GB2525311A

GB2525311A - Goods movement apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2525311A
Application number: GB1504723.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: William Mark Adams
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-03-20
Filing date: 2015-03-20
Publication date: 2015-10-21
Anticipated expiration: 2035-03-20
Also published as: GB201404975D0; FR3018794B1; GB201504723D0; FR3018794A1; GB2525311B

Abstract

A lift is provided in two portions, a platform 28, and a pathway portion 32. In this manner a continuous path can be maintained between a first and a second storage areas 4,6 regardless of the vertical position of the platform 28. The first storage area 4 may be a building loading bay. The second storage area 6, may be a vehicle trailer, with a first floor below, and a second floor above, the first storage area 4. Also disclosed is a corresponding method of normal usage of the lift. Maintenance of a continuous path may be useful for displacing pallets, or roller cages of goods between first and second storage areas 4, 6.

Description

Goods Movement Apparatus The invention to which this application relates is to apparatus and a method which allows the efficient movement of goods between first and second goods storage areas and particularly, although not necessarily exclusively, a first goods storage area in the form of a warehouse or building for the storage and organisai-ion of goods therein, and a second goods storage area in the form of a vehicle trailer in which goods can be transported between different geographical locations.

The movement of goods via road and/or rail trailers or containers, is well known and, in many busy retail establishments, or delivery hubs, a large number of trailers can arrive at a particular opening into the warehouse each day and which arc required to be loaded and/or unloaded with goods. In delivery hubs, most typically the goods are loaded from the hub warehouse into the trailer and the trailer is then transported to a warehouse provided as part of a retail outlet such as a supermarket and via which goods are unloaded from the trailer into the warehouse or supermarket so as to then be dispatched to various shelf locations within the supermarket for purchase. Also, it is possible that the goods may be taken from the supermarket warehouse and moved into the trailer for the same to be transported back to the hub warehouse or another location.

The large majothy of warehouses which have been built up to the present day, and arc still being built, have one or a number of openings to allow the goods to be moved into and from the same and the floor of the opening is typically provided at a height to match the height of the floor of what has, up until now been the most commonly used trailer when the end of the trailer is brought to the opening. the most commonly used trailer has typically been a single floor trailer and is defined by a floor, side walls and a roof and with the goods most typically provided on either pallets or in roll cages, located on the said floor. The floor of the opening of the warehouse, is provided to be at the same height as the floor of the trailer so as to allow goods movement apparatus such as forklift trucks, and/ or roil cages, to be moved directly from the floor of the trailer to the floor of the warehouse.

More recently, new forms of trailer have been used which has side walls, a roof and two floors, a first, lower floor and a second, higher, floor which is spaced vertically above the lower floor and both of these floors are used to carry goods thereon. It will be appreciated that by providing trailers with two floors, then a significantly larger amount of goods can be carried in each movement of the trailer and therefore considerable savings in cost, environmental benefits and the like are obtained. In order to achieve the required height ftr the storage of goods on each of the floors, while ensuring that the height of the trailer is not too great, it is required that the lower floor is provided at a height which is lower than the floor of a conventional single floor trailer.

There is also a need to provide lifting apparatus which includes a platform which can be moved to the level of each of the floors of the trailer so as to allow goods to be moved from the respective floor of the trailer, onto the platform and then the platform can be raised or lowered to bring the same to the level of the floor of the warehouse in order to allow goods to be moved or rolled directly on trolleys or cages carrying the same, from the platform into the warehouse. Typically thercfore, the lifting apparatus is provided in a gap with one end of the apparatus at the open end of the trailer when it is located for loading and unloading, and the opposing end of the lifting apparatus is located at the opening into the warehouse so that the platform completes the path of movement of the goods between the floor of the warehouse and the respective floors of the trailer. In order to complete this path, the platform extends along the length of the lifting apparatus and hence fills the gap.

A problem with this known form of lifting apparatus is that the platform needs to be moved between vertical positions to allow the loading and unloading of goods to and from all of the floors especially if the trailer has two vertically spaced floors.

