GB2168025A - Handling device - Google Patents

Abstract

A handling device comprises a horizontal boom (11) with an extendable vertical leg (12) suitable for attachment to the sliding carriage (6) of a fork-lift truck (1). The boom (11) can be positioned by the fork-truck (11) over a large and heavy cargo, e.g. a container (15), so that leg extension (19) can be extended to rest on the far side of the cargo on foot (13). The cargo (15) may be attached to the boom (11) by links (18) and then by simultaneous extention of the leg (12) and raising of the carriage (6), the cargo (15) which may be beyond the lifting capacity of the fork-truck (1) alone, can be lifted. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Handling device This invention relates to the field of materials handling machines which are used throughout industry for handling any item requiring movement from one position to another. The movement may be a substantially vertical or horizontal lift or any directional combination.

One of the most common handling machines in use today is the fork lift truck which is typified by a motorised wheeled vehicle having a number of steel tynes projecting horizontally from the body of the vehicle. The tynes are mounted on a carriage which may be moved up and down by some powerful means such as by hydraulic rams within a number of captivating vertical rails. The tynes may be placed under a load, for example a heavy crate and by raising the carriage, the tynes are lifted taking with them the crate. The tynes are cantilevered from the carriage so that the lifting capacity of the fork truck is ultimately limited by the degree to which the weight of the vehicle counterbalances the load on the tynes.

If the load is placed close into the body of the vehicle, then a greater load may be lifted before the counterbalancing effect of the vehicle is overcome. But to carry the load close in to the body may be inconvenient since often it is desirable to be able to reach out some distance to place or pick up the load. The conventional solution to enable the handling of a heavier load at perhaps a greater reach from the body of the vehicle is to use a heavier fork truck with higher lifting strength, which necessarily results in more expense in the purchase and operation of the higher rated truck.

There are other handling devices which have cantilevered lifting means such as cranes, digging machines, and self loading road trailers which have the same limitations and cost implications.

Other handling devices such as gantry cranes which straddle their cargo may often not be useable because access to both sides of the cargo is necessary yet this access may be restricted. In many cases, the handling machines are designed to perform one or two specific functions only such as vertical lift and transport.

The present invention provides the means whereby the handling capacity of existing handling machines may be increased and mayprovide additional operating functions.

According to the invention there is provided a boom which is at one end attached to and supported by an existing handling machine and at the other end is supported by a structure which is itself supported by the ground or other suitable support thereby forming a gantry comprising the handling machine, the boom and the supporting structure. The invention may then provide movement means either independently or in conjunction with the existing handling machine to lift and lower, slew, transport, tilt, slide or other movement as required.

Several embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows the side elevation of a lift truck with fork tynes attached.

Figure 2 shows a side elevation of the same lift truck with a boom and leg attachment, in the raised position.

Figure 3 shows a similar view to Figure 2 with the boom lowered over a container.

Figure 4 shows a similar view to Figure 3 with the boom raised together with the container.

Figure 5 shows a similar view to Figure 3 with a wheel attached to the leg and the container raised.

Figure 6 shows a similar view to Figure 5 but with a moveable leg arrangement.

Figure 7 shows a plan view of a lift truck with twin boom arrangement and wheeled legs, positioned over a container.

Figure 8 shows a similar plan view to Figure 7 with the wheels of the legs rotated and two alternative positions of the boom.

Figure 9 shows a side elevation of a lift truck and the boom and a container tilted in one of the operational positions.

Figure 10 shows a side elevation of a lift truck with a boom having an intermediate leg support and container hanging from the boom end.

Figure ii shows a side elevation of a lift truck working in conjunction with a second device to handle the boom.

Figure 12 shows a plan view of the lift truck with the boom straddling a container.

Referring to the drawings, in figure 1 there is illustrated a typical lift truck 1 characterised by a chassis 2, front wheels 4 and rear wheels 3. Over the rear wheels 3 there is secured a substantial weight 8 to counterbalance loads 'A' placed on the tynes 7. At the front of the truck 1 there is a mast 5 which may be extended telescopically vertically to position 5'. Mounted slideably within the mast 5 is a carriage 6 which can move with the telescopic mast 5 to position 6' and be moved vertically within the mast 5 by hydraulic rams or other powerful lifting means. Fork tynes 7 are hung on to the carriage 6 from integral hooks 16 at their top end.

The centre of gravity of the lift truck 1 is indicated by number 9 and the weight of the truck acts downwards in the direction of arrow C through the centre of gravity 9. The lift truck rests on firm ground 10.

In operation a load A indicated by arrow A may be lifted by tynes 7. The load A and the weight of the lift truck acting at arrow C combine to cause a reaction B at the front wheels 4. The maximum load A which may be lifted is that which balances the weight of the lift truck 1 acting at the centre of gravity 9 about the front wheels 4. Any further load at A will cause a greater moment about the front wheels 4 and the cause lift truck 1 to tip forward.

Similarly, if the load A is moved along the tynes 7 away from the lift truck 1 and its wheels 4, the greater will be the moment about the wheels 4 for a given load A thereby limiting the capacity of the lift truck 1 to lift heavy or bulky loads.

In figure 2 a lift truck 1 has had the tynes 7 re moved and a boom 11 is attached to the carriage 6 by clamping devices 14 and 17. The boom 11 is constructed of fabricated steel or other suitable material and is robust and ridgid whilst being relatively light in weight to its carrying capacity. At the free end of the boom 11 is a leg 12 of similar construction to the boom 11 with foot 13. A container 15 representing cargo to be lifted which in practice may be of any shape or size within the geometric and strength capacity of the invention is shown resting on the ground 10. The boom 11 and leg 12 are in the raised position so that as the lift truck 1 drives along towards the container 15, the foot 13 clears the top of the container 15 by a distance D.

In figure 3, the boom 11 is lowered near to the container 15 so that links 18 may be attached to the container 15 and the boom 11. The links 18 might comprise robust chains or slings or ridgid members as required. The foot 13 can be seen clear of the ground 10. If the combined moment caused by the weight of the container 15, boom 11 and leg 12 does not exceed the capacity of the truck 1, then the container may be lifted and transported by the truck 1. If however the said moment is so great as to cause tipping of the truck 1 about the wheels 4, then further support to the container load may be provided by extending the foot 13 to the ground 10 as shown in figure 4.

In figure 4 the leg 12 has an extension 19 with foot 13 at its end. The extension 19 may be made by a variety of means and mechanisms such as telescopic devices, arms with pivotal movement, hydraulic rams, linear activators and the like all of which are of known prior art from other machines with lifting components. in the present example, it is envisiaged that the leg 12 will have a telescopic extension 19 coming out from the leg 12 powered by hydraulic rams not shown. Pressure and supply of the necessary hydraulic fluid might come from the pump and supply of the truck 1 itself or from a supply built into the boom 11 and leg 12, delivered by suitable control valves and pipework.

The extension 19 and carriage 6 may be raised together thereby lifting the boom 11 and container 15 via links 18. Because the leg 12 and mast 5 share the load of container 15, the combined lifting capacity is greater than had the truck 1 been lifting the container 1 on its own. Furthermore, the container 15 is supported in a stable condition between the two supports of leg 12 and mast 5 preventing toppling of the lift truck 1 and making much of the counterbalance weight 8 redundant A trailer 20 with wheels 21 can be rolled under the container 15 and the container 15 lowered down on to it by lowering the carriage 6 and retracting the extension 19 into the leg 12. The links 18 may then be released and the container 15 transported away on the trailer 20.

In figure 5, it may be seen that the foot 13 of figure 4 has been replaced by a wheel 22 which is in this position resting on the ground 10 and the container 15 is raised off the ground 10. By driving the truck 1, the container may be transported to another place. The wheel 22 may be mounted as a trolley wheel so that it follows the direction of travel. If the truck 1 slips on ground 10 due to mud or other reason, it may be desirable to apply additional load on the drive wheels 4. This can be done by attempting to lift the boom 11 via carriage 6 whcih transfers the weight on boom 11 to the wheels 4.

In figure 6 the leg 12 is pivotally attached to the boom 11 by a hinge 23. The leg 12 has a hydraulic ram 24 attached pivotally to its upper end 25. The ram 24 is attached pivotally to the boom 11 at point 26. By extending or contracting the ram 24, the leg 12 may be made to rotate about the hinge 23. In the position shown, the wheel 22 is raised to height greater than the top of the container 15 so that the truck 1 may be driven away clear of the container 15. It should be noted that the height of the upper end 25 of the leg 12 is not much greater than the boom 11 so that if there were some height access restriction over the boom 11 such as the door header 40 of a building, the operation might still take place.

With the boom 11 placed over the container 15, the leg 12 may be lowered through the arc indicated by arrow E until the wheel 22 restes on the ground 10 or other firm support notnecessarily at ground level. Links 18 might then be attached to the container 15 and boom 11. The boom may then be raised by two alternative means. Firstly the ram 24 may be extended further causing the leg 12 to rotate in direction of arrow E towards position of wheel 22' thereby raising the hinge 23 and boom 11. Or alternatively, the wheel 22 may reamin in position 22' and the leg 12 extended by extension 19 as in previous examples. In both examples the carriage 6 might be raised to maintain the boom 11 in a horizontal position.

In figure 7 the truck 1 and booms 11 may be seen in plan view. The booms 11 are attached pivotally to the carriage 6 via a hinge 27. The legs 12 may be seen in dotted line having wheels 12 at their lower ends. A container 15 is seen attached to the booms 11 via links 18 and it is to be assumed that the container 15 is raised above the ground 10 supported by links 18. The truck 1 has wheels 4 and 3. The wheels 3 may be steered so that as the truck 1 is driven along, it may turn corners and by virtue of the hinge 27, the booms 11, legs 12 and wheels 22 follow the path of the truck 1 transporting the container 15.

Alternatively the boom 11 may be split at some midway position and a hinge similar to hinge 27 used to connect the two parts.

In figure 8, a similar plan view of the invention and truck 1 may be seen with the booms 11 shown in two positions indicated by arrows H and J. in this arrangement, the wheels 22 are rotateable from the position 22 shown in dotted line to that shown in full line through an arc indicated by arrow F.

In operation the truck 1 may trail the booms 11 and legs 12 with wheels 22 in dotted line position to position H near to the container 15. A building 28 or other obstruction 29 may prevent the truck 1 from approaching the container 15 from other directions. The wheels 22 are rotated through the arc F aligning the rolling direction of the wheels 22 tangential to the hinge 27. The booms 11 may then be rotated through an arc G thereby passing over the otherwise obstructed container 15. The booms 11 may alternatively be raised so that the wheels 22 do not touch the ground 10 making the arcate movement of the booms 11 easier. Alternatively, the arcate movement of the booms 11 may be made by attachment of motors to the carriage 6 and booms 11 to drive the booms 11 relative to the carriage 6.The said motors may comprise hydraulic rams attached pivotally at each end to the booms 11 and carriage 6.

The container 15 may then be lifted by means already described and by driving the truck 1 forwards be transported away from the obstructions 28,29. Alternatively, the booms 11 may be driven back through arc G by the aforesaid motor means, the wheels 22 realigned with the direction of travel of the truck 1 in position H, and the container 15 so transported away. Some means such as a ridgid tie 41 may be anchored to the truck 1 and boom 11 to hold the position J of the boom 11 relative to the truck 1.

Whereas the hinge 27 has a substantially vertical axis, other axis alignments are envisiaged to suit the operation required of the invention.

In figure 9 it can be seen that the boom 11 is attached pivotally to the carriage 6 by a hinge 30 which allows the carriage 6 to be raised up the mast 5 whilst the foot 13 remains on the ground 10. To avoid straining the foot 13 or cutting into the ground 10, the foot 13 is attached pivotally to the leg 12 by hinge 31. By raising the carriage 6 independently of the leg 12, which may be non-extendible, the boom 11 is seen to tilt relative to the horizontal taking with it the container 15. The links 18 may be provided with enough strength and ridgidity, to tilt the container 15 to a similar angle to thet of the boom 11.In the tilted position, cargo within the container 15 such as granular corn or heavy cartons may be discharged with gravitational assistance through a door 32 in the downmost side of the container 15. Furthermore it can be seen that the container 15 has been raised off the ground 10 from the rest position shown in dotted line 15' simply by means of the raising of the carriage 6 thereby negating operation of a leg extension such as 19. As with the example described in figure 8, the boom 11 may have powered movement about the hinge 30 so that the foot 13 may be raised above the top of container 15 in order to straddle it.Such a movement may be provided by a hydraulic ram pivotally connected between points 38 and 39 on the carriage 6 and boom 11 respectively, which by extension of said ram will force the boom 11 upwards and by contraction of the ram drawing the points 39,39 together, drawing the boom 11 downwards.

Furthermore by operation of said ram, the foot 13 may be lifted off the ground 10 and clear of the top of container 15' resting on the ground 10 without movement of the carriage 6. Thus it may be seen that with such an arrangement with hinge 30 and said ram, lifting of container 15 with boom 11 and leg 12 with extension 19 may take place without the need of a carriage 6 and mast 5. The hinge 30 may be attached to ridgid structure similar to mast 5 attached to the truck 1.

If the container 15 is not to be tilted adjustment of the position of the links 18 may be made perhaps as in figure 10.

In figure 10 it can be seen that the boom 11 is again attached pivotally to the carriage 6 by hinge 30 but that the boom 11 projects beyond the leg 12 by jib 33. A container 15 is seen carried via links 18 attached to the jib 33. The container 15 may be raised and lowered by alternative means. Firstly the carriage 6 may be lowered causing the jib 33 to rotate about the wheel 22 and rise up. Alternatively, the leg 12 may be extended by extension 19 thereby raising the jib 33.

In figure 11, the leg 12 has been dispensed with and there is a mast 34 with sliding carriage 35 similar to the mast 5 and carriage 6 of lift truck 1. The mast 34 in one embodiment of the invention may be attached to a lift truck 36 shown in dotted line similar to truck 1, or may have independent lifting power to raise the carriage 35 up the mast 34. In operation the boom 11 may be disconnected at end 36 from the carriage 35 for transport to the container 15. Once straddling the container 15, the carriage 35 with mast 34 may be connected to the boom 11. Lifting of the carriages 6,35 then takes place to raise the container 15 via links 18 as required. If a second truck 36 is used, the two trucks 36 and 1 may move in tandem to transport the container 15 or position themselves.If the boom 11 is pivotally attached to the carriages 35,6 by hinges similar to hinges 27 and 30, differential lifting and alignment of the boom 11 may take place without bending moments being imposed by one carriage 35 upon the other carriage 6.

Alternatively, sensing devices may incorporated to automatically read and make adjustments to the different lifting rates to maintain the boom 11 in a predetermined angle. Such devices may be provided by valves which control the flow of hydraulic fluid to the lifting rams on each side which valves cut the flow of fluid to the faster actuating lifting ram to allow the lagging ram to compensate.

In figure 12 a larger container 37 which is too bulky to be accomodated under the booms 11 may be carried between the legs 12 seen in dotted line.

It is envisiaged that one, two or more legs 12 may be utilised to suit stability, strength and geomeric requirements. Likewise one or more wheels 22 may be used to suit ground conditions or other needs. The wheels 22 may themselves be powered directly by a motor both for steering and for drive.

Whereas the examples given desribe a boom 11 attached by clamping devices 14,17 or hinges 27,30 to the carriages 6,35 it is envisiaged that the boom 11 may be attached by similar means to the tynes 7 and thereby indirectly to the carriages 6,35. This would save time and effort in removing the tynes 7 before fitting the boom 11. Alternatively it is envisiaged in some arrangements to allow the boom 11 to be attached directly to the carriages 6,35 without removal of the tynes 7.

In a further embodiment, the boom 11 may be attached to the mast 5 or other part of the truck 1 or other lifting machine to stabilise truck 1 or said machine when using its own tynes 7 or lifting device.

The boom 11 in another embodiment may be extendible by telescopic or other means to enable larger containers such as 37 to be accommodated under the boom 11.

The links 18 may be attached to a special lifting frame attached itself to the boom 11 or leg 12 or carriage 6,35 which frame may be designed to interlock with the corner fittings of international freight shipping containers. Or such interlocking devices commonly known as twistlocks in the container shipping industry may be fitted directly to the boom 11 or legs 12 or carriages 6,35 to interlock directly with the corner fittings or location apertures or projections of containers.

It is further envisiaged that the boom 11 may accomodate lifting devices for independent movement from the supporting structure. These might take the form of a crane hoist with trolley mounting to enable a load to be raised up near the boom 11, traverse close in towards the body 2 of the lift truck thereby reducing the moment caused by the load to a level within the capacity of the lift truck so that the load and boom 11 may be lifted clear of the ground for transport. Such an arrangement might be useful for reaching inside a shipping container mounted on the back of a trailer and drawing out the load within.

The boom 11 has been shown in side elevation substantially as a horizontal straight beam but it is envisiaged that a leg similar to leg 12 may be attached to both ends of the boom 11 to provide greater height clearance for loads beneath.

It is envisiaged that the boom 11 may be placed in some arrangements under the load. In this case the leg 12 may project upwards from the boom 11 but the extension 19 project downwards out of the leg 12 as before described.

It is further envisiaged that a purpose built machine free from the massive weights 8 which lift trucks must carry, may be built incorporating part or all of the aforesaid features.

It is envisiaged that any of the aforesaid features may be combined within an embodiment of the invention as required.

Claims (17)

1. A handling machine having attached to it one or more booms which when unladen project from the machine clear of additional support, the projecting part having a support point, the machine having movement means to place the support point of the boom on a supporting surface conveniently near goods to be handled, the boom having holding means for holding the goods to it, and there being lifting means built into either or both the machine and the boom for raising the boom, such that as the boom rises and lifts the goods with it, the weight of the goods is shared by the machine and the support point of the boom.

2. A handling machine as in claim 1 in which the attachment of the boom is by a horizontally aligned pivot to allow movement of the boom in a substantially vertical plane, movement means being provided to raise and lower the boom about the pivot.

3. A handling machine as in claim 1 in which the attachment of the boom is by a vertically aligned pivot to allow the boom to move in a substantially horizontal plane, movement means being provided to slew the boom about the pivot.

4. A handling machine as in claim 1 in which the attachment of the boom is pivotal by a universal joint movement means being provided to raise, lower or slew the boom about the pivot.

5. A handling machine as in claim 4 in which the universal joint comprises a spherical ball and cup joint.

6. A handling machine as in any previous claim in which the the boom comprises a boom with one or more legs attached to it with the support point at the bottom of the legs.

7. A handling machine as in claim 6 in which the leg is pivotally attached to the boom.

8. A handling machine in any previous claim in which the attachment of the boom to the machine is via a carriage mounted on the handling machine for controled planular movement.

9. A handling machine as in any previous claim in which the support point comprises one or more wheels mounted for vehicular movement.

10. A handling machine as in claim 6 and 7 in which the legs incorporate extending means for movement of the support point in a downwards direction such that when the support point contacts a support surface, further extension of the leg lifts the boom.

11. A handling machine as in any previous claims in which the extending means, lifting means, movement means comprise hydraulic rams suitably arranged.

12. A handling machine as in claim 1 to 10 in which the extending means, lifting means, movement means comprise electric motors driving through screws, gear boxes, pulley systems and the like suitably arranged.

13. A handling machine as in any previous claim mounted on wheels for vehicular movement.

14. A handling machine in any previous claim in which pivotal movement of the boom is restricted by abutments so placed as to limit the rotation.

15. A handling machine in any previous claim comprising an existing machine with boom attachments suitably adapted.

16. A handling machine as in claims 1,6 to 13 and 15 in which the attachment of the boom is a rigid attachment.

17. A handling machine as herein described or illustrated.