CN113845069A

CN113845069A - Lifting system for operating a machine

Info

Publication number: CN113845069A
Application number: CN202110711411.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 马尔科·艾奥蒂
Original assignee: Manitou Italia SRL
Current assignee: Manitou Italia SRL
Priority date: 2020-06-26
Filing date: 2021-06-25
Publication date: 2021-12-28
Also published as: IT202000015508A1; EP3929145A1

Abstract

A lifting system for operating a machine (2) is described, the lifting system comprising: a loading platform (1); a movable lifting arm (21), the platform (1) being mounted on the movable lifting arm (21); a drive device (2, 25, 26) for moving the arm (21); a safety device (41, 42) wearable by the operator and designed to firmly fasten the operator to the platform (1); an inspection device (5) designed to detect whether the safety device (41, 42) is worn by an operator; a processing equipment (3) configured to allow or inhibit operation of the driving means (24, 25, 26) based on the detection performed by the inspection equipment (5).

Description

Lifting system for operating a machine

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a lifting system equipped with a loading platform and designed to be used in connection with self-propelled operating machines, such as telescopic-arm forklift trucks or forks, space-based platforms, or other similar machines.

Background

Known loading platforms comprise a bottom plane, designed to support the operator, the load, and the working equipment, around which side panels designed to prevent accidental falls are provided.

The platform can be connected to a telescopic lifting arm, which the work machine is provided with by means of an attachment device.

Known platforms of the "traditional" type can operate very efficiently with portable equipment as mentioned that can be easily stowed on the platform, when they are used for high levels of work activities requiring manual intervention by an operator.

However, there are some types of work activities that cannot be completed using this type of platform and therefore are less efficient and sometimes dangerous to complete.

For example, the removal of asbestos sheathing present on the roof of a building is exemplified by the removal of a thick slab forming the sheathing.

In order to be able to remove asbestos cladding or other materials of similar type and/or danger, one or more operators need to be fastened to safety harnesses anchored to the roof, work on the roof.

To facilitate this operation, "special" platforms have been designed which are equipped with movable side walls, i.e. can be tilted, thereby avoiding the need to pass over the side walls when loading the removed sheet material onto the bottom surface of the platform, i.e. an operation which is cumbersome, laborious and risky due to the type of material being moved.

An embodiment of this second type of platform is described in european patent No. 3392192, named by the same applicant as the present invention.

In principle, having a special platform that can tilt presents a greater risk of falling compared to a platform with fixed sides; however, the invention protected by the above-mentioned european patent comprises a system agreed and inhibited on the basis of the logic that, when the platform is moved, it is ensured that the operator cannot approach the free edge of the already inclined side wall, thereby preventing the possibility of a fall.

However, in order to authorize the use of platforms with inclined side walls, state authorities in some countries require that they must be equipped with a mechanism to ensure that operators climbing the platform use separate physical protection devices, such as slings or the like fixed to the platform, to prevent their falling.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical purpose forming the basis of the present invention is to propose an innovative loading platform included in a lifting system such that the requirements indicated in the previous paragraph can be met.

This technical object is achieved by a hoisting system according to an embodiment of the present application.

Drawings

Further features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the non-limiting description of an embodiment of the system of the invention indicated below and thus preferred, but not exhaustive, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are isometric views of a loading platform according to the present invention in different operating configurations;

figure 3 is an isometric view of a telescopic boom forklift truck incorporating a lifting system according to the present invention; and is

Fig. 4 is a schematic representation of a processing apparatus according to the invention.

Detailed Description

With reference to the above-mentioned figures, numeral 1 indicates a telescopic boom forklift 2, a loading platform of an empty base platform, or similar working machine.

The platform 1 according to the invention is designed in particular to be connected to a lifting arm 21, the work machine 2 being equipped with a lifting arm 21.

In the following, for the sake of illustration and without limiting the scope of the invention, reference will be made to the specific case in which the operating machine is a telescopic-arm forklift 2 (see fig. 3).