1his means that when the platform is full or empty at a particular level it has to be moved to another level to accept goods from or unload goods to a floor of the other storage area. While the need to move the platform between vertical positions for loading and unloading of goods from the higher of the floor of the trailer to the warehouse floor level is over a relatively large distance, the movement of the platform between vertical positions for loading and unloading of goods from the lower floor of the trailer to the floor of the warehouse is over a smaller distance and the need to do this is a cause of frustration and significant time delay in practice as there is a delay caused by each movement of the platform, albeit over a relatively small distance.

However this movement is required in order to allow a path to be fotmed and along which, and onto and from which, for example, roll cages carrying the goods, hereinafter referred to as the goods, can be moved by a person. It is therefore conventionally the case that there is a need to move the platthrm between vertical positions for movement of goods to and from the lower floor of the trailer so that a flat surface is available for the manual movement of the roll cages..

The aim of the present invention is to provide apparatus in a manner which allows the loading and unloading of goods to and from a first storage area hi the form of a warehouse and a second storage area in the form of a trailer having two spaced floors, in a more efficient manner, and in a faster manner whilst ensuring that health and safety requirements for operators are met.

In a first aspect of thc invention, there is provided lifting apparatus for the movement of goods between a first storage area including an opening and a floor and a second storage area in the form of a trailer or container which is transportable, said second storage area including an opening and at least one floor, said lifting apparatus located in a gap between the respcctivc first and second storage areas and including a platform on which goods can be placed and moved, said platform selectively moveable to different heights and wherein said platform extends along a portion of the length of said apparatus and thc apparatus includes a pathway structure which extcnds along a further portion of the length of said apparatus to form, in conjunction with the platform when the same is moved to the height of an adjacent edge of the pathway, a substantially continuous path which extends along the length of the lifting apparatus.

Typically the platform is provided at the height of the lowest floor of the second storage area and the said adjacent edge of the pathway is positioned at that height at the end of the platform opposing the second goods storage area and the opposing edge of the pathway is provided at the height of the edge of thc floor of the first storage area so as to form a substantially continuous goods movement path between the said floors of the first and second goods storage areas.

Typically the said pathway is angled with respect to the substantially horizontal surface of the platform along which the goods are moved.

Thus, the apparatus in accordance with the invention allows the movement of goods between the floor of the first storage area and the floor of the second storage area to be completed without the requirement for movement of the platform between the respective heights of said floors.

Typically the height of the floor of the ftrst storage area is different to the height of the lower floor of the second storage area and so the platform, when positioned at the height of the lower floor of the second storage area, and said pathway portion, form a continuous path along which goods can be moved either in roll cages, or on paflets carried by movement apparatus, and without the need for movement of the platform.

S

In one embodiment the second goods storage area includes a lower floor and a further floor vertically spaced above the lower floor and the apparatus can be used to form a continuous path between the floor of the first goods storage arca and the lower floor of the second goods storage area.

Typically, the platform can be moved vertically, to the height of the higher floor of the second storage area to allow goods to be moved to and from the platform and the platform is lowered to a height which matches that of said pathway portion to allow movement of goods to and from the first storage area. When the platform is moved to the height of the lower floor, the platform need not be moved in height until all the goods have been moved as a continuous path is formed between the goods storage areas.

Typically said pathway portion is inclined such that the highest point of the pathway portion is located adjacent to the floor of the first storage area and the lowest point olE the pathway portion is located adjacent the edge of the platform in the apparatus when the platform is at the height of the lower floor of the second storage area.

Thus in accordance with the invention the platform and pathway, in combination, extend along the length of the apparatus.

In one embodiment as the second goods storage area can be moved, the apparatus can be used with different second goods storage areas, i.e. those with one floor or those with two vertically spaced floors and in which cases the height of the single floor is different to the height of the lower of the two floors. In this embodiment the pathway portion is adjustable to move the edge of the same to a height which substantially matches the height of the lowest floor of the particular second goods storage area which is positioned at the apparatus at that time and thereby allow a continuous path to be formed.

