GB2395051A

GB2395051A - Vehicle tail lift warning indication mechanism

Info

Publication number: GB2395051A
Application number: GB0318943A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Keith Dempsie; Iain Gardiner
Original assignee: Ross and Bonnyman Engineering Ltd
Current assignee: Ross and Bonnyman Engineering Ltd
Priority date: 2002-08-22
Filing date: 2003-08-13
Publication date: 2004-05-12
Also published as: GB0318943D0; GB0219540D0

Abstract

A warning indication mechanism (3) for a tail lift (1) of a vehicle (2) such as a lorry (2), the warning indication mechanism comprising a power means, which may take the form of a battery pack (23) coupled to an alarm indicator which may be one or more LED's (17) in order to alert persons of the tail lift. A tilt switch is preferably provided to actuate and de-actuate the alarm indicator (17) when the tail list (1) moves through or attains a pre-determined angle.

Description

! 239505 1

1 "Vehicle Tail Lift Warning Indication Mechanism" 3 The present invention relates to a vehicle tail lift 4 warning indication mechanism and more particularly 5 but not exclusively relates to a warning indication 6 mechanism for use with a column-type vehicle tail 7 lift.

9 Conventionally, it is known to use flags attached to 10 the rear of column-type tail lifts which are 11 conventionally used on commercial vehicles such as 12 lorries, the flag providing an indication to both 13 traffic and also to pedestrians as to when the tail 14 lift is being lowered and also when the tail lift is 15 actually in the lowered position. Indeed, it is a 16 legal requirement to indicate the increase in 17 vehicle length when the platform is in the 18 horizontal position since this must be indicated to 19 traffic and pedestrians.

21 However, the flags do not provide a robust solution 22 to this legal requirement, since the flags

( 1 frequently fall off or are damaged in general 2 operation.

4 With regard to cantilever type tail lifts, it is 5 known to provide flashing lights on the leading edge 6 of the cantilever type tail lift. A cantilever type 7 tail lift comprises a platform disposed between a 8 pair of arms attached directly to the chassis of a 9 vehicle and as such it is possible to run electrical 10 wiring along the pair of arms, the flashing lights 11 being activated as soon as the tail lift is 12 actuated. However, hitherto, it is not practically 13 possible to provide such wiring on column-type tail 14 lifts since the column-type tail lift can move 15 vertically up and down the columns provided at the 16 rear of the vehicle and thus, providing wiring from 17 the vehicle to the tail lift of the column-type 18 would be both expensive and impractical.

20 According to the present invention there is provided 21 a warning indication mechanism for a tail lift, the 22 warning indication mechanism comprising a power 23 means coupled to an alarm indicator.

25 Preferably, the alarm indicator is a visual alarm 26 indicator which typically comprises one or more 27 lights which may be flashing lights, the actuation 28 of which provides an alarm to persons in the 29 vicinity. Typically, the warning indication 30 mechanism further comprises a switch mechanism to 31 govern actuation of the alarm indicator.

32 Preferably, the warning indication mechanism further

l 1 comprises a housing which contains the one or more 2 lights, the power means, and the switch mechanism.

4 Preferably, the switch mechanism, the power means 5 and the alarm indicator are electrically coupled to 6 one another, and typically, the switch mechanism is 7 arranged to de-actuate the alarm indicator when the 8 tail lift is in a first configuration and is further 9 arranged to actuate the alarm indicator when the 10 tail lift is in a second configuration.

11 Preferably, the switch mechanism is arranged to de 12 actuate the alarm indicator when the tail lift is 13 moved toward or is in a first, non-operative, 14 configuration and is further arranged to actuate the 15 alarm indicator when the tail lift is moved toward 16 or is in a second, operative, configuration. More 17 preferably, the first, non-operative, configuration 18 of the tail lift is a vertical or stowed 19 configuration and the second, operative, 20 configuration of the tail lift is a horizontal or 21 working configuration. Typically, the switch 22 mechanism comprises a tilt switch which is adapted 23 to switch between the de-actuated and actuated 24 arrangements when the tilt switch passes through or 25 achieves a pre-determined angle relative to the 26 horizontal or vertical planes.

28 Embodiments of the present invention will now be 29 described, by way of example only, with reference to 30 the accompanying drawings, in which:

( 1 Fig. 1 is a perspective side view of a column 2 type tail lift for a vehicle, the tail lift 3 incorporating a warning indication mechanism as 4 shown in Fig. 5 in accordance with the present 5 invention; 6 Fig. 2 is a side view of the tail lift and 7 warning indication mechanism of Fig. 1; 8 Fig. 3 is a side view of a vehicle with 9 attached column-type tail lift of Fig. 1, the 10 tail lift being shown in a vertical/non 11 operative position; 12 Fig. 4 shows the vehicle and column-type tail 13 lift of Fig. 3, with the tail lift being shown 14 in a horizontal/operative position; 15 Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a warning 16 indication mechanism in accordance with the 17 present invention; 18 Fig. 6 is a front end view of the warning 19 indication mechanism of Fig. 5; 20 Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view across section 21 A-A of the warning indication mechanism of Fig. 22 6; 23 Fig. 8 is a partial end view of the tail lift 24 of Fig. 1 incorporating the warning indication 25 mechanism of Fig. 5; 26 Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional plan view of the 27 tail lift and warning indication mechanism of 28 Fig. 8; 29 Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional side view of the 30 tail lift and warning indication mechanism of 31 Fig. 8;

