GB736586A - Improvements in or relating to means for manoeuvring of vehicles including aircraft on the ground - Google Patents

Abstract

736,586. Vehicle movers. KAYE, E., SHARP, J. R., MURRELL, K. F. H., MURCH, S. J., and BUCKINGHAM, J. April 3, 1952 [April 4, 1951], No. 7862/51. Classes 79(1) and 79(3). Apparatus for manoeuvring vehicles, especially aircraft, comprises lifting means for insertion beneath a wheel or axle of the vehicle to lift the wheel clear of the ground, a lifting means supporting frame 17 having a non- steerable wheel 21 at each side of the lifting means and a power driven steerable wheel 12 at the end thereof remote from the lifting means. In the embodiments shown the wheel 12 is steerable by a tiller 13 and is driven either electrically or by an engine. The lifting means in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 comprises a lever 23 pivoted at 24 to the frame 17 and carrying at one end scoop arms 30, 31, which are pivotally controlled by a rod 37 operated by a hydraulic ram carried either in the lever 23 or in a casing 11. Pivotal movement of the lever 23 is effected by a hydraulic jack 128 under the control of a lever 28. The arrangement is such that the truck is moved into a position in which when the scoop arms are closed they engage the nose or tail wheel of an aircraft, the scoop end of the lever 23 is then raised and the truck can then manoeuvre the aircraft. In a modification, Fig. 2, the pivoted and raisable scoop halves are replaced by a forked lever 41 pivoted at 40 and pivotally controlled by a lifting jack 43, and a scoop member 50 carried by a ram 46, the ram and jack being under the control of levers 45, 47 mounted on the tiller 13. The arrangement is such that when the truck is in position the fork arms 44 of the lever 41 are raised to engage and lift the aircraft undercarriage sufficient to allow the member 50 to be projected under the aircraft wheel which is then allowed to rest on the member 50. The truck can then manoeuvre the aircraft.