EP1283785A1

EP1283785A1 - Method and system for loading vehicles

Info

Publication number: EP1283785A1
Application number: EP01945185A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Dieter Dr. Urbach
Original assignee: Urbach Dieter Dr; KOOI BV
Current assignee: KOOI BV
Priority date: 2000-05-22
Filing date: 2001-05-22
Publication date: 2003-02-19
Also published as: WO2001089877A1; JP2003534216A

Abstract

The invention relates to at least one method and one system that facilitates picking up, carrying and putting down lift trucks (6) carrying a load (L) onto or from vehicle platforms (F). To this end, a lift truck (6) with a lifting system (9) that can be subjected to a force can be supported on the vehicle side by means of a horizontally telescoped coupling device (K).

Description

Method and system for loading vehicles

description

The invention relates to methods and systems for Beiadeπ of vehicles according to the main claims 1, 3, 5 and 6.

The acquisition of objects, eg from shelves in shops, material or lift truck is gen with which spent the articles to a vehicle are reacted there and unloaded and then transported to removed after the finish in the reverse Ar- beitsscIiriUfolge ^"and arr Getting to the final destination is cumbersome, time-consuming, at risk of damage and, last but not least, also associated with health risks, especially with higher weights and bulky shapes. Another disadvantage is that similar aids must be available for handling at the destination.

To avoid these disadvantages, entrainment adapters are often used, which are preferably carried behind the vehicle. This in turn results in other disadvantages, e.g. the risk of contamination and damage, the lengthening of the vehicle and a problematic change in the axle load. In addition, these driving adapters can only deposit or stack the cargo on the loading surface from outside the vehicle, which in turn excludes the use of vehicles that are only accessible from the rear. The main disadvantage, however, is that weight and volume-related loading aids for light commercial vehicles or even station wagons are out of the question.

It is therefore an object of the invention to demonstrate at least one method and a system for carrying out the method, which make it possible to move a pallet truck together with the cargo onto the vehicle loading area and to guide it thereon, the pallet truck also being movable on the loading area. The aim of the modular system structure is to achieve an economical combination of transporting, lifting and lowering with advantageous handling, safety, variability and versatile adaptability to the respective tasks and pre-hardened vehicles through to compatible watering systems or separately usable individual components.

This is achieved by the features of system claims 3 and 6. The method steps mentioned in method claims 1 and 5 for loading apply mutatis mutandis and in reverse order for unloading. Both processes and systems are based on the same tasks, which is why they are also roasted with almost the same process steps and system components. Means for solving problems are coupling devices that have different shapes depending on usage. Bast components of the Koppetemrichturtg are pull-out straps with adapters on the one hand and compatible mounting devices on vehicles and / or pallet trucks on the other hand, the coupling device can be arranged on the vehicle and detachably on the pallet truck, detachably on the vehicle and permanently on the pallet truck or releasably on the vehicle and pallet truck.

In accordance with the modular system structure sought according to the invention, the most important system components and their further developments are defined and described below, with which a person skilled in the art can put together numerous design variants for different uses. The basic components are support bars, adapters and mounting devices with contact surfaces as well as their arrangement in or on vehicles and pallet trucks.

Commercially available telescopic pull-outs or linear units, which consist of guide elements and runners guided in them or slidably or rollably, are preferred as support bars. Depending on the use, you can choose between single, full or multiple pull-outs. The particular suitability as a support bar for the telescopic extensions consisting of the guide rail and runners or runners is, among other things, that the telescopic extensions can also be arranged on the vehicle with the extendable runners, so that the guide rail becomes the runner and the runner becomes the guide rail. This applies mutatis mutandis to the use of telescopic pull-outs as Köppefeinrichtuπg.

Within the scope of the invention, scissor pull-outs are also referred to as support bars, one of the sliding uprights standing on the end being arranged on the vehicle floor and having the function of a guide rail, while the Gteithofm standing up on the other scissor end acts as a runner on which receiving devices or adapters can also be arranged.