The lifting system according to the invention, including the platform thereof, may be similar to the system described in the above-mentioned european patent No. 3392192, named by the same applicant as the present invention and incorporated herein by reference, except for some special technical features which are the object of the present invention and which are described in detail below.

The platform 1 comprises a bottom plane 10 arranged to support an operator and/or work equipment.

The plane 10 is associated with the

side walls

11, 12, 13, 14 to prevent accidental falls of the operator or of the load.

In particular, the plane 10 is preferably quadrangular (for example rectangular), and therefore the

side walls

11, 12, 13, 14 are located at the perimeter of the plane 10, from which they extend to form a kind of open-topped cage.

The lifting arm 21 is movable and, preferably, telescopic; in detail, the arm 21 comprises a plurality of sections that can be inserted in a sliding manner with respect to each other, the proximal section of which is hinged to the frame or to the opposite rotating tower of the machine 2, and the distal section of which arm 21 mounts an attachment device 22 for removably coupling the platform 1.

The platform 1 is equipped with a hooking device 15 designed to be anchored, in a known manner, to the attachment device 22 of the arm 21.

It should be noted that the platform 1 can rotate with respect to an axis passing through the hooking device 15; in particular, the device 15 may comprise a hinge on which the moving device acts, preferably of the hydraulic type.

In general, the movement of the arm 21 is preferably effected by means of drive means 24, 25, 26, which drive means 24, 25, 26 may comprise

hydraulic cylinders

25, 26 activated by one or more electro-hydraulic distributors 24, not shown because they are also of known type. The invention also relates to the case in which the mobile equipment is of the electromechanical type, not hydraulic.

The platform 1 according to the invention has been designed to be switched from a first operating configuration to a second operating configuration and vice versa.

In more detail, the first operating configuration (shown in fig. 1) may be a normal use configuration, while the second configuration (shown in fig. 2) may be used for a special purpose, such as, for example, removal of asbestos sheets from a roof covering or similar use.

In the preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, at least one of the

side walls

11, 12, 13, 14 surrounding the bottom plane 10 is movable between an upright position defining a first configuration of normal use of the platform 1 and a lowered position defining a second configuration of special use of the platform 1.

More precisely, when the movable side wall 11 is in the lowered position, the platform 1 is in the open configuration, allowing the introduction or support of the material, while in the upright position, all the sides of the platform 1 are closed.

Preferably, the movable side wall 11 is tiltable, i.e. it is designed to rotate between an upright position, in which it is substantially perpendicular to the bottom 10, like the other side walls 12, 13, 14, and a lowered position, in which it defines an extension of the bottom plane 10 and is thus parallel and/or continuous with the bottom plane.

Preferably, the movable side wall 11 is the outermost or "front" side wall, i.e. the side opposite the rear side wall 12 having the hooking means 15.

In more detail, the tiltable side wall 11 is hinged at its lower side to the bottom 10; auxiliary equipment may be provided to move the side wall 11 between its various positions, the auxiliary equipment connecting the movable side wall 11 with the bottom of the platform 1, such as, for example, gas springs,

hydraulic cylinders

25, 26, etc.

In order to be able to be used as a support for loads with the base 10, the movable side wall 11 is equipped with a continuous surface substantially equal to the surface of the bottom of the platform 1, for example comprising a plate 110 made at least partially of metal, for example aluminium.

In still more detail, the

sidewalls

11, 12, 13, 14 may be reticulated (or "lattice" like) and the lattice of the movable sidewall 11 has a fixed continuous surface as described above.

Moreover, at the opposite longitudinal end, the movable side wall 11 can be equipped with two

minor side walls

111, 112 or enantiomers to define, in a particular operating configuration, the extension of the two fixed side walls 13, 14 positioned between the movable side wall 11 and the rear side wall 12.

