EP3194308A1

EP3194308A1 - Loading tray device having a movable floor

Info

Publication number: EP3194308A1
Application number: EP15759873.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Winfrid Rauch
Original assignee: Manufacture A Besancon (m A B)
Current assignee: Manufacture A Besancon (m A B)
Priority date: 2014-08-27
Filing date: 2015-07-29
Publication date: 2017-07-26
Also published as: US20170240360A1; FR3025188B1; WO2016030599A1; MX2017002411A; FR3025188A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a loading tray device (1) having a movable floor comprising a frame that receives a juxtaposition of at least one first (2) blade and one second (3) blade that are mounted so as to be movable in longitudinal translation, each blade (2, 3) consisting of a lower beam (4) and a covering plate (7) attached to the upper edges (8, 9) of side walls (5, 6), said first (5) and second (6) walls respectively comprising a first (10) flange and a second (11) flange that extend laterally to and outside of said beam (4), said second wall (6) of each blade (2, 3) having a height that is less than that of said first wall (5) by the thickness of the first flange (10), such that said first flange (10) of said second blade (3) abuts said second flange (11) of said first blade (2).

Description

Loading platform device with moving floor

The present invention is in the field of transport and handling of loads. In a particular way, but not exclusively, the invention is aimed at the plate of a vehicle, intended to receive said load during loading and for the purpose of its transport, as well as to ensure its unloading.

The present invention will find a preferential application, but in no way limiting, in the transport, storage and handling of loads in the form of bulk products, in particular waste and various refuse, but also, in a non-exhaustive manner, chips, sawdust, wood chips, grain, rubble or gravel.

To do this, the invention relates to a loading platform device movable floor, preferably ventilated.

Thus, such a tray can equip a transport vehicle, such as a truck, or a hitch, such as a trailer. This tray can be integrated as a bottom in a bucket, mobile on a vehicle or fixed in the case of a stationary installation.

In known manner, the trucks are equipped with a tray, whose bottom is a floor for receiving a load, especially in the form of bulk products. Unloading is generally carried out through a tilting operation, by lifting the front side of said tray, the bulk products then pouring through the opposite end, generally equipped with an open door at the time of performing this operation . Such a tray is often surrounded by walls, forming a bucket at the rear of the truck, or on a trailer type hitch.

This tilting operation can present risks in the case of a floor of significant length, of the order or greater than ten meters. Indeed, the lifting height can cause an imbalance of the vehicle and its tilting.

An alternative solution is in moving floor pan devices. Such a floor is mounted in motion, in translation longitudinally, so as to allow the load to move to the outside.

To do this, said movable floor is constituted, along its width, a juxtaposition of blades oriented longitudinally and parallel to each other. These blades are slidably mounted relative to each other, from a folded position forming the vehicle bed and ensuring the loading and transport of the load, to an extended position to allow unloading, and vice versa. In the deployed position, the blades are found partly cantilevered, protruding outwardly of the plate, protruding from the rear of the vehicle.

Such a mobile floor is also used in stationary installations in a manner comparable to a conveyor belt.

Several blades are joined during their movement, forming groups. These are at least two, preferably three. The blades of a first group are separated from each other by the blades of the second group, which themselves can be separated from each other by the blades of the third group. Thus, the simultaneous movement, from the folded position, to the deployed position of all the groups, makes it possible to push back the load supported by the floor towards one end of the plate, while the successive displacement of the different groups of blades from the deployed position towards the folded position, allows the discharge of a portion of the load to said end of the tray and the maintenance of the remaining load in the position in which it has just been pushed.

This alternative displacement technique, in order to allow the handling and / or the unloading of a load in the form of bulk products, confers on said mobile floor a generic name of "moving floor".

Examples of such moving funds are described in US 7,926,646 or US 6,763,933.

In particular, each blade is in the form of a metal section, of generally hollow section rectangular. Each section is slidably mounted in a translation movement along and on one or two guide rails secured to the lower plate. The profile section is specific, so as to seal at the gap between two adjacent blades. This seal is essential, especially in the case of powdery products, preventing residues and particles from infiltrating the interstices between the blades and limiting their movement relative to each other.

