EP4185511A1

EP4185511A1 - Wheel arm forklift truck, preferably as an automated guided vehicle

Info

Publication number: EP4185511A1
Application number: EP21734074.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gerhard Habedank; Frank Haltermann
Original assignee: A&a Logistik-Equipment & Co KG GmbH
Current assignee: K. HARTWALL GMBH
Priority date: 2020-07-22
Filing date: 2021-06-14
Publication date: 2023-05-31
Also published as: CN116133930A; DE102020119276A1; WO2022017688A1; US20230286788A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wheel arm forklift truck (1), preferably as an automated guided vehicle, comprising a front end (10c) having at least, preferably exactly, two steerable drive rollers (11a, 11b); comprising at least one first wheel arm (10a) which extends in a straight line away from the front end (10c) and is fixedly connected to the front end (10c), wherein the first wheel arm (10a) has at least, preferably exactly, one first roller (12a); and comprising at least one first fork (15a) which is located above the first wheel arm (10a) in the vertical direction (Z) and is designed to be raised and lowered in the vertical direction (Z). The wheel arm forklift truck (1) is characterized in that the first roller (12a) of the first wheel arm (10a) is steerable through at least 90°.

Description

DESCRIPTION

Support arm stacker, preferably as an AGV

The present invention relates to a wheel arm truck, preferably as an AGV, according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

So-called industrial trucks have been used for a long time for the horizontal transport of goods, i.e. for the transport of goods in the horizontal plane or on a ground level. This applies to outdoor areas as well as to areas inside warehouses, production facilities and the like. Industrial trucks can also be referred to as industrial trucks or industrial trucks.

The industrial trucks include the Flandgeräte such as the Flungwagen, which are used in particular to transport transport pallets, lattice boxes and comparable transport aids. The transport pallet and the like can accommodate the goods to be transported on or in them, so that in particular small goods or goods containers can be handled and transported together.

The simplest version of such a lift truck is the manual lift truck, which does not have its own drives and must be pulled or pushed by one person and lifted from the ground using muscle power. Such a hand pallet truck consists essentially of two flat and mutually parallel forks, which are usually so elongated and spaced parallel to one another laterally that a standardized transport pallet, lattice box and the like can be taken up by the pair of forks together. The two forks are firmly connected to each other on its side and can also be referred to as fork tines or just tines. In the connection area of the hand pallet truck there is usually at least one steerable roller, possibly also a pair of steerable rollers, which can also be referred to as a steering roller. A non-steerable roller is usually arranged as a roller at the tips of the two forks, which can also be referred to as load rollers.

Using a handle in the connection area of the hand pallet truck, the hand pallet truck can be pulled, pushed and steered by one person. On the other hand, using the handle as a lever, a hydraulic pump can be pumped up in order to use a hydraulic lifting cylinder and a nes linkage on the load rollers and the steering roller to adjust the height of the two forks parallel to the floor and thereby the load taken up by the forks, for example in the form of a transport pallet, to be lifted off the floor and to be able to move with it. Using a control element on the handle, the pressure can be released from the hydraulic lifting cylinder via a hydraulic valve if necessary, and the load picked up can be set down on the ground again.

Such lift trucks, which must be raised and lowered and pulled or pushed by one person by hand, can usually only lift the load to be transported from the ground by a few centimeters. They are therefore also referred to as pallet trucks, as they are only suitable for moving loads at ground level.

Such pallet trucks thus always have a load roller with a fixed orientation in the longitudinal direction at the tip of each fork and a rotatable steering roller or a rotating pair of steering rollers in the connection area. The steering, i.e. the alignment of the rotatable castor or pair of rotatable castors around the vertical axis, is always carried out by the movement or by the force of the user using the handle or lever.

In order to make it easier for the operator to work with such hand pallet trucks, various further developments with drives are known. For example, an electric drive with a rechargeable electrical energy storage device can be provided in the connection area of the hand pallet truck to at least support the person when moving on the ground or to carry out the movement completely, i.e. to be able to move the hand pallet truck on the ground. Depending on the type of drive, such lift trucks can be referred to as electric walking devices or as electric standing devices.

In addition, the hydraulic pump or an electric drive can be used to raise the forks. As a result, the recorded load can be lifted in the vertical direction or in height, for example in rack compartments of a high-bay warehouse or on the loading area of a truck (lorry), which can significantly expand the possible uses of such industrial trucks compared to the hand pallet trucks described above. Such industrial trucks can therefore also be referred to as high lift trucks.

In contrast to forklifts, which are usually equipped with three or four wheels, which are arranged below the chassis and whose forks extend outside the dimensions of the chassis, such high-lift trucks have so-called wheel arms, which extend from a power car in the longitudinal direction to the front extend and, like the hand pallet truck, each pick up a load roller with a fixed orientation in the longitudinal direction at the top. The forks are arranged in the vertical direction above the wheel arms and aligned with the wheel arms. The forks can be Intestines are lowered and these embrace at least laterally to keep the height of the wheel arms and forks together so flat that the loads such as transport pallets can still be raised from below.

Since the front wheels of such high-lift trucks are arranged in the wheel arms below the forks and thus below the load, can - in contrast to a forklift - be dispensed with a wheel arm stacker on a counterweight. The center of gravity of the load is therefore within the wheels of the stacker truck. As a result, such high-lift trucks can be implemented in a very compact manner and, in particular, have the dimensions of the loads to be transported, such as the dimensions of a transport pallet, particularly in terms of width. Such high-lift trucks can be referred to as wheel-arm stackers, spread stackers or pedestrian stackers.

Common to all high-lift trucks described above is the use of load rollers with a fixed orientation in the longitudinal direction at the tips of the wheel arms and at least one driven castor or at least one pair of driven castors in the power head. The steering, i.e. the alignment of the driven steering roller or the driven steering roller pair around the vertical axis, is still carried out by the movement or by the force of the user using the handle or using the lever or, if necessary, using a steering wheel. However, the movement in the horizontal takes place with means of the driven castor or the driven pair of castors. The forks are also raised and lowered in relation to the wheel arms by means of an additional drive unit.

The disadvantage of the stacker truck described above is that although they can rotate in a comparatively small space, there must nevertheless be sufficient space on the ground to allow a rotating movement. This space requirement can increase if not only a transport pallet or the like is to be transported, which corresponds to the external dimensions of the stacker truck, but the load protrudes particularly laterally beyond the external dimensions of the stacker truck. This can require correspondingly wide paths or passages, for example between several shelves or the like, and thus increase the space required for the storage area, the production area and the like.

It is also disadvantageous that the execution of the rotary movement of such high-lift trucks can take time.

Industrial trucks are therefore known which, due to the steerability of all of their rollers, which are each designed as drive rollers, can move back and forth both in the longitudinal direction and laterally in the transverse direction. Such industrial trucks can therefore also be referred to as four-way industrial trucks. In other words, all rollers can be moved on the ground by means of drives and, on the other hand, all rollers can be rotated about their respective vertical axis by means of additional drives and thus arbitrarily aligned in the horizontal plane, which can be referred to as steering. This may involve performing a rotary motion of the industrial truck as a whole as described above and thereby save time, although the alignment or steering of all rollers has to be carried out instead. This can also increase the movement possibilities in the horizontal plane.

From IE S80733 B2 is known a vehicle in the form of a fork lift truck having a pair of wheels, each of which is steerable by a respective hydraulic cylinder so that each wheel is rotated through an angle determined by the position of the piston head in the respective cylinder, each cylinder having a full port side and a rod side, one of the full port side and the rod side of one of the cylinders being hydraulically connected to one of the full port side and the rod side of the other Cylinder is connected. A third pair of wheels is provided in the connection area of the forklift. All three pairs of wheels can be aligned laterally, so that purely lateral movement in the horizontal plane is possible.

WO 2014/075921 A1 describes a steering system for an industrial truck, in which at least two hydraulically steerable wheel sets are provided, in which the wheel sets can each be steered by means of a hydraulic linear motor, which is designed as a synchronous cylinder and the at least two synchronous cylinders are operatively connected to one another. An industrial truck with a corresponding steering system is also described. The industrial truck has at least one additional wheelset. It can be a three-wheel or four-wheel vehicle, for example.

