DK177551B1

DK177551B1 - Platform system for a cargo compartment in a truck or trailer

Info

Publication number: DK177551B1
Application number: DKPA201200367A
Authority: DK
Inventors: Per Lavmand
Original assignee: Lavmands Last & Karrosseri As
Priority date: 2012-05-29
Filing date: 2012-05-29
Publication date: 2013-10-07

Abstract

A platforrn system (5) for use in a cargo compartment of a truck, lorry or trailer. The platform system (5) is provided with a plurality of elevation platforms (20) with a substantially rectangular cutline, onto which, in use, goods can be loaded. The elevation platforms (20) can be elevated when loaded. Each elevation platform (20) is guided by tour horizontally spaced and vertically extending guides. Each elevation platform is suspended from a set of four cables, one of these cables being associated with one of the four vertically extending guides and a first end of each of the four cables in the set being associated with one corner of the rectangular elevation platform. The platform system is also provided with a plurality of actuators (25) with one actuator associated with each elevation platform (20) . The second end of the four cables in the set being operably connected one of the actuators (25).

Description

χ DK 177551 B1 A PLATFORM SYSTEM FOR A CARGO COMPARTMENT OF A TRUCK,

LORRY OR TRAILER

5 The present disclosure relates to a platform system for a cargo compartment of a truck, lorry or trailer.

More particularly the invention relates to a platform system that is provided with plurality of elevation 10 platforms with a substantially rectangular outline, onto which, in use, goods can be loaded and wherein the platforms can be elevated when loaded.

BACKGROUND ART 15

In the field of large transport vehicles large efforts are made to reduce energy consumption. One way of achieving this is by improving the effectiveness of the use of the cargo space.

20

Trucks and lorries are usually provided with a rectangular frame, and a number of solid panels attached to the rectangular frame and the rectangular frame is mounted. on a chassis of the truck or lorry. Trailers are 25 usually provided with a rectangular frame, and a number of solid panels attached to the rectangular frame. Such trailers are mounted on a chassis comprising suitable running gear, to allow connection of the trailer to a tractor unit for haulage purposes.

30 A standard type of conventional truck, lorry or trailer has a cargo room with floor space for four standard air cargo containers or pallets. These pallets or containers are also called unit load device (ULD). There are various 2 DK 177551 B1 types and sizes of these containers, but common for all the air cargo containers is that they are substantially lower than the available height of the cargo room of a standard type conventional truck, lorry or trailer and 5 thus a large portion of the cargo space is not used when the truck, lorry or trailer is loaded with air cargo containers. Such air cargo containers are light weight constructions and may not be stacked directly on top of one another. Loaded air cargo containers are normally 10 light in relation to the weight carrying capacity of trucks, lorries and.trailers and thus having unused space above the containers in the cargo space of the truck, lorry or trailer is inefficient since it represents unused capacity.

15 A solution to this problem is to provide the cargo space with elevation platforms that are vertically moveable within the cargo space so that two or more containers or pallets can be transported above one another in the cargo 20 space. Trucks, lorries and trailers with elevation platforms have been suggested in the past but their construction has been complicated and expensive. W090/00990 discloses a platform system according to the preamble of claim 1.

25

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

On this background, it is an object of the invention to provide a platform system for use in a cargo compartment of a truck, lorry or trailer, that overcomes or at least 30 relieve the problems associated with the prior art systems. This object is achieved by providing a platform system for use in a cargo compartment of a truck, lorry or trailer, the platform system comprising a plurality of elevation platforms with a substantially rectangular 3 DK 177551 B1 outline, onto which, in use, goods can be loaded, each elevation platform being guided by four horizontally spaced and vertically extending guides, each elevation platform being suspended from a set of four cables, one 5 of these cables being associated with one of the four vertically extending guides and a first end of each of the four cables in the set being associated with one corner of the elevation platform, a plurality of actuators with one actuator associated with each 10 elevation platform, the second end of the four cables in the set being operably connected to the one actuator.

