CN1358157A - Load handling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The load handling apparatus comprises at least one first elongate member (3) having means for engaging a load and at least one second elongate member (10) pivotally connected to said first-mentioned elongate member. An airbag (9) cooperating with said first and second elongate members changes the angular orientation of said first and second elongate members relative to each other upon inflation/deflation of the airbag.

Description

load handling device

The invention relates to devices for handling loads, in particular for lifting, positioning and/or dumping large or small and/or heavy loads.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a load carrying apparatus comprising at least one first elongated member having load engaging means and at least one second elongated member pivotally connected to said first elongated member. member, and actuating means cooperating with said first and second elongated members to change the angular orientation of said first and second elongated members relative to each other.

The first member may engage the load being handled directly, or via an additional elongate member arranged to transmit the relative motion of the first and second members to the load, thereby manipulating the load as desired.

In a basic embodiment of the invention, the at least one first part is approximately twice as long as the at least one second part, but the invention also encompasses a variant in which the two parts are of equal length. The latter embodiment can be realized in such a way that an extension is fixed to the second part to increase the length of the second part to be equal to that of the first part. Alternatively, the latter embodiment can be realized in such a way that the first part is provided as a rigid part and the second part is provided as a breakaway part consisting of two pivotally connected arms of equal length.

It is preferred that the aforementioned "at least one" first and second components respectively comprise a pair of components, hereinafter respectively referred to as the first pair and the second pair of components, each component of each pair being arranged substantially parallel to the same pair of components. and the two pairs of parts are connected together by a pivot rod.

The actuating means may comprise a hydraulic or pneumatic mechanism, but preferably the actuating means comprises an air bag which may be inflated by gas lines, high pressure cylinders, battery operated compressors or the like. Alternatively, the air bag may be attached to a bolted air bank by suitable attachment means to make the unit a low profile self leveling unit.

The airbag is conveniently disposed adjacent to the pivotal connection point between said first and second members and is configured to cause greater expansion of the distal region of the airbag that is furthest from the pivotal connection when the airbag is inflated. degree, while the proximal region closest to the pivot connection swells to a much lesser extent. In this way, the distal edge of the airbag will expand into an arc, typically up to 90 degrees, allowing for an applied slope of up to 45 degrees.

Preferably a lifting plate extends between the first pair of arms, which arms may also contain means for attaching accessories to their upper ends. Alternatively or additionally, a lifting table or platform may extend between the first and second pair of arms (where the arms are of equal length) to effectuate the lifting of the small profile as the bag inflates.

However, the actuating means could also be a hydraulically operated wedge which can be driven laterally to achieve the same effect.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an air bag having a plurality of interconnected elements, wherein the inflation of the air bag is restricted at one edge or location thereof.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a load carrying apparatus comprising at least one first elongated member having load engaging means and at least one second elongated member pivotally connected to said first elongated member. components, and an air bag cooperating with said first and second elongated members to change the angular orientation of said first and second elongated members relative to each other as the bag is inflated/deflated.

Embodiments of the invention are described below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

A first aspect of the invention is shown in Figure 1;

A modification of the embodiment in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 1A;

Figure 2 is a top view of the device in Figure 1;

Figure 2A is a top view of the embodiment in Figure 1A;

An extension for connecting to the device shown in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2B;

Another embodiment of the first aspect of the invention is shown in Figure 3;

Figure 4 is a top view of the device in Figure 3;

Figure 5A shows the use of a horizontal lifting platform;

Figure 5B shows a cross-sectional view along the section line XX' passing through the mesa portion in Figure 5A;

Figure 6 is a top view of the device in Figure 5;

Figure 7 illustrates the use of multiple assemblies consisting of the devices of Figures 3 and 4;

Figure 8 shows the situation when the components in Figures 3 and 4 are used in combination with the components in Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 9 shows the use of the device for discharging the contents of the container;

The use of an accessory is shown in Figure 10;

The method of construction of the air bag is shown in Figures 11, 12 and 13;

Fig. 14 is a sectional view of the formed air bag;

Figure 15 schematically shows the inflation situation of the air bag in Figure 14;

Figure 16 shows the structure of Figure 1 but with hydraulically actuated means in place of the air bag;

Figure 17 is a top view of the device in Figure 16;

The operation of the hydraulic mechanism is shown in Figures 18 to 20;

Another embodiment of the first aspect of the invention is shown in Figures 21a-d;

A modification of an airbag according to an aspect of the invention is shown in Figures 22a, 22b and 23;

A modification of the implement for two airbags connected to a common pivot is shown in Figures 24a and 24b.