The two minor

lateral walls

111, 112 may be hinged to the movable lateral wall 11 and can be manually fixed in a position in which they are perpendicular to the movable lateral wall 11.

Preferably, the invention comprises a side wall sensor designed to check whether the platform 1 is in the first operating configuration or in the second operating configuration. In more detail, the side wall sensor is designed to check whether the above-mentioned movable side wall 11 is in the upright position or whether it is in the lowered position.

There is also at least one control device which can be operated directly by the operator and which is arranged to control the hydraulic distributor 24 in such a way that it moves the arm 21 (and, if necessary, the swivel joint (if present) of the tower and the platform 1) according to the command selected by the operator.

More specifically, the control means are connected to the processing equipment 3, which processing equipment 3 may also contain or comprise a control unit on the telescopic forklift 2, which generates control signals that drive the electro-hydraulic distributor 24, thereby activating the

hydraulic cylinders

25, 26 of the arm 21 (and also the motor (if present) of the frame that causes the tower to rotate).

The control means comprise an interface, for example constituted by a joystick, a button, a display (also a touch screen), a lever, etc., the activation interface allowing the operator to select the commands for moving the arm 21.

In a more general sense, the interface of the control device is configured to allow setting or selection of a position parameter, i.e. a movement representative of the inclination of the arm 21 with respect to the frame of the machine 2 and of the elongation and contraction of the arm 21.

The control means, which may also be of known type and therefore not shown, are designed to generate control signals according to the selections performed on the interface concerned, while the processing equipment 3 is designed to receive these control signals and to generate and send to the distributor 24 driving signals according to the control signals received.

In the solution according to european patent No. 3392192, there are two control devices, one mounted on the platform 1 and accessible to the operator on the platform and one located in the cab 23 of the fork lift truck 2 and accessible to the operator driving the vehicle 2.

The cab control device can be similar to the control devices already used in this type of vehicle. Alternatively or in addition, there may be external devices, for example equipped with remote controls that can be operated by an operator outside the cab 23 of the machine 2.

The invention of the above-mentioned european patent advantageously allows switching the control of the movement of the arm 21 and the platform 1 from the control means on the platform 1 to the control means in the cab (or outside) and vice versa, according to different operating conditions and various uses of the platform 1, in order to always maintain the highest degree of safety and efficient use.

However, the invention may also be applied to solutions that do not provide this aspect of the security system of european patent No. 3392192.

The invention has been conceived in such a way as to ensure that the platform 1 cannot be moved by the arms 21 or their joints, in particular when the platform 1 is in the open configuration, i.e. the movable side walls 11 are lowered, unless the operator on the platform wears protective devices 41, 42 that physically anchor it to the platform 1.

In general, for each operator located on the platform, the invention comprises safety devices 41, 42 that can be worn to secure him/her firmly to the platform 1, such as, for example, slings 41 connected to the platform 1 by cables 42, preferably to the side walls 12.

In the embodiment shown, the slings 41 are connected to the innermost side wall 12 opposite the movable side wall by anchor cables 42.

According to an important aspect of the present invention, an inspection device 5 is provided, designed to detect whether a respective operator wears a safety device 41, 42.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned handling equipment 3 is configured to allow or inhibit operation of the above-mentioned driving means 24, 25, 26, including the

hydraulic actuators

25, 26 of the arm 21 or the platform 1, based on the detection performed by the inspection equipment.

In more detail, the processing equipment 3 can be configured in such a way as to allow the

hydraulic actuators

25, 26 to move the operation of the arm 21 and of the platform 1 if and only if the checking equipment detects the respective safety devices 41, 42 implemented by the corresponding operator wearing on the platform 1.

According to a particular embodiment, the inspection equipment comprises an electric circuit 5, normally open, which can be closed after wearing the protective devices 41, 42, thereby generating an electric inspection signal which is sent to the processing equipment 3 for its detection.

