GB1264793A - - Google Patents

Abstract

1,264,793. Straddle carriers. NATIONAL RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CORP. 17 April, 1969 [19 April, 1968], No. 18682/68. Heading B8H. [Also in Division B7] A vehicle for picking up and transporting bins 40 comprises a pair of bin-engaging rails 1 interconnected by a pair of inverted U-shaped frames 3, 4 which are raisable and lowerable relative to wheels 8, 10 in parallelogram linkages 12, 16 actuated by hydraulic rams 13, 17, respectively. The rear wheels 10 are mounted in housings 14 provided at the ends of a transverse tube 15 and are driven by a transverse engine 21 through a differential at one end of the tube 15 and chains and chain-wheels mounted in the housings 14. In operation, the rams 13, 17 are actuated to lower the rails 1 whereby the vehicle may be driven over the bins to be transported, the rails 1 passing under supporting surfaces on the bins. The rails 1 are then raised to raise the bins from the ground. A second pair of rails 30 may be provided in which case the rails 30 are initially located on the rails 1 and are loaded with bins. The rails 30 are then raised relative to the rails 1 by rams (not shown) to a height sufficient to allow the rails 1 to be loaded. In further embodiments, Figs. 7, 9 (not shown), the engine is mounted centrally of the vehicle, the ground wheels are sprung, and latches are provided to prevent the bins from sliding off the rails during transportation.