GB2039852A - Container Transfer Station - Google Patents

Abstract

A transfer station (12), for transferring a container (10) from one lorry (11) to another, is described. The station includes a pair of container- bearing rails (14 and 15) forming an elevated track for moving the container from an initial disposition to a loading disposition above a vehicle standing on ground between the rails and under the track with the vehicle aligned with the track. Loading is preferably effected by loading jacks (19) which lift and lower short lengths of rail (36) at the corners of the container. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Container Transfer Station This invention relates to container transfer stations for loading a container onto a vehicle and, more particularly but not exclusively, is concerned with stations for transferring containers from a first vehicle to a second vehicle.

Standard ISO containers in particular and demountable lorry bodies in general are examples of the containers which it is contemplated may be loaded and transferred by the invention.

The lorry bodies mentioned above are invariably heavy and the equipment needed to lift them on to and off lorry bodies is invariably expensive. Examples of devices which have already been proposed for this purpose are large overhead cranes and the mobile devices described in "Containerisation International", in the issue of November 1978 at page 91 and in "The LMS Wagon" by R. J. Essery and K. R.

Morgan st page 119 and in plate 26A.

It is one object of the present invention to provide, for circumstances where a container is to be transferred and a fixed device rather than a mobile device is appropriate, a transfer station which is cheaper and more convenient to use than a large, overhead crane.

Vehicles have already been proposed which have the capability of drawing on to their load bearing surface a container resting on the ground, and unloading the container onto the ground. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a transfer station in which a container may be transferred between such a vehicle and a conventional vehicle, that is, one having a suitable load bearing surface but no equipment for moving a container between it and the ground.

According to the invention there is provided a container transfer station comprising transfer means for effecting in a transfer movement transfer of a container from an initial disposition in the station to a loaded disposition on a load carrying surface of a vehicle in a loading disposition in the station, wherein said transfer movement includes a movement of said container from an upper disposition at a height above the ground greater than that of the said load-carrying surface towards a lower disposition at a height less than that of the said surface, wherein said transfer means includes a pair of containerbearing rails supported by rail support members and forming an elevated track for moving the container from said initial disposition at a receiving end of the track into a loading disposition thereof and wherein the vehicle in its loading disposition stands on a surface between the rails and beneath the track with the longitudinal axis of the vehicle aligned with that of the track.

The movement of the container along the track can be provided in a number of ways. For example, a cable from a winch may be connected to the container and the winch actuated to drag the container along the rails. Alternatively, a vehicle which is provided with container-moving equipment may be able to provide the necessary movement. In either case, it will be recognised that the transfer station itself need not include lifting devices to effect a loading of the container on to a vehicle. The absence of such lifting devices means that the construction of the transfer station can be cheaper and less complex than what would otherwise be the case.

Nevertheless, the station will prove more versatile in use if it is provided with means to lift the container from a conventional vehicle in a position between the rails and to lower the container on to the rails after the vehicle has withdrawn from this position, in order that the container may be unloaded from a conventional vehicle and then loaded on to a further vehicle by movement of the container along the rails and on to the further vehicle at an end of the track.

The transfer means can be three or more lifting jacks fitted with lifting pads to contact lifting points in the base surface of the container.

Usually, a jack will be provided at or near each of the four corners of the container, there being a section of fixed rail between the two jacks of each rail of said pair of rails.

At the receiving end of the station, the rails can be inclined downwardly, so as better to receive a container from a vehicle to be unloaded.

The following is a more detailed description, by way of example, of one embodiment of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a container transfer station showing the transfer of a container from a vehicle to the station; Figure 2 is an elevation similar to that of Figure 1 showing the container raised above the rails of the transfer station and a further vehicle moving into position to receive the container; Figure 3 is a plan of part of the station at an enlarged scale; Figure 4 is a section on the line IV--IV in Figure 3 at an enlarged scale; and Figure 5 is a section on the line V-V at an enlarged scale and showing the container in a lifted position.