For example, the circuit 5 may comprise two

branches

51, 52, the two

branches

51, 52 being mounted on the sling 41 (schematically shown in fig. 4) and being provided at the free ends with respective terminals designed to be connected to each other by the operator wearing the sling 41 to close the circuit 5, thereby allowing the electrical signals to flow in the circuit 5 and be detected by the processing equipment 3.

In fact, in parallel to the fastening cable 42 of the sling 41, there may be a second cable 53 for sending electrical signals, the second cable 53 comprising a first terminal, for example a socket electrically connected to an insert present on the platform 1 and connected at the other end to the back of the sling 41, wherein it is divided into the two

branches

51, 52 mentioned integrated or attached to the sling 41, which slide at the sides of the sling 41, preferably at the position of the waist of the operator.

In this case, the platform 1 has various electrical inputs connected to the second cable 53, the inputs being connected to the electrical system of the machine 1, which in turn is connected to the processing equipment 3. Alternatively, the second cable 53 of the safety equipment located on the platform 1 may be permanently connected to the electrical system of the forklift truck 1.

For this reason, when the operator wears the sling 41, after inserting the first terminal at the entrance of the platform 1, the other two terminals present in the sling 41 are connected to the height of the waist, thus closing the circuit 5 and allowing the transmission of the first check signal.

More generally, according to the invention, the above-mentioned inspection equipment is designed to send, according to the detection performed, a first inspection signal, which does not necessarily have to be an electrical signal, but can be an optical signal or of another type; in any case, this signal is processed by the processing equipment 3 to inhibit or allow the operation of the driving means 24, 25, 26 on the basis of the check signal.

For example, the processing equipment 3 can evaluate the presence or absence of a check signal or the measurement of the value of a received signal and decide whether to allow the electro-hydraulic distributor 24 to activate the

hydraulic actuators

25, 26 depending on how the control device is operated by the operator.

In more detail, when the processing equipment 3 receives a control signal from the control device, whether it is on the platform 1 or in the cab 23, as long as it has detected a check signal indicating the fact that the sling 41 has been worn, an appropriate drive signal is sent to the distributor 24 and, therefore, the safety conditions that allow moving the platform 1 are met.

It should be noted that, as an alternative to the solution with normally open electric circuit 5, the checking equipment may comprise sensors positioned on the safety devices 41, 42, designed to detect whether the safety devices are worn and thus to generate said checking signals; for example, it may be a presence sensor associated with the hook of the sling 41 that detects whether the sling is connected.

Preferably, the above-mentioned side wall sensor 6 (shown in stylized form in fig. 4) which is designed to detect the position of the movable side wall 11, when the respective device 41, 42 is worn, generates a second check signal as a function of the detected position, which is processed by the processing equipment 3, together with the first check signal.

In this case, the

drives

24, 25, 26 that regulate the movement of the platform 1 are activated or suppressed according to the conditions related to the two types of check signals.

For example, it may be established that the inspection of the condition of an operator wearing the sling 41 on the platform 1 adjusts the actuation and inhibition of the movement of the arm 21 and platform 1 only when the movable side wall 11 is in the lowered position, i.e. when the risk of falling is greater.

In this case, the processing equipment 3 inhibits the activation of the

hydraulic actuators

25, 26 by the distributor 24 on the basis of the respective check signal only if the second check signal indicates a condition in which the side wall 11 is turned, but the check signal has not yet been processed (indicating the condition of the sling 41 being worn or not wearing all the slings connected to the platform 1).

It should be noted that although the length of the first anchor cable 42 of the sling 41 in the lowered position is such as to prevent an operator wearing the sling from positioning himself/herself at or beyond the free outer edge of the movable side wall 11, the second cable 53 provided for electrical conduction may be a longer cable, for example as a coil spring arrangement surrounding the first cable 42.

Still in more detail, the processing equipment 3 can comprise a memory module 31 for recording the number of safety devices 41, 42 carried on the platform 1 and that have to be worn.

