WO1995001299A1

WO1995001299A1 - Lifting equipment

Info

Publication number: WO1995001299A1
Application number: PCT/EP1994/002124
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bruno Mietto
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-07-01
Filing date: 1994-06-29
Publication date: 1995-01-12
Anticipated expiration: 1996-01-01
Also published as: IT1270786B; ITVI930115A0; AU7384294A; ITVI930115A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a lifting apparatus for packaged materials (3), comprising a reticulated structure suitable for being arranged outside said package (3) and provided with at least one pair of jaws (4) moved by means of linkages (5) that can be hung up by means of elements for the connection with the hook (6) of a lifting apparatus. Said linkages (5) push said jaws (4) against said package (3) until they adhere to it, so that the package can be lifted by hoisting the hook (6) of said lifting equipment.

Description

LIFTING EQUIPMENT

The invention concerns an apparatus particularly suitable for lifting stacked and packaged materials, for example building materials like bricks, perforated bricks, blocks, roof tiles and the like. It is known that building materials such as tiles and the like are sold in packages obtained by means of straps or of a sheath made of thermoretracted material.

When said packages reach the building yards, they are moved to the different areas where they must be used and forked on forks, sometimes of self-levelling type, which are hooked to lifting devices. The forking of packaged materials is possible and easy to carry out only if said materials are arranged on pallets, otherwise it is extremely difficult. In some cases the forking is difficult even if the materials are arranged on pallets and this happens if the pallets are short, which makes it difficult to insert the forks.

Further, to comply with the accident prevention rules, according to which when handled the load must be provided with protections to prevent it from falling, some manufacturers have implemented cages that can be moved and hooked to the forks and serve for protecting the lifted material.

These protection cages, however, aren't comfortable to use, so that, even if they are available in the building yards, the workers hardly ever use them due to the fact that they are difficult and tiring to apply to the forks.

A further drawback to the known cages is represented by the fact that they are so heavy that sometimes, especially in the case of small lifting equipment, their weight exceeds the capacity of the lifting equipment itself. Said protection cages are also characterized by the drawback that they are provided at the bottom with closeable doors that are difficult to handle and therefore do not certainly encourage the workers to use them even when they are available, notwithstanding the rigid instructions given for their use. The present invention is aimed at eliminating all the above mentioned drawbacks.

One of the goals of the invention is to carry out a lifting apparatus for packaged materials, in particular for building materials, which should make it possible to grasp, lift and comfortably handle said materials, no matter how they are packaged.

A further aim is the implementation of a lifting apparatus that can be quickly applied to the lifting devices.

Another aim is to carry out said apparatus providing it with protections to prevent the material from falling during the lifting phase.

The above mentioned goals have been achieved through the implementation of a lifting apparatus for packaged materials that, according to the main claim, is characterized in that it comprises a reticulated structure, suitable for being arranged outside said package, consisting of an external and an internal reticulated structure, co-operating with each other by means of connecting elements, said internal reticulated structure being provided with at least one pair of jaws that are integral with the structure itself and can be moved through linkages that can be hung to the hook of a lifting apparatus by means of connecting elements, said linkages being suitable for pushing said jaws until they adhere to said package, so that it can be lifted by hoisting the hook of said lifting equipment. According to a practical application, the lifting equipment object of the invention consists of a cage-shaped structure connected to the hook of a lifting apparatus, by means of which said structure is placed over a package of building material, in such a way as to contain it. Fixed protections to prevent the load from falling are applied to the lateral walls of the structure. The structure is also provided with rolling gates to close the bottom and prevent the load from falling, which automatically close or open when the structure is raised from the ground or lowered to the ground, respectively.

To advantage, the employ of the lifting equipment object of the invention makes for easy handling of packaged materials even if they are not placed on pallets. Further, the presence of protections facilitates the handling of the materials, which takes place in absolutely safe conditions.

The above mentioned goals and advantages will be better highlighted in the description of a practical application among many of the invention in question, illustrated in the attached tables:

-Fig. 1 shows the lifting equipment object of the invention resting on the ground and not in operation;

-Fig. 2 shows a side view of the lifting equipment shown in Fig. 1;

-Fig. 3 shows a side view of a detail of the equipment resting on the ground and not in operation;

-Fig. 4 shows the lifting equipment represented in Fig. 1 placed on a package of building material to be handled, with the jaws clamped around the material itself;

-Fig. 5 shows the side view of a detail of the equipment represented in Fig. 4;

-Fig. 6 shows the lifting equipment shown in Fig. 1 with the lower protections in the closing phase;

-Fig. 7 shows the side view of a detail of the equipment represented in Fig. 6; -Fig. 8 shows the lifting equipment shown in Fig. 1 with completely closed lower protections;

-Fig. 9 shows a side view of a detail of the equipment represented in

Fig. 8;

-Fig. 10 shows an axonometric view of the detail of one of the jaws; -Fig. 11 shows a detail of the lower movable protections;

-Fig. 12 shows another detail of the lower movable protections shown in Fig. 11.

