US3402412A

US3402412A - Conveyance loader

Info

Publication number: US3402412A
Application number: US656596A
Authority: US
Inventors: Andrew G Seipos
Original assignee: WOLLARD AIRCRAFT EQUIPMENT Inc
Current assignee: WOLLARD AIRCRAFT EQUIPMENT Inc
Priority date: 1967-07-27
Filing date: 1967-07-27
Publication date: 1968-09-24
Anticipated expiration: 1985-09-24

Description

Sept. 24, 1968 A. G. SEIPOS CONVEYANCE LOADER Original Filed Sept. 27, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ANDREW s. SEtPOS ATTORNEYS Sept. 24, 1968 A. e. sslPos- CONVEYANCE LOADER Original Filed Sept. 27, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ANDREW G. SIEIPOS ATTORNEYS Sept.124, 1968 A. G. SEIPOS CONVEYANCE LOADER Original Filed Sept. 27, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR ANDREW G. SEIPDS ATTORNEYS United States Patent ice 3,402,412 CONVEYANCE LGADER Andrew G. Seipos, Miami, Fla, assignor, by mcsne assignments, to Wollard Aircraft Equipment, Inc., Miami, Fla., a corporation of Washington Continuation of application Ser. No. 490,202, Sept. 27, 1965. This application July 27, 1967, Ser. No. 656,596 6 Claims. (Cl. 14-71) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLQSURE Vestibule curtain reeling system for conveyance loaders in which swinging movement of the loader causes an unreeling of a curtain section from either one of two curtain reels, the two reels being interconnected so that the unreeling action of one reel is utilized to cause reeling action of the other reel, the means interconnecting the two reels comprising an inextensible cable and cable reeling and unreeling means, the latter forming spiral convolutions of the cable to cause the curtains to be reeled and unreeled at equal linear speeds and in which a deflecting force on the inextensible cable acts as a compensator for ironing out departures from exact complementary relationship in the reels and places the desired tension on the curtains.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 490,202, filed Sept. 27, 1965, now abandoned.

This invention relates to double curtain reeling systems in which two related curtain portions are reeled and unreeled at equal linear curtain speeds.

The invention will be described in the environment of conveyance loaders because a practical problem has been presented in the past in respect to vestibule curtain operation in these structures; however, the invention is equally applicable to other environments.

A general example of the conveyance loader, specifically for aircraft, in the prior art which requires the use of vestibule curtains is that disclosed in Der Yuen et al. Patent 3,060,471, in which aircraft vestibule 17 and terminal vestibule 18 must include flexible curtain structures, for example as shown at 40, for the terminal vestibule. It is apparent from an inspection of FIGURE 6 of this patent that the pivotal movement of the loader in a horizontal plane on turntable 27 requires the reeling and unreeling of the curtain portions 30 on curtain drums '72.

Similar examples of conveyance loader vestibule curtain reeling environments are illustrated in copending patent applications Ser. Nos. 326,794, now Patent No. 3,263,253 and 326,795 now Patent No. 3,263,254, filed Nov. 29, 1963, by Joseph C. Wollard, John S. Slaney and Lester L. Preiss. It has been found in the case of these latter curtain reeling systems that springs strong enough to hold the curtain taut during reeling and unreeling must involve auxiliary equipment of uneconomic construction. Heavy counterwei-ghts were found to have similar faults. Of course separate synchronized power operated motors for reeling each curtain would be out of the question economically.

The present invention is a simple, eifective and economical system for reeling and unreeling curtain portions while imposing satisfactory tension on the curtain portions being reeled and unreeled. This is accomplished in accordance with the present invention 'by mechanically interconnecting the curtain portion winding and unwinding drums or reels so that the rotational speed of one drum increases as the rotational speed of the other drum decreases to accommodate for the succeeding convolutions of curtain portions to a degree such as to maintain the linear curtain speed the same in both portions. In order to achive the satisfactory degree of tautness in the curtains being reeled and 3,402,412 Patented Sept. 24, 1968 unreeled, the interconnecting mechanical means may be acted upon by a force which is controlled within the limits necessary to attain the desired tension on the curtain portions.

A full understanding of the present invention will be obtainable from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating the same, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one form of conveyance loader incorporating the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a partial view in horizontal section of the terminal end of the loader of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatical view of a curtain portion reeling and unreeling system in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view partly in section of a curtain portion reeling drum construction embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a partial side elevational view with parts broken away of a second curtain portion reeling drum companion to that of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a view in section taken along the lines 6-6 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatical view illustrating an adjusting operation;

FIGURE 8 is a plan view of the spiral pulley incorporated in the present invention with the cover plate partially broken away;

FIGURE 9 is a view in side elevation of the spiral pulley of FIGURE 8; and

FIGURE 10 is an exploded view of the spiral pulley of FIGURE 8.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, the horizontally swingable section of the loader is indicated generally by reference numeral 10. This section of the loader is movable in a horizontal plane around a pivot supported by pedestal 12. This necessitates the presence of a transition vestibule 14 which will join the moving section of the loader with the short stationary passageway 16 which remains fixed to the terminal building 18. Vestibule 14 has a roof portion 20 and a fioor portion 21 which are not illustrated in de tail since they form no part of the invention except insofar as they coact with

curtain portions

22 and 24 to maintain the curved shape of the curtain portions and give a weather tight construction.

Curtain portions

22 and 24 are constructed in any desired manner so as to be rigid vertically but flexible horizontally. Thus, by contacting elements of the roof 20 and floor 22 with the internal surfaces of their extremities,

curtain portions

22 and 24 are held in the curved configuration illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2.

Curtain portion 22 has an end 26 attached to the terminal passageway section and curtain portion 24 has an end 28 similarly attached to the terminal passageway section. Since hinged floor plate 30 at the terminal passageway section and hinged floor plate 32 at the swingable loader passageway section of the vestibule cover the juncture of rotatable floor 21 and these respective passageway sections and since a portion of vestibule roof 20 overhangs this entire vestibule structure, a weathertight construction is readily achieved.

A loader passageway section 10 swings counterclockwise in a horizontal plane around pivot point 34 of pedestal 12, it will be evident that curtain portion 22 must be reeled on curtain drum 36 while curtain portion 24 is unreeled from curtain drum 38. As a result, the increasing number of convolutions of curtain portion 22 on curtain drum 36 increase its diameter and the reverse action takes place with respect to curtain portion 24 convolutions on curtain drum 38. As pointed out above, rotating

curtain drums

36 and 38 so as to take up the associated curtain portions with the desired degree of tautness has presented real economic problems.

Applicant has conceived the idea of utilizing the unreeling action of one drum to drive the other drum by direct mechanical connection. This he has sought to accomplish through the medium of the very simplest mechanical expedient, namely in the preferred embodiment, a flexible, inextensible cable means but this in turn has been made effective only by the ingenious utilization of a pair of cone-shaped or spiral pulleys. By utilizing identical spiral pulleys but arranging them in oppositely facing directions applicant has made it possible for the cable means to approach and leave each pulley in a plane substantially normal to the axis of the pulley and this facilitates orderly reeling and unreeling of the cable and effects other mechanical advantages. Finally, to accommodate the Inextensible cable means to the mechanical problems of the environment, applicant has provided for a controllable increase or decrease in the length of the cable effective between the two pulleys to an extent which will determine the degree of tautness placed upon the curtain portions.

The general combination of operative components of applicants inventive combination shown in plan view in FIGURE 2 are schematically illustrated perspectively in FIGURE 3 where the

curtain portions

22 and 24 are shown partially Wrapped on each of the curtain

portion reeling drums

36 and 38 so as to result approximately in the curtain-to-vestibule relationship illustrated in FIGURE 2. In this combination, curtain portion reeling drum 36 is connected by a shaft 40 to a truncated cone device indicated generally at 42 having a spiral i groove 43 and curtain portion reeling drum 38 is rotatively connected by a shaft 44 with a similar but inverted truncated cone structure indicated generally at 46 having a spiral groove 47. An inextensible steel cable has one end connected near the base of cone element 42 and its other end connected near the base of cone element 46. Of course, in the latter case, the base of the cone element is disposed upwardly. Inextensible cable 48 has a substantially equal numberof spiral convolutiohs Wrapped varound the respective base portions of

cones

42 and 46 in FIGURE 3 since the

curtain portions

22 and 24 are about equally extended. As indicated in both FIGURES 2 and 3, to apply the desired degree of tauntness to the curtain portions, cable 48 runs through idler pulley 50 which is urged by a tension spring 52 toward a bracket '54 on the supporting framework of floor 21. The force exerted by spring 52 on cable 48 is controlled by threaded member 55 adjustably held in an opening in bracket 54 by coacting lock nuts 56. Diverting cable 48 from the straight line path it would otherwise follow between

cones

42 and 46 insures that the

curtain portions

22 and 24 are held and Wound with the desired tautness on their respective drums by virtue of the stationary connections of

ends

26 and 28 of the curtain portions. It will be apparent from an inspection of FIGURE 3 that the degree of tautness is substantially the same for each curtain section and remains substantially the same throughout the reeling and unreeling operations. As pointed out below, cable diversion element 50 and force exerting member 52 have a further function in one practical embodiment of the invention.

Since each succeeding convolution of curtain portion reeled on one reeling drum and unreeled from the other reeling drum increases in length the first case and decreases in length in the second, the

grooves

43 and 47 must proportionately increase and decrease in length per revolution in the cable unwinding and winding directions, respectively, and this accounts for the precisely designed, reversed spiral paths of these grooves.

Although a spirally grooved truncated cone, such as

cones

42 and 46, is a satisfactory instrumentality in applicants combination, a more satisfactory commercial device can be utilized, which is the subject matter of copending patent application Ser. No. 486,659, filed Sept. 27, 1965, by William M. Riggles and this more practical device will be briefly described herein as an element of applicants combination, better to illustrate the preferred embodiment of applicants combination and to show the effectiveness of cable diverting means 50, 52, 54 in a commercial environment.

FIGURES 4 and 5 illustrate in more detail the curtain

portion reeling drums

36 and 38 wherein in each case a shaft 56 in upper and

lower roller bearings

58, 60, respectively, is mounted in framework structure indicated generally at 62 supported on the swingable loader section 10. For simplicity, curtain portion reeling drum 38 is illustrated in FIGURE 5 in detached but proper functional position relative to drum 36 in FIGURE 4. In FIGURES 4 and 5, the

grooved cones

42 and 46 of FIG- URE 3 have been replaced by the specific spiral pulleys, indicated generally at 63 and 64, respectively, covered by copending application Ser. No. 486,659. Bushings 65 support the pulleys on the bearings 60 in spaced relation above the bearings and disks 66 mounted on

drums

36 and 38 support the convolutions of

curtain portions

22 and 24. Shaft 56, the associated

drum

36 or 38 and the associated

spiral pulley

63 or 64 are rigidly connected together for rotation as a unit. FIGURE 6 is a view taken on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 4, but it will be evident that, in respect to the showing of FIGURE 5, the companion spiral pulley 64 would be a duplicate of that shown in FIGURES 4 and 6 but inverted in position relative to the drum 38.

FIGURE 6 shows at 68 a bolt for anchoring the free end of cable 48 which then encircles spiral pulley 63 in a counterclockwise direction and with the curtains in the position shown in FIGURE 2 leaves spiral pulley 63 substantially at a midpoint in a path lying in a substantially horizontal plane and in a direction for reeling on spiral pulley 64 after passing idler pulley 50. Six bolt openings 70 pass entirely through each

spiral pulley

63 and 64 and correspondingly located tapped bolt openings 72 (see FIGURE 5) are supplied in the base plate 74 of each

curtain portion drum

36 and 38. Bolts such as bolt 76 pass through the bolt holes 70 and are threadedly received in tapped openings 72. Obviously this makes it possible to locate each

spiral pulley

64 and 66 in six different positions relative to its associated curtain portion reeling drum. This is important as shown in FIGURE 7.

