GB2520508A

GB2520508A - Box tipper

Info

Publication number: GB2520508A
Application number: GB1320581.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew Timothy Young
Original assignee: TONG ENGINEERING Ltd
Current assignee: TONG ENGINEERING Ltd
Priority date: 2013-11-21
Filing date: 2013-11-21
Publication date: 2015-05-27
Anticipated expiration: 2033-11-21
Also published as: GB201320581D0; GB2520508B

Abstract

A box tipper features a rolling cradle on a raised platform, the rolling action as seen in the transition from fig 8.1 to fig 8.6. A first box is loaded in fig 8.2, and raised by a lift in fig 8.3. The box tipper may permit the loading of a second full box before removal of an empty first box, as seen in fig 8.6. Such an arrangement may improve the speed at which boxes may be loaded from a fork lift. The apparatus may be used for the tipping of large boxes, carrying circa 1 or 2 tonnes of vegetables.

Description

BOX TIPPER

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to box tippers and methods of tipping box-es. In particular the present invention relates to box tippers for emptying boxes containing vegetable produce.

Background to the Invention

After harvesting, root vegetable produce is most commonly stored in open topped boxes. Such boxes are usually made of wood and when full of produce can weigh between 1 and 2 tonnes. The boxing of the vegetables ena-bles the produce to be stored efficiently and in a way which enables easy transport with forklifts and lorries. Unfortunately though, in order to gain access to the produce the boxes require rotating. Conventional methods for doing this require a forklift to lift the box and then insert the box into a device where it is tipped about its axis or pivoted about its corner. The contents then fall out and when the box returns to the upright position the forklift then takes the empty box away. There are a number of problems associated with this method however which include working with fully laden boxes at height (which is unsafe) and loading and unloading boxes sequentially (which is time consuming).

There has now been developed a box tipper which overcomes or sub-stantially mitigates the above-mentioned and/or other disadvantages associated

with the prior art.

Summary of the Invention

In a first aspect of the invention there is provided a box tipper suitable for discharging the contents of a box, the box tipper comprising a cradle adapted to receive a box and retain the box within the cradle in an orientation which is fixed with respect to the cradle, and a raised platform, wherein the cradle is adapted to roll from a loading position across a bearing surface of the raised platform to a discharge position, such that in the loading position the box contents are con-tained within the box and in the discharge position the contents of the box are at least partially discharged.

In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of tipping a box which method comprises the steps of (a) providing a box tipper as de-scribed in an preceding claim; (b) inserting a box within the cradle; c) causing the cradle to roll from a loading position across a bearing surface of the raised platform to a discharge position such that the contents of the box are at least partially discharged.

The box tipper and method according to the invention are advantageous because the action of cradle rolling causes the cradle to traverse across the surface of the raised platform and vice versa. Therefore any contents of the box are tipped out in a position away from where the box with its contents intact was first positioned. This displacement of contents brought about by the box tipper and method according to the invention allows for simultaneous removal of emp-tied box contents and reloading of the cradle with a full box. The rotation of the cradle combined with the traverse across the surface of the raised platform (roll-is ing) is also energy efficient as the weight of the box is carried by the cradle. The traverse also means that the amount of emptied box contents that can be left around the base of raised platform whilst still effectively operating the tipper is greatly increased. Furthermore the box tipper can be operated whilst the forklift is preparing the next laden box. Therefore the tipper can accommodate two boxes at any time with the forklift delivering a loaded box into the box tipper and then removing the empty box without having to re-align its position. This also reduces forklift movements without the need for the forklift to turn keeping the loading and unloading time to a minimum. The box tipper according to the in-vention does not use hydraulics or pneumatics, and is therefore quieter than conventional box tippers. The box tipper also has a faster cycle time than con-ventional tippers.

The cradle is adapted to receive the box. The cradle is preferably a framework with an opening to receive the box. The framework preferably com-prises two laterally opposed arcuate members running parallel with each other and at right angles to an opening in the framework. The framework preferably surrounds the box. It will be appreciated that the dimensions of the cradle may be altered in being adapted to receive boxes of varying dimensions. The cradle comprises a clamp to retain the box within the cradle in an orientation which is fixed with respect to the cradle. The clamp preferably comprises one or more clamping members positioned around the cradle. The positions of the various clamping members may be altered in order to clamp boxes of different dimen-sions. The cradle may also comprise a series of latched supports to retain the box within the cradle in an orientation which is fixed with respect to the cradle.