By providing elevation platforms that are suspended from cables and by connecting the set of cables associated 15 with a single elevation platform to a dedicated actuator a simple, inexpensive and reliable elevation system is provided.

Preferably the actuator is a hydraulic cylinder.

20 Hydraulic power can easily be provided by an electrically driven hydraulic power station on the truck, lorry or trailer. Hydraulics has a high power density and can be well controlled.

25 In an embodiment the two cables in a set whose first ends are connected to one and the same side of an elevation platform form a subset and are joined at a position and continue from that position towards the actuator as one cable. Thus the amount of cable and the amount of guides, 30 guide wheels or rollers is reduced.

In an embodiment the plurality of hydraulic actuators are arranged in a frame that is disposed at or near one of 4 DK 177551 B1 the longitudinal ends of the elongated cargo space. Thus, the actuators can be well secured and take little space.

In another embodiment the cables in a set extend 5 substantially vertical from a corner of a platform to a guide wheel or roller at or near the top of a vertically extending guide and extend horizontally from the guide wheel or roller towards the longitudinal end of the cargo space where the actuators are located.

10

In another embodiment the frame is a substantially rectangular frame and wherein the frame is provided with guide wheels or rollers at or near each of two of its corners associated with one side of the frame, these 15 wheels or rollers guiding the cables in a turn of approximately 90 degrees, the turn preferably being a transition of a stretch wherein the cables extend along the longitudinal extent of the cargo space and a stretch wherein the cables extend at a substantially right angle 20 to the longitudinal extent of the cargo space. Thus an effective guidance of the cables towards the actuator is achieved without consuming cargo space.

In another embodiment hydraulic cylinders are supported 25 by the frame such that the longitudinal extend of the cylinders coincides with one common planar plane that extends at a substantially right angle to the longitudinal extend of the cargo space, and wherein the frame is provided with further guide wheels or rollers, 30 one of the further guide wheels or rollers guiding a cable connected to a subset in a substantially 90 degrees bend towards the extremity of the hydraulic actuator associated with the subset concerned.

DK 177551 B1

In yet another embodiment one end of the hydraulic actuator is secured to- and supported by the frame and the other free extremity of the hydraulic actuator is provided with two cable wheels, and wherein the cable 5 connected to a subset of cables that is connected to one side of a platform is guided around the one of the two cable wheels and the second end of the cable connected to a subset of cables that is connected to the other side of the same platform is guided around the other of the two 10 cable wheels.

Further objects, features, advantages and properties of the platform system according to the disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description.

15

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following detailed portion of the description, the invention will be explained in more detail with reference 20 to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1, is a view through side view of a prior art trailer loaded with four air cargo pallets, 25 Fig. 2, is a view through side view of a trailer loaded with seven air cargo pallets according to an exemplary embodiment,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the platform system according to an embodiment (Fig. 2 does not show the 30 surrounding truck, lorry or trailer),

Fig. 4 shows a detail of a cable connection of the platform system shown in Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 shows a detail of a vertical supports of the platform system shown in Fig. 2, and 6 DK 177551 B1

Fig. 6 shows a detail of the cable system and actuator of the platform system shown in Fig. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 5

In the following detailed description the platform system 5 will be described in relation to a truck, lorry or trailer 1 to which the platform system 5 is fitted.

10 Figure 1 shows a conventional trailer 1 with an elongated rectangular cargo room 12 extending from a front end at the front 6 of the trailer 1 to a rear end at the end 7 of the trailer 1 and the cargo space has floor space for holding four air cargo containers/pallets 10. The upper 15 part of the cargo space 12 is empty and is and cannot be used effectively. Air cargo containers 10 may not be stacked directly on top of one another, so a substantial part of the cargo space 12 (the upper part) is only filled with air during the transport of the air cargo 20 pallets 10.

