JPH0692469A - Loading/unloading mechanism for container - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To load and unload containers held in horizontal state by itself on the load carrying platform of a truck and install the mechanism in horizontal state on the ground. CONSTITUTION:Extension/contractible legs 3 are installed at the corner parts of a container 1, and a driving means for the legs and tilt meters 7 and 8 for detecting the tilt of the container are arranged inside. Between the bottom surface 1a of the container and a loading board 4, a guide means 5 consisting of guide members 15a and 15b having a pluralty of rotary bodies 16 for the guide according to the direction of the force acting on the container in the shift of the container in a desired direction is arranged. A hydraulic cylinder for driving the legs 3 and a solenoid valve are installed, and the solenoid of the valve is energized by the signals of the tilt meters 7 and 8. When the container is unloaded, the container is turned by 90 deg., and the legs are extended, and a grounded member 13 is grounded on the ground, and self erection is performed. Then, the container is lowered by shifting the truck.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mechanism capable of vertically raising and lowering a container and loading or unloading it on a truck.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of containers have been put into practical use. Among them, there are containers for the purpose of accommodating and transporting cargo in the internal space, and containers for equipping the internal space with living facilities for camping. Containers for freight are placed on trucks and transferred to their destinations. Cranes and forklifts are commonly used to load or unload this container into the truck.

The container used for camping is
Wheels are attached and the vehicle is towed by a truck or a passenger car and transferred to a destination. However, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55-39885, there has been proposed a device which is mounted on a truck and can be transported.

The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55-39885 is provided with a support device at a corner of a vehicle structure (container), and a ball-shaped roll device is provided between the vehicle structure and a frame of the vehicle. The vehicle structure is rotated 90 degrees on the frame by intervening the vehicle, and the supporting device is operated at the turning position to bring the supporting device into contact with the ground to support the vehicle structure and hold it at a desired height. However, this makes it possible to load and unload the vehicle frame from the vehicle. This technology allows trucks to be easily loaded and unloaded at campsites without equipment such as cranes and forklifts.

[0005]

In the above technique, when the support device is operated, a part of the device contacts the ground to support the vehicle upper structure. Therefore, when the ground is a substantially horizontal surface, the cabin floor is also in a substantially horizontal state, but when the ground is an inclined surface, the cabin floor cannot be held horizontally. That is, there is a problem that it is practically impossible to load and unload on a sloping ground.

Further, when the vehicle upper structure which is supported by contacting the supporting device (leg) with the ground is raised and lowered, if the vehicle upper structure tilts, even if the leg stands upright, the bending force due to the bending of the leg, That is, a force in the direction of rotating the leg is generated. For this reason, the vehicle structure may fall over due to the action of a slight external force,
The furniture stored inside may fall or move and be damaged.

Further, when the vehicle structure is installed on the ground, if the floor surface is not horizontal, there is a problem that cooking using water, particularly rice cooking, cannot be performed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a container loading / unloading mechanism capable of loading or unloading a container at a desired position regardless of the inclination of the ground.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a container loading / unloading mechanism according to the present invention provides a vertically expandable leg at each corner of the container or in the vicinity thereof, and the leg is internally provided. A drive means for expanding and contracting to raise and lower the container and a horizontal maintaining means for controlling the length of expansion and contraction of each leg to maintain the container in a substantially horizontal state are provided, and on the loading platform between the bottom surface of the container and the loading platform of the truck. Further, when the container is moved in a desired direction, a guide means for guiding the movement of the force acting on the container in the direction is provided.

[0010]

With the loading / unloading mechanism of the container described above, the horizontal state can be maintained at the desired position regardless of the inclination of the ground, and loading and unloading from the truck can be performed, and the horizontal state can be maintained. It can be installed on the ground.

That is, when a force in a desired direction is applied to the container when the container is moved in a desired direction between the bottom surface of the container and the bed of the truck, the movement of the container in the direction is guided. Guide means to
Further, extendable legs are provided at respective corners of the container or in the vicinity thereof, and driving means for extending and retracting the legs to raise and lower the container and horizontal maintaining means for controlling the extendable length of each leg to maintain the container in a substantially horizontal state. Since the container is provided, the container can be placed at a desired position on the bed of the truck and can be transported to a desired installation position. Then, by moving the container back and forth so that each leg faces the ground at the position where it should be installed, and rotating it to operate the drive means and the horizontal maintaining means, each leg is extended and the container becomes horizontal at the same time. It is possible to detect whether or not there is.

Therefore, during the extension process of each leg and when each leg is brought into contact with the ground, while the level maintaining means outputs a signal indicating that the container is not in the horizontal state, the leg corresponding to the lower position continues to be attached. Extending allows the container to remain horizontal and lifted from the truck bed. Then, by moving the truck and reducing each leg while maintaining the horizontal state of the container, the container can be installed horizontally regardless of the inclination state of the installation surface.

[0013]

EXAMPLE An example of the container loading / unloading mechanism will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a side view of the container, FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the container, FIG. 3 is a side view of a main part for explaining a loading / unloading mechanism, FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a leg structure, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a drive system for moving up and down, and FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for loading or unloading containers.

In the figure, the use of the container 1 is not particularly limited. However, in this embodiment, a generator is provided inside, and a plurality of types of electric cookers, electromagnetic cookers, refrigerators, etc. are provided so that various kinds of cooking can be performed using only the electric power generated by the generator. It is configured as an arranged kitchen container. This kitchen container is configured for the purpose of, for example, feeding a large number of victims during a disaster rescue operation or feeding a worker involved in a rescue operation.

Therefore, there is little possibility that the container 1 can be installed on a flat ground, and therefore the container 1 is constructed so as to be maintained in a substantially horizontal state regardless of the inclination of the installation site, and the crane, forklift, etc. It is configured so that it can be loaded and unloaded on a truck for transportation without using.

When loading and unloading a truck, the horizontal state of the container 1 is detected and the inclination is corrected so that the container 1 can always be raised and lowered while maintaining the horizontal state. Therefore, when the container 1 is installed or withdrawn, the legs are not twisted due to an unbalanced load, safe work can be performed with a small amount of power, and stored items may be moved or dropped and damaged. Absent.

The container 1 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape having a size corresponding to the luggage carrier 4 (see FIG. 3) of the truck.
The truck bed 4 of a normal truck has a length dimension larger than a width dimension. For this reason, the container 1 of the present embodiment is configured to have a width of about 2500 mm, a length of about 5000 mm and a weight of about 4 t so that it can be loaded on a 4 t truck.

Inside the container 1, a generator (not shown) and various cookers utilizing electricity are arranged. A rectangular tube-shaped tube body 2 is provided at four corners of the container 1, and extendable legs 3 are arranged on the tube body 2. The tubular body 2 serves as a pillar of the container 1, and by placing the legs 3 inside the tubular body 2, the weight of the entire container 1 can be reduced. Further, on the bottom surface 1a of the container 1, guide means 5 for guiding the movement of the force acting on the container 1 when the container 1 is moved straight and rotated on the bed 4 of the truck.
Is provided.

Inside the container 1, an inclinometer 7 for detecting an inclination in the longitudinal direction and an inclinometer 8 for detecting an inclination in the width direction, which constitute a hydraulic unit 6 for driving the legs 3 and a horizontal maintaining means, are respectively provided. It is provided. Further, the container 1 is provided with an operation panel 9, and the operation panel 9 controls expansion and contraction of each leg 3 according to the inclinometers 7 and 8 and signals generated from these inclinometers 7 and 8. It has a built-in control circuit.

The leg 3 has a rectangular tube-shaped inner cylinder 10 which can be vertically moved up and down along the cylindrical body 2, a hydraulic cylinder 11 which raises and lowers the inner cylinder 10, and a ball joint 12 at the tip of the inner cylinder 10. And the grounding member 13 attached thereto. Further, a plurality of guide rollers 14 are attached near the lower end of the cylindrical body 2, and the inner cylinder 10 is guided by the guide rollers 14 so that it can slide in the vertical direction.

The guide means 5 is a bottom surface 1a of the container 1.
When the container 1 is placed between the truck 4 and the truck bed 4 to transfer the weight of the container 1 to the bed 4 and a force is applied to the container 1 in the direction in which the container 1 should move when the container 1 is moved straight and rotated. , To guide the container 1 so that it can be easily moved in a desired direction. Therefore, the guide means 5 is composed of a member that does not limit the guide direction.

In this embodiment, the guide means 5 comprises a guide member 15a formed by attaching a plurality of freely rotating members 16 to a rod-shaped member fixed to the bottom surface of the container 1.
It is composed of 15b. The guide members 15a and 15b have different lengths, and the respective guide members 15a and 15b are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the container 1. By arranging the guide members 15a and 15b in this way,
Even when the container 1 is swung on the loading platform 4 to a state substantially orthogonal to the loading platform 4, all the rotating bodies 16 are in contact with the loading platform 4, and thus a stable mounting state can be maintained.
However, it is not always necessary to set the guide members 15a and 15b to different lengths, and it goes without saying that the guide means 5 may be constituted by the guide members 15a having the same length.

The structure of the rotating body 16 is not particularly limited. That is, it is possible to use a roller that can freely rotate according to the direction of the acting force, such as a free roller or a free caster. However, it is indispensable to support the weight of the container 1 and guide the movement of the container 1 in a stable manner. In this embodiment, a free roller made of steel balls is used as the rotating body 16.

By constructing the guide means 5 as described above, when a force in any direction is applied to the container 1 placed on the loading platform 4, the rotating body 16 rotates in response to this force, whereby It is possible to move the container 1 in the direction of force application. Therefore, the container 1 on the loading platform 4
Can be moved back and forth and left and right to adjust the position of the container 1 with respect to the bed 4, and the container 1 can be swung on the bed 4.

Next, a structure for expanding and contracting the legs 3 in the container 1 configured as described above and controlling the expansion / contraction state of each leg 3 to maintain the container 1 in a horizontal state will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, 11a and 11b are legs 3a and 3 arranged at one end of the container 1 in the longitudinal direction.
b (see FIG. 2, hereinafter referred to as “front leg”) is a hydraulic cylinder, and 11c and 11d drive legs 3c and 3d (see FIG. 2, hereinafter referred to as “rear leg”) arranged at the other end. It is a hydraulic cylinder.

The hydraulic unit 6 and each hydraulic cylinder 11a ...
11d are solenoid valves 17 to 20, pilot check valve 21, meter-inflow regulator valve 2 respectively.
2. Connected via the pressure control valve 23. Each hydraulic cylinder 11a-11d and each valve 17-
All are connected in the same manner as 23. Further, the solenoids 17a to 20b of the solenoid valves 17 to 20 are connected to the inclinometers 7 and 8, and the solenoids 17a to 20b are selectively excited by signals from the inclinometers 7 and 8. The spools 17 to 20 are driven to supply pressure oil from a predetermined port to one of the chambers of the hydraulic cylinders 11a to 11d so that the legs 3a to 3d can be extended or contracted. That is, the hydraulic cylinders 11a to 11d are driven so as to maintain the container 1 in a horizontal state corresponding to the inclination of the container 1 detected by the inclinometers 7 and 8.

Next, a procedure for unloading the container 1 from the loading platform 4 of the truck by the unloading mechanism constructed as described above will be described. Container 1 is bed 4
When placed on top, as shown in FIG. 6 (A), the container 1 is moving to the driver's cab side and each leg 3 (3
The weight of the container 1 is supported by the legs 3 by slightly extending a to 3d) to bring the grounding member 13 into contact with the bed 4.

When the truck arrives at the destination in the above state, the generator provided inside the container 1 is operated to generate electric power, and the electric power drives the hydraulic unit 6 and the inclinometers 7 and 8 as well.

Next, by operating a switch (not shown) provided on the operation panel 9, the solenoid valves 17 to 20 are driven, and each leg 3
The support state of the container 1 by each leg 3 is released by contracting each of them. At this time, the weight of the container 1 is supported only by the guide means 5, and by applying a force in a desired direction to the container 1, it becomes possible to easily move the container 1 in the action direction of the force.

Next, the container 1 is retracted to a position where the corner portion does not come into contact with the driver's cab when the container 1 is rotated, and the container 1 is rotated about 90 degrees at that position so that each leg 3 is grounded. Face each other. At this time, since the length dimension of the container 1 is formed to be approximately twice the width dimension and each leg 3 is formed at each corner of the container 1, each leg 3 projects from the cargo bed 4 at a sufficient distance. . Therefore, the legs 3 and the bed 4 do not interfere with each other, and the work can be safely proceeded even if the ground to be installed is inclined.

Next, a solenoid valve corresponding to each leg 3
17 to 20 are driven to extend the legs 3 to ground the grounding member 13 to the ground (see FIG. 6 (B)), the support of the container 1 by the loading platform 4 is released, and the container 1 is moved by the legs 3. To support. When the grounding member 13 of each leg 3 is grounded and the ground is tilted, the grounding member 13 bends via the ball joint 12 according to the angle between the tilting angle of the ground and the center line of the inner cylinder 10, and the grounding is performed. The grounding surface of the member 13 is grounded in a stable state. At the same time, the inclinometers 7 and 8 detect the tilted states of the container 1 in the longitudinal direction and the width direction, and generate detection signals.

The leg 3 at a lower position in response to the detection signal
Corresponding legs 3a to selectively extend a-3d
Solenoids 17a to 20b of solenoid valves 17 to 20 corresponding to the hydraulic cylinders 11a to 11d which form .about.3d are selectively excited. At this time, the legs 3a to 3 in the high position
The solenoid valve corresponding to d is not particularly excited, and the supply of pressure oil to the hydraulic cylinders 11a to 11d is stopped to maintain the extended state of the leg 3.

For example, when the front side of the container 1 is lower than the rear side, a signal indicating that the front side is low is generated from the inclinometer 7, and the hydraulic cylinders 11a and 11b forming the legs 3a and 3b are extended in response to this signal. The solenoids 17a, 18a of the corresponding solenoid valves 17, 18 are excited so that
The solenoids of the solenoid valves 19 and 20 corresponding to the hydraulic cylinders 11c and 11d forming the legs 3c and 3d are not excited. Therefore, the legs 3c and 3d maintain the current extension length, and only the legs 3a and 3b are further extended. When the container 1 becomes horizontal, the signal from the inclinometer 7 indicating that the container 1 is tilted stops.

Next, by keeping the horizontal state of the container 1 and extending the legs 3 at the same time, the container 1 is lifted from the loading platform 4 and is made to stand by the legs 3.
Then, when the bottom surface 1a of the container 1 is completely lifted from the loading platform 4, the truck is moved forward.

Then, the switches on the operation panel 9 are operated to reduce the legs 3a to 3d of the container 1 to lower the container 1. At this time, the solenoids 17b to 20b of the solenoid valves 17 to 20 are excited and the hydraulic cylinders 11a to
11d contracts at the same time and container 1 descends.

However, it is not easy to supply the pressure oil so that the plurality of hydraulic cylinders 11 are completely synchronized, and the contraction of one of the legs 3 may be delayed and the container 1 may be inclined. In such a case, the inclinometers 7 and 8 detect the inclination of the container 1 to generate a detection signal, and based on the detection signal, the legs 3a to 3d on the higher side are maintained so as to maintain the horizontal state of the container 1. The solenoids 17b to 20b of the solenoid valves 17 to 20 corresponding to are selectively excited. By repeating the above operation, the container 1 descends while maintaining the horizontal state.