The box according to the invention may be any box adapted for the col- lection of any type domestic, commercial or industrial produce or waste materi- al. The box tipper and method according to the invention are particularly advan-tageous in relation to the tipping of boxes containing vegetable produce. Thus the box according to the invention may be a vegetable box. The box according to the invention may be filled or partly filled with vegetable produce. The box can be manufactured from or comprise any metal, wooden or composite com-ponents.

The raised platform comprises any hollow frame structure or solid struc-ture either of which has openings and either of which is capable of supporting the cradle and the box including its contents. The raised platform preferably comprises a lifting device, such as a scissor lift or the like. The lifting device is adapted for engagement with the box. The lifting device is preferably any device capable of lifting the box into engagement with the cradle. The lifting device is preferably housed within the raised platform.

Preferably the openings of the raised platform are adapted to receive the box, the contents of the box, a lifting device and/or means for collecting and/or distributing any contents of the box. Thus the raised platform may be adapted to receive a box, a lifting device, and allow the box to be lifted up through the raised platform to engage with the cradle.

The bearing surface of the raised platform is preferably any surface of the raised platform upon which the arcuate members of the cradle rest. The bearing surface of the raised platform may be any frame structure or any solid continual surface. The bearing surface may be substantially horizontal, undulat-ing, or tilted from the horizontal. The bearing surface of the raised platform is preferably adapted to mutually engage with the arcuate members of the cradle.

Preferably the bearing surface comprises a set of parallel guides adapted to engage with the arcuate members of the cradle. Vice versa, the arcuate mem-bers of the cradle are preferably adapted to mutually engage with the bearing surface of the raised platform.

The engagement between the arcuate members of the cradle and the bearing surface of the raised platform may comprise a type of flat rolling abut-ment (for example like a wheel on a road), a rack and pinion mechanism, a ball screw mechanism or a guide and rail mechanism (for example like a train wheel on a track).

The cradle or the raised platform may be electrically powered in order to cause the cradle to roll from a loading position across a bearing surface of the raised platform to a discharge position. Such power may be provided by means of a motor otherwise the cradle is caused to rotate or traverse across the bear-ing surface of the raised platform manually. The power or manual action may act through the engagement between the arcuate members of the cradle and the bearing surface of the raised platform means described above. Alternatively the power may act through the cradle axis, a portion of the arcuate member of the cradle or a portion of the raised platform.

The cradle optionally comprises a closure adapted to engage and disen- gage with the top of the box. The closure advantageously provides a more con-trolled method of emptying the product. The closure may be adapted to perform the function of a clamp as described above, to retain the box within the cradle.

The closure may be manually or automatically operated to engage or disengage with the top of the box. Thus the closure may be spring loaded so as to engage with the top of the box. The closure may include a hinged portion which can be opened and closed either manually or automatically to expose the interior of the box. The closure may include sliding portions which can be opened and closed either manually or automatically to expose the interior of the box. Preferably the hinged or sliding portions comprise one or more guide bars or guide wheels which engage with one or more guide rails which run alongside the cradle. The one or more guide rails preferably follow a substantially semi-sigmoidal curve pattern. As the box is displaced angularly and laterally with respect to the raised platform during the method according to the invention, the one or more guide bars or guide wheels engage with the one or more guide rails and are guided along the path of the one or more guide rails thus opening or closing the hinged or sliding portion depending on the direction the cradle travels. The hinged or sliding portions may further comprise control means to further mechanically control the opening or closing of the hinged or sliding portions. The control means may comprise further mechanical adaptations, and/or an electronic sen-sor to control the opening or closing of the hinged or sliding portions, and detect when produce is leaving or has left the box.

The means for collecting and/or distributing the contents of the box pref-erably comprises any forward feeding or cross feeding conveyor or elevator, any rise and fall hopper, any water filled hopper, de stoner or washing tank.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of illustration, with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of box tipper accord-ing to the invention at a start (loading) position with the box already in situ with the cradle.

Figure 2 is a three dimensional view of an embodiment of box tipper ac-cording to the invention at a start (loading) position with the box already in situ with the cradle.

Figure 3 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of box tipper accord-ing to the invention at a position where rolling has just begun.

Figure 4 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of box tipper accord-ing to the invention at position where the cradle and box is on its side and a hinged portion of the closure has begun to open (example discharge position).

Figure 5 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of box tipper accord-ing to the invention at position of maximum rotation and traverse of cradle and where the hinged portion of the closure is full open.

Figure 6 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of box tipper accord-ing to the invention when the cradle has nearly returned to the starting position.

