IES80635B2 - Mounting kit connector - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a mounting kit for securing a forklift (1) to a trailer body (2) for transport and includes socket-like receptors on the trailer body (2) into which the forks of the forklift (1) project to allow the forklift (1) lift itself up onto the trailer body (2) to engage its front wheels (5) with road wheel rests (8) beneath the trailer body (2) and an attachment means in the form of a jaw (12) on a plate (11) on the forklift (1) which plate (11) also carries a securing hook (14) which pivots to allow entry of a transport pin (19) on the trailer body (2). The engagement is positively in the horizontal direction.

Description

Mounting Kit Connector Introduction The present invention relates to a mounting kit for a tyred mechanical handling equipment carrying forks of the type comprising a pair of socket-like receptors for mounting on a road trailer body, which forks of the mechanical handling equipment can engage to raise and support the mechanical handling equipment on the trailer body, with its tyres against a rest positioned beneath the trailer body and attachment means for securing the forklift in the raised position. Essentially, the mechanical handling equipment forms one unit and the trailer body forms the other unit which have to be assembled together by the mounting kit.

In general the problem arises with the attachment means in that the sequence of operations is such that the operator of the forklift drives the forks of the forklift into the socket-like receptors or guides, raises the rear wheel of the forklift by lifting the machine on the mast of the forklift, lowering the forks to lift the machine upwards, then the machine is retracted on the mast carriage until it engages against the rear of the trailer body.

The operator then has to dismount from the machine, connect the attachment means to the forklift, then remount the machine to release the hydraulic pressure from the valve controls to allow the front tyres to bear against the rest and then dismount the machine a second time to lock and attach any other mounting means such as stabilising chains. Thus, the operator has to get up and down from the machine at least once and if he/she has not aligned the attachment means correctly, he/she will have to get up onto the machine again, further align the - 2 attachment means and then dismount once again. This is * time-consuming and not particularly efficient or safe. Ideally the operator should not be climbing in and out of * a raised forklift any more than necessary.

Over six years ago, the present applicants produced a mounting means which overcame many of the problems, which mounting means comprised a hook-on arrangement whereby there was a hook on the forklift truck having an open jaw for engaging a transversely mounted complementary pin mounted on the trailer body. The method of mounting was relatively simple in that the mast of the forklift was extended fully forward, the forks were positioned in the fork guides and were pushed fully home in the fork guides or sockets and then the mast was tilted fully to the rear and the forks were raised on the mast to lift the forklift truck upwards by lowering the forks. Then the carriage was retracted fully back ensuring that the hook was above the transverse pin and the forklift truck was lowered until its weight was resting on the hooks which hopefully had engaged the pin. Unfortunately, in practice, it did not work very satisfactorily. Further, the applicants devised an additional pivotally mounted latch to lock the hook in the closed position. Again, this arrangement was not ideal though a considerable improvement on prior methods.

Further, it is known from PCT Patent Application No. WO96\33944 to provide a similar arrangement which is essentially the same arrangement as the applicants heretofore used for many years. Unfortunately, the use of hooks and horizontally mounted bars has not been particularly satisfactory.

The term trailer body is used to include not just simply separate trailers, for example a semi-trailer pulled by a tractor unit, but also rigid truck bodies or drawbar units or the like. Indeed any wheeled vehicle on which a forklift or the like mechanical handling equipment carrying forks would be desirably fitted on to may be used with the invention.

The term forward in this specification is used in the sense of the part of the unit that is nearer to the other unit when connected together. Thus, in relation to the mechanical handling equipment, it means in the direction of the forks and forward means closer to the end of the forks and for the trailer body it means towards its rear and rearward has the appropriate opposite sense.

The present invention is directed towards overcoming these problems and providing a more efficient form of mounting system.

Statements of Invention According to the invention there is provided a mounting kit for securing a unit on another unit comprising a support means between the object and the other unit and attachment means for securing the two together characterised in that the attachment means comprises a mounting plate on one unit having an open jaw for engaging a complementary transport pin mounted on the other unit, a pivotally mounted securing hook biassed into a closed position across the jaw and a camming surface on the securing hook engaging with the bar to pivot the securing hook out of the closed position and allow entry of the transport pin within the jaw and behind the securing hook.