Figure 2 shows a trailer according to an exemplary embodiment that is provided with the platform system 5 according to the present disclosure. The platform system 25 5 according to the present disclosure provides enough floor space for holding seven air cargo containers 10 in a trailer 1 of the same size as the trailer shown in figure 1 by the introduction of three elevation platforms 20,20',20''. It is noted that a cargo space 12 with three 30 elevation platforms 20,20',20'' is illustrated in the present exemplary embodiment, but it is clear that less than three elevation platforms and more than three elevation platforms can be used in accordance with need and in relation to the size of the cargo space. The cargo 7 DK 177551 B1 space 12 is loaded and unloaded from the rear of the truck or trailer.

Figure 3 shows the platform system 5 without any of the 5 components of the truck, lorry or trailer. The platform system 5 comprises three elevation platforms 20,20',20'' that have a rectangular outline and provide a rectangular floor space for loading cargo, like e.g. air cargo containers 10. In figure 3 the elevation platforms 10 20,20',20'' are shown as open frames with longitudinally spars or beams 21 that form the sides of the platform and with a plurality (in the depicted embodiment four) traverse joists or beams 22. The floor of the cargo space is provided with recesses in which the elevation 15 platforms 20,20',20'' can be received in their lowest position so that a flush cargo floor is created when the platforms 20,20',20'' are in the lowest position. In trucks, lorries or trailers for air cargo the cargo floor is provided with a plurality of rollers that allow the 20 air cargo pallets 10 to be pushed/rolled in without the use of a pallet truck or the like. In trucks or trailers for regular cargo; the cargo floor with the platforms countersunk in the cargo floor is flush and allow pallet trucks to operate on the cargo floor. After the air cargo 25 or regular cargo has been placed at the desired position on the cargo floor the relevant platform is lifted and the joists or beams 22 engage the bottom of the cargo and lift it up to the desired height.

30 However, it is understood that the top surface of the platforms 20 can be covered by a floor plate if a particular application of the platform system should require this. The three platforms 20,20',20'' are disposed in series inside the elongated cargo room 12. In 8 DK 177551 B1 the shown embodiment the elevation platforms 20,20',20'' are identical in shape and size, but it is understood that the elevation platforms 20 can be of different size and shape. The elevation platforms 20,20',20'' can be 5 elevated when loaded, i.e. they can be moved in the vertical direction up and down, both when they are loaded with cargo such as e.g. an air pallet and when they are not loaded.

10 Each elevation platform 20 is guided by four horizontally spaced and vertically extending guides. The vertically extending guides are formed by vertical posts 141, 14r.

The vertical posts 141, 14r are secured to and supported by the truck, lorry or trailer 1. One vertically 15 extending guide is disposed at or near a corner of the rectangular elevation platforms. A vertical post 141, 14r which is not located at one of the longitudinal extremities of the series of elevation platforms, can serve as a vertically extending guide for the elevation 20 platform 20 that is disposed to the front of the vertical post 141, 14r concerned, and as a vertically extending guide for the elevation platform 20 disposed to the rear of the vertical post 141, 14r concerned.

25 As shown in figure 6 for one of the elevation platforms 20'', each elevation platform 20,20',20'' is suspended from a set of four cables 16rb, 16rf, 161b, 161f, 16rb' , 16rf' , 161b', 161f', 16rb" , 16rf" , 161b", 161f" , one of these cables in a set being associated with one of the 30 four vertically extending guides 141,14r, and a first end of each of the four cables in the set being associated with one corner of the rectangular elevation platform 20.

The second end of each of the four cables in a set is operably connected to an actuator 25,25', 25". In the 9 DK 177551 B1 present embodiment the actuator is a hydraulic cylinder 25,25',25''. The hydraulic cylinders 25,25',25'7 are connected to a source of hydraulic fluid via control valves that can be operated by an operator so as to allow 5 individual control over the elevation of the elevation platforms 20.

The plurality of hydraulic actuators 25,25',25'' is arranged in a frame 30 that is disposed at or near one of 10 the longitudinal ends of the elongated cargo space 12, in the present cars the frame 30 is disposed at the front of the cargo space, and the frame 30 is secured to and supported by the truck, lorry or trailer 1.

