GB2183620A - Storing vehicle undercarriages - Google Patents

Abstract

A storage installation particularly suitable for storing cumbersome articles such as vehicle undercarriages comprises an elevator unit (2) with means for supporting the undercarriages at two spaced points, a fixed frame (10-12, 18 and 19) and cross-supports (14) movable along the fixed frame to positions where they are disposed under an outrigger and a rear wheel of the undercarriage, the arrangement being such that, for loading, the elevator unit lifts the undercarriage from a loading position within the area of the fixed frame to an elevated storage position where the cross-supports (14) can be disposed to support the respective parts of the undercarriage on the frame, whereafter the elevator unit is lowered so that the undercarriage is left supported on the fixed frame by the supports (14). Preferably, the elevator unit can be used repeatedly at one loading position, each time with a fresh set of cross-supports, thereby to progressively stack up the undercarriages. The cross-supports (14) have wheels at each end whereby they run on tracks (13) on the fixed frame. When the second undercarriage is raised, the first-stored undercarriage will be supported on the second one, which in turn will be supported on frame members (12). Members (19) of the frame serve to guide the ends of the supports (14). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Storageishedding installation for cumbersome articles eg vehicle undercarriages This invention relates to storage installations for safe keeping cumbersome articles, eg for the shedding or storing of undercarriages in a multi-storey, sky-parking mode.

An example of a shed installation, for safekeeping undercarriages, employed hitherto for the purpose of effectively utilizing a site will first be described with reference to Figure 5. Thus, undercarriages care stored by being vertically inverted by an attachment b provided on a fork lift a and then rested against an upper beam e of a fixed frame dset up vertically on the ground. For storage, the rear end of each undcrcarriage c is placed on a floor in contact therewith.Such conventional system has the following problems: (1) During the safekeeping, accessories around the rear end of the undercarriage, such asbacklight; tailight; and number plate, other chassis portions, and the like may come into contact with thefloor, and thus be damaged; (2) Side-guards need to be attached to either side of the undercarriage for preventing people from getting entangled, and these are a hindrance during handling, (3) There isa dangerthattheundercarriagewill be blown over by strong winds, and (4) A skiiled full-time worker is necessary to operate the fork lift.

It is an object ofthe present invention to provide an installation which is free from the foregoing probiems of the prior art.

According to one aspect, the present invention provides an installation for storing orshedding cumbersome articles such as vehicles, orvehicle undercarriages, comprising an elevator unit for supporting appropriate parts of the article and moving the article up and down a fixed frame, and backing plates which can be moved within the fixed frame so that they may be disposed under different appropriate parts ofthe article, the arrangement being such that, for loading, the article and elevator unit are located in a loading position within the area ofthe fixed frame and the elevator unit lifts the article to a position in which the backing plates can be disposed in their support position, whereafterthe elevator unit is lowered so that the article is left supported in a storage position within the fixed frame bythe backing plates.

In continued use of the installation, the elevator unit can be used repeatedly at one loading position, each time with a different set of backing plates, thereby to progressively stack up the articles in a multi-storey sky-parking mode.

According to another aspect, the present invention provides an undercarriage shed installation comprising an elevator unit for moving up and down an undercarriage while supporting a chassis and a frontwheel of the undercarriage, and a fixed frame for movably holding backing plates so thatthe backing plates may be disposed under an outrigger and a rear heel ofthe undercarriage in harmony with the operation of the elevator unit, wherein transfer of the undercarriage onto the fixed frame is performed via the backing plates.

In orderthatthe invention will be readily understood andfurtherfeatures made apparent one embodiment of undercarriage shed installation according to the present invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 7 is a side view of this embodiment; Figure2 is a plan view of Figure 1; FigureS is a detailed view of an elevator unit shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a detailed view of a backing plate shown in Figure 1; and Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional system.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, an undercarriage 1 which is to be stored is put on a conveying truck5 equipped with an elevator unit2 and wheels4sothat the undercarriage can move along rails 3 laid inside a working pit 24. Shedding the undercarriages 1 is performed on a fixed frame 10 which is composed of legs 11 and beams 12 and configured so astostore the undercarriages in a multi-storey mode. Rails 13 laid on the beam 12 ofthe fixed frame 10 are arranged so that backing plates 14 can move in the longitudinal direction ofthe rails. To save space for accommodating the backing plates 14 are stacked up.

The fixed frame 10 includes guide members l8for guiding both ends ofthe backing plate 14and support members 19 for supporting the guide members 18. The guide members 18 and the support members 19may be formed integrally with each other.