For the implementation of the method, it is essential that the distance between the vehicle loading floor and the upward-facing contact surfaces of the carrying struts or the runners is greater than the distance between an imaginary wheel base area and the downward-pointing contact surfaces of the lifting truck in the lowest possible lowered state. However, since the carrying height or the runners can only rarely be arranged at the exact height on the vehicle that enables the aforementioned distance, hen to form the contact surfaces on support elements which, for example in the form of plates, struts, support brackets, portals and hanging hangers, are fixed, detachable, pluggable or displaceable on the support arms or runners and / or on the pallet trucks. The supporting elements thus also take on the function of spacers. In addition, it can be provided that the support elements are telescopic or pivotable and the contact surfaces have devices for fixing the position, formed, for. B. by deformation of the surfaces or the arrangement of stop and locking elements, pins and recesses. Supporting elements can also be designed to bridge undesired horizontal distances between the supporting spar or the runner and the pallet truck.

Footprints in their simplest form are formed by the tops of support bars arranged in the vehicle and the undersides of the load-bearing lifting device of lifting trucks. In a first further development, support elements with parallel, mutually facing contact surfaces can be provided on the support spars and / or on the lifting device, which support a flat support by displacement and complete the coupling process.

Such designs and arrangements of contact patches are preferred if the weight of the objects to be picked up can be taken up largely uniformly by several contact patches. The arrangement of adapters on the support bars and compatible mounting devices on the vehicle or lifting carriage is proposed for the acceptance of unevenly distributed weights.

According to the invention, receiving devices and adapters are a special form of the contact patches. In addition to their upward or downward contact areas, they have at least one other area, which is referred to here as the contact area. For coupling in the horizontal direction of travel, contact surfaces are provided for receiving devices as well as for adapters that run parallel to the contact surface. For coupling in the vertical direction, these surfaces are at right angles to one another. In most cases, gravity clamping is sufficient to fix these connections.

The connection techniques to be used and the spatial arrangement of support hotmen and receiving devices on the vehicle or on the lifting truck, as well as those of adapters on supporting hotmen or coupling devices and lifting or load-bearing devices, are dependent on the use and static conditions a large number of known possibilities are available, which is why further explanations are not required-syid.

Here, old movable types of transport means and load handling devices that can be carried in or on the vehicle are addressed as lifting trucks, which have lifting devices operated by hand or by motor, which can be moved in both distribution directions under the influence of force, the lifting devices having contact patches that are compatible to which the Traghotme or the vehicle are designed and arranged. It can also be provided that a separately usable lifting device is detachably arranged on a trolley, which only then becomes a lifting trolley.

Such a division into trolleys and lifting devices is advantageous in order to load goods, e.g. for reasons of scratching, even without being able to take a mobile stand into and take it into the vehicle. In the interest of a versatile use of the system, it is therefore proposed to provide an lifting device with a corresponding load-lifting device which can be coupled to support bars arranged in the vehicle. For reasons of handling and space saving, it is advantageous here if the carrying bars or the coupling device are arranged as far apart as possible above the loading floor on the vehicle side walls or in the roof area. For the sake that it is not possible to attach the support struts there, it is proposed to form at least one portrait on the support hotmen arranged in the area of the loading surfaces, to which a combined lifting and lifting device can be coupled.

In the simplest version, the coupling device is formed from a telescopic support beam, an adapter being arranged at one end of the guide rail and at the opposite end of the runner, which is used to produce a coupling connection in correspondingly shaped and arranged receiving devices on the vehicle on the one hand and on the lifting truck on the other - Is introduced, it can be provided that the support beam can be telescoped several times and the runner can be extended in both directions from the guide rail.

According to the invention, at least the coupling device formed from support hotmen can be assigned a plurality of functions. In a first embodiment, the coupling device serves exclusively as a connection and take-over device, on which a lifting truck can be supported directly on the vehicle and can be moved after the chassis has been pulled into the vehicle, the coupling device being in direct engagement with the lifting device of the lifting truck. In a second embodiment, the coupling device described above is additionally designed as a load lifting device, for example by arranging a charging mat or a container, with which the coupling device becomes an integral part of a load receiving device.

A third advantageous embodiment provides that the coupling fine linkage is only indirectly connected to the lifting frame of the lifting truck, that is to say via a load suspension device that can be used separately or is arranged on the lifting truck, for which purpose it is necessary that all objects to be coupled have correspondingly compatible coupling elements.