It is therefore known in industrial trucks to provide all rollers, wheels or pairs of wheels so that they can be steered, i.e. each roller can be rotated, aligned or steered by at least 90° about its vertical axis in the horizontal plane relative to the frame or the like of the industrial truck in addition to a forward/backward movement in the longitudinal direction, also a movement perpendicular thereto, ie purely laterally in the transverse direction, and thus to enable a four-way movement in the horizontal plane. For this purpose, the rollers are each hydraulically operatively connected to one another, so that they can be rotated, aligned or steered together by actuation.

A disadvantage of this type of steering of the wheels, however, is that this is done laterally past the wheels by means of hydraulic cylinders. Thus, the steering can only take place in a very limited angular range of less than 180°.

WO 03/059799 A1 describes a four-way forklift truck consisting of a chassis with two front wheels and one rear wheel. A corresponding hydrostatic motor selectively drives each wheel in one of two opposite directions of rotation. The truck includes a controller for placing the truck in a carousel mode with the three wheels set at respective steering angles where their axes of rotation intersect on a substantially common vertical axis equidistant from each wheel and all three wheels are driven. WO 2018/136987 A1 relates to a chassis for transport devices with a guide ring and with a wheel carrier which can be pivoted about a substantially vertical main axis of rotation in the guide ring and on which two wheels which can be rotated about a common axis of rotation are arranged. In the guide ring, an inner ring is mounted pivotably about the axis of rotation of the top via a pivot bearing and the wheel carrier is mounted pivotably via at least one pivot bearing about a pivot axis that is arranged essentially perpendicularly to the axis of rotation of the top. The two wheels can be driven independently of one another. A corresponding transport device has a plurality of such carriages, preferably three or four carriages, with the common axes of rotation being alignable relative to one another.

Due to the arrangement of the two electric drives within the dimensions of the swiveling wheel carrier, only very small and low-power electric drives can be used. Therefore, the chassis of WO 2018/136 987 A1 can only be used in transport devices such as an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) or in an AGV (driverless transport system) or AGV (driverless transport vehicle), which can only carry comparatively light loads trans should port.

DE 10 2013019726 A1 describes a vehicle, in particular an AGV or an AGV, with a frame and at least one steering unit, in particular for moving on a travel surface, with the or each steering unit being rotatably mounted on the frame of the vehicle by means of a slewing ring. Each steering unit has two drive wheels with a respective motor. If additional castors are provided, each castor is driven by a further electric motor.

The disadvantage of industrial trucks whose rollers are both steerable and drivable is that this can result in corresponding costs and/or require corresponding installation space. The latter can be particularly disadvantageous in the case of rollers which are arranged in the forks or wheel arms. Furthermore, this can increase the weight of the industrial truck and thus also its energy consumption or necessitate stronger drives.

One object of the present invention is to provide a support arm truck of the type described above as a four-way industrial truck. In particular, the four-way wheel arm truck should be able to be implemented more cost-effectively, more compactly, lighter, with less energy consumption and/or with weaker drives than previously known wheel arm trucks. In particular, it should be possible to implement lateral movements with a comparatively high level of accuracy and/or robustness. In particular, this should be implemented as an AGV or AGV. At the very least, an alternative to the well-known four-way industrial trucks or wheel arm trucks should be created.

The object is achieved by a wheel arm truck with the features of claim 1 patent. Advantageous developments are described in the dependent claims. The present invention thus relates to a wheel arm truck with a power head with at least, preferably precisely, two steerable drive rollers, with at least one first wheel arm, which extends in a straight line away from the power head and is fixedly connected to the power head, the first wheel arm at least, preferably specifically, having a first castor, and having at least a first fork arranged in the vertical direction above the first wheel arm and adapted to be raised and lowered in the vertical direction.

The wheel arm stacker according to the invention is characterized in that the first roller of the first wheel arm is designed to be steerable by at least 90°.

A roller is a roller that is movably attached to the first wheel arm and that rolls or rolls on a surface in one direction and can also rotate about its vertical axis. A castor can also be referred to as a swivel castor, as opposed to a fixed castor. A roller can be passively steered, i.e. it can only be rotated around its vertical axis by moving the roller with an object, such as the wheel-arm stacker here. In contrast to a drive roller, a roller also has no drive in order to be rolled on the ground. A roller can also do this with just an object, such as the wheeled forklift here.