Unless otherwise indicated, identical parts share the same reference numerals in different figures.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a first pair of members 3 is connected to a second pair of members 10 along a pivot rod 7 (which may also be used to hold an air bag to be described in detail hereinafter), the second pair of members having a far larger ratio The part 3 is of short length and terminates at a free end 11 having holes 11a or other fastening means for attaching various accessories thereto. A top heavy duty or reinforced lift plate 4 is arranged between and attached to the upper region of the members 3 for engaging the load and a bottom reinforced lift plate 2 is similarly arranged between and attached to the lower region of the members 10. area. The bottom edges of the parts 3 and 10 are supported on a pair of rollers 6 for engaging the ground, which are connected to the above-mentioned parts by pivot pins 5 . One of each pair of rollers is fixed and the other slides horizontally. In FIGS. 1A and 2A , a platform, schematically indicated at 40 , lifting device or sequential pick-up device is secured to the upper part of the component 3 .

An extension 11b is shown in FIG. 2B which is secured to the end 11 (see FIG. 1 ) of the part 10 to form the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 .

In FIGS. 3 and 4 , the second pair of parts 1 has the same length as part 3 , which is structurally suitable for adding a top table 8 , as shown in FIG. 5 . Each upper end of part 3 is pivotally connected to the bottom surface of top table 8, while the upper ends of part 1 run horizontally on rollers 110 through respective slots 115 during operation of the device. An inflatable air bag 9 can also be seen in FIG. 5 , which is a multi-chamber air bag according to the second aspect of the present invention. The air bag 9 can be inflated for load handling. The air bag 9 is fixed on the pivot rod 7 by the air bag retaining strap 13 .

In Fig. 7, two assemblies each consisting of a pair of parts 1, 3 are connected together by a pivot pin 5 to obtain greater height, the air bag is arranged between the parts of the lowermost assembly.

In Figure 8, an assembly of paired parts 1, 3 is connected at its top by a pivot pin 5 to an assembly of parts 3, 10. The load 40 is supported on the uppermost pair of parts 3 , either on the plate 4 or on the parts themselves, and is secured against slippage by removable stop means 18 . At the bottom of the device, the rollers 6 run in a chassis 12 in which is fitted an anti-tip locking device (not shown). The chassis 12 itself is mounted on wheels 42 and incorporates a towing bracket 15 to enable the whole unit to be easily moved forward and backward when required.

Figure 9 shows the same basic structure as in Figure 8, but in this example an elongated flexible sliding groove 21 extending from the upper surface of the uppermost part 3 is used. This modification is particularly suitable for draining the contents of the container. A removable swivel tip stop 20 is attached to part 3 as shown.

In FIG. 10 , the upper end of the uppermost part is connected to a pivotal accessory connector 17 which cooperates with the support rod 22 to engage the accessory 23 . The attachment 23 may be, for example, the blade of a forklift truck or a functional equivalent of a guide or standing platform or the like used in conventional sequential picking devices. The air bag can be deflated to engage the bracket 23 on the underside of the load to be lifted and then inflated to lift the load. The interconnection between parts 1, 3 and 10 enables forces to be transmitted along the device in such a way that the load is kept in balance so that tipping is avoided. Another major advantage of the arrangement shown in Figure 10 is that the arrangement without permanently extended support arms can easily be operated in, for example, a solid wall cargo hold.

A method of constructing an air bag is shown in Figures 11 to 14, comprising alternating large and small sheets 1, 2 joined together along lines 6, 6a, B and C, respectively, by high frequency welding. The corner reinforcements 5 are used to stabilize and strengthen the corners of the finished airbag.

Sheets 1 and 2 have a central hole 8 surrounded by high-frequency welding wires 7, and this hole is used to quickly fill the entire airbag with the air pumped into the airbag from the inlet 12 during the inflation process.

The size limiting bands 4, 4a are welded on the large sheet 1 along the high-frequency welding wire 3, as shown in Figure 13, and the air bag is bonded by the lower small sheet 9 and the upper large sheet 10 without holes. together.

As can be seen in Figure 15, pumping air through the inlet 2 to inflate the airbag will cause the airbag to expand as shown, while one side of the airbag is restrained from inflating by the restraint band 4. In order to deflate the airbag, air is simply released through the outlet 13, and the weight of the part or load presses the airbag back into the deflated state.

An alternative actuation means comprising a hydraulic/pneumatic actuator 30 is shown in FIGS. 16 to 20 . The actuator comprises a hydraulic/pneumatic cylinder 31 with a rear connecting ring 32 for mounting the cylinder to the pivot rod 7 . A cylinder rod 33 is extended and retracted relative to the cylinder, and top and bottom actuators 34, 34a are pivotally mounted on the cylinder rod at hinges 35, respectively, and the actuators 34, 34a are preferably respectively pivotally connected to the handle Parts 3, 10 of the device. In the closed position shown in FIG. 18 , the cylinder rod 33 is fully extended from the cylinder 31 and the actuator 34 , 34 a rests flat against the cylinder rod 33 . However, as the cylinder rod 33 retracts into the cylinder 31, the actuators 34, 34a are forced to rotate due to the pivotal connection of the parts 3, 10, as shown in Fig. 19, to assume an open position, thereby forcing the parts 3, 10 separation. This configuration requires the use of hydraulic tanks and electric motors, both located outside the unit and not shown in the diagram.

Another embodiment of a load handling device 40 is shown in Figures 21a-d, which is capable of lifting a load and dumping a load in two directions. In this example, the apparatus includes a top deck 42 for supporting the load, with removable plug-in load safety bars 44, 46 inserted into recesses (not shown). In this example, each of the first pair of outer members 50 comprises a rigid member having a roller 6 pivotally mounted at its first end and pivotally connected at its second end 52. on the countertop. Each of the second pair of inner members 54 includes an upper arm section 56 and a lower arm section 58 respectively, both of equal length and pivotally mounted on the pivot rod 7 . The first pair of outer members 50 are also pivotally mounted on the pivot rod 7 . The free end of the lower arm section 58 contains a ground engaging roller or wheel 6 which is rotatably mounted. The free end of upper arm section 56 includes a rotatably mounted roller or wheel 60 which meets the underside of top table 42 and runs along the latter. A groove (not shown) similar to that shown in Figures 5a and 5b is also provided for running a corresponding roller 60 therein. The grooves help prevent the countertop from tipping at steep angles. A first air bag 64 is provided between the first pair of members 50 and the upper arm 56 of the second pair of members and is attached to the pivot rod. A second air bag 66 is provided between the first pair of members 50 and the lower arm 58 of the second pair of members and is attached to the pivot rod.

With none of the airbags inflated, as shown in Figure 21a, the deck is at its lowest position. Inflating either bag individually, as shown in Figures 21b and 21c, will cause the deck to tilt to the respective side. Filling both airbags with the same amount of air will cause the table to rise vertically. Filling the two airbags with different volumes of air, as shown in Figure 21d, will result in a combination of lifting and tilting of the table top. It will be appreciated that such a deck can be used to lift a load vertically and then tilt to discharge the load onto a raised surface.

A push button controlled air circuit (not shown) is included in the device to provide power to the lifting device.

A modified embodiment of the airbag aspect of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 22a, 22b and 23. FIG. The retrofit air bag 70 is similar to the air bag shown in FIGS. 11 to 15 except for the means for fastening the air bag to the pivot rod 7 . The limiting straps 72 and 74 are connected between the large control sheet 76 and the small sheet 78 by electron beam welding. The ends of the strap 74 are welded to the strap 72 and, in use, fit over the pivot rod to connect the air bag to the lifting device. As shown in Figure 23, there are air bag fastening devices at the corners of the air bag, which help to maintain the symmetry of the air bag and prevent the air bag from deforming during use, thereby improving the performance of the air bag.

In order to connect two airbags to a common pivot rod 7, as required in the embodiment shown in Fig. 21, a modification to the connecting strap shown in Fig. 11 is required, as shown in Figs. 24a and 24b. A suitable modification is that the first airbag is provided with a connecting strap 81 configured to be connected only to the two ends of the pivot rod 7, and the connecting strap 82 of the second airbag is configured to be connected to the middle of the pivot rod and located at the center of the pivot rod. between the first air bag strips. Another convenient modification is to have corresponding zigzag connecting straps 83, 84 engage each other to provide each bag with a more secure connection along the length of the pivot rod.

It can be understood that the features in the various embodiments shown in the figures can be added to each other, used together with each other or used with appropriate modifications to them, which is obvious to those skilled in the art.

Claims (10)

1. A load carrying device comprising at least one first elongated member having load engaging means and at least one second elongated member pivotally connected to said first elongated member, and an actuating means, which is associated with Said first and second elongated members cooperate to vary the angular orientation of said first and second elongated members relative to each other. 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising additional elongate members arranged to transmit movement of said first and second elongate members relative to the load, thereby manipulating the load as desired. 3. The device of claim 1, wherein at least one first member is approximately twice as long as at least one second member. 4. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one first member and the at least one second member are approximately equal in length. 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said at least one first and second components respectively comprise a pair of components, each component of each pair of components being arranged substantially parallel to another of the same pair of components one part, and two pairs of parts are connected together by a pivot rod. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an actuating means comprised of a hydraulic or pneumatic mechanism. 7. The device of claim 6, wherein the actuating means comprises an air bag. 8. The device of claim 7, wherein the air bag is arranged adjacent to the pivot connection point between said first and second members and is configured to cause a distance on the air bag when the air bag is inflated. The distal region furthest from the pivot connection swells to a greater extent, while the proximal region closest to the pivot connection swells to a much lesser degree. 9. An air bag having a plurality of interconnected elements, characterized in that the inflation of the air bag is limited at one edge or location thereof. 10. The load carrier of claim 1, further comprising an air bag of claim 9.

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