FR2529868A1 - Device for storing, retrieving and handling mass produced fragile items. - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns a device for storing, retrieving and handling mass produced fragile items. According to the invention, rigid containers 1 are fitted with racks 7 on which are hooked, at suitable heights, substantially rectilinear supports 16 which support the successive layers of products placed in the container. The invention applies in particular to assembly lines in the motor vehicle industry.

Description

 The present invention essentially relates to a device for the storage, recovery and handling in rigid containers, for example of the crate type with walls formed of wires, of parts produced in series requiring handling precautions. In mass production of complex products, such as automobile components, the assembly workshops receive items from various sources. Identical elements are generally grouped into transport units, which can be handled with a forklift; these are usually palletized loads, each row of elements on a pallet being separated from the next by a wedging interlayer adapted to the shape of the elements; there are also pallet boxes, sometimes fitted with fixed metal equipment for blocking the items to be transported.

 It appears that the known proposed solutions are relatively cumbersome to implement and require in particular to increase the number of equipment necessary to ensure correct handling.

 The invention aims to provide a more flexible and versatile solution whose use will allow significant savings in equipment. In particular, it allows the storage, recovery and handling in a rigid container of conventional type, for example of the crate type with walls formed of steel wires or the like, of fragile parts produced in series.

According to the invention, the device comprises for this purpose at least four racks hung substantially vertically two on each side on two opposite vertical walls of the body and substantially rectilinear supports capable of hanging in the orifices of said racks extending over substantially the entire length or width of the boxes and the shape of which is adapted to the pieces to be received resting on two such combined supports arranged on two opposite faces of the box. Thus equipped, these boxes can be used for storage, recovery and handling of large parts whose complex shape, lack of rigidity and the brittleness of the surface appearance require that the product does not support a load, that its outer surface is not scratched by friction or scratching hard or angular surfaces of the body, its equipment or neighboring parts. It can be for example of gallery parts of cars. Of course the supports will have to have shapes adapted to the parts they will receive, but it is clear that the solution recommended according to the invention allows however a great saving of equipment, the supports can be received on a single type of rack and the same support can frequently be used to receive parts of different configurations.

 The invention will appear more clearly with the aid of the description which follows, made with reference to the accompanying drawings, giving by way of example an embodiment.

In these drawings
FIG. 1 schematically shows in perspective view with cutaway a container body of the type with walls of metal wires equipped with a device according to the invention,
FIG. 2 shows in vertical section on a larger scale, substantially at the level of the arrow indicated II in FIG. 1, how a support is hung on a rack,
FIG. 3 is a horizontal section view made substantially at the plane III-III of FIG. 2,
FIG. 4 shows schematically and in elevation how a rack hangs on the wire wall of a box,
- Figure 5 is a side view of Figure 4 taken along arrow V of this figure.

 Referring first to Figure 1, we see a rigid box 1 which, in the example illustrated, is a box whose walls are made of steel wire. This box can possibly be of a folding type to facilitate transport and empty storage. It is a case in itself known which will not be described further and which essentially comprises a bottom 2 and four vertical side walls 3, 4, 5 and 6.

 In the example illustrated, on two of the opposite side walls 4, 6 of the box are fixed, hung, four identical racks marked 7 facing two by two.

These racks 7 have at their upper part a hook 8- (which may optionally be double or triple) and which allows the rack to be suspended from a wire as marked 9 of the body. The rack can thus remain in place by the effect of its own weight. Advantageously, however, one can also provide towards the lower part a tab such as 10 (Figures 4 and 5) which will engage around a wire such as 11 of the corresponding wall of the box. This lug will ensure good precise positioning of the rack in conjunction with the hook 8. The rack can also be locked against any lateral tilting because the hooks 8 and lugs 10 can engage between two adjacent vertical wires as marked 12 and 13 (Figures 1 and 4). The presence of the racks remaining in place will not prevent the folding of the vacuum boxes.