15 As shown in Fig. 4 the two cables in a set whose first ends are connected to one and the same side of a platform form a subset and are joined by a connector 33 a at a position and continue from that position towards the actuator. 25,25',25''as one cable 16r,16r',16r'',161, 20 161', 161".

The cables in a set extend substantially vertically from a corner of an elevation platform 20 to a guide wheel or roller 22 at or near the top of a vertical guide 141,14r 25 and extend horizontally from the guide wheel or roller towards 22 the longitudinal end of the cargo space 12 where the actuators 25,25',25'' are located. The vertical posts 141, 14r are also provided with guide means for guiding one or more horizontally extending cables through 30 their upper portion. The cables extend in a longitudinal direction from a guide wheel 22 to along the top and side of the cargo room and extend towards the front end 6 of the cargo room. On their way to the front 6 of the cargo room the cables connected to the more rearward placed 10 DK 177551 B1 elevation platforms pass though the upper part of the vertical posts 141, 14r.

The frame 30 is a substantially rectangular. In the 5 present embodiment the frame 30 is composed of welded beams. The frame 30 is placed with its main extent directed vertically and at a right angle to the longitudinal extent of the cargo space and at the end of the cargo space 12, i.e. such that the longitudinal 10 extend of the cylinders coincides, with one common planar plane that extends at a substantially right angle to the longitudinal extend of the cargo space 12. The hydraulic cylinders 25,25', 25'' are connected to and supported by the frame 30 and disposed with their longitudinal extent 15 in a vertical direction.

The frame 30 is provided with guide wheels or rollers 23 (one for each elevation platforms 20,20',20'') at or near each of two of its upper and oppositely disposed corners.

20 These wheels or rollers 23 guide the cables in a turn of approximately 90 degrees. The turn is a transition of a stretch wherein the cables extend along the longitudinal extent of the cargo space near the top of the cargo space 12 and near the side walls of the cargo space and another 25 stretch wherein the cables extend horizontally and at a substantially right angle to the longitudinal extent of the cargo space 12.

The frame 30 is provided with further guide wheels or 30 rollers 24, one of the further guide wheels or rollers 24 guiding a cable connected to a subset in a substantially 90 degrees bend towards the extremity of the hydraulic actuator 25,25', 25'' associated with the subset concerned.

11 DK 177551 B1

One end of the hydraulic actuator 25,25',25'' is secured to and supported by the frame 30 and the other free extremity of the actuator 25,25',25'' is provided with a 5 two cable wheels 29r'',291''. The cable connected to a subset of cables that is connected to one side of an elevation platform 20 is guided, around the one of the two cable wheels 29r, 291 and the second end of the cable connected to a subset of cables that is connected to the 10 other side of the same elevation platform 20 is guided around the other of the two cable wheels. The second end of the cables 161,16r, 161,16r', 161,16r'', is secured to the frame 30 at a position above the free end of the respective hydraulic cylinder 25,25',25''.

15

In operation an operator controls the position of the hydraulic actuators 25,25',25'' via a control panel 37.

The control panel can also be a remote device that is in wired or wireless connection with the control valves. By 20 extending the hydraulic cylinder 25,25',25'' the elevation platform connected thereto 20,20',20'' is lowered. By retracting the hydraulic cylinder 25,25',25'' the elevation platform connected thereto 20,20',20'' is raised. The elevation platforms 20,20',20'' can be raised 25 and lowered with and without cargo loaded onto the platform.

Although the teaching of this application has been described in detail for purpose of illustration, it is 30 understood that such detail is solely for that purpose, and variations can be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the teaching of this application. For example, although the platform system according to this disclosure has been described 12 DK 177551 B1 with reference to air cargo pallets, it is clear that the platform system can be used with various types of goods, pallets and containers. For example, the platform system has been described with reference to hydraulic cylinders 5 as actuators. However, pneumatic or electric actuators, such as pneumatic cylinders, electrically driven spindle actuators, winches, such as hydraulic- or electric winches and the like can also be used.

