TWI863763B - Log transporter - Google Patents

Abstract

A log transporter includes a main unit, a baffle unit, and a transfer unit. The baffle unit includes a guide frame pivotally mounted on the main unit, a tilting mechanism capable of driving the guide frame to tilt forward and backward relative to the main unit, a lifting seat arranged on the guide frame, and a lifting mechanism capable of driving the lifting seat to move up and down. The transfer unit includes a mounting base pivotally mounted on the lifting seat, a rotating mechanism capable of driving the mounting base to rotate relative to the lifting seat, two slides arranged on the mounting base, an actuating mechanism capable of driving the slides to move closer to or farther from each other, and two transporting components detachably arranged on the slides. The present invention can transfer, stack and discharge logs at multiple angles, thereby meeting various stacking or discharge requirements.

Description

Log transporter

The present invention relates to a log transporter, and in particular to a log transporter which can be used for mushroom cultivation operations.

Log cultivation technology is a method of mushroom cultivation. The main method of operation is to saw the log into multiple sections, forming multiple sections of about 100 to 120 cm long and weighing 30 to 50 kg, and push them in a tic-tac-toe pattern to dehydrate. Then, holes are made on the logs with a punching device, and the fungus is inoculated into the holes, and then the holes are covered and waxed. The logs inoculated with the fungus will be transferred to a suitable place for fungus cultivation, and during the fungus cultivation period, the logs need to be stood up and turned over. Finally, when the mushroom mycelium in the logs is about to produce mushrooms, they need to be transferred to a suitable place and arranged in a herringbone pattern.

In the above cultivation process, logs need to be frequently moved, placed, and turned over. However, ordinary stackers can only lift objects up and down, so they can only place logs horizontally, and cannot complete the herringbone arrangement operation that requires tilting logs. In addition, ordinary stackers cannot extract one of the logs on the lower layer to exchange with the logs on the upper layer, so they cannot complete the stacking operation. Therefore, the above operations can only be completed manually, but the logs are heavy and numerous, and the operation is very time-consuming and labor-intensive, and there is still room for improvement.

Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a transport device that can be applied to the log mushroom cultivation operation.

Therefore, the log transporter of the present invention comprises a main body unit, a support unit, and a transfer unit. The support unit comprises a guide frame pivotally mounted on the main body unit and extending upward, a tilting mechanism that can be controlled to drive the guide frame to tilt forward and backward relative to the main body unit, a lifting seat arranged on the guide frame, and a lifting mechanism that can be controlled to drive the lifting seat to move up and down.

The transfer unit includes a mounting base pivotally mounted on the lifting base, a rotation mechanism that can be controlled to drive the mounting base to rotate relative to the lifting base along a rotation axis parallel to the front-rear direction, two slides that are spaced apart from each other on the mounting base, an actuating mechanism that can drive the slides to approach or move away from each other along the mounting base, and two transporting mechanisms that are detachably mounted on the slides.

The effect of the present invention is that the transporting parts of the present invention can be teeth forks or clamps according to needs. When the transporting parts are teeth forks, multiple logs can be raised or lowered horizontally through the lifting mechanisms, and the angle of the guide frame can be adjusted through the tilting mechanism. When raising the logs, it can be tilted back to prevent the logs from rolling down, and when lowering the logs, it can be tilted forward to facilitate the placement of the logs, so that general log stacking needs can be met. When the handling devices are clamping claws, the actuating mechanism can drive the handling devices to clamp a single log. By rotating the mounting base, the log can be rotated (the rotation axis coincides with its own axis) or flipped (the rotation axis is perpendicular to its own axis) along two rotational degrees of freedom, so that the log can be moved flexibly at multiple angles. In this way, the log can be tilted and placed upright to complete a herringbone arrangement, or the log can be moved by extraction to simply complete the stacking operation.