According to the invention, however, the first roller is designed to be actively steerable by at least 90°. Under steerable is, as already described above, to be understood that the first roller by means of a drive in its orientation, in its alignment or in its angular position about its vertical axis, which runs in the vertical direction, relative to the frame or the Housing of the first wheel arm can be specifically provided. In other words, the first roller can be brought into a predetermined angular position relative to the longitudinal direction of extension of the first wheel or the longitudinal direction by means of a drive on the spot. This predetermined angular position can lie at least within an angle between 0° and 90° with respect to the longitudinal direction of extent of the first wheel arm or the longitudinal direction.

The present invention is based on the finding that in the case of wheel arm stackers, there have been no known rotatable or even steerable rollers in the wheel arms. So far, wheel-arm forklifts have not even been available as four-way industrial trucks. If rotatable or even steerable rollers are known for industrial trucks, as described above, these are not wheel-arm trucks. In particular, then only steerable drive rollers are known, which each cause additional costs due to the drives and have an increased space requirement. In particular, the space or space is not given in Radarmstaplern in the wheel arms, however, ben because the wheel arms and forks should be designed so flat together to standard transport pallets and the like to raise in the vertical direction from below can. According to the invention, therefore, the first roller of the first wheel arm is provided steerable, so that the wheel arm stacker can be moved obliquely to perpendicular to the longitudinal direction by aligning both the drive rollers of the power head and the first roller of the first wheel arm. This can allow four-way mobility for wheel arm trucks as well.

In particular, the two drive rollers of the power car and the first roller of the first wheel arm can also be aligned in other angular positions between 0°, i.e. in the longitudinal direction, and 90°, i.e. in the transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. By aligning the two drive rollers of the traction head and the first roller of the first wheel arm in the same way, the wheel arm stacker can be moved in a straight line in the horizontal plane. If the two drive rollers of the power car and the first roller of the first wheel arm are aligned at different angles, corresponding arcuate movements in the horizontal plane can be carried out by the wheel arm stacker.

In any case, this can increase the movement and application options of support arm trucks. In particular, a directional movement as a four-way industrial truck can be made possible. This method can be carried out in a particularly robust and stable manner, for example when uneven floors and the like occur.

The alignment of the steerable drive rollers of the power car and the first roller of the first Ra arm can be done by suitable electric, hydraulic or other drives. This can be specified or controlled by a control unit of the support arm truck.

The wheel arm stacker according to the invention is preferably designed as an AGV, i.e. as an independently movable wheel arm stacker. This allows the possibilities of AGVs to be combined with the previously described properties of a four-way wheel arm truck.