Then, when the bottom surface of the container 1 reaches a predetermined height from the ground, the hydraulic cylinders 11a to 11 of the legs 3 are provided.
By stopping the driving of the solenoid valves 17 to 20 connected to d, the pressure oil discharge path is closed, whereby the extended state of each leg 3 can be maintained and the container 1 can be installed horizontally on the ground. It is possible. For this reason, when the container 1 is configured as a kitchen container provided with various kitchen facilities, the water surface can be maintained horizontally, particularly when cooking with water, and stable cooking can be performed. It will be possible.

By performing the reverse operation of the above procedure, the container 1 installed on the ground can be loaded on the truck. When the container 1 is loaded on the truck, the legs 3 are formed at the corners of the container 1 and the length of the container 1 is about twice the width of the bed 4 of the truck. It is possible to easily dispose between the legs 3 in the front-rear direction by backing. When the container 1 is placed on the loading platform 4, the guide means 5
It is possible to easily and safely adjust the position of the container 1 with respect to the bed 4 by moving the container 1 back and forth, left and right, and turning by bringing the container 1 into contact with the bed 4.

In the above structure, since the inner cylinder 10 is guided by the guide roller 14 provided on the cylindrical body 2 when each leg 3 expands and contracts, the inner cylinder 10 and the cylindrical body 2 may be twisted. Therefore, it is possible to raise and lower the container 1 with a small force.

In the above embodiment, the case where the hydraulic cylinder 11 is used to extend and retract the leg 3 has been described.
The present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, a screw is provided between the inner cylinder 10 and the cylinder 2, and a nut screwed with the screw is fixed to the inner cylinder 10, and this screw is fixed by a hydraulic motor or an electric motor. It may be configured to rotate. In this case, it is possible to bring the container 1 into a horizontal state by controlling the number of rotations of the motor by the signals generated from the inclinometers 7 and 8.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the guide means 5 is constructed by using the rotating body 16 which is a free roller has been described, but the invention is not limited to this construction.
For example, a so-called air bearing may be used in which a large number of nozzles are arranged on the bottom surface 1a of the container 1 or the loading platform 4 and compressed air is jetted from the nozzles to float and move the container 1. In this case, it is preferable to equip the container 1 or the truck with an air compressor.

[0042]

As described in detail above, in the container loading / unloading mechanism according to the present invention, the container is provided with the extendable legs and the inclinometer, and the guide means is provided between the container and the truck bed. Therefore, it is possible to place the container on the truck and transport it to the destination, and then unload it from the truck and load it without using a crane or a forklift.

Further, regardless of the inclination of the ground at the installation position, the container can be raised and lowered while maintaining the horizontal state and installed on the ground. Therefore, a bending force due to a twist does not occur in the legs, and a slight external force does not cause the container to fall, and the furniture stored inside does not drop or move to be damaged. Even when the container is used as a kitchen container for cooking meals for a large number of people, the container can be installed horizontally, so that the horizontal surface during cooking can be maintained and smooth work can be performed. It has features such as being able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a container.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the container.

FIG. 3 is a side view of an essential part for explaining a loading / unloading mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of legs.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a drive system that keeps the container horizontal and raises and lowers it.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for loading or unloading containers.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 container 2 cylinder 3, 3a-3d leg 4 loading platform 5 guide means 6 hydraulic unit 7, 8 inclinometer 9 operation panel 10 inner cylinder 11, 11a-11d hydraulic cylinder 12 ball joint 13 grounding member 14 guide rollers 15a, 15b guide Member 16 Rotating body 17 to 20 Solenoid valve 17a to 20b Solenoid 21 Pilot check valve 22 Meter-in flow regulator valve 23 Pressure control valve

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A container which is provided with a vertically expandable leg at each corner of the container or in the vicinity thereof, and which is provided with a driving means for expanding and contracting the leg inside and raising and lowering the container, and controlling the expansion and contraction length of each leg. Provided with horizontal maintaining means for maintaining a substantially horizontal state, and in the direction of the force acting on the container when moving the container in a desired direction on the bed between the bottom surface of the container and the bed of the truck. Container loading / unloading mechanism characterized by having guide means for guiding movement.