1 Fig. 11 is a further partial end view of the 2 tail lift of Fig. 1 incorporating the warning 3 indication mechanism of Fig. 5 in accordance 4 with the present invention; 5 Fig. 12 is a partial cross-sectional plan view 6 across section A-A of the tail lift and warning 7 indication mechanism of Fig. 11; 8 Fig. 13 is a partial cross-sectional side view 9 of the tail lift and warning indication 10 mechanism of Fig. 11.

11 Fig. 14 is a cross-sectional side view of the 12 warning indication mechanism of Fig. 5 13 incorporated in the tail lift of Fig. l; and 14 Fig. 15 is an end view of the warning 15 indication mechanism of Fig. 14.

17 Fig. 1 shows a column-type tail lift 1 incorporating 18 a pair of warning or alarm indication mechanisms 3A, 19 3B in accordance with the present invention.

21 The column-type tail lift 1 comprises a pair of 22 vertically arranged and spaced apart columns 5A, 5B.

23 A tail lift 7 has an inner most end 7A arranged 24 between the pair of columns 5A, 5B and the sides of 25 inner ends 7A are mounted to the respective column 26 5A, 5B in the known manner such that the tail lift 7 27 can be moved both horizontally up and down the pair 23 of columns and can also be rotated about its inner 29 end 7A from the operative configuration shown in 30 Fig. 2 to the stowed or inoperative configuration 31 shown in Fig. 3. The columns 5A, 5B are arranged 32 vertically in a spaced apart but parallel

( 1 configuration and are secured to the rear end of a 2 vehicle 2.

4 As shown in Fig. 1, the alarm indication mechanism 5 3A, 3B is provided at or toward each side of the 6 outer end 7B of the tail lift 7 and an individual | 7 alarm indication mechanism 3 is shown in more detail 8 in Figs. 5 and 14.

10 The alarm indication mechanism 3 comprises an outer, 11 generally cylindrical, housing 9 which is provided 12 with a cover casting 11 at its, in use, outer end.

13 A pair of fixing brackets 13A, 13B may be provided 14 secured, by any suitable means such as welding etc., 15 about the outer housing 9, such that the fixing 16 brackets 13A, 13B can be secured to the frame of the 17 tail lift 7 by any suitable means, such as nuts and 18 bolts, etcAdditionally, rivet holes 12 are 19 provided through the cover casting 11 at or toward 20 the four outer corners thereof, and suitable fixing 21 means such as rivets 14 (see Fig. 12) or nuts and 22 bolts etc. are passed through the holes 12 in order 23 to secure the, in use, outer end of the housing 9 to 24 the frame of the tail lift 7.

26 The alarm indication mechanism 3 comprises an 27 optical lens 15 which is mounted within the cover 28 casting 11. At least one, and in the example shown 29 in the Figs., four ultra-bright light emitting 30 diodes (LEDs) 17 project outwardly from the front 31 face of a printed circuit board (not shown) which is 32 attached to the front of a combined LED flasher and

( 1 tilt switch unit 19; thus, the ultra bright LED's 17 2 are arranged to radiate through the optical lens 15.

3 The unit 19 comprises a tilt switch (not shown), a 4 suitable example of which may be a non-mercury tilt 5 switch available through the RS catalogue (RS 6 components dock no. 235-7639). However, as those 7 skilled in the art will realise, any suitable tilt 8 switch may be used.

10 The combined LED flasher and tilt switch unit 19 is 11 coupled to one end of an electric cable 20 which has 12 its other end coupled to a cable connector 21 which 13 is in turn electrically coupled to a battery pack 14 23. Conveniently, where the LEDs 17 are 3 volt LEDs 15 17, the battery pack 23 may comprise two x 1.5 volt 16 C-cell batteries, but those skilled in the art will 17 realise that any suitable arrangement of battery 18 pack 23 can be provided as long as it is sufficient 19 to provide enough voltage for the LEDs 17 to 20 operate. 22 The alarm indication mechanisms 3A, 3B are mounted 23 within a generally cylindrically shaped channel 24 which is formed longitudinally through both sides of 25 the tail lift 7 from its outer end 7B, either at the 26 time of manufacture of the tail lift 7 or as part of 27 a retro-fit to an existing tail lift 7.