Referring to FIG. 1 , an embodiment of the log transporter of the present invention comprises a main unit 1, a support unit 2 disposed on the main unit 1, a transfer unit 3 disposed on the support unit 2, and a control unit 4. The main unit 1 comprises a vehicle body 11, and a walking mechanism 12 disposed on the vehicle body 11 and capable of driving the vehicle body 11 to move. The walking mechanism 12 may be a track wheel set as shown in the present embodiment, or may be a general wheel body.

Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4, the bracket unit 2 includes a guide frame 21 pivotally connected to the front end of the vehicle body 11 and extending upward, a tilt mechanism 22 disposed on the vehicle body 11 and connected to the guide frame 21, a lifting seat 23 disposed on the guide frame 21 movably up and down, and a lifting mechanism 24 disposed on the guide frame 21. The tilt mechanism 22 has an electric cylinder 221 disposed on the main unit 1 in an inclined manner along the up and down direction and connected to the guide frame 21. Through the extension and contraction of the electric cylinder 221, the guide frame 21 can be pushed forward to tilt forward, or pulled backward to tilt backward. The lifting seat 23 has four guide wheels 231 embedded in the guide frame 21, so that it can move up and down smoothly along the guide frame 21. The lifting mechanism 24 has a hydraulic cylinder 241 with a bottom end mounted on the guide frame 21, a sprocket 242 pivotally mounted on the top of the hydraulic cylinder 241 and with a rotation axis parallel to the left and right directions, and a chain (not shown) passing through the sprocket 242 and having two ends respectively fixed to the lifting seat 23 and the guide frame 21. The two ends of the chain connecting the lifting seat 23 and the guide frame 21 are lower than the middle section passing through the sprocket 242. The hydraulic cylinder 241 can extend and retract up and down to drive the sprocket 242 to move up and down. The sprocket 242 pushes and pulls the chain, and the guide frame 21 is not pulled, so that the end of the chain connected to the guide frame 21 becomes a fixed end, and the end connected to the lifting seat 23 becomes a movable end that can move up and down, so that the lifting seat 23 can move up and down along the guide frame 21. It should be particularly noted that although the lifting mechanism 24 can also use a motor and a screw to achieve a similar effect, this configuration method will have the problem that the motor occupies too much space and causes the overall volume to be larger.

Referring to Figs. 1, 3, and 4, the transfer unit 3 includes a mounting base 31 pivotally mounted on the lifting base 23, a rotation mechanism 32 that can be controlled to drive the mounting base 31 to rotate relative to the lifting base 23 along a rotation axis parallel to the front-rear direction, two slides 33 that are spaced apart from each other on the mounting base 31, an actuating mechanism 34 that can drive the slides 33 to approach or move away from each other along the mounting base 31, and two transporting mechanisms 35 (not shown in Fig. 3) that are detachably mounted on the slides 33. The mounting base 31 has a frame 312 that surrounds and defines a guide slot 311 extending along its length, and a screw 313 that is rotatably mounted on the frame 312 and located in the guide slot 311. The rotating mechanism 32 has a rotating motor 321 that can drive the seat frame 312 to rotate relative to the lifting seat 23. The slides 33 are arranged on the screw rod 313. The actuating mechanism 34 has a clamping motor 341 that can drive the screw rod 313 to rotate. When the screw rod 313 rotates, the slides 33 are driven to approach or move away from each other along the guide groove 311.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 5 , the control unit 4 includes an electric control box 41 for outputting signals to actuate the electric cylinder 221, the hydraulic cylinder 241, the rotary motor 321, and the clamping motor 341, and an operation interface 42 connected to the electric control box 41 by signals. The electric control box 41 can control the electric cylinder 221, the hydraulic cylinder 241, and the rotary motor 321 through the internally installed driver 411, thereby accurately controlling the tilt angle, lifting height, and rotation angle. At the same time, the electric control box 41 can also control the clamping motor 341 through the internally installed relay 412, so that the handling mechanisms 35 remain in a clamped or released state. The operation interface 42 can be disposed on the vehicle body 11, or can be designed as a wired or wireless remote control.