 Each rack 7 has a series of holes 14 in which hooks 15 can be positioned which will allow the supports 16 to be suspended therefrom in the form of a cornice on which the objects in the body 1 will rest.

 In order to ensure good mutual engagement and good locking of the supports on the racks, several devices are provided.

 Thus, the hook 15 ends as it appears more clearly in FIG. 2, by a locking lug 15 which locks after elastic engagement by force of the support 16 at the height provided on the rack under the rack tongue 17 formed at this place between two holes 14.

On the other hand, the supports 16 comprise, as appears more clearly in FIG. 3, a sort of cut in
U 18 with slightly flaring walls which closely follows the correspondingly shaped section of the vertical profile formed by the rack 7. It appears that in this way each support can be easily and quickly put in place and locked by the engagement of two hooks 15 in the corresponding orifices 14 arranged at the desired height of two racks 7.

 The objects (not shown) are usually arranged first in a first layer on the bottom of the box. On top of this layer, one comes to fix, on the wall 4 and on the wall 6, at the desired height, two supports 16 by engaging the hooks 15 in the orifices located at suitable height of the racks previously fixed in place. Advantageously, the orifices 1 have sufficiently large dimensions to allow the engagement of the support hooks 15 in said orifices without rotation movement of the support on itself, in other words, by a simple movement of translation from top to bottom. To this end, the rack can have other orifices such as 14 ′ (FIG. 4) of lesser height and in which the support hooks 15 will not normally be engaged.

 The supports are advantageously made of molded synthetic material, so that they can be economical and easily formed with any shapes most suitable for receiving the parts that they will support in the box.

 Once the second layer of objects placed in the crate on two lower supports 16 is completed, two supports are placed on an upper stage and we continue in the same way by filling the crate layer by layer up to its level superior.

 To empty a box of its contents, it is enough to remove the products stage by stage and to remove the supports progressively each time a stage is evacuated.

 Although the invention has been described by showing that the products are supported on two supports forming a cornice.

placed vis-à-vis, it appears that possibly, if the parts have a non-planar shape, for example in steps, the supports can be arranged not vis-à-vis but at the most appropriate heights. Also it is possible to have more than two supports facing each other, and for example to hang in the box an intermediate support which can for example be suspended from two racks placed on the perpendicular walls 3 and 5 of the box, the suspension hooks being obviously in this case placed at the longitudinal ends of the supports. For this purpose, the hooks can be added and engaged in the racks and come to bear the supports shaped in correspondence.

Claims (8)

CLAIMA  1. Device for the storage, recovery and handling in rigid containers, for example of the crate type with walls formed of wires, of fragile parts produced in series requiring handling precautions, characterized in that it essentially comprises  - at least four racks (7) hung substantially vertically two on each side on two opposite vertical walls - (4,6) of the body,  - substantially rectilinear supports (16) capable of catching in holes (14) of said racks and extending over substantially the entire length or width of the boxes, and the shape of which is adapted to the pieces to be received resting on two such supports conjugates arranged on two opposite faces (4,6) of the body.  2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said racks (7) comprise at least one suspension hook (8) at their upper or lower part.  3. Device according to claim 1 or claim 2, caractdrisé in that said racks comprise, towards their lower part, at least one anchoring lug (10) of the rack on the wall opposite the body.  4. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the width of said hook (8) and or of said tab (10) is slightly less than the width of the openings formed on the walls of the box.  5. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the height of certain orifices (14) formed in the rack for receiving the support hooks (15) is large enough to allow the engagement of said support hooks in said orifices without rotational movement of the support on itself.  6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the hooks (15) of the supports comprise lugs (15a) for locking the hook under the lower edge of the tongue (17) of rack (7) bordering the corresponding rack hole (14).  7. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the supports (16) are molded from synthetic material shaped as a function of the parts to be received.  8. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the racks (7) and the supports (16) which they receive have conjugate shapes to ensure mutual locking.