EP4029821A1 - Carriage for overhead conveying of loads - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a carriage (1) for overhead conveying of loads, intended to run on a monorail (20), the carriage (1) comprising a frame (2) having a first flange (3) and a second flange, in view of the first flange (3), each flange (3) carrying two wheels (5, 6) intended to run on a rolling track of the monorail. According to the invention, the first flange (3) is linked to the second flange by first connecting means (9) allowing relative movement of one flange (3) with respect to the other.

Description

Technical field of the invention

The present invention relates to the field of aerial transport of loads on a monorail. Such loads can be heavy or light, ranging from a few tens of kilograms to several tons.

State of the art

In this area, we know trolleys that roll on a track made of extruded aluminum profiles, on which the supporting trolleys roll in the upper part. The fact of using aluminum profiles as the rolling track makes it possible to have a correct geometry of the rolling surfaces, with limited variations in the horizontal plane.

However, this generates a significant accumulation of dimensions, including in particular the height of the aluminum rail, plus the overall height of the trolley and its motorization rolling on top. Such a solution is therefore not compatible with buildings having a limited height.

We also know trolleys comprising a system with four rigid wheels running on a so-called I-shaped monorail, because the monorail has a section that resembles the letter I. An example of such a trolley is described in the document US7798068 B2 .

Such monorails may have a tread having a variable flatness in certain places. For example, at the end-to-end junctions of segments of the monorail, geometric dispersions between segments can cause steps of several millimeters at the level of the running flanges. This results in a transfer of load between the wheels which often leads to overloading two wheels diagonally and therefore exert an overpressure on them while unloading the other two.

To avoid this phenomenon, one solution is to oversize the wheels and the structure of the trolleys. However, this has drawbacks, including the cost of manufacture and maintenance and the incompatibility with conveying solutions requiring compact carriages, imposed for example by a reduced height of the building housing the conveyor.

The object of the invention is therefore to propose a monorail transport system which is more compact and makes it possible to solve the problems described above.

Summary of the invention

To this end, the invention relates to an overhead load conveying carriage, intended to run on a monorail, the carriage comprising a frame having a first flange and a second flange, facing the first flange, each flange carrying two wheels intended to ride on a monorail taxiway.

According to the invention, the first flange is connected to the second flange by first connecting means allowing relative movement of one flange with respect to the other.

Thanks to the relative movement of the flanges, the four wheels of the trolley always remain in contact with the rolling tracks of the monorail. For example, when the trolley travels in a place of the monorail in which the flatness of the track varies, for example at the level of a step created by a junction of two segments of the monorail, the flanges can follow the geometric variation of the track and thus keeping the four wheels always in contact with the monorail. Another possible example is when one track is higher than the other.

The vertical load applied to the carriage is therefore uniformly distributed over the four wheels, regardless of their relative position in space.

The relative movement of one flange with respect to the other is, for example, a rotational movement, for example with respect to a transverse axis passing through the two flanges and perpendicular to the direction of movement of the monorail. During such a relative movement of one flange with respect to the other, the flanges can be parallel. For example, a flange meets a bump, the front wheel of this flange rides on the bump and thanks to the rotation of the flange relative to the other, the four wheels remain in permanent contact with the tracks of the monorail. In other variations, the relative motion may include translation. In other words, the relative movement of one flange with respect to the other makes it possible to obtain substantially a deformable parallelogram.

Advantageously, the first connecting means may comprise at least one connecting rod which extends from the first flange to the second flange. The connecting rod is for example positioned at the front end or at the rear end of the carriage.

A connecting rod is a part with two joints, one at each end, for the purpose of transmitting force, motion or position. The joint at each end of the connecting rod can be a pivot or a ball joint.

Advantageously, the chassis comprising a front part and a rear part following the direction of its movement on the monorail, the first connecting means may comprise a front connecting rod and a rear connecting rod, connecting the first flange to the second flange, respectively at the front and at the rear of the frame.

According to a variant, the first means may comprise two connecting rods at the front of the carriage and/or two connecting rods at the rear.

The role of a connecting rod(s) is to ensure parallelism between the two flanges while allowing relative movement between them and thus making it possible to obtain a deformable parallelogram and therefore keep the load carried by the carriage always vertical.

Advantageously, at least one connecting rod is linked to the first flange and/or to the second flange by a ball joint.

Advantageously, the first connection means comprise a central body, connected to the first flange and/or to the second flange by a pivot connection. The swivel can be slippery.

Advantageously, the central body can also be connected to one of the flanges by a ball joint.