In order to have the winding operation of the two curtain portions in phase so that the loader can swing to its extreme positions without the need of supplying excess curtain, the necessary length of cable is calculated and two marking

tapes

78 and 80 are spaced equally from the midpoint of the cable length. With the loader in the position shown in FIGURE 2 and the cable spirally wound on each of the spiral pulleys but with the spiral pulleys not anchored relative to their associated curtain drums, tapes 78 are located equidistant from the

axes

82 and 84, respectively, of the spiral pulleys (and curtain drums). With this positioning achieved, bolts 76 are threaded into the nearest tapped openings 72 and the curtain portion reeling drums are thereby properly phased. For still more accurate positioning of

tapes

78 and 80, the relative distance of one curtain portion reeling drum supporting framework 62 from the longitudinal axis of the loader section 10 can be adjusted.

The specific construction of each

pulley

63 and 64 is better illustrated in FIGURES 8, 9 and 10. A base plate and a cover plate 112 have extending between them and in the assembled device welded to each of them a shaft receiving bushing 114. Sandwiched in between base plate 110 and cover plate 112 and concentrically supported on bushing 114 are a series of relatively smaller diameter heavy metal plates and larger diameter light metal plates of generally circular configuration, The heavy plates are numbered from the bottom in FIG- URES 8 to 10, inclusive, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126 and 128. The light plates are numbered consecutively from the bottom in these figures, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138

and 140. As best shown in the exploded view of FIGURE 10, base plate 110 has a ramp member 142 welded to it and each of

light plate numbers

130, 132, 134, 136 and 138 has -a cut-out and bend-up

tongue

144, 146, 148, 150 and 152, respectively, which act as ramps in the assembled spiral pulley. It will be apparent that in the assembled spiral pulley the cable will ride on the peripheral surfaces of the heavy plates with the outwardly extending marginal portions of the light plates acting as guiding flanges to constrain the cable Winding action to the circular peripheral surfaces of each heavy plate until the cable comes to a ramp member. Each ramp member guides the cable to the next smaller diameter heavy plate. At the points where the cable passes from each heavy plate to the next by virtue of a ramp, the heavy plate is rounded as at 160 to minimize the bending action of the cable at this point. .Uppermost edge 162 of each tongue member is welded at 164 to the cut edge 163 of the next higher light plate.

A dowel pin 150 passes through cover plate 112, base plate 110 and all of the intermediate plates to insure rigidity of the completed structure. For purposes of simplicity the openings for dowel pin 150 and bolt holes 70 are omitted from exploded FIGURE 10.

It will be apparent that in operation the spiral pulley of Figures 6, 8, 9 and 10 does not present a true spiral path as in the case of the spiral grooves on

truncated cones

42 and 46 of FIGURE 2. In being constrained to follow the path presented by the spiral pulley from cable connector 68 counterclockwise around the pulley, the cable will follow a circular path until it comes to a rampmember at which point the cable will in a very short distance be diverted into a new circular path and so on. As mentioned above, the cable tensioning means of the present invention has especial advantage in adapting this form of spiral pulley to the combination of the present invention by ironing out these departures from the true spiral path ideally possible but economically and mechanically less suitable.

Incidentally, it will be noted that the largest

heavy plates

116 and 118 are of the same diameter to permit only a fraction of heavy plate 116 to be used when adjusting the relative positions of the spiral pulleys.

Having illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my inevntion, I claim as my invention:

1. In a conveyance loader the combination comprising:

(a) first passageway means having an upright sidewall means on each side of the passageway, each sidewall means terminating in an end edge portion at one end of the first passageway means.

(b) second passageway means having an upright sidewall means on each side of the passageway, each sidewall means terminating in an end edge portion at one end of the second passageway means.

(c) transition vestibule means located between the said ends of the first and second passageway means and connected thereto to form with the passageways of the first and second passageway means a continuous passageway.

(d) floor means and roof means forming part of the transition vestibule having peripheral portions of circular arc configuration concentrically disposed about an upright axis,

(e) first and second curtain sections each having longitudinal side edge portions and end edge portions, each curtain section being flexible along its longitudinal dimension and rigid across its transverse dimension, the first and second curtain sections extending between the floor means and roof means of the transition vestibule with the side edge portions held by the circular arc peripheral portions of the floor means and roof means to form sidewalls for the transition vestibule.