In one embodiment, mechanical handling equipment forms one unit and is of the type comprising road wheels and forks and which is capable of lifting itself onto a trailer body forming the other unit, the mounting kit comprising socket-like receptors for mounting on the trailer body into which the forks project and in which the support means further comprises road wheel engaging rests for mounting beneath the trailer body and in which the jaw extends substantially horizontally behind its opening whereby the relative movement between the jaw and the transport pin is substantially horizontal.

The advantage of this is considerable in that the driver of the forklift or mechanical handling equipment does not have to get up and down out of the forklift cab, but can simply carry out the full attachment of the forklift to the trailer body, then dismount only once to insert or fit locking pins, chains and other attachment means. The camming surface is essential for the smooth operation of the securing hook.

Further, the invention provides a mounting kit in which the jaw extends substantially horizontally behind its opening whereby the relative movement between the jaw and the transport pin is substantially horizontal.

The advantage of having the slot horizontal is that a driver can accurately engage the forklift on the trailer body and is not dependent on the lowering of the forklift with respect to the trailer body. Superficially, this appears to be of relatively little importance, however, in practice, it is much easier for a driver to ensure, in this way, that one unit engages another unit, than to engage the units and then depend on the lowering of the forklift relative to the trailer body for engagement.

Further, the invention provides a mounting kit in which the securing hook is biassed into a closing position around the pin by a spring.

The advantage of this is relatively easily apparent for biassing the hook but it is particularly advantageous for the present invention in that because the hook if biassed, all of the securing of the forklift on the trailer body is provided prior to lowering the forklift and thus there is almost no chance whatsoever of an accident occurring which can unfortunately happen with previously devised systems where one is depending on the fact that the hook, in the previous system, which is not similar in function to the securing hook of the present invention, may or may not have mated itself correctly.

Further, the invention provides a mounting kit in which the securing hook includes a release handle for pivoting the securing hook into an open position for disengagement of one unit from the other.

Obviously, the advantage of using a handle is that the hook can be moved out of position prior to locating the two units together but it is not essential. However, when the hook is biassed into the closing position, it is desirable that the hook be positively moved out of position to disengage one unit from the other. Indeed, it is envisaged that the handle may have some form of lockover to ensure that the securing hook is permanently disengaged until released, the objection to this latter arrangement is that it is prone to operator error.

The invention provides a securing hook which is formed from a flat plate having a pivot hole for mounting by a pivot pin on the jaw and a forward edge inclined downwardly and rearwardly to form the camming surface.

Ideally, the mounting kit is such in which the forward edge is arcuate in shape.

The advantage of having an arcuate surface is that there is no possibility of the securing hook locking against the bar and preventing smooth engagement.

In another embodiment of the invention, there is illustrated a mounting kit in which there is provided locking means for maintaining the securing hook in position.

Once the mounting kit is locked in position, it is impossible for any inadvertent disengagement to occur.

Ideally, the locking kit comprises locking means in the form of a pin for mounting across the jaw.

Further, there is provided a mounting kit in which the locking means comprises a hole on the jaw in the shape of a keyhole, namely, having a circular portion communicating with a radial slot and in which a bar having a radially projecting lug for insertion into the keyhole and a radially projecting handle on the other end of the bar circumferentially spaced from the lug. This gives the advantage of a very neat locking arrangement.

In one embodiment of the invention, the mounting kit comprises a road wheel engaging rest comprising an arcuate plate mounted beneath the trailer body with its open portion facing downward and adapted to engage across the upper portion of a tyre. The advantage of this arcuate downwardly facing plate is that on being transported, the tyre naturally forms a damper for transmission of the vibrations through to the mechanical handling equipment and prevent undue damage thereto.