In one embodiment the length of the apparatus is defmcd by a frame, said frame including guide means along and by which the platform is moved and drive means which cause the powered movement of the platform. Typically the apparatus includes the guide means in thc form of a series of elongate members which are mounted in guide frames at spaced locations and which have one end connected to thc platform and the opposing end acted upon by drive means in the form of one or more hydraulic rams which cause the movement of the elongate members and hence platform with respect to the frame.

In one embodiment thc pathway is formed with a surface along which the goods are moved and is fixed in position once the apparatus has been installed on site and in the said gap. Alternatively, to allow the apparatus to be range taking in as much different types of second goods storage area, the pathway is provided with powered movement means which allow the particular height of at least the edge of the same adjacent to the platform, and hence the angle of the pathway to be adjusted. In one embodiment the position of the pathway can be adjusted with respect to a range of default settings depending on the particular type of second goods storage area which is positioned at the lifting apparatus at that time and the floor configuration of the same.

In one embodiment, the opening into the first storage area is provided with apparatus which includes a plate thereon, which can be angularly adjusted so as to define the height at the edge of the effective floor of the first goods storage area and which matches with the height of the said pathway portion at the end of the lifting apparatus so as to provide a continuous path between the floor of the first storage area, the plate at the edge of the first storage area and the pathway portion of the lifting apparatus.

The apparatus therefore allows the goods on the lower floor of the second goods storage area and the floor of the first goods storage area to be continuously moved between the floors and the size of the platform no longer acts as a restriction to the speed of this loading and unloading process. This is because the platform no longer has to be raised or lowered when it is full or empty to allow the goods to be moved off the platform onto a floor of the other goods storage area which is at a different height. Instead, as the same can be used in conjunction with the platform to provide a continuous path, so the platform can be retained in a fixed position until all of the required goods have been moved.

Tn a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of moving goods between a first storage area and a second storage area, said first storage area having an opening into the same and a floor, said second storage area having an opening into the same and at least one floor, said method including the steps of providing lifting apparatus in a gap between the openings of the respective storage areas, providing a movable platform as part of said lifting apparatus, said platform extending along a portion of the gap and wherein the apparatus includes a pathway portion provided between an edge of the platform and an end of the lifting apparatus and moving the platform to the height of the lower of the floors of the second storage area to form, in conjunction with the pathway, a substantially continuous path between the lowest floor of the second storage area and the floor of the first storage area and moving goods between the first and second storage area along the path so formed.

Typically the method further includes the steps of unloading goods in the second storage area by moving the goods from the lower floor of the goods storage area into the first goods storage area along the said substantially continuous path until the movement of the goods from the lower floor is completed, and, if one is provided, moving the platform to the height of a higher floor of the sccond storage area, moving goods from that floor onto the platform of the lifting apparatus, moving the platform, with goods thereon, to the height of the lower floor of the second goods storage area and moving the goods from the platform along the pathway and into the first goods storage area.

Typically the method is repeated until all of the goods required to be moved from the higher floors have been moved onto the platform and into the first goods storage area.

In one embodiment the method further includes adjusting the position of the pathway to the height of the platform edge when the platform is positioned at the height of the lower floor of the second goods storage area and adjusting the same as required to suit different forms of second goods storage area.

Thus in accordance with the method of the invention, when moving goods between the lower floor of the second storage area and the floor of the first storage area, no movement of the platform is required and a continuous movement path is provided between the lower floor of the second storage area and the first storage area.

Typically therefore all of the goods required to be moved from the lower floor of the second goods area can be moved without the requirement to move the platform once the platform has been moved into the required position and the same is also true for the loading of goods from the first storage area which are to be placed onto the lower floor of the second storage area.

In one embodiment, the requirement to move the platform to a height of the second storage area higher floor, is required to be done twice in order to bc able to completely empty the quantity of goods which can be stored on the higher floor of the second storage area and again, the process is repeated for movement of goods from the first storage area to the higher floor of the second storage area.

