between individual articles
- B65G47/261—Accumulating articles
- B65G47/265—Accumulating articles with one or more load advancing units travelling along the entire length of the accumulation line
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Loading Or Unloading Of Vehicles (AREA)
- Auxiliary Methods And Devices For Loading And Unloading (AREA)
- Handcart (AREA)
- Ship Loading And Unloading (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE INVENTION
A freight transporter is disclosed herein which includes a load support which has a load support face arranged to underlie and support load units during transportation thereof and a carriage which has a load carrying face. An elevator mechanism is provided for adjusting the relative positions of the load carrying face of the carriage and the load support face of the load support so that the load units may be selectively supported by the load support means or the carriage. When the load units are supported by the carriage, they may be moved with the carriage along the freight transporter and when supported by the supports, they are suitably supported for transportation by the transporter.
A freight transporter is disclosed herein which includes a load support which has a load support face arranged to underlie and support load units during transportation thereof and a carriage which has a load carrying face. An elevator mechanism is provided for adjusting the relative positions of the load carrying face of the carriage and the load support face of the load support so that the load units may be selectively supported by the load support means or the carriage. When the load units are supported by the carriage, they may be moved with the carriage along the freight transporter and when supported by the supports, they are suitably supported for transportation by the transporter.
Description
This invention relates to freight transporters.
In particular, this invention relates to a load shifting mechanism incorporated in a freight transporter.
In the transportation of freight on trucks, trains, aircraft and ships, considerable difficulty has long been ex-perienced in moving load units toward and away from the loadLng end.
In transport trucks, it has been common practice to provide a roller conveyor extending along the bed of the truck along which load units may be rolled so as to be moved toward and away from the loading end. Such conveyors do, however, permit the load to shift during transportation and this can create a serious hazard during acceleration and deceleration of the transporter.
The present invention overcomes the difficulties of the prior art and provides a simple and efficient mechanis~
which enables ~oad units to be moved toward and away from the loading end of the transporter.
;~ To achieve the required movement of load units, a carriage is pro~ided which can be driven along a loading path extending inwardly from the loading end of the transporter and ~ -elevator means is ~rovided which permits adjustment of the height of the carriage relative to the load supporting face of the transporter so that loads may be selectively supported by ; the load supporting face of the transporter or the carriage.
The elevator means may be such that the relative movement is achieved in a number of different ways. One such way is to pro~ide a mechanism which will penmit adjustment of the height of the carriage so that by adjusting the height of the carriage ~he load carrying face thereof may be raised or lowered.
,: .
. .
.. . - - . . - ~. - .,, In an alternative construction, the carriage may ride on support rails, the support rails being height ad-justable so as to raise and lower the carriage. In yet another alternative, the load support means of the freight transporter may be height adjustable so as to raise and lower load units out of and into engagement with the carriage.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention, iO a freight transporter for use in transporting load units com-prises a load support means on the transporter, said load support means having a loading end for receiving load units and a load support face extending inwardly from said loading end in a loading path, said load support face being disposed in a substantially horizontal plane to underlie and support : load units during transportation thereof, a carriage located on said transporter proximate said load support means for movement relative to said load support means in said loading path, said carriage having a load carrying face, elevator means for adjusting the relative positions of the load carry-ing face of said carriage and said load support face between a first position and a second position, in said first posi-tion of said elevator means the carriage may be moved along the loading path below and out of engagement with load units mounted on said load support means in use, and, in response to movement to said seco~d position, a load unit initially supported by said load support means will be transferred to the carriage to be supported thereby for movement with said carriage along said loading path.
The invention will be more clearly understood after reference to the following detailed specification read in con-junction with the drawings wherein, Fig. 1 is a pictorial view of $he interior of a freight transporter constructed in accordance with an embodi-ment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a sectional view along the line 2-2 of Fig.l;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged pictorial view of a portion of the elevator me~hanism of Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 i5 a side view in the direction of the arrows 4-4 of Fig. 2;
Fig. S is a side view of a carriage and its elevator ; and drive mechanism;
Fig. 6 is a side view of the carriage of Fig. 5 in the elevated position;
Fig. 7 is a side view of a carriage and its drive mechanism illustrating an alternative elevator mechanism;
Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 illustrating a further alternative elevator mechanism;
Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 illustrating yet another elevator mechanism;
Fig. 10 is a side view of a carriage illustrating a , still further elevator mechanism;
Fig. 11 is a pictorial illustration of a portion of a height adjustable support rail.
With reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the refer-ence numeral 10 refers generally to the container body portion of a road going freight transporter vehicle. The body in-cludes a bed 1~ which has a loading end 14 at sne end thereof ; 30 and an inner en~ 16 at the other end thereof. Four load -support beams 18 extend inwardly from the loading end 14 of the bed to the inner end 16 in a spaced parallel relationship.
The beams 18 are arranged in pairs and have load suppDrt faces 20 directed upwardly therefrom. The load support faces 20 serve to support the load units during transportation thereof by the freight transporter. The beams 18 may be made from any suitable material with wood being a particularly suitable material because it will resist tendencies for the load to shift during transportation as a result of acceleration and deceleration of the transporter.
A channel 22 is formed between each pair of beams 18.
A pair of height adjustable support rails 24 are located in each channel 2~ and arranged one adjacent each beam 18. The height adjustable rails 24 extend over substantially the full length of the bed 12 from the loading end 14 to the inner end 16.