Detailed Description of the Invention The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:Figs. 1 to 4 show the procedure for mounting a forklift on a trailer body; Fig. 5 shows an end view of an attachment means according to the invention in more detail; Fig. 6 is a sectional view along the lines VI-VI of Fig· 5; Fig. 7 is an end view of fixed brackets on the trailer body with locking pin arrangement and a main transport pin; Fig. 8 is a side view of the fixed brackets of Fig. 7; Fig. 9 shows a securing hook complete with a release handle; Fig. 10 shows a mounting plate forming part of the 20 invention; Fig. 11 shows a locking pin in side view; Fig. 12 is an end view of the locking pin; Fig. 13 shows the fixed bracket again; Fig. 14 shows the assembly of parts from Figs. 9 and ; and Fig. 15 is a side view similar to Fig. 4 of an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figs. 1 to 14 thereof, there is illustrated mechanical handling equipment forming one unit, in this example, a forklift 1, mounted on a portion of a trailer body 2 forming the other unit. The forklift 1 has forks (not shown) mounted on a mast 4. The forklift 1 also incorporates front wheels 5 and rear wheels 6. A road wheel engaging means or rest formed from an arcuate plate 8 is mounted beneath the trailer chassis 2. There is further provided an attachment means indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 shown assembled together in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 and thus only identified in these drawing as a complete assembly.

Fork guides or socket-like receptors are provided on the trailer chassis 2, but are not illustrated in the drawings as they are of conventional construction. The invention provides a mounting kit which comprises the socket-like receptors, the road wheel engaging means or rests and the attachment means.

Referring more specifically to Figs. 5 to 14 (inclusive), the attachment means 10 comprises a mounting plate 11 having a jaw indicated by the reference numeral 12 and a pivot hole 13 (see Fig. 10). The jaw projects substantially horizontally rearward from a divergent mouth. A securing hook 14 having a further pivot hole 15 is mounted by a pivot pin 16 on the plate 11. The securing hook 14 has a camming surface 17 and is biased into the closed position by a spring, not shown. A release handle 18 is permanently attached to the securing hook 14. Details of these parts are illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10 and then assembled together in Fig. 14.

Referring specifically to Figs. 7, 8, 11, 12 and 13, the remainder of the attachment means 10 is illustrated and comprises fixed brackets 3 carrying a transport pin 19 therebetween and also have a locking hole 20. Each hole 20 is in the form of a keyhole having a circular portion and a radial slot or notch 21 for reception of a locking bar 22 having a handle 23 and a locking dowel or radially projecting lug 24. Details of the locking pin 22 can be clearly seen from Figs. 11 and 12.

The radial slot 21 ensures that the locking bar 22 can only be inserted and removed from the hole 20 in the one orientation only. This can be seen clearly from Fig. 8. Further, the weight of the handle 23 ensures that the radially projecting lug 24 lies opposite to the offset slot 21 as the handle 23 is circumferentially offset or spaced from the lug 24.

In use, the forklift 1 is driven towards the rear of the trailer chassis 2 with its forks in a position such that they will slide easily within the fork guides or socketlike receptors. The mast 4 for the forklift is in its fully extended position relative to the forklift 1, this is illustrated in Fig. 1. Then the rear wheels of the forklift are raised by tilting the mast 4 as illustrated in Fig. 2. The forks 3 are then lowered to raise the forklift 1. The mast 4 is then retracted and it can be seen partially retracted in Fig. 3. As the mast 4 is retracted further, the camming surface 17 engages against the transport pin 18 and pivots the securing hook 14 upwards so that the securing hook 14 lifts to allow the transport pin 18 engage within the jaw 12: then the securing hook 14 which is now out of engagement with the transport pin 18 pivots back down into the closed position. Note that the engagement is in the substantially horizontal direction. Correct alignment is easily achieved by the forks within the socket like receptors .

Once the attachment means 10 has latched in position, the machine is stopped, the hydraulic pressure is removed from the valve controls allowing the front wheels contact the arcuate plate 8. The driver can then dismount from the machine and fit the locking pin 22 into the locking hole 20. Very often stabilising chains are also loosely fitted.

