JPH04213507A - Air floating pallet and pallet aggregate - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent leakage of unwanted air by providing an upper part pressure chamber on a load-carrying platform part, and by introduction pressure air in accordance with a load. CONSTITUTION:At the time of floating up a pallet 1, when the pressure air of an upper part pressure chamber 14 is short and internal pressure is lowered, an upper plate 11 falls, an opening degree of a first valve body 41 increases and the amount of pressure air delivered to the upper part pressure chamber 14 increases. In the case when the internal pressure of the upper part pressure chamber 14 rises and the upper plate 11 rises higher than a specified height and the first valve body 3 is completely blocked, the internal pressure of a pressure air introduction chamber 5 and the supplied pressure are balanced with each other an supply of pressure air is stopped. Subsequently, a film body forming an outer wall of the upper part pressure chamber 14 expands and the capacity of the upper part pressure chamber 14 increases, and additionally, an internal pressure rises higher than a load and a second valve body 4 is fully opened, and surplus air is delivered to a hollow part 23. That is, the upper part pressure chamber can shocklessly work by the film body 12 in accordance with flow variation of introduced pressure air.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a pallet used for transporting articles in warehouses and factories, and more specifically,
This invention relates to an air floating pallet that supports the load by an air film provided between the pallet and the floor.

0002

[Background Art] Conventionally, when transporting goods in warehouses or factories, an air film is created between the pallet and the floor, and the air film supports the load to reduce the frictional resistance between the pallet and the floor. Air floating pallets that can be moved with extremely small force are known.

As the cross-sectional structure of this pallet is shown in FIG. 8, a pillow body 92 is provided around the lower surface of a loading platform 91, which is the main body of the pallet, and a space surrounded by the lower surface of the loading platform 91 and the pillow body 92 is pressurized. It is room 96. The pillow body 92 is a bag body made of an elastic material such as rubber, and forms a hollow portion 93 by introducing pressurized air through a conduit 95. The pillow body 92 is expanded by the introduced pressurized air to lift the loading platform 91, and further pressurizes the pressurizing chamber 96 through the nozzle 94 formed in the pillow body 92. Then, air leaks from the contact area between the pillow body 92 and the floor surface 98, which are initially in close contact, and forms an extremely thin air film at the contact area. This air film is called an air bearing, and it reduces the coefficient of friction with the floor to about 1/1000, making it possible to move a loaded pallet with a small amount of force (for example, -16953, Tokuko Sho 45-38765).

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The above-mentioned conventional air floating pallet has a simple structure and can move loaded heavy items with extremely small force, so it has basically excellent value as a means of transportation. However, it had the following practical problems.

(1) In order to obtain a sufficient floating effect of the pallet against the different loads of various loads, it is necessary to always supply pressurized air at a pressure and flow rate corresponding to the assumed maximum load. In this case, a large amount of unnecessary air will leak out even under a small load.

(2) In order to prevent unnecessary air leakage as described above, it is necessary to adjust the air pressure or flow rate on the supply side or at the pallet inlet each time pressurized air is supplied to the pallet. This makes the device configuration and handling complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a simple structure, and to provide a method that responds to the weight of cargo loaded on the pallet when the pallet floats. An object of the present invention is to provide an air floating pallet that can control pressurized air supplied in response to changes in load and suppress unnecessary leakage of air.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention includes a flat loading platform, a pillow body annularly attached to the periphery of the lower surface of the loading platform, and the pillow body and the loading platform. In the air floating pallet, which floats by supplying pressurized air to the pressurized space, the loading platform is divided into an upper plate and a lower plate,
An upper pressurized chamber is formed between the upper plate and the lower plate by airtightly connecting them with an elastic membrane, and pressurized air is introduced into the center of the lower surface of the lower plate. A compressed air introduction chamber is integrally provided, and the compressed air introduction chamber and the upper pressurizing chamber are connected to a first valve body whose valve head is suspended from the lower surface of the upper plate and gradually closes as the upper plate rises. and communicates with the upper pressurized chamber and the pressurized space side through a second valve body whose valve head is suspended from the lower surface of the upper plate and gradually closes as the upper plate descends. It is characterized by being connected through.

[0009]

[Operation] Initially, the upper plate of the air floating pallet is in a lowered state, so the valve body (
The first valve body) is fully open, and the pressurized air supplied to the compressed air introduction chamber is sent to the upper pressurizing chamber via this first valve body. When the pressurized air is sent to the upper pressurizing chamber, the internal pressure of the upper pressurizing chamber gradually increases and pushes the upper plate upward.

[0010] At a position where the upper plate has risen to a predetermined height with respect to the lower plate, the degree of opening of the first valve body becomes very small. Pressurized air is continuously supplied to the upper pressurized chamber, while the first valve element (second valve element) that communicates the upper pressurized chamber with the pressurized space side gradually closes. As the pressure increases, the degree of opening increases and the pressurized space is also pressurized. Then, when the internal pressure of the pressurized space exceeds the load, air leaks from the surface of the pillow that comes into contact with the floor surface, and the pallet is slightly lifted and becomes in a floating state.

When the pallet floats, if the pressurized air in the upper pressurizing chamber is insufficient and the internal pressure decreases, the upper plate lowers.
The degree of opening of the first valve body increases, and the amount of pressurized air sent to the upper pressurizing chamber increases. Conversely, when the internal pressure in the upper pressurizing chamber rises and the upper plate rises to a predetermined height, the opening degree of the first valve body becomes small and the supply of pressurized air to the compressed air introduction chamber is suppressed. Ru. On the other hand, at the same time, the elastic membrane forming the outer wall of the upper pressurizing chamber expands, increasing the volume of the upper pressurizing chamber, and having an internal pressure greater than the load, increasing the degree of opening. This excess air is sent to the pressurized space through the second valve body. That is, the upper pressurizing chamber acts as a buffer against changes in the introduced pressurized air.

Normally, the first valve body and the second valve body both have a small gap, and the valve head slightly swings up and down, reciprocally adjusting the degree of opening of both valve bodies. Continue to supply pressurized air to the pressurized space. In response to load changes due to differences in the load on the upper surface of the upper plate, if the load is light, the upper pressurizing chamber will expand with a small amount of pressurized air, and if the load is heavy, a large amount of pressurized air will be sent to expand the upper pressurizing chamber. The pressure chamber expands. That is, when the upper pressurizing chamber expands and the upper plate rises to a predetermined height, each valve body frequently repeats reciprocal adjustment operations, and the opening degree of the first valve body always corresponds to the load. , the optimum supply amount of pressurized air can be obtained.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the air floating pallet (hereinafter simply referred to as pallet) of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As the cross section of the pallet 1 is shown in FIG. The pressurized space 6 is formed by being surrounded by the lower surface of the loading platform section 10.

In the present invention, the loading platform section 10 is composed of two upper and lower plates: an upper plate 11 in the shape of a rectangular flat plate and a lower plate 13 in the substantially same shape. They are connected by an elastic membrane 12 near the outer edge, and an upper pressurized chamber 14 is formed inside. A compressed air introduction chamber 5 into which pressurized air is introduced is integrally provided in the center of the lower surface of the lower plate 13, and this compressed air introduction chamber 5 and the upper pressurizing chamber 14 are connected via the valve body 3. The upper pressurizing chamber 14 and the pressurizing space 6 side communicate with each other via the valve body 4.

The upper plate 11 of the loading platform 10 is a top plate made of metal materials such as aluminum alloy and steel plate, various plastic materials, or wood, and cargo is loaded on the upper surface thereof. On the other hand, the lower plate 13 is a substantially rectangular flat plate made of the same material as the upper plate 11, but has a shallow tray shape with a slight raised portion at the edge. Then, an elastic membrane 12 with no air permeability, which is made of synthetic rubber or fiber material coated with resin or rubber, is airtightly fixed to the inner wall of this rising portion and the peripheral edge of the lower surface of the upper plate 11. An upper pressurizing chamber 14 is formed between the plate 11 and the lower plate 13, which is isolated from the outside.

The rising portion of the periphery of the lower plate 13 serves as a guide to prevent the membrane 12 from expanding outward from the loading platform 10 when pressurized air is supplied to the upper pressurizing chamber 14, and
When the upper plate 11 is lowered, it maintains a required distance from the lower plate 13 and serves as a stop that minimizes the orifice diameter of the valve body 4.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, on the peripheral edge side of the lower surface of the lower plate 13, pressurized air is blown to form a hollow portion 23, such as rubber, etc., as in the conventional air floating pallet. A pillow body 2 made of an elastic material is attached in an annular manner. Further, the pillow body 2 has a plurality of small holes 24 for supplying pressurized air to the pressurized space 6. Furthermore, a lid body is integrally attached to the lower plate 13 and a pressurized air introduction chamber 5 is provided in the center of the lower surface of the lower plate 13, and a conduit 51 for introducing pressurized air penetrates inside the lower plate 13. It is piped to the compressed air introduction chamber 5 of the lever.

[0018] Then, the pressurized air introduction chamber 5 and the upper pressurizing chamber 1
The valve element 3 that communicates with the valve body 4 is located at a concentric position with respect to a tapered valve seat hole 16 that is opened at approximately the center of the lower plate 13 and expands toward the compressed air introduction chamber 5. Top plate 1
A valve head 31 suspended by a stem 32 is fitted into the valve 1 to open and close. That is, the valve head 31 has a substantially conical shape with the bottom facing the compressed air introduction chamber 5 so as to come into contact with the tapered surface of the valve seat hole 16, and opens when the upper plate 11 is lowered and closed when the upper plate 11 is raised. do.

Further, the valve body 4 communicating the upper pressurizing chamber 14 and the pressurizing space 6 side, in this embodiment, the hollow part 23 of the pillow body 2,
It is a valve body that opens and closes in the opposite direction to the above, and the upper pressurizing chamber 1
The valve seat hole 17 opened from 4 to the hollow part 23 is tapered to expand upward toward the upper pressurizing chamber 14, and the valve head 41, which is suspended by the stem 42 in the same manner as described above, faces the upper pressurizing chamber 14 side. It has a roughly conical shape with the bottom surface. The opening is closed when the upper plate 11 is lowered, and opened when the upper plate 11 is raised. That is, the first valve body 41 gradually closes (opens) as the top plate 11 rises (descends), and the second valve body 42 gradually closes (opens) as the top plate 11 descends (rises). This makes it possible to adjust the amount of pressurized air introduced.

[0020] The first valve body 3 and the second valve body 4 are those in which the orifice diameter of the valve body 3 is larger than that of the valve body 4, and both valve bodies are At the height, the positional relationship is adjusted such that the first valve body is slightly open and the second valve body is nearly fully open. Also,
At the lowest position of the upper plate 11, the first valve body 3 is fully opened and the second valve body 4 is slightly opened. Each valve head 31 from the bottom surface of the upper plate 11 for this opening adjustment,
The distance to 41 and the positional relationship therebetween are defined by the screwing depth of the threaded portions 33, 43 of the stems 32, 42 of each valve body into the lower surface of the upper plate 11.