Referring to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 , the transporting parts 35 can be tooth forks 351 or clamps 352 (as shown in FIG. 1 ) according to the operation requirements. When the transporting parts 35 are tooth forks 351, they can be used to carry one or more horizontally placed logs A (one log is used as an example in FIG. 7 ), and these logs A can be lifted or lowered horizontally through the lifting mechanism 24 to complete the general log stacking operation. At the same time, the tilting mechanism 22 can adjust the angle of the guide frame 21 to prevent the logs A from rolling by tilting backward, or to facilitate the placement of the logs A by tilting forward. The present invention highly integrates various power parts to achieve a compact configuration and effectively reduce the overall volume. By adjusting the slides 33, the tooth forks 351 can be translated left and right, so that the distance between the tooth forks 351 can be changed according to needs to adapt to various different operating requirements.

Referring to FIG. 1 , FIG. 8 , and FIG. 9 , when the handling components 35 are clamping claws 352 , each clamping claw 352 may have a claw body 353 and a plurality of pads 354 protruding from the inner surface of the claw body 353 facing the other clamping claw 352 . The pads 354 may be used to contact the logs and prevent them from being damaged. The actuating mechanism 34 can drive the transporting parts 35 to clamp a log A. When the mounting base 31 is not rotated and the length direction is parallel to the horizontal plane, the transporting parts 35 are spaced left and right, so that they can be used to clamp one end of the log A as shown in FIG8 , so that the log A can be pulled out from the tic-tac-toe stacking alone and exchanged with the logs on the upper layer to complete the stacking, or the clamped end of the log A is raised and the unclamped end is on the ground, so that the log A is tilted in the vertical direction. When the mounting base 31 is rotated and the length direction is perpendicular to the horizontal plane, the transporting parts 35 are spaced up and down, so that the center of gravity of the log A can be clamped as shown in FIG9 . By driving the mounting base 31 to rotate relative to the lifting base 23 through the rotary motor 321, the wood segment A can also be tilted. Then, the wood segment A can be placed upright on the ground with a tilt and against other cross woods through the lifting mechanism 24, thereby completing a herringbone discharging operation that cannot be achieved by a general forklift.

In summary, the present invention can lift multiple logs through the teeth fork 351, and can also clamp a single log through the clamping claw 352. The design that the handling mechanism 35 can be replaced as needed greatly improves versatility. The present invention can flexibly complete various operations such as herringbone standing or turning piles through the mobility of multiple degrees of freedom such as lifting, tilting, and rotating. At the same time, it can stably transport logs with a diameter of about 15 to 40 cm and a weight of about 30 to 50 kg, achieving the effect of saving time and labor and avoiding the safety problems of manual handling, so it can indeed achieve the purpose of the present invention.

However, the above is only an example of the implementation of the present invention, and it should not be used to limit the scope of the implementation of the present invention. All simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention and the content of the patent specification are still within the scope of the patent of the present invention.

1: Main unit 11: Car body 12: Travel mechanism 2: Baffle unit 21: Guide frame 22: Tilt mechanism 221: Electric cylinder 23: Lifting seat 231: Guide wheel 24: Lifting mechanism 241: Hydraulic cylinder 242: Chain wheel 3: Transfer unit 31: Mounting base 311: Guide groove 312: Seat frame 313: Screw 32: Rotary mechanism 321: Rotary motor 33: Slide table 34: Actuating mechanism 341: Clamping motor 35: Handling mechanism 351: Tooth fork 352: Clamping claw 353: Claw body 354: Pad body 4: Control unit 41: Electric control box 411: Driver 412: Relay 42: Operation interface A: Wood

Other features and functions of the present invention will be clearly presented in the implementation method with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a three-dimensional diagram, which is an embodiment of the log handling machine of the present invention, and the two handling parts are the state of the claws; Figure 2 is a side view cross-sectional diagram, illustrating the side view cross-sectional state of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a front view, illustrating the front view state of Figure 1 when the handling parts are not installed; Figure 4 is an incomplete top view cross-sectional diagram, illustrating a transfer unit in Figure 1; Figure 5 is a schematic diagram, illustrating a control unit in the embodiment; Figure 6 is a three-dimensional diagram, illustrating the state of the handling parts of the embodiment when they are tooth forks; Figure 7 is a schematic diagram, illustrating an example of the use of the handling parts of the embodiment when they are tooth forks; FIG8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of use when the transporting parts of the embodiment are clamping claws; and FIG9 is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of use when the transporting parts of the embodiment are clamping claws.

1: Main unit

11: Car body

12: Walking mechanism

2: Guard unit

21: Guide frame

23: Lifting seat

231: Guide wheel

24: Lifting mechanism

241: Hydraulic cylinder

242: Sprocket

3: Transfer unit

31: Install the base

311:Guide groove

312: Seat frame

313: Screw

33: Slide table

34: Actuating mechanism

341: Clamping motor

35: Moving machinery

352: Clamping claws

353: Claw body

354: Pad

4: Control unit

41:Electrical control box

Claims (10)

A log transporter comprises: a main body unit; a baffle unit, including a guide frame pivotally mounted on the main body unit and extending upward, a tilting mechanism that can be controlled to drive the guide frame to tilt forward and backward relative to the main body unit, a lifting seat arranged on the guide frame, and a lifting mechanism that can be controlled to drive the lifting seat to move up and down; and A transfer unit includes a mounting base pivotally mounted on the lifting base, a rotation mechanism that can be controlled to drive the mounting base to rotate relative to the lifting base along a rotation axis parallel to the front-rear direction, two slides spaced apart from each other on the mounting base, an actuating mechanism that can drive the slides to move closer to or farther away from each other along the mounting base, and two detachable transporting mechanisms that are respectively mounted on the slides. A log handling machine as described in claim 1, wherein each handling component of the transfer unit is a tooth fork extending downward and forward from a corresponding slide. A log handling machine as described in claim 1, wherein each handling component of the transfer unit is a clamping claw extending forward from a corresponding slide. A log handling machine as described in claim 3, wherein each handling component of the transfer unit has a claw body and a plurality of pads protruding from the inner surface of the claw body facing the other clamping claw. A log transporter as described in claim 1, wherein the tilting mechanism of the baffle unit has at least one electric cylinder which is arranged on the main unit in an inclined manner along the up-down direction and connected to the guide frame. A log transporter as described in claim 1, wherein the lifting mechanism of the baffle unit comprises a hydraulic cylinder with its bottom end arranged on the guide frame, a sprocket pivoted at the top end of the hydraulic cylinder and with its rotation axis parallel to the left-right direction, and a chain passing through the sprocket and having its two ends respectively fixed to the lifting seat and the guide frame. A log transporter as described in claim 1, wherein the rotating mechanism of the transfer unit has a rotating motor that drives the mounting base to rotate relative to the lifting base. A log transporter as described in claim 1, wherein the mounting base of the transfer unit has a frame surrounding a guide groove extending in the length direction, and a screw rotatably disposed on the frame and located in the guide groove, the slides can be driven on the screw, and the actuating mechanism has a clamping motor that can drive the screw to rotate. When the screw rotates, it drives the slides to move closer to or farther away from each other along the guide groove. A log transporter as described in claim 1, wherein the main unit includes a vehicle body with a front end for mounting the guide frame, and a walking mechanism disposed on the vehicle body and capable of driving the vehicle body to move. The log transporter as described in claim 1 also includes a control unit arranged on the main unit, the control unit includes an electric control box for outputting signals to activate the tilting mechanism, the lifting mechanism, the rotating mechanism, and the actuating mechanism, and an operating interface connected to the electric control box by signals.

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