Referring to Fig. 15, there is illustrated a further construction of mounting kit in which parts similar to those described with reference to the previous drawings are identified by the same reference numerals. In this embodiment the attachment means, indicated generally by the reference numeral 30, comprises a securing hook 31 pivotally mounted by a pivot pin 32 on the forklift 1 and spring biased into a closed position by a spring 33. The construction and operation of this embodiment is identical to that previously described except that the securing hook 31 is of a slightly different shape and its spring 33 can be seen externally mounted.

Finally, while in both embodiments the jaw and securing hook are illustrated on the forklift, they could just as easily but not as conveniently be mounted on the trailer body.

Essentially the invention comprises in its simplest: a jaw plate which is a permanent fixture of the forklift mainframe, having an open guide jaw to engage onto a complementary transport pin which is fixed to the rear member of the trailer body; a pivoted securing hook which is biased in a closed position across the jaw, but is longitudinally parallel with the jaw plate, forming an attachment means which is self latching and only finds a stable equilibrium condition when the fixed transport pin is fully inserted in the jaw or fully removed; a cam face on the leading edge of the plate forming the securing hook which has initial contact with the fixed transport pin on the trailer body, the effect of which is to act as a follower thereby allowing entry of the pin within the jaw and behind the latch section of the securing hook; fixed brackets which are a permanent fixture of the trailer body which support a fixed (transport) pin and the fixed brackets sandwich the pivoted securing hook and the jaw plate when mounted in position; a fixed transport pin which is supported in position by a pair of fixed brackets and activates the leading edge of the plate forming the securing hook to a point where the securing hook drops behind the pin and latches in stable condition; a release handle which is generally a permanent fixture to the securing hook and is perpendicular to the top horizontal side of the hook, whereby rotation of the lever about the pivot point in a clockwise direction will allow the transport pin to be extracted from the jaw; and a locking pin which is inserted over the plate forming the securing hook when it is latched to the fixed pin, the function of this locking pin is to ensure that there is no relative movement of the securing hook during transportation, this is ideally fitted when the driver dismounts from the mechanical handling equipment.

Instead of, for example, one hook and one mounting plate pivotally mounting a hook, the hook may be sandwiched between two mounting plates.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described which may be varied in both construction and detail within the scope of the claims.

Claims (6)

1. A mounting kit for securing a unit on another unit comprising a support means between the object and the other unit and attachment means for securing the two together characterised in that the attachment means (10) comprises a mounting plate (11) on one unit having an open jaw (12) for engaging a complementary transport pin (19) mounted on the other unit, a pivotally mounted securing hook (14) biassed into a closed position across the jaw (12) and a camming surface (17) on the securing hook (14) engaging with the bar (18) to pivot the securing hook (14) out of the closed position and allow entry of the transport pin (19) within the jaw (12) and behind the securing hook (14).

2. A mounting kit as claimed in claim 1, in which a mechanical handling equipment forms one unit and is of the type comprising road wheels and forks and which is capable of lifting itself onto a trailer body forming the other unit, the mounting kit comprising socket-like receptors for mounting on the trailer body into which the forks project and in which the support means further comprises road wheel engaging rests for mounting beneath the trailer body and in which the jaw (12) extends substantially horizontally behind its opening whereby the relative movement between the jaw (12) and the transport pin (19) is substantially horizontal.

3. A mounting kit as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the securing hook (14) includes a release handle (18) for pivoting the securing hook (14) into an open position for disengagement of one unit from the other and in which the securing hook (14) is formed from a flat plate having a pivot hole (15) for mounting by a pivot pin (16) on the mounting plate (12) and a forward edge inclined downwardly and rearwardly to form the camming surface (17).

4. 5 4. A mounting kit as claimed in any preceding claim, in which there is provided locking means for maintaining the securing hook (14) in position which locking means comprises a hole (20) on the mounting plate in the shape of a keyhole, namely, having a circular

5. 10 portion communicating with a radial slot (21) and in which a bar (22) having a radially projecting lug (24) for insertion into the keyhole and a radially projecting handle (23) on the other end of the bar (22) circumferentially spaced from the lug (24).

6. 15 5. A mounting kit substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings .