DE29807997U1 - Multi-part sliding curtain for box bodies of transport vehicles - Google Patents

Description

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_t Busse & Busse !••Patent Attorneys

"··* European Patent and Trademark Attorneys

WÜIIhorst GmbH & Co. KG Dipl.-lng. Dr. iur. V. Busse

Harkortstrasse 14 Dipl.-lng. Dietrich Busse

Dipl.-lng. Egon Bünemann Dipl.-lng. Ulrich Pott

Wholesale Ring 6

D-49084 Osnabruck

PO Box 1226

D-49002 Osnabruck

Telephone:0541-586081

Fax:0541 -588164

06.05.1998 DB/St-298111

Multi-part sliding curtain for box bodies of transport vehicles

The invention relates to a multi-part sliding curtain for closing the rear opening of box bodies of transport vehicles in a design according to the preamble of claim 1.

Sliding curtains of this type serve to reduce the heat exchange between the transport space and the environment when the curtain parts are closed, but on the other hand to allow largely free access to the transport space for loading and unloading processes. Transport vehicles with box bodies, especially those with cargo space cooling, are usually equipped with a tail lift, the platform of which in the closed position closes the rear opening of the body, can be folded down from the closed position into a horizontal transport position and can be moved in the transport position between an upper end position in which its upper side is flush with the cargo space floor and a lower end position in which the platform rests on the floor with its underside.

The invention addresses the problem of shortening the time periods during which the sliding curtain is more or less open when loading and unloading the transport space. The invention solves this problem with a multi-part sliding curtain with the features of claim 1. With regard to essential further embodiments, reference is made to claims 2 to 4.

The sliding curtain according to the invention ensures that the tail lift can only be controlled in all movement functions when the curtain parts are in the closed position, whereas when the sliding curtain is more or less open, the operation of the tail lift is excluded, or at least limited. This requires an operator, for example, to close the sliding curtain after removing cargo from the transport area and placing the cargo on the platform in the transport position, before the platform of the tail lift can be lowered for the purpose of delivering the cargo. Furthermore, the design according to the invention can ensure that, for example, the platform of the tail lift can only be moved into its vertical closed position if the curtain parts of the sliding curtain have previously been moved into their closed position. In this way, the opening times of the sliding curtain during loading and unloading processes are shortened to the time periods required for transferring cargo from the transport area to the tail lift and vice versa.

Further details and effects emerge from the following description and the drawing, in which the subject matter of the invention is illustrated in more detail in schematic form. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 a simplified view of the sliding curtain from the

Viewed from the rear of the vehicle body,

Fig. 2 is a simplified front view of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 an example of a circuit for influencing the

Controllability of the tail lift.

The sliding curtain shown in the drawing consists of three parts 1, 2, 3, but it is also possible to make the curtain in two or more than three parts.

The individual curtain parts 1, 2, 3 are designed in the form of a web, preferably consist of relatively thick plastic film and are dimensioned such that together they close the rear opening 4 of a box body 5 of a transport vehicle with a slight mutual overlap.

The curtain parts 1, 2, 3 are supported in a curtain rail 6, which is connected to the top wall or roof of the structure 5 and has a number, in the present case three, guide tracks 7, 8, 9, which extend at least essentially over the width of the structure opening 4. In the guide tracks 7, 8, 9, the curtain parts 1, 2, 3 are supported, for example, via rollers.

Each curtain part 1, 2, 3 is assigned an electrical switch 10, 11, 12 attached to the curtain rail 6, which is activated or closed when the associated curtain part 1, 2 or 3 is in its respective specified closed position. The switches 10, 11, 12

can have any suitable design, be designed as a microswitch, sensor switch, mercury switch, proximity switch or even as a light barrier. They can be actuated directly from the upper area of the curtain part 1, 2, 3 if, as shown in Fig. 1, the switches 10, 12 are located at the end of the guide rail 7 or 9 and can only be actuated when the curtain part 1, 3 is in the closed position. However, the switches 10, 11, 12 can also, as shown for the switch 11, be arranged in any position, e.g. in the middle of the curtain part 1, 2 or 3, in which case an actuating element (not shown) is attached to the curtain parts 1, 2, 3, which moves into the switch actuating position when the corresponding curtain part is reached and causes the switch to be actuated.