A carriage 26 is positioned to run in each channel 22 and has support wheels 28 mounted for rotation thereon.
The wheels 28 are arranged to run on the height adjustable rails 24. An endless drive chain 30 is provided for driving each carriage 26. The drive chain 30 has one end connected to the back end of its associated carriage 26 and the other end connected to the front end thereof. The chain 30 extends around sprockets 32 located at the loading end 14 of the transporter and sprocket 34 located at the inner end 16. The sprockets 32 are driven by a suitable drive motor 36 ~Fig. 5) so as to ~Plectively drive the carriages 26 along their res-pective height adjustable support rails 24 between the loading end and the inner end of the transporter.
; 30 Each carriage 26 has a load carrying face 38 which ~, may be moved relative to the load support fa~es 20 of its associated load support beams 18 by activating the height ad-justable rails 24. By activating the height adjustable rails 24 so that the carriage 26 is lowered, the carriage 26 may be driven along the channel 22 which forms a guide path which ex-tends below load units 40 mounted on the beæms 18. ~y acti-vating the height adjustable support rails 24 to raise the carriage 26, the carriage 26 may raise any overlying load unit 40 to a level above the load supporting faces 20 so that the load unit may be transported by the carriage along the quide rail by powering ~he drive chain 30.
The structure of the height adjustable support rail 24 is best seen with reference to Figs. 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings to which reference is now made. Each height adjust-able support rail 24 consists of an in~erted channel shaped rail 42 which has a plurality of rollers 44 mounted for rota-tion therein at spaced intervals along the length thereof. A
base plate 46 is mounted on the bed 12 dire~tly below each channel member 42 and has a plurality of wedge shaped ramps 48 located thereon at spaced intervals along the length thereof.
One such ramp 48 is arranged to be associated with each roller 44.
An expandable hydraulic cylinder 50 is located at the inner end of each rail 42. One end of the hydraulic cylinder unit 50 is mounted on the inner end of the rail 42 and the other end is secured with respect to the bed of the transporter.
By activating the hydraulic cylinder 50, the rail 42 can be moved longitudinally to cause the wheels 44 to rEmp up and down the ramps 48 to xaise and lower the rail 42 as required in use.
~Z75;~
In use, the carriage 26 may be initially locateG
inwardly from the loading end of the freight transporter. A
load unit 40 ~ay be positioned by means of Conventional fork lift truck or the like resting on the load support faces 20 of a pair of beams 18 at the loading end. In order to transfer this load unit 40 inwardly, the height adjustable rails 24 are positioned in the lowered configuration and the carriage drive mechanism is activated to cause the carriage to move to the loading end and, in so doing, to pass under the load unit.
When the carriage is located in the required location below the load unit, the height adjustable rails 24 are activated to be raised to r ~ e the carriage 26 upwardly into engagement with the load unit ~0 to an exten~ sufficient to raise the load unit 40 upwardly from the load supporting surface 20. The carriage drive mechanism is then activated to move the carriage 26, with the lond 40 mounted thereon, inwardly away from the loading end to the required storage location. When the load has been txansported to the required storage location, the height ad-justable rails 24 are lowered causing the carriage 26 to be lowered and thereby lower the load unit 40 onto the load support-ing faces 20 of the beams 18 at the required location. The ; carriage 26 is now free of engagement with the load unit 40 and may ~e returned to the loading end to receive a further load unit as required in use. The unloading operation is the reverse described above.
From the foregoing it will be apparent that the mechanism described above provides a simple and efficient mechanism for effecting relative movement between the load qupport face 20 of the beams 18 and the load carrying face 38 of the carriage 26. The provision of a mechani~m for achieving .'~ , ~Z75Z
this relative movement permits load units to be selectively supported by the load supporting means of the transporter or the carriages 26. When the load i~ carried by the carriages 26, it may be moved freely alo~g the length of the transporter and when it is lowered onto the load supporting beams, it is ~e-strained against longitudinal movement by frictional engagement with the beams.
The height adjustable support rails described in the preceding embodiment provide a particularly attractive mechanism for achieving the relative movement between the carriage and the stationary supports because the mechanism required for adjust-ing the height of the rails is inexpensive, simple and easy to maintain in good working order. Various other mechanisms may, however, be provided for effecting the required height adjustment between the load carrying face 38 of the carriage 26 and the load supporting face 20 of the beams 18. In one such alternative, the carriage 26 may be made height adjustable and in another alternative the support beams 18 may be made height adjustable.
Examples of height adjustable carriage are illustrated in Figs. 5 to 10 of the drawings.
As shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, the carriage 26 has an undercarriage which includes a tie bar 60 extending between each set of wheels 28 and link arms 62 pivot-ally connected to the carriage frame. The link arms 62 extend parallel to one another so that the undercarriage is in the form of a parallelogram linkage. A tension spring 64 connects the undercarriage to the frame of the carriage. One end of the drive cbain 30 is connected to the undercarriage and the ~0 other end thereof is connected to the frame of the carriage.