According to one aspect of the invention, the first roller of the first wheel arm is designed to be steerable by 360°. This can increase mobility. In particular, a change in the orientation or the steering direction can be carried out more flexibly and/or faster than with an orientation that only allows 90°.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the first roller of the first wheel arm is arranged on the end of the first wheel arm facing away from the power car. This can increase the stability of the wheel arm stacker when picking up loads. This is especially true when the load picked up is lifted by the first fork in the vertical direction.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the first roller of the first wheel arm has an electric motor, which is designed to hold the first roller, preferably via a roller Coupling, by means of a gear, preferably by means of a worm gear or by means of a bevel gear, to rotate the vertical direction as the vertical axis, the roller holder having at least one roller. This can enable the previously described steerability of the first roller to be implemented. This can be done effectively and compactly at the same time by means of an electric motor and in particular by means of a worm wheel gear.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the roller holder has at least, preferably exactly, a pair of rollers, the roller elements of which are designed and arranged axially symmetrically to the vertical axis. This can increase the contact area of the first wheel arm's first roller and thereby reduce the force per area that has to be carried by each individual roller element. This can favor the durability or the longevity of the roller elements. In particular, by arranging two roller elements axially symmetrically to the vertical axis, both roller elements can roll or roll around the vertical axis on the ground, comparable to a turntable steering system. This can make it easier to rotate the roller elements around the vertical axis.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the first roller of the first wheel arm has at least one first position sensor, preferably as an incremental encoder, which is designed to detect a rotational position of the roller mount, the first roller preferably having at least one second position sensor, which is designed to grasp the rotational position of the roll holder. Such a position detection or rotational position detection can allow a controlled or regulated steering of the first roller of the first wheel arm or its roller elements. This can be carried out redundantly by means of two position sensors, even if one position sensor fails or is disrupted, the operation of the wheel-mounted forklift truck can be enabled at least temporarily. In particular, such a redundancy of position detection or rotational position detection may be required for safety reasons, in order to be able to safely and reliably detect the direction of travel or the direction of movement of the wheel-mounted truck. This can be necessary or mandatory for personal safety in particular if the wheel-mounted forklift is used as an AGV.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the wheel arm stacker has at least, preferably exactly, a second wheel arm, which extends parallel to the first wheel arm in a straight line away from the engine and is fixedly connected to the engine head, and the wheel arm stacker has at least, preferably exactly, one second fork, which is arranged parallel to the first fork and in the vertical direction above the second wheel arm and adapted to be raised and lowered together with the first fork in the vertical direction, the second wheel arm at least, preferably exactly, a second Has roller, wherein the second roller of the second wheel arm is designed to be rotatable by at least 90 °. On the one hand, this allows loads to be transported with two forks. On the other hand, a second roller can be provided in the second wheel arm in order to also support the second wheel arm while rolling on the ground. Providing this second roller of the wheel arm stacker in the second wheel arm so that it can be rotated by at least 90° can make it possible to continue to align the wheel arm stacker at an angle to perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, as described above, and thus also with two forks and two wheel arms a four-way movable over the full surface -To create wheel arm stacker. To this end, it may be sufficient to provide the second roller of the second wheel arm only to be rotatable about its vertical axis, ie to allow it to be aligned passively. Alternatively, the second roller of the second wheel arm can be steered in a manner comparable to the first roller of the first wheel arm, ie it can be actively aligned, as will be described in more detail below.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the second roller of the second wheel arm is designed to be rotatable through 360°. This can increase the possibilities of movement, as already described above with regard to the first roller of the first wheel arm.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the second roller of the second wheel arm is designed to be steerable by at least 90°. This can also enable the second roller of the second wheel arm to be steered, as previously described with regard to the first roller of the first wheel arm. In this way, in particular, the steering of the second roller of the second wheel arm can be achieved faster and/or more defined than with a roller that merely rotates passively.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the second roller of the second wheel arm is designed so that it can be steered through 360°. This can combine the steerability with the possibilities of movement that can result from a complete rotation about the vertical axis, as already described before ben.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the second roller of the second wheel arm is arranged on the end of the second wheel arm facing away from the power car. This can also allow the use of the corresponding properties of the first roller of the first wheel arm described above for the second roller of the second wheel arm.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the two steerable drive rollers are not arranged in alignment with one another in the transverse direction. In other words, the two steerable drive rollers are arranged in the longitudinal direction in such a way that they are offset from one another in the longitudinal direction, i.e. viewed in the transverse direction, the two steerable drive rollers are on different axes, which are perpendicular to the longitudinal direction on the one hand and perpendicular to the other on the other are aligned parallel to one another, ie not congruently. This can promote the stability of a movement in the lateral direction, ie improve or increase it compared to an aligned alignment. According to a further aspect of the invention, the two rollers of the two wheel arms are not arranged in alignment with one another in the transverse direction. In other words, the two rollers of the two wheel arms are offset from one another in the longitudinal direction. This can favor the stability of a movement in the lateral direction.

According to another aspect of the invention, the first steerable drive roller of the two steerable drive rollers is longitudinally aligned with the first roller of the first wheel arm and the second steerable drive roller of the two steerable drive rollers is longitudinally aligned with the second roller of the second wheel arm . This can promote the stability of a movement in the longitudinal direction.

