GB2252284A

GB2252284A - Rail or road goods vehicle allowing automated side-loading and unloading

Info

Publication number: GB2252284A
Application number: GB9200050A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Sandro Maluta
Original assignee: Costamasnaga SpA
Current assignee: Costamasnaga SpA
Priority date: 1991-01-24
Filing date: 1992-01-03
Publication date: 1992-08-05
Also published as: GB9200050D0; ES1019982Y; FR2672025A3; BE1003623A6; NL9200036A; ITMI910057U1; ES1019982U; DE9200095U1; IT221577Z2; ITMI910057V0; FR2672025B3

Abstract

The vehicle, eg a railway truck or articulated road vehicle, has load compartments 6A-6D with opposing walls 5, 10 which are provided with guides 12 to receive laterally sliding or rolling load supports, eg pallets 8 which can be locked in place by pins 13. The guides 12 can be placed at different heights. The doors may be slidable (Figs. 3, 7) or of the gull-wing type (Fig. 4) or may be partly hinged, partly collapsible (Fig. 5). The pallets 8 may be loaded and unloaded automatically at intermodal stations. <IMAGE>

Description

GOODS-TRANSPORTING VEHICLE, IN PARTICULAR A RAILWAY TRUCK, ALLOWING AUTOMATED LOADING AND UNLOADING This invention relates to a vehicle suitable for transporting goods either by road or by rail, and particularly a railway truck.

Vehicles (trailer trucks, articulated trucks, railway trucks) currently used for goods transportation are loaded and unloaded with a considerable use of labour, thus increasing loading and unloading time and cost.

A vehicle which allows "end" loading of said goods is already known and forms the subject of a previous patent application by the present applicant, which loading can be totally automated.

Although such a truck reduces labour requirements during loading and unloading and likewise considerably reduces the loading and unloading time, it has the drawback of encountering a certain difficulty in carrying out these operations.

In this respect, as the goods are inserted via the opposing ends of the vehicle (end loading), their loading and unloading are limited by the relatively small dimensions of the openings provided at said ends.

An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a vehicle of the aforesaid type which allows goods loading and unloading to be automated and conducted laterally to the vehicle.

A further object is to provide a vehicle of the stated type which allows easy and comfortable loading and unloading.

These and further objects which will be apparent to the expert of the art are attained by a goods-transporting vehicle, in particular a railway truck, comprising a floor from which walls extend upwards to define at least one load compartment, said vehicle having a longitudinal axis, characterised by comprising on at least two opposing walls of the load compartment at least one pair of guides for the sliding of goods support means having elements for cooperating with said guides, said sliding being transverse to said longitudinal axis and allowing the goods to be loaded laterally onto the vehicle, which loading can be advantageously automated.

The present invention will be more apparent from the accompanying drawing, which is provided by way of non-limiting example and in which: Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a railway truck constructed in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged view of a part of the truck of Figure 1; Figures 3, 4 and 5 are front views of different embodiments of the truck of Figure 1; Figure 6 is a schematic side view of a train composed of trucks identical to that of Figure 1; and Figure 7 is a top view of a loading station for a train composed of trucks identical to that of Figure 1.

With reference to said figures, a railway truck 1 (and likewise an articulated truck 2 shown in Figure 7) comprises a floor 3 from which side walls 4 and end walls 5 upwardly project to define a load compartment 6 in which goods 7 are stored on support means, platforms or pallets 8. These goods are inserted laterally into the compartment 6, ie perpendicular to a longitudinal axis A through the truck 1.

In the embodiment shown in the figures, the load compartment 6 is divided into several sections 6A, 6B, 6C and 6D separated by partitions 10, the end sections being bounded by the end walls 5.

Each partition 10 and end wall 5 defining the compartment 6 or a section thereof comprises guides 12 arranged perpendicular to the axis A and facing the interior of the compartment or its section.

Each guide is arranged to cooperate with a corresponding element (wheels, rollers or sliding counter-guides of a material having a low coefficient of friction) arranged on one side 14 of a respective pallet 8.