Next, the operation of the pallet 1 having such a structure will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

Although the illustrations are exaggerated in each figure, FIG. 3 shows the state before levitation, and first the compressor (
Pressurized air pressurized to approximately 4 to 7 kg/cm 2 by a compressor (not shown) is supplied to the compressed air introduction chamber 5 through a conduit 51 . Initially, the pallet 1 is in a state where the upper plate 11 is lowered, so the first valve body 3 that communicates the compressed air introduction chamber 5 and the upper pressurizing chamber 14 is fully open, and the pressurized air is supplied through this first valve. Air is sent to the upper pressurizing chamber 14 via the body 3. At this time, the second valve body 4 that communicates the upper pressurizing chamber 14 with the hollow part 23 of the pillow body 2 is only slightly opened because the upper plate 11 is lowered. The amount of pressurized air flowing into the upper pressurizing chamber 14 is
The internal pressure of the upper pressurizing chamber 14 gradually increases, which is much larger than the flow rate from the upper pressurizing chamber 14 to the hollow part 23 , and the upper plate 11
push upward.

Then, the first
The valve head 31 of the valve body 3 is lifted upward and the valve seat hole 16
The valve head 31 and the valve seat hole 1 are inserted into the rear end, and at a position where the upper plate 11 has risen to a predetermined height with respect to the lower plate 13, the valve head 31 and the valve seat hole 1 are
The gap with 6 becomes minute. While pressurized air is continuously supplied to the upper pressurizing chamber 14, as shown in FIG. 2, the second valve body 4 is closed as the first valve body 3 gradually closes. The head 41 is gradually lifted and the degree of opening of the valve seat hole 17, which had been slightly opened, increases. Along with this, the amount of pressurized air flowing out from the upper pressurizing chamber 14 to the hollow part 23 increases, the pillow body 2 is expanded, and the pressurized space 6 is also pressurized through the small hole 24 opened in the pillow body 2. Press. When the internal pressure of the pressurized space 6 exceeds the total load of the cargo (not shown) and the weight of the pallet 1, air leaks from the surface of the pillow body 2 in contact with the floor and the pallet 1 is slightly lifted. , becomes a floating state.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the pallet 1 is floating, when the pressurized air in the upper pressurizing chamber 14 is insufficient and the internal pressure decreases, the upper plate 11 descends and the first valve body 41 The degree of opening of the upper pressurizing chamber 14 increases, and the amount of pressurized air sent to the upper pressurizing chamber 14 increases. When the internal pressure of the upper pressurizing chamber 14 increases and the upper plate 11 rises above a predetermined height and the first valve body 3 is completely closed, the internal pressure of the compressed air introduction chamber 5 and the supply pressure are in equilibrium. , and the supply of pressurized air stops, while the membrane 12 forming the outer wall of the upper pressurizing chamber 14 expands, the volume of the upper pressurizing chamber 14 increases, and the internal pressure rises above the load,
The second valve body 4 is fully opened and this excess air is sent into the hollow portion 23. That is, the upper pressurizing chamber 14 is connected to the membrane body 12
This acts as a buffer against changes in the flow rate of the pressurized air introduced. Typically, the first
Since the valve body 3 and the second valve body 4 both have a small gap, the stems 31 and 41 swing up and down slightly to reciprocally adjust the opening degree of both valve bodies, and pressurize. Pressurized air continues to be supplied to the space 6.

In response to load changes due to differences in the load on the upper surface of the upper plate 11, when the load is light, the upper pressurizing chamber 14 expands with a small amount of pressurized air, and when the load is heavy, a large amount of pressurized air is sent. The upper pressurized chamber 14 expands. That is, when the upper pressurizing chamber 14 expands and the upper plate 11 rises to a predetermined height, the valve bodies 3 and 4 frequently repeat reciprocal adjustment operations, and the opening degree of the first valve body 3 is always adjusted to the load. Since it corresponds to
Approximately 0.08 to 0.1Kg in kgw pallet
At an internal pressure of /cm2, the required amount of approximately 0.2 to 0.3 M3) is obtained.

Next, the above-mentioned pallet is shown in FIG.
An embodiment of a pallet assembly for loading, storing and moving various types of cargo will be described.