An exemplary embodiment and further advantages of the invention are shown purely schematically and explained in more detail below in connection with the following figures. It shows:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective schematic illustration of a wheel-arm stacker according to the invention with conveying aids and person accommodated, diagonally from above and diagonally from behind;

FIG. 2 shows the representation of FIG. 1 obliquely from above, obliquely from the front;

FIG. 3 shows the representation of FIG. 1 obliquely from below, obliquely from the front;

FIG. 4 shows a partially transparent detailed illustration of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 shows a perspective schematic representation of a first steerable roller of the first wheel arm of the wheel arm stacker according to the invention, diagonally from above and diagonally from the front;

FIG. 6 shows the representation of FIG. 5 obliquely from below and obliquely from the front;

FIG. 7 shows a schematic plan view of the wheel-arm stacker according to the invention during a rotation on the spot; and

FIG. 8 shows a schematic plan view of the wheel-arm stacker according to the invention during a rotary movement about a point.

Figures 1 to 6 are viewed in Cartesian coordinates. A longitudinal direction X, which can also be referred to as depth X or length X, extends. A transverse direction Y, which can also be referred to as width Y, extends perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction X. A vertical direction Z, which can also be referred to as the height Z, extends perpendicularly both to the longitudinal direction X and to the transverse direction Y. The longitudinal direction X and the transverse direction Y together form the Ho zontal X, Y, which can also be referred to as the horizontal plane X, Y.

Figures 7 and 8 are viewed in cylindrical coordinates. In this case, the vertical direction Z can also be understood as the vertical axis Z. Perpendicular to the vertical axis Z, a ra dial direction R extends away from the vertical axis Z. A circumferential direction U extends perpendicularly to the radial direction R and around the vertical axis Z. A wheel arm stacker 1 according to the invention has a frame 10 which can also be referred to as a frame 10 . The frame 10 is U-shaped in the horizontal X, Y and has a first, right wheel arm 10a and a second, left wheel arm 10b, which run parallel to one another and extend in the longitudinal direction X from a power car 10c of the frame 10 extend away, which connects the two wheel arms 10a, 10b in a fixed manner, see, for example, Figure 3.

The driving head 10c has two drive rollers 11a, 11b, which are not arranged in alignment with one another in the transverse direction Y at the corners of the frame 10 or its driving head 10c. The two drive rollers 11a, 11b can each be driven in rotation electrically, for example, and accordingly transmit drive forces to a substrate (not shown) in both directions of rotation. Furthermore, both drive rollers 11a, 11b can each be aligned with a further drive, for example electrically, about their respective vertical axis, which runs in the vertical direction Z, by 360° and beyond, which can be understood as steering. The rotational position can be detected by sensors (not shown). Thus, the two drive rollers 11a, 11b of the driving head 10c are designed to be steerable.

The first wheel arm 10a has a first, right-hand roller 12a at its tip facing away from the power car 10c in the longitudinal direction X, which is also designed to be steerable, see, for example, Figures 3 and 4. This can be done by means of an electric motor 12aa, which is installed in the first wheel arm 10a is arranged, see for example Figures 5 and 6. The rotational movement of the electric motor 12aa is transmitted by means of a clutch 12ac to a gear 12ad, which can be designed as a worm gear 12ad or as a bevel gear 12ad. A roller mount 12af can be rotated about its vertical axis, which extends in the vertical direction Z, by means of the gear 12ad. The roller holder 12af has a pair of rollers 12ag, which are rotatably mounted within the roller holder 12af about their common axis, which runs in the horizontal X, Y. The vertical axis of the roller holder 12af runs centrally between the two roller elements of the roller pair 12ag through its axis of rotation. As a result, the first, right-hand roller 12a can be implemented as a steerable roller 12a, which can roll on the ground as a result of the movement of the wheel-arm stacker 1 .

The rotational position of the first, right-hand steerable roller 12a can be set by a control unit (not shown) of the wheel-arm stacker 1 by means of the electric motor 12aa. This can be done in any angular position within 360° and beyond, ie the gear 12ad can rotate the roller mount 12af around its vertical axis as desired, which increases flexibility and speed when changing the angular position. The currently assumed angular position of the roller mount 12af can be detected by means of a first position sensor 12ab of the electric motor 12aa in the form of an incremental encoder 12ab and redundantly by means of a second position sensor 12ae below the gear 12ad and used by the control unit. The second wheel arm 10b has a comparable second, left-hand roller 12b, which is not steerable but designed to rotate freely, ie rotate and align freely about its vertical axis and also roll on the ground due to the movement of the wheel arm stacker 1 . Correspondingly, the second, left, freely rotating roller 12b can follow the movements of the wheel arm stacker 1 or its steerable drive rollers 11a, 11b and align themselves in the corresponding direction of movement. This can support the second wheel arm 10b relative to the ground and at the same time allow any movements in the horizontal X, Y to be carried out.