Figure 1 shows a container 10 carried by a lorry 11. in the drawing the container is being unloaded from the lorry 11 on to a transfer station referenced generally 12. A small wheel 13 is provided at each of the four corners of the base surface of the container 10 and the two wheels 13 at the rear corners of the container are contacting a pair of spaced rails 14 and 1 5 (of which only 14 is shown in Figures 1 and 2) forming an elevated track. As the container is transferred onto the track to take up a preliminary disposition within the station first contact of the wheels 13 with the rails 14 and 1 5 is made at lead-in portions of the rails in which the rails are downwardly inclined in order better to receive the container 10.

The rails 14 and 1 5 are each supported on stanchions 16, 1 7 and 18. Stanchions 1 6 flank lifting jacks 1 9 located at opposite ends of a length 20 of fixed rail, stanchions 1 7 supporting the central portion of the length 20. Stanchion 1 8 is similar to stanchion 1 6 but of lesser height in order to accommodate the lead-in portion of the rail.

The vehicle 11 is provided with equipment comprising an L-shaped arm 21 and stabilizing struts 22 for transferring the container 10 to and from its load carrying area. Such vehicles are described in German (Fed. Rep.) OLS No.

2700188. The arm 21 is employed to move the container 10 in an endwise manner into the transfer station 12 with the wheels 1 3 running along the rails 14 and 1 5. When this movement is complete the container 10 is located in a loading disposition as shown in chain dotted lines in Figure 1.

Turning now to Figure 2, it can be seen that, once transfer of the container 10 into the transfer station 12 has been completed and the stabilizing struts 22 have been lifted to their withdrawn position, the vehicle 11 may withdraw. In order that the container 10 may be loaded on to a second vehicle 23, the lifting jacks 1 9 are actuated so that, as will be more fully described hereinafter, lifting pads on the top surfaces of the jacks 1 9 may contact lifting points on the base surface of the container 10 to raise the container above the rails 14 and 15 into an upper disposition as shown.When the container is in this position, the second vehicle 23 may be reversed into the space between the rails 14 and 15 and their respective rows of supporting stanchions 1 7, 18 and 1 9 so that it stands on a surface between the rails and beneath the track and a load carrying surface 24 thereof lies beneath the base surface of the container 1 0.

Once the vehicle 23 has reached this loading disposition the jacks 19 may again be actuated to lower the container 10 towards a lower disposition to load the container on to the vehicle 23, following which the vehicle may advance forwardly out of the container transfer station, loaded with the container 10. It will be understood that the reverse sequence of operations can be performed with the transfer station 12 being employed to raise a container 10 from the load carrying surface 24 of the vehicle 23 (following which the vehicle is withdrawn) and then lower the container onto the rails 14 and 1 5, the container 10 subsequently being loaded on to a further vehicle (for example vehicle 11) by movement of the container 10 along the rails 14 and 15.

Turning now to Figure 3, each of the stanchions 1 6 and 1 7 comprises a base plate 25 and a square section member 26 extending upwardly therefrom. Each member 26 is supported by one or more buttresses 27. At the upper end of each member 26 is welded a pair of horizontally extending, rail supporting members 28.

Each of the lifting jacks 1 9 also includes a base plate 25 and a vertically extending base member 26 supported by buttresses 27, these members being of similar construction to those of the stanchions. The stability of the transfer station generally is ensured by securely fixing the base plates 25 of the stanchions and jacks to concrete foundations.

The interior construction of the jacks 1 9 is best seen from Figure 5. Slidable on the exterior surface of the square section vertical member 26 is top member 29 lined with a plastics material sold under the trade name "Tufnol" to reduce friction during relative movement between the members 26 and 29. Connected between these two members of each jack is a hydraulic ram comprising a cylinder 30 and piston 31. The cylinder 30 is anchored to a plate 32 within the hollow square section member 26, supplies of hydraulic fluid to the cylinder 30 being provided through a high pressure pipe 33 which extends through an aperture 34 in the anchor plate 32 and through a further aperture 35 in the member 26 near the base plate 25. The piston 31 is connected at its upper end to a closed upper end of the upper jack member 29.Connected to member 29 is a lifting pad 36 which constitutes a short, vertically movable length of the respective rail 14 or 1 5. The four L-shaped lifting pads 36 each contact a lifting block 37 provided amongst the base sub-structure 38 of the container 10.