It is found by a comparison of the loading and unloading of goods using conventional apparatus and in the current invention that the time for loading and unloading the respective storage areas can be halved due to the fact that it is no longer necessary to move the platform of the lifting apparatus during movement of goods between the first storage area and the lower floor of the second storage area and this represents significant savings in time and personnel and significantly increases efficiency.

Furthermore, the use of apparatus as described herein, means that already installed warehouse storage areas, with a floor which is at a greater height than the lower floor of the second goods storage areas which arrive at the warehouse can still be loaded without the movement of the platform and therefore the apparatus in accordance with the invention, is particularly attractive to the retrofitting of lifting apparatus in existing installations.

Specific embodiments of the inventions are now described with reference to the accompanying figures; wherein Figures 1 and 2 illustrates elevation and plan views of the apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; Figure 3 illustrates plan view of a series of apparatus in accordance with the invention installed at a warehouse facility; and Figure 4 illustrates, schematically, another embodiment of the invention..

Referring firstly to Figures 1 and 2 there is illustrated apparatus 2 in accordance with the invention for use with a first storage area 4, typically in the form of a warehouse, and a second storage area 6 typically in the form of a vehic]e trailer. It will be appreciated that both of the storage areas are only partially shown and the sidewall is removed so as to illustrate the interior of the storage areas.

The first storage area 4 includes a floor 8 and an opcning 10 to the exterior environment. The floor may be at the same height to the opening or, as shown in this embodiment a plate 12 is provided which is adjustable in height can be provided so as to allow limited adjustment of the height X of the floor 8 at the opening edge. Ihe second storage area 6, is a vehicle trailer with wheels and which typically is connectable to a tractor unit or vehicle cab in a conventional manner.

The trailer, in this configuration, includes two floors, a lower floor 14 and a higher floor 16 and a roof 18 as well as side walls. Both of the floors 14, 16 are available for the holding of goods, such as those held in roll cages 20. The vertical hcight of the floors 14, 16 is fixed but, in another embodiment the higher floor 16 may be moveable.. It will be seen that the height Y of the lowcr floor 14 from the support surface or ground 22 is less than the height X. In accordance with the invention in this embodiment, the lifting apparatus 2 frame is provided in a fixed position in a gap 7 which is formed between the end of the opening 10 of the first goods storage area 4 and the opening 24 into the second storage area 6 when the same is moved into the required position for loading/unloading of goods. The lifting apparatus frame has mounted thereon a platform 28. The platform is vertically movable along guide means to a user selectable height along guide means and under the influence of elongate members acted upon by one or mote hydraulic rams to move the platform to the required height in a conventional manner.

The platform is provided to extend along a portion 30 of the frame and hence gap 7. The remainder of the gap 7 and hence frame is provided with a pathway portion 32 which is mounted on the frame 26 of the apparatus 2. In this embodiment the pathway portion is provided with a surface incline with its lower edge 34 located adjacent the edge of the platform when the platform is at the same height as the lower floor 14 of the second goods storage area, and the pathway higher edge 36 is located at the height of floor 8 at the first storage area opening 10. Once the lifting apparatus is placed into position, the position of the pathway 32 portion is, in one embodiment, fixed in position or the pathway portion may be fixed at the factory during assembly.

The apparatus can be used in the following manner. To allow the loading and unloading of goods between the floor of the first storage area 4 and the lower floor of the second storage area 6, the platform 28 is moved to a height which is substantially the same as the height of the lower floor 14 of the second storage area 6. The edge 34 of the pathway portion 32 is fixed at the same height as the platform and thus the platform and the pathway portion form a continuous path for movement of the goods, in this case in the form of roll cages 20 between the first and sccond storage a.eas and without the need for any adjustment of the height of the platform during the movement process and so all of the goods can be moved between the floors without movcmcnt of the platform and so the size of the platform does not act as a restriction on the goods and there is no need for the delay caused as there is no need for the movement of the platform.