_ 7_ A tensioning mechanism 70 is provided for applying varying tension to the drive chain 30. The tension mechanism includes a pair of fixed sprockets 72 and a moving sprocket 74. The moving sproc~et 74 is mounted on the end of a ram 76 of an hydraulic cylinder 78. By activating the hydraulic cylinder 78, the sprocket 74 may be moved between the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 5 and the position shown in broken lines in Fig. 5. To adjust the height of the carriage 26 between the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, the hydraulic cylinder 78 is activated to move the sprocket 74 to the extended position shown in broken lines in Fig. 5. In so doing, increased tension is applied to the chain 30 which causes the parallelogram linkage of the undercarriage to pivot to the position shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, thereby rais-ing the carriage 26. The carriage 26 can be lowered simply by activating the hydraulic cylinder 78 to return to the retracted position, the tensioning spring 64 serving to cause the under-carriage 60 tQ pivot with respect to the carriage 26.
An alternative mechanism for raising and lowering the carriage 26 is illustrated in Fig. 7 of the drawings wherein a p~ir of hydraulic cylinders 80 and 8~ are coupled so as to be slaves of one another. The hydraulic cylinder 80 is fixed with respect to the carriage and has a ram 84 slidable therein.
The hydraulic cylinder 82 has one end connected to one of the wheel sets 28 and a ram connected to the other wheel set 28.
By activating the hydraulic cylinder 78 as previously described and the embodiments illustrated in Fig. 5, the chain 30 may be extended to cause the ram 84 to move with respect to the cylinder 80 to eject hydraulic fluid into the cylinder 82 which in turn cau~es the cylinder 82 and its acsociated ram 86 11~27SZ
to expand, thereby tO move the wheel sets 28 away from one another to pivot about their pivotal connection with the carriage and thereby raise the carriage to the position shown in broken lines in Fig.7.
Yet another mechanism for pro~iding a height aa just-able carriage is illustrated in Fig. 8 of the drawings wherein the carriage 26 has a movable platform 90 and ~n air bag 92 is located between the platform 90 and the frame of the carriage 26. By inflating the air bag 92 through a flexible conduit 94 from a suitable source of pressurized air, the platform 90 may be raised or lowered as required.
In a further embodiment illustrated in Fig. 9 of the drawings, the carriage 26 may be wheelless and may be in the form of a ground effect device to which air issupplied under pressure through conduit 96 to be discharged downwardly against the bed 12 of the vehicle to raise the carriage as re~uired, the air supply being cut off or substantially reduced to permit the ground effect carriage to be lowered as required in use.
In yet another embodiment of a height adjustable carriage as illustrated in Fig. 10, the carriage includes a frame 98 upon which a plurality of hydraulic jacks 100 are mounted. A platform 102 is mounted on the jacks 100 and may be raised and lowered by the jacks 100 as required in use. ~-As previously indicated in a~ alternati~e construction, the height of the support beams 18 may be adjusted while the height of the carriaye 26 remains constant. A support beam suitable for providing height adjustment is illustrated in Fig.
11 of the drawings and is identified generally by the reference numeral 18a. The support beam 18a includes a U-shaped channel member 104 which has a plurality of rollers 106 located at ~l~Z75Z
spaced intervals a~ong the length thereof. A support plate 10 is disposed below the rail 104 and extends longitudinally thereof. A plurality of wedge shaped ramps 110 are located at spaced ~nter~als along the length of the ~upport plate 10~ so as to underlie each roller 106. An hydraulic cylinder 112 has one end connected to the rail 104 and its other end secured ~ith respect to the bed 12. By activatLng the hydraulic cylinder 112, the rail 104 may be driven longitudinally with respect to the ramps 110 causing the rollers 106 to ride up and down the ramps 110 to raise and lower the load support ~ace 2 0 of the rail 104 as required in use. This mechanism is substantially the same as that described above with respect to the height adjust-able support rails 24. It will be seen that by activating the hydraulic cylinder 112, the height of the load support face 20 may be adjusted with respect to the height of the load carrying face 38 of the carriage 26.
~t will be apparent that the carriage 26 may be moved longitudinally of the transporter to effect movement of a load therealong regardless of the mechanism ~sed for raising and lowering the relative positions of the surfaces 20 and 28.
By the sim~le expedient of providing a carriage for transporting the load and a m~chanism for ad~usting the relative height of the position of the carriage and the load suppor~in~ surface of the transporter, it becomes a simple matter to ~ffect movement of a load unit w~th re8pect to th~ transporter.
It will b~ apparent that the freight transporter ~n which the loa~ transfer ~echanism i~ incorporated may ~e any o~e of a num~er of di~ erent types of t~ansporters incluaing road goLng truc~s, air planes, railroaa cars and ships.
A road go~ng b~ck is~ however, a particularly convenient - -lQ-li~Z75Z
transporter in which to incorporate a load moving mechanism because these vehicles tend to be used for transporting load units to and from a plurality of job sites which cannot justify the expense involved in providing elaborate loading mechanisms.
Various modifications of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, while in the preferred embodiment a drive mech~nism is pro-vided for driving the carriage along the loading path, the carriage might also be manually pushed. There is, however, considerable advantage to the provision of the drive mechanism Ln that it permits the load to be moved while the operator is out of the path of travel and not, therefore, likely to be injured by the moving load.
A further important, although not essential, feature of the present invention is in the provision of two load transporting mechanisms arranged side by side on the transporter. The provision of the two units permits two sides of the transporter to be loaded independently and at the same time with palletized load units or the like. I~ will be noted, however, that the two carriages may be operated in unison in order to move full width loads along the bed of the trans-porter. These and other aspects of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
The transporter may have a second load transporting mechanism.located above the first mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1 such that load units may be loaded into the trans-porter at two levels, one above the other. The secondload transporting mechanism being used to load a second load supporting platform arranged above the load of the transporter so that the full height of the container space may be utilized.
