US1630736A - Freight-handling apparatus - Google Patents

Description

B. F. FITCH wucntoz AM: k wfiw QM,

r 1,630,736 8. F. FITCH FREIGHT HANDL ING. APPARATUS Original Filed Sept. 27. 19'24 4 Shoots-Sheet 2 III May 31,1927. 1,630,736

B. F. FITCH FREIGHT HANDLING AFPARATUS Original Filed Sept. 27, 1924 4 $hets $heet 4 fla e?) 75a on a a,

Patented May 31,1927.

IBENJAMIN F. FITCH, OF GREEN WICH, CONNECTICUT.

,FREIGHT-I-IANDLING APPARATUS.

Application filed September 27, 1924, Serial No. 740,192. Renewed April 25, 1 927.

This invention relates to hoisting and transporting mechanism primarily adapted for raising and moving the bodies of automobile trucks for use in connection with the 'ranster of freight, at terminal stations. The invention is in the nature of an improve ment on the one-legged gantry-crane mechanism illustrated in Patent No. 1,437,966 issued to me, December 5th, 1922.

The subject matter set forth in my prior patent, embodies a station platform disposed intermediat a truck runwayand a building, together with a one-legged gantry crane which is supported intermediately by a ground rail and at the inner end by two overhead rails mounted on the building, two wheels, one disposed above the other, being arranged to engage such overhead rails. The powe trackway, however, is applied only to the wheels which travel on the ground rail; which has a tendency to skew the mechanism and subjectit to undesirable stresses.

One of the objects of the present invention tlieretore, is the provision of means for applying power not only to the wheels which track on the ground guide, but also to the two wheels which travel on the overhead guide, these latter wheels being rotated in opposite directions so that the track-engaging portions of the two wheels are moving in the same direction. The result is that the power drives the crane frame in a given direction, irrespectire of whether the lower elevated wheel or the upper elevated wheel. is forced against its rail by the action of the load. This is important, because in operating the cranecarriage to transport the load -from one'side of the leg of the gantry to the other, the thrust on the elevated rails changes from upward to downward and vice versa My invention contemplates an arrange ment of driving mechanism which permits a single source of power to etl'ect simultaneous operation of the wheels tracking on the upper guide, with the wheels tracking on the ground guide. propelling the main tramecan be supplied equally. and the crane can thereby be moved smoothly independently of the shifting of the center of gravity of the crane, due to movement or" the supplen'lental frame with reference of the main flilnlfl.

The preferred means for carrying out my invention is illustrated in the drawings and for propelling that crane along the Thusthe power for.

hereinafter fully set forth in the accompanying description. The essential characteristics of my invention are summarized in, the claims. N

In the drawings Fig.1 is a side elevation of a building having a crane embodying my invention and mounted to travel along one side thereof; Fig. 2 is a section taken transversely through the building andplat ."i'orm and snowing a side elevation of the crane illustrated in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an" end view oi the crane on an enlarged scale; Fig. l is a section taken on the line 4 -4 in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 55 in l igua; and Fig. 6 is a view showing details of construction of part of the opeiating mechanism; Fig. 7 is a frag mentary sectional side elevation of aniodiliediliorm of driving gearing; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary cross section taken along the line of Fig. 7.

l have shown my invention in connection with a gantry crane which is mounted to move longitudinally of a platform 10, which platform .is disposed intermediate a truck runway 11 and a building 12. A trackway comprising a lower or gror'md rail 18, preterably mounted on theplattorm, and an overhead guide comprising two opposed rails ll and 15, or a single double faced rail, mounted on the building functions to support the main trame of the crane. This frame carries two wheels 31 and 32 engaging this overhead guide. The main frame is arranged to extend outwardly beyond the platform and to overhang a portion of the runway. It supports a supplemental frame 16 which is movable longitudinally of the main frame and therefore transversely of the platform. The supplemental frame is provided with mechanism including cables 1 7 for engaging a load. The structural features of the main and su iplemental "frame are referred to more in detail in the patent heretofore mentioned, and accordingly l'llQClQSCl'lPtjlOfl herein w ll be directed principally to the mechanism tor moving the main frame along the trackya v any suitable source of power may be employed for moving the crane and to this end I have shown an electric motor indicated generally at 20, which may be geared through bevel gear connection to a shaft 22. This shaft is illustrated as extending. vertically and as being journaled in bearill ings 23 and mounted on part of the main frame. The lower end of the shaft 22 is shown as operatively connected by gearing Q5 and 26 to the wheel 26 which travels on the rail 13. i

To effect simultaneous movement of the wheels 31 and 32 I have illustrated a shaft 27 which may be supported in bearings 28 and 29 upon the bridge of the main frame, and may be operatively connected by gearing 30 to the shaft 22. The wheel 31, arranged to engage the rail 15, may be rigidly mounted on the shaft 27 supporting the inner end of the main frame, whenever the center of gravity in the crane is disposed within the trackwayQ The wheel 32 is mounted upon a shaft 33 and is adapted to engage the rail 14. The shaft 33 is carried by the main frame and the wheel 32 is positively connected to the wheel 31 as by gears 34: and 35, which are mounted on the shafts 27 and33 respectively. The wheel 32 absorbs the upward thrust exerted on the inner end of the main frame whenever the center of gravity is shifted out-side the rail 13.