The relationship between and the action ofthe components ofthe installation will now be described. The undercarriage 1 is moved to within the area covered by the fixed frame 10 by the conveying truck 5, stopped at a given loading position, and moved up bythe elevator unit2. The details of the foregoing structure are as shown in Figure3, in which a loadingtable7 is moved up and down by an up/down drive unit 6. The loading table 7 has atone end a foldable supportarm 8for supporting the chassis frame ofthe undercarriage 1, this support arm 8 is driven by a drive unit 9 and can be folded when moving within the working pit 24 with noload.Theotherendoftheloadingtable7 supports a front wheel 20-a.In this connection, in orderto equalize the loading, the front wheel 20-a andthesupportarm 8are located atpositions spaced substantially the same distance on either side from the centre position of gravity ofthe undercarriage 1 located at a position immediately in front ofthefront wheel 20-a.

As shown in Figure 3, the elevated end of the loading table7 is positioned above the beam 12 of the fixed frame 10; thus, afterthe backing plates 14 are moved on the rail 13 provided on the fixed frame 10 and positioned under an outrigger 21 and a rear wheel 20-b of the undercarriage 1,the loading table7 begins to move down. As the outrigger 21 and the rear heel 20-b are completely placed on the backing plates 14,the shedding work is completed.Through similar repeated cyclic operations to the above at one common loading position, the undercarriages 1 are stacked up via the backing plates 14 in a multi-storey, sky-parking mode.

On the otherhand, for removing the undercarriages 1 from storage, the loading table 7 is moved up to liftthe lowermost undercarriage 1 once, then, the backing plates 14 are moved awayfromthe undercarriage to release their support and the loading table is moved down. When the backing plates 14-b supporting the second-storey undercarriage 1-breach the beam 12, the lowermost undercarriage 1 is separated from the others thereabove and moved down together with the loading table 7.

Afterthe undercarriage 1 is moved down to a level not causing interference with the beam 12, the conveying truck 5 loaded with the undercarriage 1 is moved to a delivery port to deliver the undercarriage. Through similar cyclic operations to the above all the undercarriages 1 can be taken out.

The undercarriage 1-c illustrated by the broken lines in Figure 3 may be stored by being wheeled into a position within the lower space ofthe fixed frame 10 by the use of an appropriate trailer. In this case, it is sufficient to provide doors 22 and drive units 23 thereforfor closing off the storage pit 2 when not in use. Alternatively, the pit can be closed by a lid movable up and down together with the elevator unit 2.

As shown in Figure 4,for moving the undercarriages 1 the backing plates 14 have wheels 16 equipped with springs 15. Thus, when not loaded the backing plates 14are floating and can be readily moved along their rails 13 into positions whereas, when loaded by the weight of the wheel 20-b and/or the outrigger 21, the under surface ofthe backing plate is madeto contact directly with the rail 13 or the beam 12; hence, relative sliding between the undercarriages I is prevented.

Further, to preventside run-outofthe undercarriage 1 at the time of shedding, loading, or removal operations, groovesareformed in the backing plate 14and guided bytheguide members 18. The lower end ofthe guide member 18 is spaced from the beam 12 to allow the passage ofthe backing plate 14. Of course, the guide member 18 itself is fixedly supported by the support member 19.

The effects obtained by the present invention are as follows: (1) The undercarriage is safekept in a horizontal posture; hence, any portion of the undercarriage cannot be damaged, (2) Horizontal support and conveyance ofthe undercarriage are performed in an under-side support mode, simple and stable handling is realized, and the side guard causes no hindrance, (3) Vertically highly concentrated sky-parking safekeeping is achieved, (4) Run-out ofthe undercarriage is simply prevented via the backing plate to permit stable safekeeping, and (5) Operation is simple and needs no skilled worker.

Claims (5)

1. An installationforstoring orshedding cumbersome articles comprising an elevatorunitfor supporting appropriate parts ofthe article and moving the article up and down a fixed frame and backing plates which can be moved within the fixed frame so that they may be disposed under different appropriate parts ofthe article, the arrangement being such that, for loading, the article and elevator unit are located in a loading position within the area ofthe fixed frame and the elevator unit lifts the article to a position in which the backing plates can be disposed in their support position, whereafterthe elevator unit is lowered so that the article is left supported in a storage position within the fixed frame by the backing plates.

2. An installation according to Claim 1,wherein multiplicity of backing plates is provided, whereby the elevator unit can be used repeatedly at one loading position, each time with a different set of backing plates, thereby to progressively stack up the articles in a multi-storey, key-parking mode.

3. An installation according to Claim 1, or Claim 2, specifically for undercarriages, wherein the elevator unit is adapted to support the chassis and front wheel or wheels ofthe undercarriage, whilst the backing plates are adapted to support an outrigger and the rear wheel or wheels.

4. An undercarriage shed installation comprising an elevator unitfor moving up and down an undercarriage while supporting a chassis and a front wheel of the undercarriage, and a fixed frame for movably holding back plates so thatthe backing plates may be disposed under an outrigger and a rear heel of the undercarriage in harmony with the operation ofthe elevator unit, wherein transfer ofthe undercarriage onto the fixed frame is performed via the backing plates.

5. An installationforstoring/shedding cumbersome articles such as undercarriages constructed, arranged and adapted for use substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, Figures 1 to 4 ofthe accompanying drawings.