In particular, this invention relates to a load shifting mechanism incorporated in a freight transporter.
In the transportation of freight on trucks, trains, aircraft and ships, considerable difficulty has long been ex-perienced in moving load units toward and away from the loadLng end.
In transport trucks, it has been common practice to provide a roller conveyor extending along the bed of the truck along which load units may be rolled so as to be moved toward and away from the loading end. Such conveyors do, however, permit the load to shift during transportation and this can create a serious hazard during acceleration and deceleration of the transporter.
The present invention overcomes the difficulties of the prior art and provides a simple and efficient mechanis~
which enables ~oad units to be moved toward and away from the loading end of the transporter.
;~ To achieve the required movement of load units, a carriage is pro~ided which can be driven along a loading path extending inwardly from the loading end of the transporter and ~ -elevator means is ~rovided which permits adjustment of the height of the carriage relative to the load supporting face of the transporter so that loads may be selectively supported by ; the load supporting face of the transporter or the carriage.
The elevator means may be such that the relative movement is achieved in a number of different ways. One such way is to pro~ide a mechanism which will penmit adjustment of the height of the carriage so that by adjusting the height of the carriage ~he load carrying face thereof may be raised or lowered.
,: .
. .
.. . - - . . - ~. - .,, In an alternative construction, the carriage may ride on support rails, the support rails being height ad-justable so as to raise and lower the carriage. In yet another alternative, the load support means of the freight transporter may be height adjustable so as to raise and lower load units out of and into engagement with the carriage.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention, iO a freight transporter for use in transporting load units com-prises a load support means on the transporter, said load support means having a loading end for receiving load units and a load support face extending inwardly from said loading end in a loading path, said load support face being disposed in a substantially horizontal plane to underlie and support : load units during transportation thereof, a carriage located on said transporter proximate said load support means for movement relative to said load support means in said loading path, said carriage having a load carrying face, elevator means for adjusting the relative positions of the load carry-ing face of said carriage and said load support face between a first position and a second position, in said first posi-tion of said elevator means the carriage may be moved along the loading path below and out of engagement with load units mounted on said load support means in use, and, in response to movement to said seco~d position, a load unit initially supported by said load support means will be transferred to the carriage to be supported thereby for movement with said carriage along said loading path.
The invention will be more clearly understood after reference to the following detailed specification read in con-junction with the drawings wherein, Fig. 1 is a pictorial view of $he interior of a freight transporter constructed in accordance with an embodi-ment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a sectional view along the line 2-2 of Fig.l;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged pictorial view of a portion of the elevator me~hanism of Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 i5 a side view in the direction of the arrows 4-4 of Fig. 2;
Fig. S is a side view of a carriage and its elevator ; and drive mechanism;
Fig. 6 is a side view of the carriage of Fig. 5 in the elevated position;
Fig. 7 is a side view of a carriage and its drive mechanism illustrating an alternative elevator mechanism;
Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 illustrating a further alternative elevator mechanism;
Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 illustrating yet another elevator mechanism;
Fig. 10 is a side view of a carriage illustrating a , still further elevator mechanism;
Fig. 11 is a pictorial illustration of a portion of a height adjustable support rail.
With reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the refer-ence numeral 10 refers generally to the container body portion of a road going freight transporter vehicle. The body in-cludes a bed 1~ which has a loading end 14 at sne end thereof ; 30 and an inner en~ 16 at the other end thereof. Four load -support beams 18 extend inwardly from the loading end 14 of the bed to the inner end 16 in a spaced parallel relationship.
The beams 18 are arranged in pairs and have load suppDrt faces 20 directed upwardly therefrom. The load support faces 20 serve to support the load units during transportation thereof by the freight transporter. The beams 18 may be made from any suitable material with wood being a particularly suitable material because it will resist tendencies for the load to shift during transportation as a result of acceleration and deceleration of the transporter.
A channel 22 is formed between each pair of beams 18.
A pair of height adjustable support rails 24 are located in each channel 2~ and arranged one adjacent each beam 18. The height adjustable rails 24 extend over substantially the full length of the bed 12 from the loading end 14 to the inner end 16.
A carriage 26 is positioned to run in each channel 22 and has support wheels 28 mounted for rotation thereon.
The wheels 28 are arranged to run on the height adjustable rails 24. An endless drive chain 30 is provided for driving each carriage 26. The drive chain 30 has one end connected to the back end of its associated carriage 26 and the other end connected to the front end thereof. The chain 30 extends around sprockets 32 located at the loading end 14 of the transporter and sprocket 34 located at the inner end 16. The sprockets 32 are driven by a suitable drive motor 36 ~Fig. 5) so as to ~Plectively drive the carriages 26 along their res-pective height adjustable support rails 24 between the loading end and the inner end of the transporter.
; 30 Each carriage 26 has a load carrying face 38 which ~, may be moved relative to the load support fa~es 20 of its associated load support beams 18 by activating the height ad-justable rails 24. By activating the height adjustable rails 24 so that the carriage 26 is lowered, the carriage 26 may be driven along the channel 22 which forms a guide path which ex-tends below load units 40 mounted on the beæms 18. ~y acti-vating the height adjustable support rails 24 to raise the carriage 26, the carriage 26 may raise any overlying load unit 40 to a level above the load supporting faces 20 so that the load unit may be transported by the carriage along the quide rail by powering ~he drive chain 30.