The connection options, pivot, sliding pivot and/or ball joint, make it possible to avoid an overload of pressure on the connecting rod and/or the central body, by authorizing additional movements, according to the direction of the force, exerted by the relative displacement of the flanges.

Advantageously, the central body being hollow, a load carrying member can be partly arranged in the central body, said member having a lower end intended to carry a load and an upper end connected to the central body by second connecting means.

Advantageously, the second connecting means can comprise a universal joint.

This articulation also makes it possible to maintain the transported load in its vertical frame of reference, whatever the position of the wheels in space. Indeed, when the carriage encounters a variation in height of the rolling track, for example at a junction, the relative position of the two flanges changes. For example, the front of the two flanges goes up the step before being joined by the rest of the carriage. The other possibility is that the step is only on the side of one of the flanges, consequently the latter goes up or down with respect to the other flange. In both cases, without the ball joint, the load suspension member would be in an inclined position. However, thanks to the universal joint, the lower part of the member can return to the vertical position.

Advantageously, the second connecting means may comprise a circular ball bearing allowing rotation of the load bearing member relative to the central body.

This stop contributes to maintaining the transported load in its vertical frame of reference. The rotation of the load bearing member with respect to the central body makes it possible to adjust the position of the axis of the universal joint, when the relative position of the flanges changes. It thus facilitates the straightening of the lower part of the body, so that the load always remains evenly distributed between the wheels of the trolley.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the load transport carriage being intended to run on a monorail having an I-shaped section, with a lower flat part and an upper flat part connected by a rising part, the lower flat part defining on its upper face two rolling tracks, separated by the rising part. Optionally, each flange of the carriage can also carry one or more guide roller(s) intended to roll on the rising part of the monorail or on the outside of one of the flat parts. The rising part is also called the core of the profile and the flat parts of the flanges of the profile.

In this variant embodiment, the shape of the I-shaped monorail and the arrangement of the rolling tracks in its lower part, allows the carriages to roll inside the monorail and not on the top as described previously for the profiled rails. extruded aluminum.

This arrangement therefore makes it possible to obtain a compact assembly, comprising a running track on an I-shaped monorail and transport carriages, as described above. The assembly described here is particularly suitable as an overhead conveying solution for handling under a reduced building height.

• un monorail présentant une section en forme de I, par exemple tel que décrit ci-dessus, et
• un chariot selon l'une quelconque des variantes décrites ci-dessus, le chariot roulant sur ledit monorail.

According to another aspect, the invention relates to an overhead load conveying system comprising:

• a monorail having an I-shaped section, for example as described above, and
• a carriage according to any one of the variants described above, the carriage rolling on said monorail.

Brief description of figures

• [Fig. 1] la figure 1 représente une vue partielle d'un système de convoyage aérien conforme à l'invention ;
• [Fig. 2] la figure 2 est un zoom sur la partie de la figure 1 comprenant un chariot de convoyage ;
• [Fig. 3] la figure 3 représente une vue de face de l'ensemble de la figure 2;
• [Fig. 4] la figure 4 est une vue tridimensionnelle du chariot selon l'invention ;
• [Fig. 5] la figure 5 est une vue de côté de la partie inférieure du chariot ;
• [Fig. 6] la figure 6 est une vue de dessus de la partie inférieure du chariot.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear in the description below in relation to the appended drawings, given by way of non-limiting examples, in which:

• [ Fig. 1 ] the figure 1 shows a partial view of an overhead conveying system according to the invention;
• [ Fig. 2 ] the figure 2 is a zoom on the part of the figure 1 comprising a conveyor carriage;
• [ Fig. 3 ] the picture 3 shows a front view of the entire picture 2 ;
• [ Fig. 4 ] the figure 4 is a three-dimensional view of the carriage according to the invention;
• [ Fig. 5 ] the figure 5 is a side view of the underside of the carriage;
• [ Fig. 6 ] the figure 6 is a top view of the underside of the carriage.

In the remainder of the description, elements having an identical structure or analogous functions will be designated by the same references.

detailed description

• The figure 1 , schematically represents a partial view of an overhead conveyor system according to the invention, which may comprise a monorail 20 and a carriage 1 rolling on said monorail.
• The figure 2 is a zoom on the part carrying the carriage 1, indicated in dotted lines on the figure 1 . The picture 3 a front view of the whole figure 2 along the X axis.