Figure 7 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of box tipper accord-ing to the invention at an end position with the box still in situ with the cradle.

Figure 8 shows the sequence of events from 1 through 6 to load the cra-dle with the box, empty the box and remove the box.

Detailed Description of the Illustrated Embodiment

Figure 1 shows a box tipper generally designated 1. The box tipper 1 comprises a cradle 10. The cradle 10 is adapted to receive a box 12 in a gener-ally upright position with its top open. The loading position of the cradle 10 is preferably when the box 10 is in a generally upright position as shown in Figure 1. The box 12 may be any box adapted for the collection of any type domestic, commercial or industrial produce or waste material. In the embodiment shown the box 1 is a standard 1 tonne wooden vegetable box of the type used for car-rying root vegetables such as carrots or onions. The cradle 10 retains the box 12 within the cradle in an orientation which is fixed with respect to the cradle.

The box tipper 1 also comprises a raised platform 20. The cradle 10 is adapted to roll across a bearing surface 22 of the raised platform. The discharge position of the cradle 10 is preferably any position of the cradle 10 where the contents of the box 12 are at least partially discharged.

In the embodiment shown the cradle 10 is a steel framework with an opening to receive the box 12. The framework surrounds the box and comprises two laterally opposed arcuate members 14 (only one shown) at right angles to the opening. The arcuate members 14 run parallel to one another and around the box 12. The arcuate members 14 are separated by further framework (not shown) in order to maintain the spacing of the arcuate members 14 from one another. The cradle 10 and platform 20 are all made of steel. The cradle 10 has abutments 16 and latched supports 18 on the arcuate member 14. The abut-ments 16 connect the two arcuate members together and forms part of the body of the cradle 10 that the box 12 rests upon when the cradle 10 rolls forward (fig 1). The latched supports 18 are towards the bottom of the cradle 10 when it is in its start position, and there are two on each of the arcuate members 14. The latched supports 18 are in the positions which generally correspond to the un-derside corners of the box 12. The abutments 16 are towards the top of the box 12 on one of its sides. The abutments 16 are on each arcuate member 14 and the box rests against these when it is in position as shown in Figure 1.

The raised platform 20 comprises a frame structure with legs 24 and n bearing surface 22. The bearing surface 22 of the raised platform is adapted to mutually engage with the cradle 10. The bearing surface 22 comprises a set of parallel guides 26 adapted to engage with the arcuate members 14 of the cradle 10. The parallel guides 26 are guide rails and the cradle 10 rests on and be- tween these rails 26. As can be seen more clearly in Figure 2, the raised plat-form 20 has openings 28 to allow for the box 12 and any lifting device (not shown) to be received. Thus the box 12 can be introduced into the body of the raised platform 20 and then upwards through it and into the cradle 10. The bearing surface 22 in the embodiment shown is substantially horizontal, but other orientations such as undulating or tilted from the horizontal are just as ap- plicable. The arcuate members 14 of the cradle 10 are adapted to mutually en-gage with the bearing surface 22 of the raised platform 20. The engagement comprises a guide rail mechanism. The cradle 10 is driven laterally through its central axis by means of an electric motor (figure 2, 50) on a floating dolly 52 running along horizontal support rails 54 or alternatively a worm screw drive system or chain drive system.

The cradle 10 further comprises a closure 30 which is adapted to engage and disengage with the top of the box 12. The closure 30 is automatically oper-ated to engage or disengage with the top of the box 12. The closure 30 is a spring loaded lid that engages the top of the box 12 and firmly holds the box 12 between it and the latched supports 18 under the box 12. Springs 32 are pro-vided for this purpose. The closure 30 also comprises a hinged portion 34 which is opened and closed automatically to expose the interior of the box 12. The hinged portion 34 comprises a guide bar 36 which has a guide wheel 38 on it that engages with a guide rail 39. The guide rail 39 follows a substantially semi-sigmoidal curve pattern as shown in the figures.

In use the box 12 of product is loaded into the box tipper 1 underneath the cradle 10. This is done using a forklift or the like (not shown). The box 12 is raised by the lifting device into a position between the arcuate members 14 of the cradle 10, whereupon it rests upon a set of latched supports 18. The lifting device then retracts back to its original position. Once the lift mechanism is clear the cradle 10 containing the box 12 rolls forward (from the loading to the discharge position) in the direction of the arrows (A) shown in Figure 3. The sprung loaded closure 30 closes on to the top of the box 12 to prevent the pro-duce from falling out of the box too early thereby avoiding damage from too large a drop. The cradle 10 rolls forward in guides 26 to a predetermined tip point. As the cradle 10 rolls forward the guide wheel 36 engages with a guide rail 39 and is guided along the path as shown in the figures. Thus as the cradle 10 rolls forward the hinged portion 34 of the closure 30 is opened in a controlled manner. This is adjustable depending on the machine that the product is being fed onto. The produce within the box 12 is allowed to empty (Figures 4 and 5) and an electronic sensor (not shown) looks at the depth of produce within the discharge zone generally designated d'. If necessary the cradle 10 can roll for- is ward further to allow the box 10 to completely empty its contents and then re- turn to its original position (Figures 6 and 7), whereupon the closure 30 is re-tracted from the top of the box 12. This allows for easy removal of the empty box after the forklift has deposited the next box in the loading position as de-scribed above. The same forklift can be used for removal of the empty box as delivery of a new loaded box. Advantageously the box tipper 1 can operate at a rate of box emptying of up to 40 tonnes per hour. Advantageously the box tipper 1 has just two inverter controlled 0.37Kw motors, making it very energy efficient.

Advantageously the box tipper 1 has a width of 3m, a length of 4m and a work- ing height of 3m. The box tipper 1 can therefore be used in the smallest of are- as. The sequence of events from loading to unloading can also be seen in Fig-ure 8, where it is also possible to see how the forklift can be used to deliver a new laden box, whilst one is already in the process of tipping.

The contents of the box 12 are tipped into a secondary device for collect-ing and/or distributing the contents of the box. Secondary device comprises any forward feeding or cross feeding conveyor or elevator, any rise and fall hopper, any water filled hopper, de stoner or washing tank. In the embodiment in figure 2, the secondary device is a hopper 60 which is located within the raised plat-form 20. In alternative embodiments the tipper 1 is designed to tip the contents of a box 12 outside the raised platform 20, and therefore the secondary device is outside the raised platform 20 for this purpose.

The rolling action of the cradle takes the box into an area in the raised platform that allows for numerous types of reception machinery to be used with the invention than in conventional machines.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A box tipper suitable for discharging the contents of a box, the box tipper comprising a cradle adapted to receive a box and retain the box within the cradle in an orientation which is fixed with respect to the cradle, and a raised platform, wherein the cradle is adapted to roll from a loading position across a bearing surface of the raised platform to a discharge position, such that in the loading position the box contents are contained within the box and in the discharge position the contents of the box are at least partially discharged.
2. A box tipper according to claim 1, wherein the cradle comprises a framework with two laterally opposed arcuate members running parallel with each other and at right angles to an opening in the framework.
3. A box tipper according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cradle com-prises a clamp to retain the box within the cradle in an orientation which is fixed with respect to the cradle.
4. A box tipper according to any preceding claim, wherein the cradle comprises a series of latched supports to retain the box within the cradle in an orientation which is fixed with respect to the cradle.
5. A box tipper according to any preceding claim, wherein the bear-ing surface of the raised platform is preferably adapted to mutually engage with the cradle.
6. A box tipper according to claim 5, wherein the bearing surface comprises a set of parallel guides adapted to engage with the arcuate members of the cradle.
7. A box tipper according to any preceding claim, wherein the raised platform comprises a lifting device.
8. A box tipper according to any preceding claim, wherein the arcu-ate members of the cradle are preferably adapted to mutually engage with the bearing surface of the raised platform.
9. A box tipper according to any preceding claim, wherein the cradle or the raised platform are electrically powered in order to cause the cradle to roll from a loading position across a bearing surface of the raised platform to a dis-charge position.
10. A box tipper according to any preceding claim, wherein the cradle comprises a closure adapted to engage and disengage with the top of the box.
11. A box tipper according to claim 10, wherein the closure comprises a hinged portion and/or a sliding portion which are opened and closed either manually or automatically to expose the interior of the box.12. A box tipper according to any preceding claim, further comprising a means for collecting and/or distributing any contents of the box.
12. A method of tipping a box which method comprises the steps of (a) providing a box tipper as described in an preceding claim; (b) inserting a box within the cradle; c) causing the cradle to roll from a loading position across a bearing surface of the raised platform to a discharge position such that the con-tents of the box are at least partially discharged.
13. A method according to claim 12 or a box tipper according to claims 1 to 11, wherein the box is a vegetable box.
14. A box tipper, substantially as described, with reference to, and/or as shown in the drawings.