KR20030021759A - Cradle device for lpg tank in forklift truck - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A cradle apparatus of a fuel tank for a forklift is provided to replace the fuel tank conveniently by placing the fuel tank with turning the cradle around a vertical axis or horizontal axis, and to lift the heavy fuel tank safely by placing the fuel tank close to the ground with extending the cradle. CONSTITUTION: A cradle device for a fuel tank is composed of a counterweight(2); a cradle(20) having a first body(30) installed and turned around a vertical axis on the counterweight, a second body(40) connecting to the first body for folding and supporting the fuel tank, and a third body(50) moved and extended from the second body; a clamp assembly(60) fixing the fuel tank in second and third bodies of the cradle; and a fixing unit fixing the turning position of the cradle on the counterweight. The fuel tank is replaced conveniently with turning the cradle vertically or horizontally. The heavy fuel tank is lifted securely with moving the fuel tank close to the ground by extending the cradle.

Description

CRACKLE DEVICE FOR LPG TANK IN FORKLIFT TRUCK}

The present invention relates to a forklift using liquefied petroleum gas as fuel, and more particularly, to a fuel tank cradle device of a forklift that can easily and safely replace the fuel tank.

The forklift is installed at the rear of the body to balance the body, the mast assembly installed in front of the body, the fork carriage for lifting and lowering the load while lifting up and down the mast assembly, and the forklift when the heavy load is lifted or lowered. It has a counterweight and an engine installed in the center of the body.

Meanwhile, in the case of a forklift using LPG as fuel, a cradle for laying up and fixing a fuel tank, for example, a liquefied petroleum gas tank, is provided at the top of the counterweight, and the fuel in the fuel tank is exhausted. The fuel tank must be replaced with a new one. For example, when the forklift is operated for about nine hours, the fuel in the fuel tank is almost exhausted, so the driver has to change the fuel tank once a day.

Looking at the fuel tank cradle device of such a conventional forklift based on Figures 1a and 1b, the mounting plate 3 is fixed to the upper portion of the counterweight (2) installed behind the vehicle body (1) by the bolt (4) Is attached. On the upper surface of the mounting plate 3, a plurality of clamp assemblies 6 for fixing the fuel tank T are installed. The clamp assembly 6 is configured such that a pair of upper and lower clamps 6a and 6b, which are formed in a substantially semicircular shape, as shown in FIG. 1B, opens and closes about the hinge 6c, and the lower clamp 6b is mounted. It is attached to the upper surface of the plate (3). One of the upper and lower clamps 6a and 6b is provided with a latch mechanism 6d for holding a fixed state.

Therefore, in order to replace the fuel tank T with a new one, first unlock the latch mechanism 6d, then rotate and open the upper clamp 6a around the hinge 6c, and lower clamp 6b. ) Lift up the fuel tank (T) placed on) and take it out. Then, the new fuel tank T is lifted and placed on the lower clamp 6b, and the upper clamp 6a is closed about the hinge 6c. Finally, the upper and lower clamps 6a and 6b may be locked by using the latch mechanism 6d.

However, the fuel tank cradle device of the conventional forklift truck is not only very difficult and difficult to replace the fuel tank T, but also includes a risk of a safety accident.

That is, the weight of the liquefied petroleum gas tank of the fuel is about 20kg, but when the fuel is filled up to about 40kg. Therefore, when the operator lifts or lowers the heavy fuel tank T to a position higher than the lower clamp 6b, there is a problem that a lot of force is required. In particular, if the fuel tank (T) is dropped in the process of lifting or lowering the fuel tank (T), there is a risk of injury or explosion. In addition, the number of women forklift drivers has increased in recent years, and women drivers have more difficulty and risk of lifting or lowering heavy fuel tanks (T).

On the other hand, in consideration of such a problem, a variety of fuel tank cradle devices that can easily replace heavy fuel tanks have recently been developed. As an example, there is proposed a fuel tank cradle device having a guide rail mounted on a counterweight, and a cradle mounted at one end of the counterweight rotated at an end thereof while moving along the guide rail. have. This device makes it easy to change the fuel tank by moving the fuel tank vertically or horizontally while moving along the guide rail while the fuel tank is fixed to the cradle.

As another example, a fuel tank cradle device having a cradle which is rotated about a vertical axis on a counterweight and rotates about a horizontal axis at the same time and stands vertically on one side of the counterweight has been proposed. This device makes it easy to replace the fuel tank by vertically or horizontally rotating the fuel tank while rotating the cradle about a vertical or horizontal axis while the fuel tank is fixed to the cradle.