Thus, the wheel-arm stacker 1 according to the invention can be used as a four-way industrial truck, which, due to the steering of the two steerable drive rollers 11a, 11b and the first, right-hand steerable roller 12a, not only allows translational movements in the longitudinal direction X, in the transverse direction Y and at an angle in the horizontal X, Y, but also rotational movements on the spot, see for example Figure 7, or around a point, see for example Figure 8. For this purpose, the arrangement of the first, right steerable drive roller 11a and the first, right steerable roller 12a in the longitudinal direction X aligned with each other and the second, left steerable drive roller 11b and the second, left freely rotating roller 12b in the longitudinal direction X aligned mitein other favorable.

In contrast to this, it can be advantageous for the lateral movement in the transverse direction Y if the two steerable drive rollers 11a, 11b are not aligned with one another in the transverse direction Y and the two rollers 12a, 12b of the two wheel arms 10a, 10b are not aligned in the transverse direction Y mitein are arranged on the other, ie in the longitudinal direction X are arranged offset from one another. This can favor the stability or straightness of a movement in the transverse direction Y.

The wheel arm stacker 1 also has a fork mount 14 which can be moved up and down on the two rails 13 in the vertical direction Z between two vertical rails 13 of the power head 10c. Two forks 15a, 15b extend parallel to one another in the longitudinal direction X from the fork mount 14 and can also be referred to as fork tines 15a, 15b or simply as tines 15a, 15b. The first, right fork 15a is hollow in the vertical direction Z on its underside so that the first, right fork 15a can be lowered onto the first, right wheel arm 10a and essentially enclose the first, right wheel arm 10a, see for Example Figure 3. This applies accordingly to the second left fork 15b and the second left wheel arm 10b. This allows the forks 15a, 15b to be as flat as possible in order to be able to move under a conveying aid 2, such as a transport pallet 2, and to be able to lift the transport pallet 2 in the vertical Z direction.

In the vertical direction Z above the power car 10c, a housing 16 is provided which, for example, the control unit already mentioned, a rechargeable electrical energy Enclose memory (not shown) and the like and can protect against external influences and before reaching out to people 3. Facing away from the fork mount 14 in the longitudinal direction X, the housing 16 has a display element 17 in the form of a screen 17 or a display 17 for the visual output of information to a person 3 as the user 3 and operating elements 18 in the form of control levers 18 for operating operator inputs of user 3 on. In addition, the radar stacker 1 has an area scanner 19 in the form of a laser scanner 19 in the lower area of the housing 16 of the fork mount 14 in the longitudinal direction X, facing away at both corners, in order to record information about the area.

The control unit of the wheel arm truck 1 is designed to operate the wheel arm truck 1 automatically, so that the wheel arm truck 1 can be used as an AGV or AGV. For this purpose, the recorded environmental information of the laser scanner 19 can be used.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS (part of the description)

R radial direction

U circumferential direction

X longitudinal direction; Depth; length

Y transverse direction; broad

Z vertical direction; Height; vertical axis

X, Y Horizontal; horizontal plane

1 industrial truck; support arm stacker

10 (U-shaped) frame; (U-shaped) frame

10a first, right wheel arm of frame 10 10b second, left wheel arm of frame 10

10c chassis 10 power car

11a first, right steerable drive roller

11b second left steerable drive roller

12a first, right steerable roller

12aa electric motor of the first, right steerable roller 12a

12ab first position sensor or incremental encoder of the first, right steerable roller 12a 12ac coupling of the first, right steerable roller 12a

12ad gear or worm gear or bevel gear of the first, right steerable roller 12a

12ae second position sensor of the first, right steerable roller 12a 12af roller holder of the first, right steerable roller 12a 12ag roller or pair of rollers of the first, right steerable roller 12a 12b second, left freely rotating roller