The structure of the height adjustable support rail 24 is best seen with reference to Figs. 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings to which reference is now made. Each height adjust-able support rail 24 consists of an in~erted channel shaped rail 42 which has a plurality of rollers 44 mounted for rota-tion therein at spaced intervals along the length thereof. A
base plate 46 is mounted on the bed 12 dire~tly below each channel member 42 and has a plurality of wedge shaped ramps 48 located thereon at spaced intervals along the length thereof.
One such ramp 48 is arranged to be associated with each roller 44.
An expandable hydraulic cylinder 50 is located at the inner end of each rail 42. One end of the hydraulic cylinder unit 50 is mounted on the inner end of the rail 42 and the other end is secured with respect to the bed of the transporter.
By activating the hydraulic cylinder 50, the rail 42 can be moved longitudinally to cause the wheels 44 to rEmp up and down the ramps 48 to xaise and lower the rail 42 as required in use.
~Z75;~
In use, the carriage 26 may be initially locateG
inwardly from the loading end of the freight transporter. A
load unit 40 ~ay be positioned by means of Conventional fork lift truck or the like resting on the load support faces 20 of a pair of beams 18 at the loading end. In order to transfer this load unit 40 inwardly, the height adjustable rails 24 are positioned in the lowered configuration and the carriage drive mechanism is activated to cause the carriage to move to the loading end and, in so doing, to pass under the load unit.
When the carriage is located in the required location below the load unit, the height adjustable rails 24 are activated to be raised to r ~ e the carriage 26 upwardly into engagement with the load unit ~0 to an exten~ sufficient to raise the load unit 40 upwardly from the load supporting surface 20. The carriage drive mechanism is then activated to move the carriage 26, with the lond 40 mounted thereon, inwardly away from the loading end to the required storage location. When the load has been txansported to the required storage location, the height ad-justable rails 24 are lowered causing the carriage 26 to be lowered and thereby lower the load unit 40 onto the load support-ing faces 20 of the beams 18 at the required location. The ; carriage 26 is now free of engagement with the load unit 40 and may ~e returned to the loading end to receive a further load unit as required in use. The unloading operation is the reverse described above.
From the foregoing it will be apparent that the mechanism described above provides a simple and efficient mechanism for effecting relative movement between the load qupport face 20 of the beams 18 and the load carrying face 38 of the carriage 26. The provision of a mechani~m for achieving .'~ , ~Z75Z
this relative movement permits load units to be selectively supported by the load supporting means of the transporter or the carriages 26. When the load i~ carried by the carriages 26, it may be moved freely alo~g the length of the transporter and when it is lowered onto the load supporting beams, it is ~e-strained against longitudinal movement by frictional engagement with the beams.
The height adjustable support rails described in the preceding embodiment provide a particularly attractive mechanism for achieving the relative movement between the carriage and the stationary supports because the mechanism required for adjust-ing the height of the rails is inexpensive, simple and easy to maintain in good working order. Various other mechanisms may, however, be provided for effecting the required height adjustment between the load carrying face 38 of the carriage 26 and the load supporting face 20 of the beams 18. In one such alternative, the carriage 26 may be made height adjustable and in another alternative the support beams 18 may be made height adjustable.
Examples of height adjustable carriage are illustrated in Figs. 5 to 10 of the drawings.
As shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, the carriage 26 has an undercarriage which includes a tie bar 60 extending between each set of wheels 28 and link arms 62 pivot-ally connected to the carriage frame. The link arms 62 extend parallel to one another so that the undercarriage is in the form of a parallelogram linkage. A tension spring 64 connects the undercarriage to the frame of the carriage. One end of the drive cbain 30 is connected to the undercarriage and the ~0 other end thereof is connected to the frame of the carriage.
_ 7_ A tensioning mechanism 70 is provided for applying varying tension to the drive chain 30. The tension mechanism includes a pair of fixed sprockets 72 and a moving sprocket 74. The moving sproc~et 74 is mounted on the end of a ram 76 of an hydraulic cylinder 78. By activating the hydraulic cylinder 78, the sprocket 74 may be moved between the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 5 and the position shown in broken lines in Fig. 5. To adjust the height of the carriage 26 between the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, the hydraulic cylinder 78 is activated to move the sprocket 74 to the extended position shown in broken lines in Fig. 5. In so doing, increased tension is applied to the chain 30 which causes the parallelogram linkage of the undercarriage to pivot to the position shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, thereby rais-ing the carriage 26. The carriage 26 can be lowered simply by activating the hydraulic cylinder 78 to return to the retracted position, the tensioning spring 64 serving to cause the under-carriage 60 tQ pivot with respect to the carriage 26.
An alternative mechanism for raising and lowering the carriage 26 is illustrated in Fig. 7 of the drawings wherein a p~ir of hydraulic cylinders 80 and 8~ are coupled so as to be slaves of one another. The hydraulic cylinder 80 is fixed with respect to the carriage and has a ram 84 slidable therein.
The hydraulic cylinder 82 has one end connected to one of the wheel sets 28 and a ram connected to the other wheel set 28.
By activating the hydraulic cylinder 78 as previously described and the embodiments illustrated in Fig. 5, the chain 30 may be extended to cause the ram 84 to move with respect to the cylinder 80 to eject hydraulic fluid into the cylinder 82 which in turn cau~es the cylinder 82 and its acsociated ram 86 11~27SZ
to expand, thereby tO move the wheel sets 28 away from one another to pivot about their pivotal connection with the carriage and thereby raise the carriage to the position shown in broken lines in Fig.7.
Yet another mechanism for pro~iding a height aa just-able carriage is illustrated in Fig. 8 of the drawings wherein the carriage 26 has a movable platform 90 and ~n air bag 92 is located between the platform 90 and the frame of the carriage 26. By inflating the air bag 92 through a flexible conduit 94 from a suitable source of pressurized air, the platform 90 may be raised or lowered as required.
In a further embodiment illustrated in Fig. 9 of the drawings, the carriage 26 may be wheelless and may be in the form of a ground effect device to which air issupplied under pressure through conduit 96 to be discharged downwardly against the bed 12 of the vehicle to raise the carriage as re~uired, the air supply being cut off or substantially reduced to permit the ground effect carriage to be lowered as required in use.
In yet another embodiment of a height adjustable carriage as illustrated in Fig. 10, the carriage includes a frame 98 upon which a plurality of hydraulic jacks 100 are mounted. A platform 102 is mounted on the jacks 100 and may be raised and lowered by the jacks 100 as required in use. ~-As previously indicated in a~ alternati~e construction, the height of the support beams 18 may be adjusted while the height of the carriaye 26 remains constant. A support beam suitable for providing height adjustment is illustrated in Fig.
11 of the drawings and is identified generally by the reference numeral 18a. The support beam 18a includes a U-shaped channel member 104 which has a plurality of rollers 106 located at ~l~Z75Z
spaced intervals a~ong the length thereof. A support plate 10 is disposed below the rail 104 and extends longitudinally thereof. A plurality of wedge shaped ramps 110 are located at spaced ~nter~als along the length of the ~upport plate 10~ so as to underlie each roller 106. An hydraulic cylinder 112 has one end connected to the rail 104 and its other end secured ~ith respect to the bed 12. By activatLng the hydraulic cylinder 112, the rail 104 may be driven longitudinally with respect to the ramps 110 causing the rollers 106 to ride up and down the ramps 110 to raise and lower the load support ~ace 2 0 of the rail 104 as required in use. This mechanism is substantially the same as that described above with respect to the height adjust-able support rails 24. It will be seen that by activating the hydraulic cylinder 112, the height of the load support face 20 may be adjusted with respect to the height of the load carrying face 38 of the carriage 26.
~t will be apparent that the carriage 26 may be moved longitudinally of the transporter to effect movement of a load therealong regardless of the mechanism ~sed for raising and lowering the relative positions of the surfaces 20 and 28.
By the sim~le expedient of providing a carriage for transporting the load and a m~chanism for ad~usting the relative height of the position of the carriage and the load suppor~in~ surface of the transporter, it becomes a simple matter to ~ffect movement of a load unit w~th re8pect to th~ transporter.
It will b~ apparent that the freight transporter ~n which the loa~ transfer ~echanism i~ incorporated may ~e any o~e of a num~er of di~ erent types of t~ansporters incluaing road goLng truc~s, air planes, railroaa cars and ships.
A road go~ng b~ck is~ however, a particularly convenient - -lQ-li~Z75Z
transporter in which to incorporate a load moving mechanism because these vehicles tend to be used for transporting load units to and from a plurality of job sites which cannot justify the expense involved in providing elaborate loading mechanisms.
Various modifications of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, while in the preferred embodiment a drive mech~nism is pro-vided for driving the carriage along the loading path, the carriage might also be manually pushed. There is, however, considerable advantage to the provision of the drive mechanism Ln that it permits the load to be moved while the operator is out of the path of travel and not, therefore, likely to be injured by the moving load.
A further important, although not essential, feature of the present invention is in the provision of two load transporting mechanisms arranged side by side on the transporter. The provision of the two units permits two sides of the transporter to be loaded independently and at the same time with palletized load units or the like. I~ will be noted, however, that the two carriages may be operated in unison in order to move full width loads along the bed of the trans-porter. These and other aspects of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
The transporter may have a second load transporting mechanism.located above the first mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1 such that load units may be loaded into the trans-porter at two levels, one above the other. The secondload transporting mechanism being used to load a second load supporting platform arranged above the load of the transporter so that the full height of the container space may be utilized.
Claims (2)
1. A freight transporter for use in transporting load units comprising;
(a) load support means on the transporter, said load support means having a loading end for receiving load units and a load support face extending inwardly from said loading end in a loading path, said load support face being disposed in a substantially horizontal plane to underlie and support load units during transportation thereof, (b) a carriage located on said transporter proximate said load support means for movement relative to said load support means in said loading path, said carriage having a load carrying face, (c) elevator means for adjusting the relative posi-tions of the load carrying face of said carriage and said load support face between a first position and a second posi-tion, in said first position of said elevator means the carriage may be moved along the loading path below and out of engagement with load units mounted on said load support means in use and, in response to movement to said second position, a load unit initially supported by said load support means will be transferred to the carriage to be supported thereby for movement with said carriage along said loading path, (d) said elevator means comprising;
(i) a pair of longitudinally elongated support rails extending in a spaced parallel relationship along said loading path, (ii) a plurality of support rollers mounted on each of said rails for rotation about axes disposed transversely of the longitudinal rails and being located at spaced inter-vals along the length of said rails, each roller having a support face exposed at the underside of its associated support rail, (iii) ramp means disposed adjacent each roller, each ramp having a ramp face which is inclined upwardly in the first direction aligned with said loading path and the support face of its associated roller, (iv) drive means connected to said support rails for driving said support rails to and fro along said loading path to drive each roller upwardly along its associated ramp face in response to movement in the first direction and downwardly in response to movement in a second direction opposite to said first direction thereby causing said support rails to be height adjustable, (e) said carriage having load support wheels riding on said support rails such that by adjusting the height of said support rails, the height of the load carrying face of the carriage is adjusted relative to the load support face of the load support means.
(a) load support means on the transporter, said load support means having a loading end for receiving load units and a load support face extending inwardly from said loading end in a loading path, said load support face being disposed in a substantially horizontal plane to underlie and support load units during transportation thereof, (b) a carriage located on said transporter proximate said load support means for movement relative to said load support means in said loading path, said carriage having a load carrying face, (c) elevator means for adjusting the relative posi-tions of the load carrying face of said carriage and said load support face between a first position and a second posi-tion, in said first position of said elevator means the carriage may be moved along the loading path below and out of engagement with load units mounted on said load support means in use and, in response to movement to said second position, a load unit initially supported by said load support means will be transferred to the carriage to be supported thereby for movement with said carriage along said loading path, (d) said elevator means comprising;
(i) a pair of longitudinally elongated support rails extending in a spaced parallel relationship along said loading path, (ii) a plurality of support rollers mounted on each of said rails for rotation about axes disposed transversely of the longitudinal rails and being located at spaced inter-vals along the length of said rails, each roller having a support face exposed at the underside of its associated support rail, (iii) ramp means disposed adjacent each roller, each ramp having a ramp face which is inclined upwardly in the first direction aligned with said loading path and the support face of its associated roller, (iv) drive means connected to said support rails for driving said support rails to and fro along said loading path to drive each roller upwardly along its associated ramp face in response to movement in the first direction and downwardly in response to movement in a second direction opposite to said first direction thereby causing said support rails to be height adjustable, (e) said carriage having load support wheels riding on said support rails such that by adjusting the height of said support rails, the height of the load carrying face of the carriage is adjusted relative to the load support face of the load support means.
2. A freight transporter as claimed in Claim 1 wherein each of said longitudinally elongated support rails has a U-shaped cross-section which forms a downwardly opening channel and each ramp means is proportioned to have a width which is less than the width of said channel, said channel being aligned with said ramp means and said ramp means pro-jecting into said channel when said support rails are in said lowered position to assist in maintaining the longi-tudinal alignment of said support rails, said support rollers being mounted within the channel of their associated support rail and supported by opposite side walls of their associated support rail.
Priority Applications (7)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA321,065A CA1102752A (en) | 1979-02-07 | 1979-02-07 | Freight transporter with load shifting mechanism |
| GB8003175A GB2041321A (en) | 1979-02-07 | 1980-01-30 | Freight Transporter with Load Shifting Mechanism |
| IT8047805A IT8047805A0 (en) | 1979-02-07 | 1980-02-05 | GOODS CONVEYOR WITH TROLLEY MECHANISM TO MOVE THE LOAD |
| FR8002544A FR2448454A1 (en) | 1979-02-07 | 1980-02-06 | CARGO CONVEYOR PROVIDED WITH A LOAD MOVING DEVICE |
| NL8000739A NL8000739A (en) | 1979-02-07 | 1980-02-06 | FREIGHT CONVEYOR WITH LOAD CHARGING MECHANISM. |
| SE8000948A SE8000948L (en) | 1979-02-07 | 1980-02-06 | TRANSPORT VEHICLE WITH MECHANISM FOR MOVEMENT OF LOAD |
| DE19803004371 DE3004371A1 (en) | 1979-02-07 | 1980-02-06 | CARGO FOR TRANSPORTING CARGO |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA321,065A CA1102752A (en) | 1979-02-07 | 1979-02-07 | Freight transporter with load shifting mechanism |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1102752A true CA1102752A (en) | 1981-06-09 |
Family
ID=4113490
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA321,065A Expired CA1102752A (en) | 1979-02-07 | 1979-02-07 | Freight transporter with load shifting mechanism |
Country Status (7)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1102752A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3004371A1 (en) |
| FR (1) | FR2448454A1 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB2041321A (en) |
| IT (1) | IT8047805A0 (en) |
| NL (1) | NL8000739A (en) |
| SE (1) | SE8000948L (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP0048451A1 (en) * | 1980-09-24 | 1982-03-31 | 121873 Canada Inc. | Electro-magnetic therapeutic system and method |
Families Citing this family (29)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GB2133377B (en) * | 1982-12-31 | 1986-11-05 | Hydraroll Ltd | Mechanical handling apparatus |