This pallet assembly 1B is made up of a plurality of pallets 1 connected together as shown in the figure.
The lower plate 15 of the loading platform portion 10 may be integrally formed as a common lower plate. The upper plate 11, the membrane body 12, and the pillow body 2 are provided independently in each pallet unit P,...,
A compressed air introduction chamber 5 and valve bodies 3 and 4 are provided in each. And common compressor 30 accumulator 3
Pressurized air is supplied through a conduit 52 extending from 1. The compressed air introduction chamber 5 of each pallet unit P is branched and piped in parallel to this conduit 52, and pressurized air corresponding to the load of the loaded object is introduced into each pallet unit P.

That is, since the same operation as in the above embodiment is performed for each pallet unit P, the predetermined distance from the lower plate 15 to the upper plate 11 can be adjusted in the same way for different loads for each pallet unit. Since it can be held and floated, and the required amount of pressurized air is introduced into each pallet, unnecessary leakage of air can be prevented.

In the pallet of the present invention, as shown in FIG. The pleat-like member 7 that protrudes toward the pillow body 2 may be provided integrally with the pillow body 2. The pleat-like member 7 is a band-like member made of a soft elastic material, and is attached along the entire lower surface of the pillow body 2, and deforms complementarily to the unevenness of the floor surface to create a smooth surface. This prevents unnecessary air leakage from the floor surface, which lacks elasticity.

Furthermore, in the case of a pallet provided with pleat-like members 7 as described above, as shown in FIG. A pallet 1D may be provided with a pillow body 20 made of a resin material 22 having the following properties.

Furthermore, in view of the gist of the present invention, a pallet assembly can be constructed by connecting a plurality of pallets 1C and 1D shown in FIG. 6 or 7.

[0032]

[Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it achieves the effects described below.

(1) The amount of pressurized air necessary to levitate the pallet against the different loads of various loads is taken in and leaked from the bottom surface, so a large amount of air can be taken in against a small load. There is no consumption and unnecessary leakage of air can be prevented.

(2) When a pallet assembly is constructed, each pallet consumes the necessary air according to the loaded load, so a large amount of air can be saved when moving a large amount of cargo at the same time.

(3) The air amount can be automatically adjusted with a simple device configuration, and there is no need to manually adjust the pressure or flow rate each time on the supply side or at the pallet inlet, so handling is extremely easy.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an air floating pallet according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part showing the opening degree of each valve body during floating.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a state before levitation.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the air flotation pallet.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a pallet assembly.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an air floating pallet with pleated members attached thereto.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an air floating pallet with pleat-like members attached thereto.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1C, 1D Air floating pallet 1B Pallet assembly 2 Pillow body 3, 4 Valve body 5　Compressed air introduction chamber 6 Pressurized space 7 Pleat member 10 Loading area 11 Top plate 12 Membrane body 13 Lower board 14 Upper pressurized chamber 15 Lower board 23 Hollow part 24 Small hole 31, 41 Valent head 32, 42 Stem 33, 43 Threaded part 51, 52 Conduit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A flat loading platform, a pillow body annularly attached to the periphery of the lower surface of the loading platform, and a pressurized space formed by the pillow and the lower surface of the loading platform, In the air floating pallet that floats by supplying pressurized air into the pressurized space, the loading platform is divided into an upper plate and a lower plate, and between the upper plate and the lower plate, An upper pressurizing chamber is formed by air-tight connection with an elastic membrane, and a pressurized air introduction chamber into which pressurized air is introduced is integrally provided at the center of the lower surface of the lower plate. The upper pressurizing chamber communicates with the upper pressurizing chamber via a first valve body whose valve head is suspended from the lower surface of the upper plate and gradually closes as the upper plate rises, and the upper pressurizing chamber and the The pressurized space side is an air floating pallet characterized in that a valve head is in communication with the lower surface of the upper plate via a second valve body that is gradually closed as the upper plate descends. . 2. A pallet assembly comprising a plurality of air floating pallets according to claim 1 arranged in series.