29 The alarm indication mechanism 3A is arranged such 30 that when the tail lift 7 is in the vertical and 31 non-operative configuration shown in Fig. 3, the 32 tilt switch which forms part of the unit 19 is

( 1 effectively in the off position. In other words, 2 the tilt switch of unit 19 is arranged such that it 3 provides a break in the circuit between the battery 4 23 and the LEDs 17 when the tail lift 7 is in the 5 vertical and non-operative configuration shown in 6 Fig. 3. However, the tilt switch which forms part 7 of unit 19 is also arranged such that when the tail 8 lift 7 is actuated to rotate about inner end 7A to 9 move toward the horizontal configuration as shown in 10 Fig. 4, the tilt switch is actuated such that there 11 is no longer a break between the battery pack 23 and 12 the LEDs 17, such that the LEDs 17 are arranged to 13 flash by the LED flasher which also forms part of 14 the unit 19. Preferably, the tilt switch of unit 19 15 is arranged such that it will actuate the LED 16 flasher to flash the LEDs 17 when the tilt switch 17 and thus the tail lift 7 is approximately in the 18 region of between 45 to 30 from the horizontal.

19 In this manner, the life of the battery pack 23 is 20 conveniently conserved such that the battery pack 23 21 will require to be changed at relatively infrequent 22 intervals such as once every year or two, etc..

24 Embodiments of the present invention have the 25 advantage that, because the battery pack 23 and 26 flashing LEDs 17, and the combined LED and switch 27 unit 19 are all provided within the one housing 9, 28 no additional electric wiring requires to be run 29 from the vehicle 2, since such additional wiring 30 would prove complicated to arrange in a column-type 31 tail lift 1. Also, embodiments of the present 32 invention described herein have the advantage that

( 1 the optical lens 15 and high intensity or ultra 2 bright LEDs 17 will provide a much clearer 3 indication to traffic and pedestrians than 4 conventional methods of warning for column-type tail 5 lifts.

7 Modifications and improvements may be made to the 8 embodiments described herein without departing from 9 the scope of the invention, for example; 11 The combined LED and tilt switch unit 7A may be 12 separated into a discrete LED and a tilt switch 13 which are connected by suitable means such as wires 14 running along the length of the tail lift 7. This 15 may be necessary if the device is to be used on a 16 tail lift 7 which has a pair of folding sections.

17 In this modification the tilt switch (which is 18 discrete from the LED) may be placed toward the 19 inner end 7A of the tail lift 7, whilst the LED is 20 positioned at the other end 7B of the tail lift 7.

21 In this way the LED's will only flash when the 22 folding section nearest the inner end 7A of the tail 23 lift is lowered toward the horizontal (as is 24 desired).

Claims

( 1 CLAIMS

3 1. A warning indication mechanism for a tail lift, 4 the warning indication mechanism comprising a power 5 means coupled to an alarm indicator.

7
2. A warning indication mechanism according to 8 claim 1, wherein the alarm indicator is a visual 9 alarm indicator 11
3. A warning indication mechanism according to 12 claim 2, wherein the visual alarm comprises at least 13 one illuminating means.

15
4. A warning indication mechanism according to 16 claim 3, wherein the illuminating means comprises at 17 least a flashing light, adapted to provide an alarm 18 to persons in the vicinity upon actuation.

20
5. A warning indication mechanism according to any 21 preceding claim, further comprising a switch 22 mechanism adapted to govern actuation of the alarm 23 indicator.

25
6. A warning indication mechanism according to 26 claim 5, further comprising a housing adapted to 27 contain the power means, the one or more 28 illumination means, and the switch mechanism.

30
7. A warning indication mechanism according to 31 claim 6, wherein at least one of the power means,

( 1 the one or more illumination means, and the switch 2 mechanism are discrete from one another.

4
8. A warning indication mechanism according to any 5 of claims 5 to 7, wherein the switch mechanism, the 6 power means and the alarm indicator are electrically 7 coupled to one another.

9
9. A warning indication mechanism according to any 10 of claim 5 to 8, wherein the switch mechanism is 11 arranged to de-actuate the alarm indicator when the 12 tail lift is in a first configuration and is further 13 arranged to actuate the alarm indicator when the 14 tail lift is in a second configuration.

16
10. A warning indication mechanism according to any 17 of claims 5 to 9, wherein the switch mechanism is 18 arranged to de-actuate the alarm indicator when the 19 tail lift is moved toward or is in a first, non 20 operative, configuration and is further arranged to 21 actuate the alarm indicator when the tail lift is 22 moved toward or is in a second, operative, 23 configuration.

25
11. A warning indication mechanism according to 26 claim 10, wherein the first, non-operative, 27 configuration of the tail lift is a vertical or 28 stowed configuration and the second, operative, 29 configuration of the tail lift is a horizontal or 30 working configuration.

( 1
12. A warning indication mechanism according to any 2 of claims 5 to 11, wherein the switch mechanism 3 comprises a tilt switch which is adapted to switch 4 between the de-actuated and actuated arrangements 5 when the tilt switch passes through or achieves a 6 pre-determined angle relative to the horizontal or 7 vertical planes.

9
13. A warning mechanism substantially as 10 hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 to 11 15.