The guides 12 can be positioned on the walls 10 at different heights to allow several overlying pallets 8 to be inserted into the compartment 6 or into one of the sections into which it is divided. This obviously depends on the dimensions of the goods 7 supported on said overlying pallets.

In the said figures, the guides 12 are of L-shape and cooperate with the appropriately formed elements 13 of complementary shape.

Specifically, each element 13 comprises a cavity 20 defined by flanges 21 and 22, and within which a corresponding guide 12 slides. The guides 12 can be provided with rollers or wheels to facilitate this sliding.

To achieve a more reliable fixing of the pallets 8 on the guides 12, locking pins 25 are provided to cooperate with holes 26 provided both in the elements 13 and in the guides 12.

The pallets 8 supporting the goods 7 are inserted automatically into the trucks 1 in intermodal stations of known type, such as those described in detail in a previous filing in the name of the present applicant.

However, the goods 7 supported on the pallets 8 can be inserted into the truck 1 by other means, for example by a usual loader 30 which withdraws said pal lets from the articulated truck 2 and loads them laterally onto each truck 1.

To enable it to be loaded laterally, each truck 1 comprises laterally slidable doors 36 (Figures 3 and 7), which slide in a plane parallel to that in which the the truck longitudinal axis A lies.

Alternatively, doors 37 of upward flapwise opening can be provided (Figure 4) along each section 6A...6D of the compartment 6. For this purpose, each door 37 has one end 38 hinged in known manner to the top or roof 39 of the truck 1.

In a further alternative (Figure 5), the truck 1 comprises side doors 40 each with a portion 41 close to the roof 39 of the truck 1 which opens flapwise upwards (in the same manner as the door 37 of Figure 4) and a portion 42 which can be folded back onto the portion 41. The portion 42 can be formed for example of waxed canvas and be guided during its movement towards the portion 41 (lying above it) by guides provided in the side walls 4 of the truck 1.

Advantageously, to guide the movement of each door 40, it is associated with a pneumatic cylinder-piston unit 46 connected in known manner to a fixed part of the truck 1.

To load the trucks, the pallets 8 supporting the goods 7 are firstly positioned correctly to the side of each truck 1 in front of the load compartment 6 by the loader 30, after which the pallets are inserted into each truck by cooperating with the guides 6. By sliding said pallets along these guides, the goods are inserted into the trucks laterally.

A railway truck I has been described provided with means which enable it to be loaded laterally with goods supported on suitable pallets.

Likewise, the articulated truck 2 can be constructed in a manner similar to the truck 1, to allow it to be easily loaded (and unloaded), with the goods arranged on pallets. Such an articulated truck therefore falls within the scope of the present document.

Claims

Claims:

1. A goods-transporting vehicle, typically a railway truck, trailer truck or articulated truck, of the type comprising a floor from which walls extend upwards to define at least one load compartment, characterised by comprising on at least two opposing walls (5, 10) of the load compartment (6, 6A...6D) at least one pair of guides (12) for the sliding of goods (7) support means (8) having elements (13) for cooperating with said guides (12), said sliding being transverse to the usual longitudinal axis (A) of the vehicle (1, 2) and allowing the goods (7) to be loaded laterally onto the vehicle (1, 2), which loading can be advantageously automated.

2. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the opposing walls are the vehicle end walls (5) delimiting the load compartment (6), or opposing partitions defining various sections (6A, 6B, 6C, 6D) of said compartment, the guides (12) arranged on said walls (5, 10) lying in a plane perpendicular to that in which the vehicle longitudinal axis (A) lies.

3. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the support means for the goods (7) are pallets (8), those elements (13) of these latter which cooperate with the guides (12) having a shape which corresponds with and is complementary to that of said guides (12) in order to allow said cooperation.

4. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1, characterised by comprising side doors (36) which open by sliding along the vehicle side walls (4).

z. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the side doors (40) comprise a part (42) which can be folded back onto an upper portion (41) which opens flapwise upwards and is connected to the top (39) of the vehicle.

6. A vehicle as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that the side doors (37) comprise at least one part which opens flapwise upwards and is connected to the top (39) of the vehicle.

7. A goods-transporting vehicle instructed and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.