To improve this seal, it was imagined to split each profile into two separate elements, upper and lower and entangle. The lower element has a generally U-shaped shape, the lateral branches of each lower element extending laterally and coming to rest on each side on a guide rail, with a shape also generally U. The upper element has a shape of U reversed, the branches of an upper element coming to fit within the space of two lower elements juxtaposed. Thus, the upper element covers the gap between said two lower elements.

If this technique improves the sealing conferred between the elements, the entanglement of the floor dissociates the blades, making it more difficult to achieve. In addition, the elements have complex and precise shapes, also making manufacturing more complex and increasing the inherent costs.

In this context moving bottom tray, the sealing must be particularly respected in the case of ventilation performed through said tray. It consists in circulating a fluid, preferably air, especially heated, passing through the blades of the movable floor. Such ventilation may be necessary when transporting a load to be dried, for example as wood chips.

To do this, each blade has, regularly distributed over its length and at its lower face, openings communicating with an underlying air circuit, so that the air passes through and penetrates within each blade. In addition, the upper face of each blade has openings opening to allow air to come into contact with the load supported by said floor.

In order to simplify the manufacture of the blades, a perforated cover plate is attached and fastened to a generally U-shaped lower spar. In particular, said plate is shifted on one side, coming to rest on each upper edge of said spar and protruding to come rest on the edge of an adjacent blade and cover the gap between the two adjacent blades.

Fixing the plate on the spar of the same blade is done by screwing at regular intervals or by welding over all or part of the length of said spar and said cover plate. In either case, these attachment methods cause local deformations of said plate, altering its flatness. However, this flatness ensures the tightness of the gap between two juxtaposed blades, and the sliding displacement, the cover plate of a blade coming to rest and slide on one of the edges of the spar of the adjacent blade.

The present invention aims to overcome the drawbacks of the state of the art, by proposing an alternative and simplified design of a mobile floor loading tray device, preferably ventilated. To do this, it has been imagined to shorten the cover plate and to rest a first edge of the spar of a first blade directly on the adjacent edge of the spar of a second juxtaposed blade. Said first edge has thus been widened, so as to constitute a flange coming to cover the gap between said first and second blades and abut on said adjacent edge.

In addition, in order to maintain the overall flatness of the floor, the height of the adjacent edge, intended to receive the support of the edge of a spar of a juxtaposed blade, has been reduced. Thus, with such an assembly, the deformation related to the fixing of the cover plate has no influence on the seal between two blades, whose contact area retains its perfect flatness. In addition, the sliding of two blades together takes place directly through their spar, improving sliding and limiting wear over time.

In order to obtain improved flatness, such a device provides blades whose rails are made from sheets only folded. This manufacture by folding makes it possible to obtain improved precision and perfect linearity of the edges and flanges, ensuring their contact and the sealing thus provided.

To do this, the present invention relates to a loading platform device movable floor, comprising a frame receiving a juxtaposition of at least a first and a second blades mounted in longitudinal translation, each blade being constituted, on the one hand, by at least one lower spar, provided with a bottom surmounted by a first and a second side wall and, on the other hand, with at least one cover plate of said spar fixed on the upper edges of said side walls, characterized in that said first and second walls reciprocally comprise first and second flanges extending laterally and outwardly with respect to said spar, and in that said second wall of each blade has a height less than that of said first wall at the thickness of the first edge near, so that said first edge of said second blade bears on said second edge of the adite first blade.

In addition, according to other additional non-limiting features, said plate may comprise lower means for raising at the upper edge of said second wall of each blade.

Said raising means may be in the form of at least one lamella of thickness equivalent to the thickness of said first flange, each lamella being fixed in lower face to the second edge and in the upper face to said plate of its blade.

Each spar of each blade, its side walls, its edges and its edges can be obtained by bending a sheet.