As seen on the figure 2 and the picture 3 , the monorail 20 has an I-shaped section, with a lower flat part 201 and an upper flat part 202, connected by a rising part 203, the lower flat part defining on its upper face two rolling tracks 204, 205, separated by the rising part 203.

The conveyor carriage 1 comprises a frame 2 having a first flange 3 and a second flange 4, facing the first flange 3, as seen in the figure 4 . Each of the flanges 3, 4 carries two wheels 5, 6, 7, 8 on its upper part. These wheels are intended to roll on the rolling tracks 204, 205 of the monorail to transport a load carried by the load-carrying member 11 from one point to another of the monorail 20. Each flange of the carriage can also have a guide roller 10, intended to roll on the rising part 203 of the monorail. In the example illustrated, each flange has a guide roller 10 at the front and another at the rear.

During the displacement of the carriage along the X axis, the wheels of the carriage can pass through zones comprising geometric dispersions, in particular at the level of the junctions. In order to ensure good contact of the four wheels 5, 6, 7, 8 of the carriage 1 on the rolling tracks 204, 205 whatever the geometric dispersions encountered, the first flange 3 is linked to the second flange 4 by first means connection which allow a relative movement of a flange 3, 4 with respect to the other. This relative motion can be a rotational movement. It may optionally include a translation.

Different connection possibilities allowing such a relative movement can be envisaged, so that the chassis can, for example, reproduce a system close to a deformable double parallelogram.

In the example illustrated by the drawings, the first flange 3 is connected to the second flange 4 by two connecting rods 9 at the front and two other connecting rods 9 at the rear of the frame 2. The connecting rods 9 are connected to the frames by links ball type 91, so as to avoid overpressure.

In other versions not shown, it is not necessary to have two connecting rods at the front and two at the rear. For example, two connecting rods superimposed at the front or at the rear may suffice to have a deformable parallelogram.

In another variant, a connecting rod at the front or at the rear may suffice, for example if the carriage comprises a central body connected to each of the flanges by a pivot or sliding pivot connection.

To illustrate the lower part of trolley 1, the figure 5 is a front view along the X axis showing only the lower part of the carriage. In addition, the connecting rods 9 are not shown to facilitate understanding. The figure 6 shows a top view of the lower part of the carriage.

As seen on the figure 5 and 6 , the carriage 1 also comprises a central body 12, hollow, connected to the first flange 3 and to the second flange 4. In the example illustrated, the central body 12 can be linked to the first flange 3 by a ball joint 121 and to the second flange 4 by a pivot connection 122. According to an alternative not shown, the connection may be a pivot connection with one of the flanges and a sliding pivot with the other.

The possibility of pivoting of the central body 12 with respect to the flanges 3, 4 thanks to the connections described above, makes it possible to keep the load port member 11 in the vertical position when the two flanges move parallel uphill or downhill by relative to the central body 12, around the pivot axis 121-122. In other words, in the context of a translation of the carriage along the X axis (along the monorail), when the two front wheels 6, 8 (assuming, for the example, that the movement of the carriage is done from left to right) meet an identical step on the two tracks 204, 205, the two wheels go up or down at the same time relative to the rear wheels 5, 7. In this situation, the pivoting of the central body around the axis 121-122 makes it possible to straighten the member 11.

As a side note, the elements 13 are optional safety elements, arranged between each flange and the central body. They are fixed to the flanges 3, 4, but not to the central body 12 in which a respective opening is provided for the passage of each element 13. The dimension of said opening is chosen so that the relative movement of the flanges is not impacted.

The load carrying member 11 is partly arranged in the central body 12. The member 11 has a lower end 113 intended to carry a load and an upper end 114 connected to the central body 12, so as to form a connection of the gimbal type.

• une articulation à cardan entre le corps central 12 et le corps intermédiaire 14, dont l'axe X est représenté par la référence 111, comme montrée sur la figure 6. L'axe Y de cette articulation à cardan correspond à l'axe 121-122.
• une butée à billes 112 circulaire, autorisant une rotation de l'organe 11 de port de charge par rapport au corps central 12. Dans l'exemple, la butée à bille 112 est agencée entre l'extrémité supérieure 114 et le corps intermédiaire 14.

The means connecting the upper end 114 to the central body 12 may include:

• a cardan joint between the central body 12 and the intermediate body 14, whose axis X is represented by the reference 111, as shown in the figure 6 . The Y axis of this universal joint corresponds to axis 121-122.
• a circular ball bearing 112, allowing rotation of the load bearing member 11 relative to the central body 12. In the example, the ball bearing 112 is arranged between the upper end 114 and the intermediate body 14.