The wheels 31 and 32 may be directly above each other and straddle two rails, or one double faced rail, but I prefer to mount them between two rails a considerable distance apart for the following reason. To enable easy movement of the wall wheels 31 and 32, it is desirable that they have comparatively large diameter, but to place such large wheels directlyabove each other might be dangerous in causing them to overlap the windows in thestory below or the story above in the building carrying the rails. I have accordinglyv setone of these wheels in advance of the other, and only a small dis tance higher, as shown in Fig. 4, andhave provided two rails, as shown, which are only slightly farther apart than the diameter of a wheel.

The positive connection between the wheels which engage the overhead rails is such, that shifting of the center of gravity of the crane accompanied by the shifting of pressure from one to the other overhead rail has no effect upon the motion of the crane along the traekway. For example, if the supplemental frame is in the position shown in Fig; 2, then the center of gravity of the main frame is outside the rail 13, and the inner end of the main frame exerts an upward thrust upon the rail 1a. Accordingly, the wheel 32 is then functioning to propel the frame along the traekuuiy. If during such movement of the main frame, the supplemental frame is caused to move inwardly until the load is over the platform, then as the center of gravity of the main frame moves inwardly across the rail 13, the thrust on the inner end ofthe main frame, changes from an upward to a downward pressure. Thereupon, the wheel 31 assumes the thrust without in any 'ay affecting the travel of the main f'ame. This is readily apparent upon reference to Fig. 4-, wherein the wheel 31 is shown as turning in a clockwise direction, while the wheel 32 is turning in a counter-clockwise direction. Accordingly, each wheel is arranged to engage a rail in such manner that the frame is propelled in one direction so long as the shaft 27 is rotating in one direction and independently of the direction ofvertical thrust with reference to the building.

In Figs. 7 and 8 I have shown a modified form of gearing for my mechanism which will obviate the necessity for attaching two rails to the building wall and provide for placing the driving shaft extending from the bevel gearing 30 to the driving wheel on the end of the crane, and the auxiliary idler shaft in vertical alignment. This construction consists generally of a T-rail 55, a pair of flanged driving wheels 56uud 57 geared together and mounted upon a driving and an idler shaft. The driving shaft is indicated at 27 and the idler at 33. 'lhis construction is simplified by the elimination of supporting brackets such as shown in Fig. 5 and to attach the single Jrail it is only necessary to provide openings through the wall to receive attaching bolts 58 extending thrmigh the foot flanges of the rail. Spur gears 60 and 61 of identical pitch connect the gears and the shafts may be supported by depending and upstanding brackets (32 and 63. It will be seen that when theload is supported on the building side of the gantry, the. wheels 5'? will be in engagement with theuppcr edge of the rail flange while, when the load is disposed beneath the over-hanging end of the gantry,thc roller 56 is in. engagement with the rail and the direction of driving is maintained as in the other construction.

.From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that I have provided mechanism for enabling a one-legged gantry crane to be propelled along a traclrway by employing two oppositely rotated traction wheels, and utilizing a source of power for effecting simultaneous rotation of traction wheels upon the overhead guide and upon the ground rail. My cimstruction also permits the one-legged gantry crane to he moved along its trackways while the supplcuunilal frame is being moved transversely so as to shift the center of gravity of the crane. The use of a gantry crane for handling freight particularly where a station platform is disposed intermediate the crane and the truclrrunway is advantageous, in that the wall of the building adjacent the platform is thus free for movement of freight between the building and the platform.

My invention is very useful in connecticni with freight terminalsor warehouses having an external platform between the wall Sill lilo

i iii) of the building and the city street, when tratlic is crowded and it is desirable to free any particular entrance of the building jfor unloading or loadingpurposes at any time orto stand automobilebodies for a short time on a platform space which at some other time is intended for use in trucking to or from vehicles. Under these conditions, when any container standing on a platforn'ris in the way, it isintended for use in trucking to or from vehicles, it raised from the platform and tr olleyed outwardly beyond the gantry leg, then the gautry moved lengthwise across any existing bodies to some free bay and the body then trolleyed inwardly and deposited on the platform.