In order to move the goods from the higher floor 16 of the second storage area to the floor 8 of the first storage area, the platform 28 is moved to the height of the floor 16 and goods are moved from the floor 16 onto the platform until the platform is full or the required number of goods have been moved thereon. The platform is then lowered to the height of the edge 34 of the pathway portion 32 and the goods arc moved off the platform along the pathway portion and into the floor 8 of the first storage area, If there are further goods to be moved, the platform is raised back to the height of the floor 16 and the process is repeated until the required quantity of goods have been moved. The process can be reversed for the movement of goods from the first storage area 4 onto the floor 16 of the sccond storage area 6.

In another embodiment of the apparatus ifiustrated in Figure 4, the pathway portion 32 position can be adjusted during use of the lifting apparatus when it is in position in the gap Z. For ease of illustration only the platform 28 of the lifting apparatus is illustrated. Thee scenarios are illustrated in Figure 4 but other scenarios are also possible. In each case there is provided a first storage area in the form of a warchouse 4 with a floor 8 which is provided at the same height in each example. The second storage area in the form of the trailer 6 is different in each of Figures 4a, b, c in that the level of the floor 14 is different in each ca se in terms of its distance Y from the support surface on which the trailer is mounted and, in turn, the relative difference between the height of the floors 8 and 14 are different in each of Figures 4a,b,c. This difference is typically as a result of the provision of different forms of trailer 6 in position at a given time. For example, in Figure 4a, the trailer has first and second vertically spaced floors similar to that shown in Figure 1 and in this case the lower floor 14 I s at a relatively low position. Tn Figure 4c, the trailer only has the single floor 14 and conventionally the height Y of the floor is greater than that of the floor of the trailer in Figure 4a.

In each case the platform 28 is moved to the particular height of the floor 14 as illustrated in each of Figures 4a-c. This therefore means that in each of Figures 4a-the platform is at a different height with respect to the floor 8 of the first storage area 4. Thus, in order to provide the continuous path between the floors 8 and 14 of the storage areas, via the platform 28, the pathway is provided to be moveable to different angled positions as illustrated. In Figure 4a, the pathway 32 is angled such that the edge adjacent the platform is lower than the edge adjacent the floor 8, in Figure 4b the pathway 32 is substantially horizontal and in Figure 4c the pathway is angled such that the edge adjacent the platform 28 is higher than the edge of the pathway adjacent the floor 8. This movement is typically achieved by powered movement means such as hydraulic rams 50. It will therefore be appreciated that the pathway position can be adjusted to suit many configurations of goods storage area 6 which is positioned at the lifting apparatus in order to provide the continuous goods movement path between the floors 8 and 14 of the respective goods storage areas.

Figure 3 illustrates a plan view of a first storage area 4 with a number of openings each equipped and connected to apparatus 2 in accordance with the invention with a platform 28 and a pathway portion 32 and at the opposing end of the apparatus a reception location 40 for a vehiéle trailer to be reversed into and be loaded or unloaded as required.

The apparatus as herein defined therefore allows significant savings in the time of loading and unloading of goods to and from the lower floor 14 of the second storage area 6 and hence reduces significantly the overall loading time, by reducing the number of platform movement which are required and especially when one considers that on each platform movement safety interlocks, gates etc. have to be engaged and disengaged for safety purposes.