Figure 4 shows the container 10 with its wheels 13 resting on the rails 14 and 15, and the lifting pads 36 are not visible in this drawing because they lie within the cross-section of the rails 14 and 1 5. Conversely, in Figure 5, the container 10 is shown in its upper disposition with the pistons 31 fully extended in the cylinders 30 so that the wheels 13 of the container are lifted well above the upward-facing surfaces of the rails 14 and 15.

From a reconsideration of Figure 2 in conjunction with Figure 5 it will be appreciated that the vehicle 23 can reverse into a loading disposition between the rails 14 and 15, with the container 10 in its upper disposition, in order that the container may be lowered by release of hydraulic fluid from the cylinders 30 until the lifting blocks 37 beneath the container contact the load surface 24 of the vehicle 23. It is arranged that this occurs before the wheels 1 3 again make contact with the rails 14 and 15, so that the vehicle 23 bears the weight of the container 10 and may advance, carrying the container, out of the transfer station 12. It will be recognised that, if the width of the vehicle 23 is substantially the same as that of the container 10, the vehicle body will lie beneath the rails 14 and 1 5 and the container will be supported on the vehicle on load-bearing parts of the vehicle which do not extend transversely of the vehicle to the full width of the container, so that they do not foul the rails 14 and 15 during transfer of the container.

While in the iliustrated embodiment the jacks 19 employ single-acting hydraulic rams it may be convenient to use jacks in which the hydraulic rams are double acting.

Claims (12)

Claims

1. A container transfer station comprising transfer means for effecting in a transfer movement transfer of a container from an initial disposition in the station to a loaded disposition on a load carrying surface of a vehicle in a loading disposition in the station, wherein said transfer movement includes a movement of said container from an upper disposition at a height above the ground greater than that of the said load-carrying surface towards a lower disposition at a height less than that of the said surface, wherein said transfer means includes a pair of containerbearing rails supported by rail support members and forming an elevated track for moving the container from said initial disposition at a receiving end of the track into a loading disposition thereof and wherein the vehicle in its loading disposition stands on a surface between the rails and beneath the track with the longitudinal axis of the vehicle aligned with that of the track.

2. A station as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transfer means can lift the container from the vehicle and lower the container on to the rails after the vehicle has withdrawn from the said loading position thereby to transfer the container from a first vehicle located in the said loading disposition to the rails, the rails being adapted to support subsequent movement of the container therealong out of the station and onto a further vehicle.

3. A station as claimed in claim 2, wherein the or each transfer means comprises a plurality of lifting jacks for lifting and lowering the container.

4. A station as claimed in claim 3, wherein the lifting jacks each comprise a fixed base and a movable top section, the top section being raised and lowered in use relative to the base through the agency of a hydraulic ram connected therebetween.

5. A station as claimed in claim 3 or 4, wherein each said lifting jack has a lifting pad which, in use, contacts a lifting point in the base surface of the container.

6. A station as claimed in claim 5, wherein each of which pads is a vertically movable section of one of said rails.

7. A station as claimed in claim 6, wherein there are two lifting pads in each of said rails, the vertically movable sections of each rail being located at opposite ends of a section of fixed rail.

8. A station as claimed in claim 7, wherein surfaces of the base and top section of each jack slide over one another during raising and lowering and at least one said surface is of a frictionreducing plastics material.

9. A station as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each rail is of essentially L-shaped cross-section, and having an arm directed inwardly and an arm directed upwardly with respect to the track.

10. A station as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rails are downwardly inclined at the receiving end of the track.

11. A station as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the support members for each said rail comprise a row of stanchions beneath the rail.

12. A station substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.