13 rails

14 fork stance

15a first right fork: first right fork tine; first right prong 15b second left fork; second, left fork; second, left prong

16 enclosure

17 display element; Screen; screen

18 controls; control lever

19 environment scanner; laser scanner

2 funding aids; transport pallet

3 people; user

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1. Wheel arm stacker (1), preferably as an AGV, with a driving head (10c) with at least, preferably precisely, two steerable drive rollers (11a, 11b), with at least one first wheel arm (10a), which extends in a straight line from the driving head (10c). it is extended and fixedly connected to the driving head (10c), the first wheel arm (10a) having at least, preferably precisely, a first roller (12a) and having at least a first fork (15a) which can be rotated in the vertical direction ( Z) above the first wheel arm (10a) and designed to be raised and lowered in the vertical direction (Z), characterized in that the first roller (12a) of the first wheel arm (10a) is designed to be steerable by at least 90° is.

2. Wheel arm stacker (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the first roller (12a) of the first wheel arm (10a) is designed to be steerable by 360°.

3. Wheel arm stacker (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the first roller (12a) of the first wheel arm (10a) is arranged on the end of the first wheel arm (10a) facing away from the power car (10c).

4. Wheel arm stacker (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first roller (12a) of the first wheel arm (10a) has an electric motor (12aa) which is designed to have a roller mount (12af) of the first roller (12a) , preferably via a clutch (12ac), by means of a gear (12ad), preferably by means of a worm gear (12ad) or by means of a bevel gear (12ad), in order to rotate the vertical direction (Z) as the high axis (Z), the Roller holder (12af) has at least one roller (12ag).

5. Wheel arm stacker (1) according to claim 4, characterized in that the roller holder (12af) has at least, preferably precisely, a pair of rollers (12ag), the sen roller elements are formed and arranged axially symmetrically to the vertical axis (Z).

6. Radarmstapler (1) according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the first roller (12a) of the first wheel arm (10a) has at least one first position sensor (12ab), preferably as an incremental encoder (12ab), which is designed, a To detect the rotational position of the roller mount (12af), the first roller (12a) preferably having at least one second position sensor (12ae) which is designed to detect the rotational position of the roller mount (12af).

7. Wheel arm truck (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by at least, preferably precisely, a second wheel arm (10b) which extends parallel to the first wheel arm (10a) in a straight line away from the power car (10c) and is fixed to the power car (10c ) is connected, and by at least, preferably precisely, a second fork (15b) which is arranged and formed parallel to the first fork (15a) and in the vertical direction (Z) above the second wheel arm (10b), together with the first fork (15a) to be raised and lowered in the vertical direction (Z), the second wheel arm (10b) having at least, preferably precisely, a second roller (12b), the second wheel (12b) of the second wheel arm (10b) is designed to be rotatable by at least 90°.

8. Wheel arm stacker (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that the second roller (12b) of the second wheel arm (10b) is designed to be rotatable by 360°.

9. Wheel arm stacker (1) according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the second roller (12b) of the second wheel arm (10b) is designed to be steerable by at least 90°.

10. Wheel arm stacker (1) according to one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the second roller (12b) of the second wheel arm (10b) is designed to be steerable by 360°.

11. Radarmstapler (1) according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that the second roller (12b) of the second wheel arm (10b) at the end of the power head (10c) facing away from the second wheel arm (10b) is arranged.

12. Wheel arm stacker (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the two steerable drive rollers (11a, 11b) are not arranged cursingly with one another in the transverse direction (Y).

13. Wheel arm stacker (1) according to one of claims 7 to 12, characterized in that the two rollers (12a, 12b) of the two wheel arms (10a, 10b) are not arranged in alignment with one another in the transverse direction (Y).

14. Wheel-arm stacker (1) according to one of Claims 7 to 13, characterized in that the first steerable drive roller (11a) of the two steerable drive rollers (11a, 11b) is aligned in the longitudinal direction (X) with the first roller (12a) of the first wheel arm (10a) and the second steerable drive roller (11b) of the two steerable drive rollers (11a, 11b) in the longitudinal direction (X) is arranged in alignment with the second roller (12b) of the second wheel arm (10b).