Claims

Claims 1.Lifting apparatus for the movement of goods between a first storage area including an opcning and a floor and a sccond storagc area in the form of a trailer or container which is transportable, said second storage area including an opening and at least one floor, said lifting apparatus located in a gap between thc respective first and second storage areas and including a platform on which goods can be placed and moved, said platform selectively moveable to different heights and wherein said platform extends along a portion of the length of said apparatus and the apparatus includes a pathway structure which extends along a further portion of the length of said apparatus to form, in conjunction with the platform when the same is moved to the height of an adjacent edge of the pathway, a substanthily continuous path which extends along the length of the lifting apparatus.
2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the platform is provided at the height of the lowest floor of the second storage area and the said adjacent edge of the pathway is positioned at that height at the end of the platform opposing the second goods storage area and the opposing edge of the pathway is provided at the height of the edge of the floor of the first storagc area so as to form a substantially continuous goods movement path between the said floors of the first and second goods storage areas.
3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the height of the floor of the first goods storage area is different to the height of the said floor of the second goods storage area and said pathway is inclined with respect to the substantially horizontal surface of the platform across which the goods are moved.
4. Apparatus according to claim 1 whercin thc movement of goods between the floor of the first storage area and the at least one floor of the second storage area is completed without the requirement for movement of the platform between the respective heights of said floors.
Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the position of the pathway is adjustable when the lifting apparatus is in position to take into account different configurations of second storage area which may be positioned at the lifting apparatus.
6 Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein a first configuration of the second goods storage area has a lower floor and a floor vertically spaced above the same and a second configuration has a single floor.
7. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the goods are located on roll cages or trolleys which can be manually moved along the path which is fonned.
8. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein when the second goods storage area has first and second floors, the platform is moved vertically along guide means between the height of the higher of the floors of the second storage area, to allow goods to be moved onto and from the platform, and a height which matches that of the adjacent edge of said pathway.
9 Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein said pathway is inclined such that one end of the pathway at its highest position is located adjacent to the floor of the first storage area or the edge of the platform and the opposing end of the pathway is the lowest point of the pathway located adjacent the other of the edge of the platform or the first storage area when platform is at die height of the lowest floor of the second storage area.
Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein the platform and pathway, in combination extend along the length of the apparatus.
11 Apparatus according to ciaim 10 wherein the length of the apparatus is defined by a frame, said frame including guide means along and by which the platform is moved and drive means which cause the powered movement of the platform.
12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein the apparatus guide means include a series of elongate members which are mounted in guide frames at spaced locations and which have one end connected to the platform and the opposing end acted upon by drive means in the form of one or more hydraulic rams which cause the movement of the elongate members and hence platform with respect to the frame.
13. Apparatus according to claim I wherein the pathway is formed with a surface along which the goods are moved and is fixed in position once the apparatus has been installed on site and in the said gap.
14 Apparatus according to any of the preceding claims wherein the apparatus includes a plate mounted at the floor adjacent the opening of the first storage area and adjustment means to allow the angle of the plate with respect to the floor to be adjusted so as to defme a height at the edge of the floor of the first goods storage area which substantially matches with the height of the said pathway so as to provide a substantially continuous path between the floor of the first storage area and the lower of the floors of the second storage areas formed by the plate at the edge of the first storage area, the pathway and the platform.
15. A method of moving goods between a first storage area and a second storage area, said first storage area having an opening into the same and a floor, said second storage area having an opening into the same and at least one floor, said method including the steps of providing lifting apparatus in a gap between the openings of the respective storage areas, providing a movable platform as part of said lifting apparatus, said platform extending along a portion of the gap and wherein the apparatus includcs a pathway portion provided between an edge of the platform and an end of the lifting apparatus and moving the platform to the height of the lower of the floors of the second storage area to form, in conjunction with the pathway, a substantially continuous path between the lowest floor of the second storage area and the floor of the first storage area and moving goods between the first and second storage area along the path so formed.
16 A method according to claim 15 wherein the method further includes the steps of unloading goods in the second storage area by moving the goods from a lower floor of the second goods storage into the first goods storage area along the said substantially continuous path until the movement of tile goods from the lower floor is completed, moving the platform to the height of a higher floor of the second storage area, moving goods from that floor onto the platform of the lifting apparatus, moving the platform, with goods thereon, to the height of the lower floor of the second goods storage area and moving the goods from the platform along the pathway and into the first goods storagc area.
17. A method according to cTaim 16 wherein the method is repeated until all of the goods required to be moved from the higher floors have been moved onto the platform and into the first goods storage area.