However, the fuel tank cradle device having such a configuration has an advantage that the fuel tank can be easily replaced as compared to the fuel tank cradle devices shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, but the fuel tank is still positioned high above the ground. There is a hassle to lift or lower the tank.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the conventional problems as described above, the object of the fuel tank by bringing the fuel tank replacement position as close as possible to the ground as close as possible while the fuel tank replacement operation can be easily and safely It is to provide a fuel tank cradle device of a forklift truck which can make the replacement work as easy as possible.

1a and 1b is a front view and a side view showing a fuel tank cradle device of a conventional forklift,

2 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of a fuel tank cradle device of a forklift according to the present invention;

3 is a front view showing the configuration of a fuel tank cradle device according to the present invention,

4A and 4B are cross-sectional views taken along line A-A of FIG. 3 and an operation thereof;

5A to 5C are views showing an example of operation of the fuel tank cradle device according to the present invention.

♣ Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing ♣

1: body 2: counterweight

10: base plate 20: cradle

30: first body 40: second body

40a: hinge 45: cylinder

46: first chamber 47: second chamber

48: connector 49: oil

50: third body 52: rod

54: piston 60: clamp assembly

70: damper

Features of the present invention for achieving the above object is a counterweight; A first body rotatably installed about the vertical axis on the counterweight, a second body foldably connected to the first body and supporting a fuel tank thereon, and further from the second body in the longitudinal direction A cradle of a third body movably mounted to said second body to extend; A clamp assembly that detachably attaches the fuel tank to the second and third bodies of the cradle; In the fuel tank cradle device of the forklift including a fixing means for fixing the rotational position of the cradle on the counterweight.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Preferred embodiments of a fuel tank cradle device of a forklift according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings (the same components will be described using the same reference numerals).

First, referring to Figures 2 and 3, the cradle device of the present invention has a counterweight (2). The counterweight 2 is provided at the rear of the vehicle body 1. And the cradle device of the present invention has a base plate 10 is fixedly installed on the counterweight (2), and the gradle 20 is rotatably installed on the base plate (10). The base plate 10 includes a plurality of through holes 12, and bolts 14 are inserted into these through holes 12 to be fastened to the counterweight 2 of the forklift. The base plate 10 is firmly attached to the counterweight 2 of the forklift. In addition, one side of the base plate 10 is formed with a bearing 16 protruding upwards, the other side is installed in a state in which the fixing bracket 18 is bent. Here, the hinge hole 16a is formed in the bearing 16, and the fixing bracket 18 is formed with a stopper 18a protruding from the upper surface.

On the other hand, the cradle 20 is to support the fuel tank (T) lying down, the first body 30, the second body 40 and the second body hinged to be foldable to the first body 30 ( The third body 50 is assembled to the second body 40 so as to be able to linearly move along the longitudinal direction of the 40. The first bolt 30 is provided with a hinge bolt 32, the hinge bolt 32 is assembled to be rotatably fitted in the hinge hole (16a) of the bearing 16 formed in the base plate (10). The first body 30 assembled to the base plate 10 by the hinge bolt 32 is rotatably installed on the base plate 10 about the vertical axis, and thus the cradle 20 is the base plate 10. It is possible to freely rotate with respect to the) can be arranged toward the outside of the counterweight (2) as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the second body 40 directly supports and supports the fuel tank T together with the third body 50. The second body 40 is coupled to the hinge 40a by the first body 30, and the hinge ( The first body 30 is folded around the horizontal axis through 40a). Thus, the second body 40 hinged to the first body 30 has a hinge (40a) in a state that the first body 30 is rotated toward the outside of the counterweight (2) as shown in Figure 5b The center of the fuel tank (T) can be raised by rotating vertically downward with respect to the first body (30). As shown in FIG. 2, the second body 40 includes two tubular bodies 42 parallel to each other, and a connection bracket 44 connecting the two bodies 42.

As described above, the third body 50 directly supports the fuel tank T together with the second body 40 and supports the bottom surface of the fuel tank T as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. It is provided with a supporting portion (50a), it is assembled to the second body 40 in a linear motion along the longitudinal direction. In particular, the third body 50 is configured to extend or shorten further in the longitudinal direction from the end of the second body 40, for which the third body 50 is connected to the tubular body 42 of the second body 40. It has two rods 52 fitted in a linear motion. Thus, as the two rods 52 are linearly fitted to the tubular body 42 of the second body 40, the third body 50 can be further extended or shortened from the end of the second body 40. Thus, as shown in Figure 5c can be lowered vertically to the fuel tank (T) to the position close to the ground. Here, the rod 52 of the third body 50 should be long enough so that the third body 50 can move from the second body 40 to a position close to the ground.

On the other hand, the second body 40 and the third body 50 is provided with a pair of clamp assembly 60 for tying the fuel tank (T) in an exchangeable state. As shown in FIG. 2, the clamp assembly 60 includes a semicircular upper clamp 62, a semicircular lower clamp 64 hinged to the upper clamp 62, and upper and lower clamps 62 and 64. It consists of a latch mechanism 66 which fixes a free end. Here, the pair of clamp assemblies 60 must be installed in the second body 40 and the third body 50, respectively, which means that the third body 50 is the second body 40 as shown in FIG. 5C. Extending from the fuel tank (T) close to the ground even if any one of the clamp assembly 60 is to fix the fuel tank (T) to the third body (50) fixedly.

On the other hand, the cradle device of the present invention, the first damping means for controlling the rotational speed of the second body 40 with respect to the first body 30, and the straight line of the third body 50 with respect to the second body 40 A second damping means for controlling the speed of movement is provided. The first damping means controls the rotational speed so that the second body 40 can be naturally folded with respect to the first body 30, one end of which is at the bottom of the first body 30, and the other end of which is second. It is composed of a gas-filled damper 70 is rotatably fixed to the bottom of the body 40, respectively. The damping means, that is, the damper 70 is a second body 40 for supporting the heavy fuel tank T by elastically supporting the first body 30 and the second body 40 in a substantially straight direction. It rotates quickly about the first body 30 to prevent it from hitting the counterweight 2. In addition, the bottom surface of the second body 40 is also equipped with a cushion rubber (20a), the cushion rubber (20a) serves to prevent the second body 40 from directly hitting the counterweight (2). do.

On the other hand, the second damping means to control the moving speed of the third body 50 relative to the second body 40, the body 42 of the second body 40 as shown in Figs. 4a and 4b. The cylinders 45 formed on each of the rods, the rods 52 of the third body 50 respectively disposed to be movable on the cylinders 45, and the rods 45 formed on the end of the rods 52. ), A piston (54) for dividing the inside of the first chamber (46) and the second chamber (47) and a connecting pipe (48) for communicating the first chamber (46) and the second chamber (47) of the cylinder (45) with each other. ) And oil 49 filled in the first chamber 46 and the second chamber 47.

According to this configuration, when the third body 50 linearly moves with respect to the second body 40, the rod 52 of the third body 50 also moves linearly along the cylinder 45 of the second body 40. Done. At this time, since the oil 49 is filled in the cylinder 45, the rod 52 having the piston 54 moves slowly along the cylinder 45 while preventing sudden movement. On the other hand, as the rod 52 moves along the cylinder 45, the chamber 47 in the moving direction of the first chamber 46 and the second chamber 47 gradually increases in volume as shown in FIG. 4B. The chamber 46 in the opposite direction of movement is gradually increased in volume, with the oil 49 in the chamber 47 being reduced in volume, through the connecting tube 48 and in the other chamber 46 in which the volume is increased. ), So that the rod 52 can be continuously moved in the direction of travel.

As a result, the movement speed of the third body 50 relative to the second body 40 is controlled by the second damping means having such a configuration, so that the fuel tank T is placed vertically as shown in FIG. 5C. In the third body 50 supporting the heavy fuel tank (T) is prevented from being quickly moved from the second body (40).

Meanwhile, in the present invention, the oil inlet 47a of the second chamber 47 is formed to be spaced apart from one end of the second chamber 47 by a length of "L" as shown in FIG. 4A. This is to prevent the piston 54 of the rod 52 from hitting one side wall of the cylinder 45 when the third body 50 extends from the second body 40. In addition, in the present invention, two pistons 54 formed on the rod 52 are configured to be spaced from each other at the same time. When the third body 50 extends from the second body 40, the overlapping section of the cylinder 45 and the rod 52 is formed as much as possible so that the third body (for the second body 40) This is to increase the binding force of 50).

The cradle 20 having the above configuration is rotated 180 ° about the vertical axis with respect to the base plate 10 as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, and then disposed toward the outside of the counterweight 2. Rotate 90 ° downwards about the horizontal axis to vertically mount the mounted fuel tank (T) vertically, and then extend vertically down to a position close to the ground for easy replacement of the mounted fuel tank (T). After the new fuel tank T is installed, the fuel tank T is rotated upward by 90 ° about the horizontal axis and rotated by 180 ° about the vertical axis, and then the fuel tank T is placed on the upper portion of the counterweight 2. To deploy. Here, the third body 50 of the cradle 20 extending vertically is shortened to the second body 40 in the process of rotating the cradle 20 about the horizontal axis and the vertical axis.

Meanwhile, the cradle 20 is configured to be caught by the stopper 18a formed on the fixing bracket 18 of the base plate 10 as shown in FIG. This is limited.

And the cradle device of the present invention is provided with a fixing means for fixing the cradle 20 to the base plate (10). The fixing means includes a fastening hole 19 formed in the fixing bracket 18 of the base plate 10, a fixing hole 22 formed in the third body 50 of the cradle 20, and an aligned fixing hole 22. And a fixing bolt 24 inserted into and fastened to the fastening hole 19. The fixing means fixes the cradle 20 to the upper surface of the counterweight 2 by fixing the base plate 10 and the cradle 20 to each other. Here, the fixing hole 22 and the fastening hole 19 are configured to be naturally aligned as the cradle 20 is caught by the stopper 18a and rotation is limited.

On the other hand, in the present invention, the cradle 20 is shown to be rotatably installed on the counterweight 2 through the base plate 10, but is not limited to this, for example, directly to the counterweight (2) It may be rotatably installed. Of course, when the cradle 20 is rotatably mounted to the counterweight 2, the hinge bolt 32 will be fixed and installed directly on the counterweight (2).

As described above, the fuel tank cradle device of the present invention rotates about a vertical axis and arranges the fuel tank in an optimal position where it is easy to replace the fuel tank through a cradle rotatable about a horizontal axis, thereby making it possible to replace the fuel tank with a small force. It can be done conveniently. In particular, the cradle can be configured to extend further in the longitudinal direction, thereby greatly reducing the risk of lifting a heavy fuel tank by bringing the fuel tank as close to the ground as possible.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above by way of example, the scope of the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, and may be appropriately changed within the scope of the claims.

As described above, the fuel tank cradle device of the forklift according to the present invention has a small force in the fuel tank by arranging the fuel tank in an optimal position where it is easy to exchange the fuel tank through the cradle rotatable about the horizontal axis while rotating about the vertical axis. Can be exchanged conveniently. In particular, by configuring the cradle to extend in the longitudinal direction has the effect that can significantly reduce the risk of lifting the heavy fuel tank by bringing the fuel tank as close as possible to the ground.

Claims (6)

A counterweight 2; A first body 30 rotatably installed on the counterweight 2 about a vertical axis, and a first body 30 foldably connected to the first body 30 and supporting a fuel tank T thereon; A cradle (20) comprising a second body (40) and a third body (50) movably mounted to the second body (40) so as to extend further in the longitudinal direction from the second body (40) and the second body (40); A clamp assembly (60) for tying the fuel tank (T) in a detachable state to the second body (40) and the third body (50) of the cradle (20); Fuel tank cradle device of the forklift, characterized in that it comprises a fixing means for fixing the rotational position of the cradle (20) on the counterweight (2). According to claim 1, further comprising a first damping means for controlling the folding speed of the second body 40 with respect to the first body 30, the first damping means is one end of the first body (30) ) Is a damper 70 which is hinged to the second end and the other end is hinged to the second body 40 to elastically support the first body 30 and the second body 40 in a substantially straight direction. Fuel tank cradle device of forklift. The method of claim 1, further comprising a second damping means for controlling the movement speed of the third body (50) relative to the second body (40), the second damping means to the second body (40) A cylinder 45 formed along the longitudinal direction, a rod 52 extending from the third body 50 so as to be movably disposed on the cylinder 45, and formed at an end of the rod 52 Piston 54 which divides the inside of the 45 into both the first chamber 46 and the second chamber 47, and the connecting pipe for communicating the first chamber 46 and the second chamber 47 with each other ( 48) and an oil tank (49) filled in the first chamber (46) and the second chamber (47). The fuel tank cradle device of claim 1, further comprising: a base plate (10) fixed on the counterweight (2), and having a cradle (20) rotatably supported thereon. The fuel tank cradle device of claim 1, further comprising a cushion rubber (20a) at a bottom of the second body (40). The fuel tank cradle of the forklift according to claim 1, wherein the fixing means includes a stopper (18a) for limiting the rotation angle of the third body (50) and a fixing bolt (24) for fixing the rotation position. Device.