(f) means connecting one end edge portion of the first curtain section to an end edge portion of the sidewall means of a passageway means on one side of the passageway and means connecting one end edge portion of the second curtain section to an end edge portion of the sidewall means of a passageway means on one side of the passageway and means connecting one end edge portion of the sec-0nd curtain section to an end edge portion of the sidewall means of a passageway means on the other side of the passageway,

(g) a first curtain reeling drum contiguous to the end edge portion of the passageway means sidewall located on said one side of the passageway to which a curtain section is not connected,

(h) a second curtain reeling drum contiguous to the end edge portion of the passageway means sidewall located on said other side of the passageway to which a curtain section is not connected,

(i) means connecting the other end edge portion of the first curtain section in reeling relation to one curtain reeling drum located on the same side of the passageway as said one end edge portion of the first curtain section and means connecting the other end edge portion of the second curtain section in reeling relation to the other curtain reeling drum located on the same side of the passageway as said one end edge portion of the second curtain section,

(j) means for swinging one passageway means horizontally around the upright axis of the transition vestibule thereby unreeling a length of curtain section from one curtain-reeling drum and presenting an equal length of curtain section for reeling on the other curtain-reeling drum,

(k) first rotatable means operatively connected to rotate with the first curtain-reeling drum,

(1) second rotatable means operatively connected to rotate with the second curtain-reeling drum,

(rn) continuous, substantially inextensible, flexible tension means having one end portion connected in reeling relation to the first rotatable means and the other end portion connected in reeling relation to the second rotatable means and an intermediate portion extending between the first and second rotatable means,

(n) means associated with the means of paragraph (k) for reeling and subsequent unreeling of the inflexible tension means at a linear rate to cause simultaneous unreeling and subsequent, simultaneous reeling of the first curtain section oh? and on the first reeling drum at said linear rate,

(0) means associated with the means of paragraph (1) for unreeling and subsequent reeling of the inflexible tension means at said linear rate to cause simultaneous reeling and subsequent, simultaneous unreeling of the second curtain section on and off the second reeling drum at said linear rate, and

(p) means for controlling the length of the intermediate portion of the inextensible, flexible tension means to maintain substantially equal and constant tension on both curtain sections throughout the reeling and unreeling operation while insuring smooth curtain reeling and unreeling operation despite slight departures from ideal structural relationships in the operating parts.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which the means of paragraphs (m) and (n) comprise first substantially spiral reeling means associated with the first rotatable means for reeling and unreeling the inextensible, flexible tension means and second substantially spiral reeling means associated with the second rotatable means for unreeling and reeling the inextensible, flexible tension means, the two substantially spiral reeling means being of substantially complementary but opposed configuration and having a degree of spirality to cause the curtain section being reeled on one curtain-reeling drum to be reeled at substantially the same linear curtain speed as the other curtain section is simultaneously unreeled from the other curtain-reeling drum.

3. The combination of claim 1 in which the intermediate portion of the inextensible, flexible tension means tends to follow a straight line path between the first and second rotatable means and in which a force laterally disposed relative to the path of travel of the inextensible, flexible tension means is exerted on the intermediate portion of the inextensible, flexible tension means to divert the same from the straight line path to thereby apply a desired tensioning force to the curtain sections.

4. The combination of claim 3 in which the intermediate portion of the inextensible, flexible tension means is deflected from the straight line path between the first and second rotatable means by the resilient action of a spring.

5. The combination of claim 2 in which the intermediate portion of the inextensible, flexible tension means tends to follow a straight line path between the first and second rotatable means and in which a force laterally disposed relative to the path of travel of the inextensible,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 520,065 5/1894 Lugrin 160-122 851,945 4/ 1907 Krehbiel 1058 X 2,163,826 6/1939 Bugatti 105-15 3,060,471 10/1962 Der Yuen et a1 14'7l FOREIGN PATENTS 434,856 12/1911 France.

PETER M. CAUN, Primary Examiner.