A coupling device that is extensible in its longitudinal extent and largely rigid against bending has at least one adapter at each end. The adapter is designed in such a way that it is almost positively compatible with receiving devices arranged in the vehicle and on the lifting truck. In a loading position with the adapters engaging in both ends in the respective receiving device, the coupling device is effective, so that the lifting truck or the lifting device can be supported on it and moved horizontally. In a less versatile version, it is of course also possible to positively arrange the coupling device on the lifting device of the lifting truck or on its load-receiving device, and to equip the coupling device - seen in the direction of travel - only in the front area with an adapter, which then fits into one vehicle-mounted receiving fear is introduced. A reverse arrangement can also be provided. The preferably form-fitting connection of adapter and receiving device is secured against unintentional loosening by plug-in or latching elements. In most cases, jamming by gravity will also be the most advantageous securing.

To improve the load force ratio during the lifting process and / or to improve the use of the loading space in the vehicle, the design and / or arrangement of the receiving device can be provided on the lifting truck side in such a way that the lifting truck can also be coupled in a side or rear division to the vehicle.

For the sake of completeness, it is pointed out that atte claim characteristics should be able to be combined with one another and in all design variants in order to achieve the desired variety of uses and economy.

The invention permits numerous embodiments. The principles of the invention are explained by way of example with the aid of schematic figures in four exemplary embodiments. It shows: Fig.1 System with pallet truck in side view.

Fϊg.2 system according to Fig.t in plan view.

Fig.3 System with separate coupling device, horizontally insertable.

Fig.4 System with coupling device, attachable.

Fig. 5 System with coupling device, can be inserted vertically.

m the Fig.t and 2 sfndTraghofme 3 ^"spaced parallel on the loading surface F and whose rotor pulled slightly against the direction of travel R. 5 The contact surfaces 4 are formed by the surfaces of the tops of the runners. 5 The Aufstandsftächen 10 are of the lifting carriage 6 by the surfaces of the undersides of the support elements 14 are formed, which are arranged outwardly, laterally protruding along the load suspension device 7.

For the use of the system 1, this means that by completely pulling the runners 5 against the direction of travel R and moving the lift truck 6 between the runners 5, the support surfaces tO deF on the load-bearing device 7 arranged support elements 14 perpendicular to the support surfaces 4 of the Runners 5 come, so that the load bearing device 7 can be placed on the runners 5. The relieved undercarriage 11 can then be pulled up against the load-carrying device 7 by a lifting device (not shown here) and the lifting truck 6 together with the load L can be moved into the interior of the vehicle 2 and set down on the loading area F.

Fig. 3 ^" shows, greatly simplified and decoupled, a variant of the system t with a coupling device K that can also be used separately. A telescopic support bar has at its ends adapters t2, which are compatible with the receiving devices 16 and / or are designed for the receiving devices T7 arranged in the lifting device 9 of the lifting truck 6. A container 15 is shown, symbolically and on behalf of other load-bearing devices, between the carrying elements 3 which end the coupling device K. A particularly advantageous use of this system variant for the method consists in this that the coupling device K, which has been received in the receiving device 17 of the lifting truck 5, and the container 15 located thereon, is guided into the vehicle 2 by pushing in the direction of travel R until the adapter 12 is fully inserted into the recess 8 of the receiving device 6. By little absen ken of the lifting device 9, the adapter 12 and the holding devices 16 or 17 jam, so that the lifting truck and the runner can be pulled against the direction of travel R out of the support bar 3 and guided behind the vehicle. Then the chassis tt of the pallet truck can be raised to the level of the loading area and the pallet truck can be moved into the vehicle in the next procedural step. Fig. 4 shows the representation of a system 1, the support bar 3 is a scissor extension. A gteimσfm 2f which protrudes from the vehicle thread area F for the scissor arms of the scissor pull-out which is articulated thereon acts as a guide rail, and the sliding shot 2t which is located at the extendable end of the scissors and on which a pickup device is arranged 2 ^. On the lifting device 9 of the lifting truck 6, a container 23 with fastening strap elements 24 is arranged in a fixed manner. The container 23- has adapters 25 on the front side which are compatible with those of the receiving device 22. By partially lowering the lifting device 9 or the container 23, the receptacle 22 and adapter 25 engage almost positively until the undercarriage 11 is relieved. A continuation of the lowering process, which is subject to power, enables the chassis to be raised to the level of the loading area F, so that the lifting truck can be moved into the vehicle loading space.