| GB2145688A (en) * | 1983-08-31 | 1985-04-03 | Narko Ab Oy | Improvements relating to the displacement of sliding benches on trailers |
| IT1172660B (en) * | 1983-12-23 | 1987-06-18 | Italsider Spa Nuova | CONVEYOR OF THE BEARING TYPE WITH FLUID CUSHION |
| FI841385A0 (en) * | 1984-04-09 | 1984-04-09 | Seppo Kalervo Suominen | DATORSTYRT LAGERSYSTEM. |
| DE3516441C2 (en) * | 1985-02-13 | 1996-01-18 | Spier Gmbh | Conveying device for containers or pallets |
| SE453910B (en) * | 1985-12-23 | 1988-03-14 | Creatum Ab | DEVICE FOR TRANSFER OF GOODS WITHIN AN AIRCRAFT CARGO SPACE |
| GB2182015B (en) * | 1985-10-25 | 1989-09-20 | Hydraroll Ltd | Mechanical handling apparatus |
| GB8526422D0 (en) * | 1985-10-25 | 1985-11-27 | Hydraroll Ltd | Mechanical handling apparatus |
| NL8601467A (en) * | 1986-06-06 | 1988-01-04 | Elten Nederland | TRANSPORT DEVICE. |
| DE3832465A1 (en) * | 1988-09-23 | 1990-04-05 | Kettner Verpackungsmaschf | Device for loading vehicles, in particular articulated lorries, with loading units, in particular pallets, skeleton containers and similar containers, and for removing them |
| US4979863A (en) * | 1989-01-10 | 1990-12-25 | Kavieff Shelden M | Apparatus for handling a group of unit loads |
| GB2240961A (en) * | 1989-12-01 | 1991-08-21 | Automatic Truck Loading System | Improvements in or relating to apparatus for loading on to, and un-loading pallets from vehicles. |
| US5605427A (en) * | 1993-07-06 | 1997-02-25 | Hammond; Theodore A. | Level gravity conveyor with gravity return of transfer units |
| DE102005018266A1 (en) * | 2005-04-20 | 2006-11-02 | FAB GmbH Fördertechnik und Anlagenbau | Device for loading and unloading the loading area of a vehicle, in particular lorries, with goods |
| US7785056B2 (en) * | 2006-08-22 | 2010-08-31 | The Boeing Company | Cargo transport system and method |
| EP2815970B1 (en) | 2013-06-21 | 2018-04-04 | Airbus Operations GmbH | System and method for loading and unloading a cargo compartment |
| US9511860B2 (en) | 2014-10-10 | 2016-12-06 | Goodrich Corporation | Air cushion aircraft cargo loading systems and wireless communication unit |
| US9555888B2 (en) | 2014-10-10 | 2017-01-31 | Goodrich Corporation | Pressure compensating air curtain for air cushion supported cargo loading platform |
| US9352835B2 (en) | 2014-10-10 | 2016-05-31 | Goodrich Corporation | Wedge lift jacking system for crawler supported aircraft loading robot |
| US9511861B2 (en) | 2014-10-10 | 2016-12-06 | Goodrich Corporation | Noise reduction barrier for air cushion supported aircraft cargo loading robot |
| US9643723B2 (en) * | 2014-10-10 | 2017-05-09 | Goodrich Corporation | Slide bushing supported aircraft cargo loading systems and methods |
| US9567166B2 (en) | 2014-10-10 | 2017-02-14 | Goodrich Corporation | Compact centrifugal air blowers for air cushion supported cargo loading platform |
| US10196146B2 (en) | 2014-10-10 | 2019-02-05 | Goodrich Corporation | Self propelled air cushion supported aircraft cargo loading systems and methods |
| US9387931B2 (en) | 2014-10-10 | 2016-07-12 | Goodrich Corporation | Air cushion aircraft cargo loading systems and shuttle drive unit |
| US10393225B2 (en) | 2015-01-05 | 2019-08-27 | Goodrich Corporation | Integrated multi-function propulsion belt for air cushion supported aircraft cargo loading robot |
| US9580250B2 (en) | 2015-01-30 | 2017-02-28 | Goodrich Corporation | Bushing cleaner systems and methods |
| RU186361U1 (en) * | 2018-01-31 | 2019-01-16 | Федеральное государственное унитарное предприятие "Центр эксплуатации объектов наземной космической инфраструктуры" | VEHICLE |
| CN110915440B (en) * | 2019-12-31 | 2020-11-20 | 农业农村部南京农业机械化研究所 | Cutting device for reed |
| US11254254B2 (en) * | 2020-06-25 | 2022-02-22 | GM Global Technology Operations LLC | Loading and unloading systems and methods |
-
1979
- 1979-02-07 CA CA321,065A patent/CA1102752A/en not_active Expired
-
1980
- 1980-01-30 GB GB8003175A patent/GB2041321A/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1980-02-05 IT IT8047805A patent/IT8047805A0/en unknown
- 1980-02-06 NL NL8000739A patent/NL8000739A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1980-02-06 FR FR8002544A patent/FR2448454A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1980-02-06 DE DE19803004371 patent/DE3004371A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1980-02-06 SE SE8000948A patent/SE8000948L/en unknown
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP0048451A1 (en) * | 1980-09-24 | 1982-03-31 | 121873 Canada Inc. | Electro-magnetic therapeutic system and method |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| FR2448454A1 (en) | 1980-09-05 |
| SE8000948L (en) | 1980-08-08 |
| NL8000739A (en) | 1980-08-11 |
| DE3004371A1 (en) | 1980-08-21 |
| IT8047805A0 (en) | 1980-02-05 |
| GB2041321A (en) | 1980-09-10 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |