GB1599058A - Storage apparatus - Google Patents

Description

(54) STORAGE APPARATUS (71) We, BINKS-BuLLows LIMITED, a British Company, of Pelsall Road, Brownhills, Walsall, West Midlands, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a Patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it Is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to storage apparatus which is intended for use in storing elongated flexible articles, such as, for example, hoses which are used in spray booths.

One such apparatus forms the subject matter of our prior Patent No. 1,138,372 and as described therein is arranged to store a plurality of hoses or other elongated flexible articles in a cabinet or housing, one of such hoses or other articles however always being withdrawn from the cabinet or housing at any given time. This means that although most of the hoses or other articles will be stored within the cabinet or housing and will therefore be protected from damage and will also be prevented from becoming entangled with each other there will nevertheless be one hose or other article which will be exposed and which may therefore be subject to damage. Furthermore, with the apparatus described in the abovementioned Patent, a selected hose or other article is withdrawn manually from its stored position, such withdrawal resulting in the retraction of a previously withdrawn hose.

The manual effort required to withdraw a hose or other article in this way may, however, be considerable. The object of the present invention is to provide an improved storage apparatus for storing a plurality of elongated flexible articles in which all of said articles may be stowed away if desired and in which power-assisted means is provided so as to reduce or eliminate the manual effort required.

In accordance with the invention there is provided storage apparatus for storing a plurality of elongated flexible articles which each have a fixed end and a free end, said apparatus comprising a housing, a plurality of carriages mounted within the housing for reciprocable movement therein in parallel planes, each of said carriages having an article-engaging member around which an elongated flexible article is looped and being connected at opposite ends to cable means which extends around a pair of sheaves disposed respectively at opposite ends of the housing, movement of a carriage within the housing being accompanied by a shortening or lengthening of that part of the associated elongated flexible article which lies between its fixed end and the carriage and movement of the associated cable means around its pair of sheaves, there being also provided a carriage return member which extends across said housing and which is also reciprocable within the housing in a plane parallel to the planes in which said carriages can reciprocate, said member being connected to power-actuated means arranged to move said member in at least one direction of movement, each of said cable means having stop means which, when the associated carriage is at one end of its travel, is engageable by said carriage return member when the latter is moved by said power-actuated means so as to return said carriage to the other end of its travel.

Conveniently, said power-actuated means comprises a piston and cylinder unit which may be actuated by compressed air or other pressurised fluid.

The invention will now be more particu larly described with reference to the accom panying drawings wherein Figure 1 is an elevational view of one example of storage apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention, Figure 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is an end view looking in the direction of arrow 'A' of the apparatus seen in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, the apparatus shown therein is designed to store apurallty of elongated flexible articles in the form of hoses which are used in a spray booth although it is of course to be understood that apparatus in accordance with the inven tion could be used for the storage of other kinds of elongated flexible articles as well.

In the case of the application now described however the plurality of hoses provided in or adjacent to a spray booth would be connected respectively in use to a plurality of containers containing paints of different colours so that articles in the spray booth can be painted with any desired colour of paint by attaching a spray gun to the appropriate hose.

As shown in the drawings there is provided a housing 10 within which is mounted a plurality of carriages 11 arranged for reciprocable movement in parallel planes within the housing. Conveniently the housing itself is arranged in a vertical orientation so that each carriage 11 can move upwardly and downwardly within the housing. Each carriage comprises a pair of side plates 12 and 13 between which is mounted an article engaging member in the form of a freely rotatable pulley or sheave 14 and the carriage may also be provided with one or more peripheral rollers 15 which are adapted to engage the adjacent interior surface of the housing 10 so that the carriage can move easily therein. Each carriage is associated with one of said hoses 16 whereby the hose is looped around said carriage sheave 14, one end 16a of the hose being fixed and being connected in use to a container (not shown) as aforesaid whereas the other end 1 6b of the hose projects through the housing 10 and passes over convenient guide means 17, said other end 16b being free and being adapted to be attached to a spray gun when required.

Furthermore each of said carriages 11 is connected to cable means which extends around a pair of sheaves 18 and 19 disposed respectively at the upper and lower ends of the housing. Said cable means may in fact be formed from a pair of cables 20 and 21 and in this event one end of the cable 20 is attached to the upper end of the associated carriage 11, this cable then extending upwardly over the associated sheave 18 in the housing and then downwardly over said sheave. The other cable 21 is connected to the lower edge of the associated carriage 11 and passes downwardly to the lower of said associated pair of sheaves 19, round the sheave and then passes upwardly towards the depending art of the cable 20. The adj acent ends of the two cables are then joined together by means of a spring 22 which acts as a tensioning device.

There are thus provided within the housing a plurality of carriages 11 which are each connected to cable means 20, 21 passing around a pair of sheaves 18, 19 mounted respectively in the upper and lower ends of the housing. Conveniently all of the lower sheaves 19 are mounted on a common lower shaft 23 which extends across the width of the housing, said sheaves 19 being rotatable on said shaft. Similarly the upper sheaves 18 around which the plurality of cable means extend are also mounted on a common upper shaft 24 which extends across the width of the housing, said upper sheaves 18 also being freely rotatable on said upper shaft. Furthermore there is provided a stop 25 which is secured to each of said cable means and conveniently the stop may be disposed immediately beneath the aforementioned tensioning spring 22.

There is also provided a carriage return member 26 which extends across the width of the apparatus, and said member 26 comprises alength of angle iron which is formed with a plurality of spaced apertures through which said cables 21 respectively pass. Said carriage return member 26 is connected at each end to an endless chain 27 or 28 and each of said endless chains extends around a pair of vertically spaced sprockets 29 and 30 mounted respectively on said lower and upper shafts 23 and 24. Furthermore one of said endless chains, namely chain 28, is connected to another cable 31 whose opposite ends are connected respectively to the cylinder and piston of an air actuated piston and cylinder unit 32 whereby relative movement of the piston within the cylinder will result in longitudinal movement of the associated cable 31 and corresponding movement of the endless chain 28, and, through such movement of said endless chain, movement of the carriage return member 26. Conveniently actuation of the piston and cylinder unit 32 is effected from a valve 33 which is disposed on or adjacent to the spray gun.

Apparatus as above described may be mounted in a position in which it lies substantially below the spray booth with which it is to be used. In such an arrangement and with the apparatus not in use all the carriages 11 will initially be in their lowermost positions in which they are disposed adjacent to the bottom of the housing 10 and conveniently the carriages can be arranged to assume such lowermost positions by actuating the piston and cylinder unit 32.

When it is required to withdraw one of the hoses 16 from the apparatus for use with a spray gun the free end of the appropriate hose is pulled outwardly so that the associated carriage 11 will also move upwardly within the housing. At the same time the cables 20, 21 attached to said carriage 11 will move around its associated sheaves 18, 19 and the associated tension spring 22 will move downwardly towards the carriage return member 26 which, initially will be in its lowermost position (as seen in the drawings), the calve21 moving through the appropriate aperture in said carriage return member 26. When it is desired to retract said withdrawn hose 16 into the housing 10 when work has finished or when it is desired to change the spray gun to another hose the aforementioned valve 33 on or adjacent to the spray gun is actuated to connect a main supply of air to a changeover valve 34 mounted on the housing 10 and said changeover valve is then operated to admit compressed air to one end of said piston and cylinder unit 32. The piston in said cylinder then moves in one direction to move the attached cable 31 and associated endless chains 27 and 28 and carriage return member 26 upwardly. Said carriage return member will then engage the stop 25 on the cable 21 associated with the hose that has been pulled out (such stop having previously moved downwardly towards the carriage return member 26 as the hose was withdrawn) thereby returning said stop to its upper position and having the effect of moving said cables 20 and 21 in the reverse direction and lowering the associated carriage 11. The hose 16 looped round the sheave 14 of said carriage 11 will then be withdrawn into the housing 10 so that that part of the hose lying between its fixed end 1 6a and the associated carriage which will have previously been shortened as the hose is pulled out will now be lengthened. When the carriage 11 has reached its lowermost position so that the hose is fully withdrawn the aforementioned control valve 33 will be released and the changeover valve 34 will then resume its original position in which the aforesaid piston and cylinder unit 32 is connected to atmosphere and this will enable the piston to return to its original position under control of a restrictor connected to the cylinder under the influence of the carriage return member 26 which will slowly return to its lowermost position ready for a further actuation when it is desired to retract another hose which has been pulled out.

In another application an apparatus formed as above described can be inverted and mounted for example above the associated spray booth and in this case each carriage 11 would be at the upper end of the housing when the associated hose 26 is in its stowed or withdrawn position. To this end each carriage 11 and its associated cable means 20 and 21 would be appropriately weighted to ensure that the carriage does in fact return to said uppermost position when the associated hose is not in use.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. Storage apparatus for storing a plurality of elongated flexible articles which each have a fixed end and a free end, said apparatus comprising a housing, a plurality of carriages mounted within the housing for reciprocable movement therein in parallel planes, each of said carriages having an article-engaging member around which an elongated flexible article is looped and being connected at opposite ends to cable means which extends around a pair of sheaves disposed respectively at opposite ends of the housing, movement of a carriage within the housing being accompanied by a shortening or lengthening of that part of the associated elongated flexible article which lies between its fixed end and the carriage and movement of the associated cable means around its pair of sheaves, there being also provided a carriage return member which extends across said housing and which is also reciprocable within the housing in a plane parallel to the planes in which said carriages can reciprocate, said member being connected to power-actuated means arranged to move said member in at least one direction of movement, each of said cable means having stop means which, when the associated carriage is at one end of its travel, is engageable by said carriage return member when the latter is moved by said power-actuated means so as to return said carriage to the other end of its travel.

2. Storage apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said power-actuated means comprises a fluid-pressure actuated piston and cylinder unit.

3. Storage apparatus as claimed in either of the preceding claims wherein each of said cable means includes a tension spring.

4. Storage apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said carriage return member is provided with a plurality of apertures through which said cable means connected to said carriages respectively extend.

5. Storage apparatus for storing a plurality of elongated flexible articles, said apparatus being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (5)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. said withdrawn hose 16 into the housing 10 when work has finished or when it is desired to change the spray gun to another hose the aforementioned valve 33 on or adjacent to the spray gun is actuated to connect a main supply of air to a changeover valve 34 mounted on the housing 10 and said changeover valve is then operated to admit compressed air to one end of said piston and cylinder unit 32. The piston in said cylinder then moves in one direction to move the attached cable 31 and associated endless chains 27 and 28 and carriage return member 26 upwardly. Said carriage return member will then engage the stop 25 on the cable 21 associated with the hose that has been pulled out (such stop having previously moved downwardly towards the carriage return member 26 as the hose was withdrawn) thereby returning said stop to its upper position and having the effect of moving said cables 20 and 21 in the reverse direction and lowering the associated carriage 11. The hose 16 looped round the sheave 14 of said carriage 11 will then be withdrawn into the housing 10 so that that part of the hose lying between its fixed end 1 6a and the associated carriage which will have previously been shortened as the hose is pulled out will now be lengthened. When the carriage 11 has reached its lowermost position so that the hose is fully withdrawn the aforementioned control valve 33 will be released and the changeover valve 34 will then resume its original position in which the aforesaid piston and cylinder unit 32 is connected to atmosphere and this will enable the piston to return to its original position under control of a restrictor connected to the cylinder under the influence of the carriage return member 26 which will slowly return to its lowermost position ready for a further actuation when it is desired to retract another hose which has been pulled out. In another application an apparatus formed as above described can be inverted and mounted for example above the associated spray booth and in this case each carriage 11 would be at the upper end of the housing when the associated hose 26 is in its stowed or withdrawn position. To this end each carriage 11 and its associated cable means 20 and 21 would be appropriately weighted to ensure that the carriage does in fact return to said uppermost position when the associated hose is not in use. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. Storage apparatus for storing a plurality of elongated flexible articles which each have a fixed end and a free end, said apparatus comprising a housing, a plurality of carriages mounted within the housing for reciprocable movement therein in parallel planes, each of said carriages having an article-engaging member around which an elongated flexible article is looped and being connected at opposite ends to cable means which extends around a pair of sheaves disposed respectively at opposite ends of the housing, movement of a carriage within the housing being accompanied by a shortening or lengthening of that part of the associated elongated flexible article which lies between its fixed end and the carriage and movement of the associated cable means around its pair of sheaves, there being also provided a carriage return member which extends across said housing and which is also reciprocable within the housing in a plane parallel to the planes in which said carriages can reciprocate, said member being connected to power-actuated means arranged to move said member in at least one direction of movement, each of said cable means having stop means which, when the associated carriage is at one end of its travel, is engageable by said carriage return member when the latter is moved by said power-actuated means so as to return said carriage to the other end of its travel.

2. Storage apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said power-actuated means comprises a fluid-pressure actuated piston and cylinder unit.

3. Storage apparatus as claimed in either of the preceding claims wherein each of said cable means includes a tension spring.

4. Storage apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said carriage return member is provided with a plurality of apertures through which said cable means connected to said carriages respectively extend.

5. Storage apparatus for storing a plurality of elongated flexible articles, said apparatus being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.