Furthermore, the processing equipment 3 may comprise a connection module 32, the connection module 32 being configured for detecting the number of protection devices 41, 42 connected to the electrical system of the machine through an input present on the platform 1 and recording this number in the memory module 31.

Thus, the processing equipment 3 comprises a first security module 33, the first security module 33 being connected to the memory module 31 and configured to determine whether all the security devices 41, 42 are worn or not, depending on the detected first check signal.

A second safety module 34 may be provided to determine whether the movable side wall 11 is in the lowered position based on a second check signal.

There is also a control module 35 configured for sending control signals to the hydraulic distributor 24, the control module 35 being designed to control the drive means 24, 25, 26 in accordance with the control signals received from the above-mentioned control means.

Finally, the processing equipment 3 can comprise an enabling module 36, the enabling module 36 being configured to allow or inhibit the operation of the driving module on the basis of the fact that the first and

second safety modules

33, 34 have determined whether the movable side wall 11 is lowered and if the entire safety devices 41, 42 are worn.

It should be noted that the processing equipment may comprise a processing unit 3 which is presented divided into separate functional modules for the purpose of clearly and completely describing the functionality. In practice, the processing unit may be constituted by electronic equipment, also of the type commonly present on machines and platforms of this type, such as the control unit described above, suitably programmed to perform the functions described.

The respective modules can correspond to hardware units and/or software routines constituting part of the programming device.

A plurality of electronic devices distributed by the above-mentioned functional modules can perform functions.

In general, the processing unit may have one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers for executing instructions contained in a memory module and the above-mentioned functional modules may also be distributed over a plurality of local or remote computers, depending on the architecture of the network in which they are located.

Claims

1. A lift system for a work machine (2), the lift system comprising:

a loading platform (1);

-a movable lifting arm (21), said platform (1) being mounted on said arm (21);

at least one drive (24, 25, 26) for moving the arm (21);

at least one safety device (41, 42) wearable by an operator and designed to securely fasten the operator to the platform (1);

an inspection device (5) designed to detect whether the safety device (41, 42) is worn by an operator;

-a processing device (3) configured to allow or inhibit the operation of said driving means (24, 25, 26) on the basis of the detection performed by said inspection device (5).

2. The system according to the preceding claim, wherein the safety device (41, 42) is a sling (41) connected to the platform (1) by a cable (42).

3. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the check equipment (5) is designed to send, depending on the detection performed, a first check signal processed by the processing equipment (3), the processing equipment (3) inhibiting or allowing the operation of the drive means (24, 25, 26) on the basis of the check signal.

4. System according to the preceding claim, wherein the inspection equipment comprises an electric circuit (5) normally open, closable after wearing the protection device (41, 42), thereby generating an electric inspection signal.

5. System according to the preceding claim, wherein the circuit (5) comprises two branches (51, 52) positioned on the sling (41) and provided at the free ends with respective terminals designed to be connected by the operator to close the circuit.

6. System according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said check equipment comprises at least one sensor positioned on said safety device (41, 42), designed to detect whether said safety device (41, 42) is worn and to generate said check signal as a result.

7. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the platform (1) comprises a bottom surface (10) and a plurality of side walls (11, 12, 13, 14), wherein at least one side wall (11) is movable between an upright position defining a first configuration of normal use of the platform (1) and a lowered position defining a second configuration of special use of the platform (1), the system further comprising a side sensor (6) designed to detect the position of the movable side wall (11) and to generate a second inspection signal depending on the detected position.

8. System according to the preceding claim, wherein the processing equipment (3) is configured to allow or inhibit the operation of the driving means (24, 25, 26) as a function of the first and second check signals.

9. System according to claim 2 or 7, wherein the cable (42) of the sling (41) has a length that prevents the operator wearing the sling (41) from being positioned at and beyond a free outer edge of the movable wall (11) in the lowered position.