The switches 10, 11, 12, which open again when the curtain parts 1, 2, 3 are moved out, are part of a circuit 13 indicated in Fig. 3, which includes an electrical control element 14 for controlling the movement of a tail lift (not shown) assigned to the body opening 4 at the end of the box body 5. The circuit 13, which can be switched on and off by means of a main switch 15, comprises, in the example shown, four control elements 16, 17, 18, 19, of which element 16 controls, for example, the folding up movement of the platform of the tail lift into its vertical closed position, element 17 controls the folding down movement of the platform of the tail lift from its vertical closed position into a horizontal transport position, element 18 controls the lifting movement of the platform of the tail lift between a lower and an upper end position and element 19 controls the lowering movement of the platform of the tail lift between the upper and lower end positions. Instead of four individual elements, a control element with an actuating element that can be moved into correspondingly different switching positions can also be provided.

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In the example shown, the switches 10, 11, 12 are arranged in series and are in the open position as long as the curtain part 1, 2, 3 assigned to them is outside its closed position. If the switches 10, 11, 12 are in the closed position, the control element with its sub-elements 16 to 19 can be operated without restriction, so that every movement function for the loading platform can be carried out.

The circuit 13 comprises a base part 20 which, when the main switch 15 is closed, enables the partial element 19 to be operated even if one of the switches 10, 11, 12 is in the open position. This base part 20 of the circuit 13 can be expanded by means of a switch 21 which can be operated manually, for example, to form a partial circuit 22 which also includes the partial element 18, so that, for example, the platform of the tail lift can be raised and lowered independently of the closed position of the curtain parts 1, 2, 3. It is also possible to expand the partial circuit 22 of the circuit 13 by means of a further switch 23 to a partial circuit 24 which now also includes the partial element 17 of the control element 14. In this case, it is only necessary for the partial curtains 1, 2, 3 to be in their closed position in order to fold up the tail lift platform into its closed position and, accordingly, the switches 10, 11 and 12 to be closed.

The circuit diagram illustrated in Fig. 3 is to be understood only as an example, since the circuit to be selected in each individual case depends on the basic circuit of the control device for the tail lift, as it is present in a transport vehicle to be equipped with the sliding curtain according to the invention.

given is.

Claims (4)

Busse & Busse j-J Patent Attorneys ··* European Patent and Trademark Attorneys WÜllhorst GmbH & Co. KG Dipl.-Ing. Dr. iur. V. Busse Harkortstrasse 14 Dipl.-Ing. Dietrich Busse &Pgr; RQ17Q QoIm Dipl.-Ing. Egon Bünemann Dipl.-Ing. Ulrich Pott Wholesale Ring 6 D-49084 Osnabruck PO Box 1226 D-49002 Osnabruck Telephone:0541-586081 Fax:0541-588164 06.05.1998 DB/St-298111 Expectations: 1. Multi-part sliding curtain for closing the rear opening (4) of box bodies (5) of transport vehicles, in particular those with loading space cooling, consisting of a curtain rail (6) which can be connected to the top wall of the body (5) and has a number of guide tracks (7, 8, 9) which extend at least substantially over the opening width of the body (5) and a corresponding number of curtain parts (1, 2, 3) which extend in the form of closed curtain tracks, in particular made of plastic film, over the clear height of the body opening (4), are each displaceably supported in a guide track (7, 8, 9) and, in their respective closed position, jointly close the body opening (4), characterized in that each curtain part (1, 2, 3) is assigned an electrical switch (10, 11, 12) and the switches (10, 11, 12) form part of a circuit (13) which includes at least one electrical control element (14) for controlling the movement of a tail lift associated with the body opening (5). 2. Sliding curtain according to claim 1, characterized in that the switches (10, 11, 12) in the circuit (13) are arranged in series and are closed in the closed position of the curtain parts (1, 2, 3). 3. Sliding curtain according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the circuit (13) has a base circuit (20) which includes at least one sub-element (19) of the control element (14) which can be operated independently of the switch actuation by the curtain parts (1, 2, 3) for carrying out at least one movement function of the tail lift. 4. Sliding curtain according to claim 3, characterized in that the base partial circuit (20) of the circuit (13) can be expanded to include at least one further partial element (18, 17) of the control element (14) for carrying out at least one further movement function of the tail lift, independently of the position of the switches (10, 11, 12).