In addition, the loading tray device according to the invention can provide to be ventilated. For this purpose, it comprises at least one opening through the bottom of said spar of at least one of said blades and orifices passing through at least its cover plate.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following detailed description of non-limiting embodiments of the invention, with reference to the appended figures, in which:

FIG. 1 schematically represents a partial perspective view of an example of a moving floor plate device, in the case where it is ventilated, showing the sections of several blades juxtaposed and slidably mounted relative to one another, right blades coming to cover the blades of left;

- Figure 2 schematically shows a partial perspective view of a single blade of Figure 1; and

FIG. 3 schematically represents a vertical cross-sectional view of FIG.

The present invention relates to a mobile floor loading platform device 1.

Such a device 1 comprises a frame (not shown), serving as support for said movable floor. Such a chassis receives a juxtaposition of at least a first 2 and a second 3 blades. Preferably, blades are positioned adjacent the entire width of said device 1 and are supported on the upper face of said frame.

In addition, said blades 2,3 are mounted in longitudinal translation, namely that they slide together or dissociated with respect to one another. Said first blade 2 belongs to a first group of blades, while said second blade 3 belongs to a second group of blades, each group being actuated in translation in a joint or dissociated manner. An additional group of slides may be provided, also operated simultaneously with the other groups, together with either of the other two groups, or completely independently of each of the other groups of slides.

In addition, said device 1 comprises actuating means secured to the lower face of each blade 2.3, preferably each blade by group of blades of said floor, in order to confer mobility.

On the one hand, each blade 2, 3 consists of at least one lower spar 4. The latter is provided with a bottom 40 surmounted by a first 5 and a second 6 side wall. Preferably, these walls 5.6 extend orthogonally with respect to said bottom 40, parallel to each other, along its longitudinal sides. Thus, the spar 4 has a generally U-shaped, forming a hollow tray and open on the upper face.

On the other hand, each blade 2, 3 consists of at least one plate 7 covering said spar 4. This plate 7 has closed the opening on the upper face of said spar 4. It is fixed on the upper edges 8, 9 said sidewalls 5,6. In other words, the plate 7 is attached superiorly and secured on the top of the walls 5, 6 to close the space between them. The spar 4 then has a generally rectangular section and is similar to a rectangular parallelepiped.

However, the attachment can be carried out, preferably by welding or screwing, or by means of rivets. Preferably, this attachment provides a hermetic contact, sealing between the spar 4 and the plate 7.

Advantageously, said first 5 and second 6 walls reciprocally comprise a first 10 and a second 11 edges. These latter extend laterally and externally with respect to said spar 4, on either side of their wall 5.6 respective. In other words, said flanges 10, 11 extend parallel to the bottom 40, forming flanges on each side of the spar 4.

In addition, said second wall 6 of each blade 2,3 has a height less than that of said first wall 5. The first flange 10 is then found higher than the second flange 11.

This difference in height is to the thickness of the first edge near. In other words, the height of the second wall 6 is equivalent to the height of the first wall minus the thickness of said first flange 10.

Thus, for two adjacent blades 2,3, said first flange 10 of said second blade 3 bears on said second flange 11 of said first blade 2. In sum, the second blade 2 comes over said first blade 3.

In the example shown in Figure 1, the second blade 3 is positioned on the right and covers the second flange 11 of the first blade 2 on the left.

Therefore, it will be noted that the respective width of the first and second flanges 10, 11 is dimensioned so as to cover the interstice between the juxtaposed blades 2.3 and ensure the support of the first flange 10 of the second blade 3 on the second flange 11 of the first blade 2 over a sufficient distance, namely to ensure a sufficient contact area to provide the seal between the underside of said second flange 11 and the upper face of said first flange 10, as well as to enable the good slip of the one compared to the other.

According to an additional nonlimiting characteristic, in order to ensure the flatness of the assembly of the movable floor, said plate 7 comprises lower means 12 of raising at the upper edge 9 of said second wall 6 of each blade 2,3. Indeed, as the first flange 10 is higher than the second flange 11 of the same spar 4, it is necessary to compensate for this difference in level, so that the plate 7 is parallel to the bottom 40, preferably horizontal. he It is therefore appropriate to add a height equivalent to the thickness of said first flange 10.