It will be seen that this mechanism allows the bodies to be trolleyed lengthwise of the platform either over the platform or over the city street as may best suitthe conditions. A I thus adapt the station for intensive operation, enabling ordinary loading and unloading of general trucks to'be performed as usual, and, at the same time, enabling the transportation of containers to and from the platform to be effected in a manner which will not interfere with the rest of the traffic.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination with an overhead guide of a one-legged gantry crane having a main frame, two opposed wheels on said frame adapted to engage the guide for moving the frame, means for rotating said wheels in opposite directions, and a supplemental frame provided with load supporting mechanism and traveling on the main frame from one side of the leg to the other, whereby either wheel may be caused to bear against the guide to the exclusion of the other wheel.

2. In combination, a traveling crane, a trackway therefor, said trackwayincluding an overhead guide at one end of the crane adapted to support that end, means for tipping such end in either direction, two wheels rotatably mounted on the crane and so arranged that said wheels oppositely engage the guide, gearing connecting said wheels, and means operatively connected with one of the wheels for moving the crane along the trackway.

In combination, a traveling crane, a trackway therefor, said traclrway including two rails one disposed above the other and at one end of the crane and either adapted to support that end, means for tipping such end up or down, two wheels rotatably mounted on the crane and so arranged that each wheel engages only one rail, gearing connecting said wheels and means operatively connected with one of the wheels for moving the crane along the trackway.

,4. In combination, a crane, track'ways therefor, arranged to support the crane at one end thereof and nitern'iedia te the ends thereof, the end support comprising an.

for si' pporting one end of the crane, said traelnvay having two rail faces, one disposed above the other, two wheels rotatably mounted uponthe crane, one of said wheels beingin engagement with the lower rail face, and the other ofsaid wheels being in en gagement with the upper rail face, means for tipping the frame to cause either wheel to bear against the guide, a source of power on the frame, and means operatively con: necting the wheels with the source of po wer so that the wheels rotate in, opposite direc tions, whereby the crane may be propelled along the trackway in a given direction, irrespective of which wheel is in driving engagement with its rail.

6. In combination, a crane, atrackway therefor, said trackway including an elevated, guide for supporting one end of the crane, and also including a ground rail disposed intern'iediate the ends of the crane, said crane having a portion thereof overhanging the ground rail, and having a carriage adapted to be moved across the ground rail, whereby the center of gravity of the crane is shifted so as to move the crane about the ground rail as a pivot, two wheels rotatably mounted on the crane, one of said wheels being in engagement with the lower face of the overhead guide, the other of said wheels being in engagement with the upper face of said guide, whereby the thrust of the crane is counteracted by one face when the center of gravity of the crane is disposed within the trackway, and is counteracted by the other face when the center of gravity of the crane is outside the ground rail, and means operatively connecting said wheels for propelling the crane, whereby the shifting of the center of gravity of the crane will not affect the movementof the crane.

7. In combination, a crane, a trackway therefor, arranged to support the crane at one end and comprising two rails one disposed above the other, two wheels rotatably mounted upon the frame one in advance of the other, the distance between the rails being materially less than the sum of the diameters of the wheels, one of said wheels he ing in engagement with the lower rail, the other of said wheels being inengagement with the upperrail, a source of power, and means operatively connecting both Wheels with the source of power.

8. In combination, a crane, a tracliway therefor, said trackway including a pair of overhead rails for supporting one end of the crane, and also including a ground rail so disposed that a portion of the crane overhangs the ground rail, said crane including a carriage adapted to be moved across the ground rail, wheels on the frame tracking on the ground rail,and two elevated wheels rotatably mounted on the crane and geared together to rotate in opposite directions, one of said elevated wheels being in engagement with the lower of the overheadrails, the other of said, elevated wheels being in engagement with the upper overhead rail, and means for driving all of said wheels for propelling thecrane along the trackway, whereby the shifting of the center of gravity of the crane due to the in and out travel of the carriagewill not affect the movement of the crane.

9. In combination, a'crane, two overhead rails disposed in substantially the same ver- TI r' in) to engage the lower overhead rail whenever the center of gravity is disposed within the trackway and the other of said wheels being adapted to engage the upper overhead rail whenever the center of gravity of the 0 "am is disposed outside the ground rail, said wheels being operatively connected to rotate synchronously, whereby each wheel engages the associated rail in such manner that the thrust between the wheels and rails may be changed from one vertical direction to an other, while the wheels are rotating, Without affecting the movement of themain frame along the tracltway, and a source of power on the main frame for driving said wheels;

In testimony whereof, I hereuntoaliix my signature.

BENJAMIN F. FITCH.

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