FIG. 5 shows the system 1 with a lifting truck & in a version as a forklift truck and a vehicle 2 with support bars 3 embedded in the loading floor B, the rotor 5 of which is extended into a loading position. ^" A receiving device 16 is arranged at the free end of the rotor 5. The adapter 12 ^" arranged on the lifting device 9 is designed to be compatible with this. On the fork-like Hubeiπrichtuπg 9, the load L is indicated.

If the lifting truck 6 now travels in the direction of travel R between the extended runners 5 until the adapters 12 are in alignment above the receiving devices 16, the lifting device 9 can be lowered until the contact surfaces are turned on and the undercarriage 1t can be raised against the lifting device 9. Then the runner 5 can be moved so far in the direction of travel R that old wheels of the chassis t stand on the vehicle loading area F, the lifting truck can decouple by pulling up the lifting device and can move freely on the vehicle loading area:

Claims

claims:

1. Method for loading vehicles with the following method steps:

Applying a load (L) to a lifting truck (β) that is independent of the vehicle (2)

Moving the lift truck (6) to the vehicle (2)

Coupling the vehicle (2) and the lifting truck (6) by means of a coupling device (K) for assuming a loading position. Supporting or attaching the lifting truck (6) to the vehicle (2), lifting the chassis (11) of the lifting truck (6) to the level the loading area (F) of the vehicle (2) on the vehicle-side exhaust or attachment of the coupling device (K)

Moving the load (L) or the lifting truck (6) into or onto the vehicle (2)

2. The method (t) according to claim t, characterized in that the coupling takes place via a separate, independently usable coupling device (K).

3. System (t) for loading vehicles with a modular coupling device (K) for temporarily coupling the lift truck (6) or the load (L) to the vehicle (2), the coupling device (K> holding, at least the Lift truck (6) at a level of the vehicle loading area (F) and a transfer of the Hübwagen (6) in or onto the vehicle, characterized in that the coupling device (K) is formed from at least one extendable support bar (3) ^' the adapter ( T2), which are compatible with corresponding receiving devices (16 or 17) on the objects to be coupled.

4. System (t) according to claim 3, characterized in that the coupling device (K) is formed from two mutually parallel support bars (3), on which load-bearing devices (7) are provided in a fixed, detachable or Verschfeblfch manner.

5. Procedure for loading vehicles with the following procedure steps:

Applying a load (L) to an independent of the vehicle (2)

Lifting trolley (6)

Moving the Kubwagen (6) to the vehicle (2) Extension of runners (5) arranged on the vehicle (2) on support bars (3) into a beta position

Supporting the lifting truck (6) by means of contact surfaces (10) which point downwards on the lifting vehicle side and compatible upward contact surfaces (4) provided on the runners (5)

Raising the chassis (11) of the lifting truck (6) to a level above the loading area (F) of the vehicle (2) without supporting the floor. Retracting the runners (5) together with the lifting truck (6) into or onto the vehicle (2) of the truck (ßf on the loading area (F) of the vehicle (2>.

6. System (1) for loading vehicles, in particular for picking up, carrying and depositing transport means with loads (L) located thereon on or from vehicle loading areas (F) with first contact patches arranged on a vehicle (2) and with a pallet truck (6) arranged second contact surfaces characterized in that the upward-pointing first contact surfaces (4) on at least one horfzontaf runner (5) extendable from the vehicle (F) and the downward-pointing second contact surfaces (10) on the lifting device (9) of the lifting truck (& are arranged.

7. System (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that the contact surfaces (4 or tO) of the rotor (5) or the lifting device (9) are formed by projecting, non-positively or positively arranged support elements (14).

8. System (t) according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the carrying elements (14) are designed as vertically or horizontally oriented straight, curved or angled molded parts which are arranged in the same-sized and compactly arranged closed or open recesses of the runners ( 5) or the load suspension device (7) can be inserted almost in a form-fitting manner.

9. System (1) according to one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the contact surfaces (tO) of the lifting truck (©} or the lifting device (9) are formed by efne connected to them load-bearing device (7).

10. System (1) according to one of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that the Kubwagen (6) a handh ibwagen or a forklift fst, which has a teteskopartϊg- or scissors-guided lifting device (9) which can be acted upon in both vertical directions, on which the Contact patches (10) or dfe Tragefemenfe (14) are arranged.

11. System (1) according to any one of claims 6 to 10, characterized in that the lifting device (9) of the lifting truck (6) is designed as an independently usable load pick-up device.