According to the preferred embodiment, said raising means 12 are in the form of at least one lamella 13 of thickness equivalent to the thickness of said first flange 10. This lamella 13 is therefore interposed between the underside of the plate 7 and the top of the second edge 6. Each strip 13 is fixed on the lower face to the second edge 6 and in the upper face to said plate 7 of its blade 2,3. This attachment is preferably effected in a sealed manner, but not necessarily in the case of a ventilated floor. Several strips 13 may be abutted over the entire length of a blade 2,3 to ensure the raising and flatness of the plate 7.

According to an alternative embodiment, not shown, the longitudinal edge of the plate 7 can be folded, so as to arrange a downward stall of the height necessary to compensate for the height difference and the difference in height between the first 10 and second 11 edges .

According to an additional feature, preferred, as visible in the figures, each spar 4 of each blade 2,3, its side walls 5,6, its edges 8,9 and its flanges 10,11 are obtained by bending a sheet. This folding technique makes it possible to obtain a perfect flatness of the spar 4, in particular at its flanges 10, 11 to cooperate with each other for two juxtaposed blades 2.3, in the most leak-proof contact possible, by sliding. The folding of the same sheet also makes it possible to ensure better rigidity of the spar 4, in particular against bending along its length.

According to a preferred application, said movable floor equipping the device 1 is provided ventilated. This ventilation ensures the circulation of a fluid, such as air, in particular heated, from below to the top of said device 1. This circulation takes place in particular under the action of suitable ventilation means (no represented).

The floor comprises for this purpose at least one opening 14 passing through the bottom 40 of said spar 4 of at least one of said blades 2, 3. Preferably, several openings 14 are formed through the bottom 40, spaced along its length, at regular intervals or not.

In addition, said floor has orifices 15 passing through at least its cover plate 7. These orifices are formed through the thickness of said plate 7 and / or at its junction with one and / or the other edges 8,9. They are formed along the length of the plate 7, at regular intervals or not.

Note that the orifices 15 may be at least partly formed by spacings at the attachment of each lamella 13, in particular the spacing between the welding or screwing points, see a spacing between two butted strips 13.

Thus, the air is circulated between the inside of each blade 2,3 through the openings 14 and leaves above the device 1 via the orifices 15.

Due to the particular design of each of its blades 2,3, with a spar 4 obtained by the precise bending of a sheet and bowl shaped equipped with flanges 10,11 protruding laterally and offset in height, and with a plate 7 covering said spar 4 and set back at its edges 8.9, without altering the shape of said flanges 10,11, the arrangement of the mobile floor plate device 1 according to the invention confers a flatness and improved sealing.

Claims

1. Device (1) loading platform with movable floor, comprising a frame receiving a juxtaposition of at least a first (2) and a second (3) blades mounted in longitudinal translation, each blade (2,3) being constituted on the one hand, at least one lower beam (4), provided with a bottom (40) surmounted by a first (5) and a second (6) side walls and, on the other hand, at least one plate (7) covering said spar (4) fixed on the upper edges (8,9) of said side walls (5,6), characterized in that said first (5) and second (6) walls reciprocally comprise a first (10) and a second (11) flange extending laterally and outwardly with respect to said spar (4), and in that said second wall (6) of each blade (2,3) has a height lower than that of said first wall (5), to the thickness of the first flange (10), so that said first flange (10) of said seco nde blade (3) abut on said second rim (11) of said first blade (2).

2. Device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said plate (7) comprises lower means (12) for raising at the upper edge (9) of said second wall (6) of each blade (2). , 3).

3. Device (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that said raising means (12) are in the form of at least one strip (13) of thickness equivalent to the thickness of said first flange (10). ), each strip (13) being fixed on the lower face to the second upper edge (9) and in the upper face to said plate (7) of its blade (2,3).

4. Device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each spar (4) of each blade (2,3), its side walls (5,6), its edges (8,9) and its flanges (10,11) are obtained by bending a sheet.

5. Device (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said movable floor is provided ventilated and comprises for this purpose at least one opening (14) passing through the bottom (40) of said spar (4) d at least one of said blades (2,3) and orifices (15) passing through at least its cover plate (7).