The element 15 is an optional abutment, serving to limit the rotation of the member 11 with respect to the central body 12. In addition, it serves as an element safety palliating a possible loss of connection between one of the organs 11, 12, 14.

• la roue avant 6 du premier flasque 3 monte, alors que la roue arrière 5 et les deux roues 7, 8 du deuxième flasque 4 restent collées à leurs pistes 204, 205 respectives. Cela se produit grâce à la possibilité de pivotement du premier flasque 3 au tour de l'axe 121. Pour garder l'organe 11 de port de charge vertical, le corps central pivote également autour de l'axe 121-122 et l'organe 11 pivote autour de l'axe de la liaison cardan 111.
• lorsque les deux roues 5, 6 du premier flasque 3 sont sur la piste surélevée 204 par rapport à la piste 205, les deux flasques restent parallèles et légèrement inclinés par rapport à l'axe vertical Z, dans ce cas pour garder l'organe 11 de port de charge vertical, il pivote autour de l'axe de la liaison cardan 111. Une rotation autour de la butée à bille peut également se produire selon l'orientation de l'effort, de sorte que la charge reste toujours uniformément répartie.

During the translation of the carriage along the X axis, if one of the tracks, for example 204, has a higher height than the other 205, in this case the carriage goes through the following stages:

• the front wheel 6 of the first flange 3 rises, while the rear wheel 5 and the two wheels 7, 8 of the second flange 4 remain glued to their respective tracks 204, 205. This occurs thanks to the possibility of pivoting of the first flange 3 around the axis 121. To keep the load port member 11 vertical, the central body also pivots around the axis 121-122 and the member 11 pivots around the axis of the universal joint 111.
• when the two wheels 5, 6 of the first flange 3 are on the raised track 204 with respect to the track 205, the two flanges remain parallel and slightly inclined with respect to the vertical axis Z, in this case to keep the member 11 vertical load port, it pivots around the axis of the universal joint 111. A rotation around the ball thrust bearing can also occur depending on the orientation of the force, so that the load always remains evenly distributed.

In alternative embodiments, not illustrated, it can be envisaged that a translation of the first flange relative to the second flange occurs.

Claims (11)

Carriage (1) for overhead conveying of loads, intended to run on a monorail (20), the carriage (1) comprising a frame (2) having a first flange (3) and a second flange (4), facing the first flange (3), each flange (3, 4) carrying two wheels (5, 6, 7, 8) intended to run on a rolling track of the monorail, characterized in that the first flange (3) is linked to the second flange (4) by first connecting means (9, 12) allowing relative movement of one flange (3, 4) with respect to the other. Trolley (1) according to Claim 1, in which the first connecting means comprise at least one connecting rod (9) which extends from the first flange (3) to the second flange (4). Carriage (1) according to one of Claims 1 or 2, in which the frame (2) comprising a front part and a rear part following the direction of its movement on the monorail, the first connecting means comprise a front connecting rod and a rear connecting rod connecting the first flange (3) to the second flange (4) respectively at the front and at the rear of the frame (2). Carriage (1) according to one of Claims 2 or 3, in which at least one connecting rod (9) is linked to the first flange (3) and/or to the second flange (4) by a ball joint (91). Trolley (1) according to one of the preceding claims, in which the first connecting means comprise a central body (12), connected to the first flange (3) and/or to the second flange (4) by a pivot link (122) . Trolley (1) according to the preceding claim, in which the central body (12) being hollow, a load bearing member (11) is partly arranged in the central body (12), said member (11) having a lower end (113) intended to carry a load and an upper end (114) connected to the central body (12) by second connecting means (111, 112). Trolley (1) according to the preceding claim, in which the second connecting means comprise a universal joint. Trolley (1) according to one of Claims 6 or 7, in which the second connecting means comprise a circular thrust bearing (112) allowing rotation of the load port member (11) relative to the central body ( 12). Trolley (1) according to one of the preceding claims, intended to run on a monorail having an I-shaped section, with a lower flat part and an upper flat part connected by a rising part, the lower flat part defining on its face upper two rolling tracks separated by the rising part, each flange (3, 4) of the carriage (1) also carrying a guide roller (10) intended to roll on the rising part of the monorail (20). Carriage (1) according to one of the preceding claims, in which the relative movement of one flange (3, 4) with respect to the other is a rotational movement. Overhead load conveying system comprising: - a monorail (20) having an I-shaped section, and - a carriage (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, running on said monorail.

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