10 The term "comprising" as used in the claims does not exclude other elements or steps. The term "a" or "an" as used in the claims does not exclude a plurality.

Claims

A platform system (5) for use in a cargo compartment of a truck or trailer (1), the platform system comprising: a plurality of elevation platforms (20, 20 ', 20' ') having a substantially rectangular outline on which, in use, , loads can be loaded where each elevation platform (20, 20 ', 20' ') is controlled by four guides spaced horizontally and extending vertically, each elevation platform (20, 20', 20 '' ) is suspended from a set of four cables (16rb, 16rf, 161b, 161f, 16rb ', 16rf', 161b ', 161f ·', 16rb ", 16rf", 161b '', 161f ''), one of which cables are connected to one of the four guides extending vertically and wherein a first end of each of the four cables in the set is connected to a corner of the elevation platform (20, 20 ', 20' '), a plurality of actuators ( 25, 25 ', 25' '), where one actuator is connected to each platform (20, 20', 20 '') and the other end of the four cables in the set is operatively connected to the actuator (25 , 25 ', 25' '), characterized in that two cables in a set whose first ends are connected to one and the same side of an elevation platform (20, 20', 20 '') form a subset and are assembled in a position - 2 - DK 177551 B1 and continues from this position towards the actuator as one cable.

The platform system (5) of claim 1, wherein the actuator is a hydraulic cylinder (25, 25 ', 25' ').

Platform system (5) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cargo compartment (12) is an elongated compartment with the elevation platforms ((20, 20 ', 20' ') / located in rows in the elongated compartment.

The platform system (5) of claim 2 or 3, wherein the plurality of hydraulic cylinders (25, 25 ', 25' ') are located in a frame (30) disposed at or near one of the elongated cargo compartments ( 12) longitudinal ends (6, 7).

Platform system (5) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the cables in a set extend substantially vertically from a corner of an elevation platform (20, 20 ', 20' ') to a control drum or guide roller. (22) at or near a vertically extending guide and extending horizontally from the guide drum or roller (22) toward the longitudinal end (6, 7) of the cargo compartment (12), wherein the actuators (25, 25 ', 25' ' ) are placed.

The platform system (5) of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the frame (30) is essentially a rectangular frame, which frame is provided with guide drum or rollers (23) at or near each of its two corners connected to one side of the frame, which drums or rollers (23) guide the cables in an approx. 90 degrees rotation, which rotation is preferably a transition of a stretch where the cables extend along the longitudinal extension of the cargo compartment (12) and a stretch where the cables extend at a substantially right angle with respect to the longitudinal extent of the cargo compartment (12).

The platform system (5) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the hydraulic cylinders (25, 25 ', 25' ') are supported by the frame (30) so that the longitudinal extension of the hydraulic cylinders (25, 25 ', 25' ') coincides with a common planar plane extending at a substantially right angle with respect to the longitudinal extent of the cargo compartment (12) and wherein the frame is provided with additional guide drums or rollers (24), wherein one of the additional guide drums or rollers (24) controls a cable connected to a subset of a substantially 90 degree bend toward the end of the hydraulic actuator (25, 25 ', 25' ') which is associated with that subset.

Platform system (5) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein one end of the hydraulic actuator (25, 25 ', 25' ') is attached to and supported by the frame (30) and the other free end of the hydraulic actuator (25, 25 ', 25' ') is equipped with two cable drums (291, 29r), and the cable connected to a subset of cables and connected to one side of an elevation platform is controlled around one of the two cable drums, and the other end of the cable connected to a subset of cables connected to the other side of the same elevation platform is controlled around the other by the two cable drums (291, 29r).

The platform system (5) according to any of claims 5 to 7, wherein the vertically extending guides are provided with two guide drums (22) at or near their upper end, and wherein some of the - 4 - The guides extending vertically are provided with control means for controlling one or more of the cables extending horizontally, at or near their upper part.

A truck or trailer comprising a cargo compartment equipped with a platform system according to any one of claims 1 to 10.