As shown in Fig. 1 , 2, 4, 6 and 8, the lifting equipment object of the invention, indicated as a whole by 1 , comprises a reticulated cage- shaped structure, suitable for being placed on the outside of a package 3 of stacked materials 31 , which can be bricks, concrete blocks or other material and which are kept together forming a package by a thermoretracted elastic film or by straps.

Said materials can be placed on a pallet or not. Said reticulated structure consists of an external reticulated structure 2a and of an internal reticulated structure 2b, which can be seen in detail in Fig. 3, 5, 7 and 9 and are connected with each other by means of the lower and upper U bolts 21 and 22 fixed to the internal structure 2b. Said U bolts couple with the external structure 2a and therefore act as guide elements, making it possible to keep the structures aligned when the external structure 2b is raised vertically with respect to the external structure 2a. The internal structure 2b is provided with a pair of jaws 4, which can be seen in detail in Fig. 10, each one of which is connected through third connecting rods 43 with a single horizontal bar 41 , which is in turn connected with the internal reticulated structure 2b through supports 42 and is set rotating around its axis 44 by means of linkages, indicated as a whole by 5, including also said third connecting rods 43.

It can be observed, in particular, that said linkages 5 are divided in two groups placed on two opposite sides of the reticulated internal structure 2b, where each group is made up of a substantially vertical tie rod 51 , connected with the hook 6 of the lifting equipment by means of a balancer 251 and having its lower end 152 connected with one end of a pair of first connecting rods 52 that are symmetrical with respect to the tie rod 51.

It can be observed that said balancer 251 essentially consists of a composed triangular structure, preferably carried out with welded elements and that the tie rod 51 is kept in vertical position with respect to the internal structure 2b by guide elements 153 when the lifting hook 6 is raised.

Each first connecting rod 52 has the other end hinged to the upper part of a second connecting rod 53 having in turn the other end fixed to the bar 41 , the latter being in turn fixed to the jaw 4 by means of the already mentioned third connecting rods 43. The equipment is provided with protection elements made up of two rolling gates 8, visible in detail in Fig. 11 and 12, which are positioned symmetrically in correspondence with the sides of the internal reticulated structure 2b, where there are the jaws 4. It can be observed, in particular, that each one of said rolling gates 8 consists of a multiplicity of tubular elements 81 connected to the ends of a chain 82 made up of a multiplicity of links 83 having a roller 85 allowing the rolling gate 8 to slide along a trackway 86 in correspondence with each connecting pin 84.

Said trackway 86, which, as it can be observed, is fixed to the internal reticulated structure 2b and develops both at the side and at the base of the internal structure 2b itself, makes for total closing of the base of the structure itself, thus preventing the material from falling down during the handling phase.

Each of said rolling gates 8, besides being constrained to the internal reticulated structure 2b by means of the trackway 86, has also its first tubular element 81a connected with one end of a rope 90 wound around a first pulley 91 , around a pair of second pulleys 92 and also around a third pulley 93.

The opposite end of said rope 90 is fixed to the pin 193 of said third pulley 93, which in turn is fixed to the internal reticulated structure 2b. In particular, as far as said pulleys are concerned, it can be observed also that while said first pulley 91 and said third pulley 93 idle on the pins 191 and 193, respectively, which are fixed to the internal reticulated structure 2b, said pair of second pulleys 92 idles on a corresponding pin 192 fixed to the external reticulated structure 2a. In order to handle the package 3 the lifting equipment, which when not in operation is positioned according to the configuration shown in Fig. 1, is raised by means of the hook 6 of the lifting system and is placed externally over the package 3 to be raised, so that said package 3 is substantially centered with respect to the jaws 4, as shown in Fig. 4. It can be observed that in this phase, in order to prevent the jaws 4 to clamp against the package 3 and the rolling gates 8 to close the bottom of the equipment itself during the lifting of the equipment, the vertical tie rod 51 and the internal structure 2b are kept fixed in their respective positions by means of a first lock 54. As shown in Fig. 1 , said lock consists of a pin 154 fixed to the internal structure 2b supporting a rotating arm 155 that couples with the balancer 251 and locks it.

At the same time a second lock 554, represented in Fig. 3 and consisting of a fork 354 fixed to the internal structure 2b supporting a hunting rod 335 locks the internal structure 2b to the external structure 2a. In fact, said hunting rod 335 has an end 356 which, as it can be observed, is pushed below the external structure 2a by the thrust exerted by the balancer 251 on the other end 357 of the hunting rod itself. When the equipment is above the package 3, as shown in Fig. 4, the first lock 54 is removed by rotating the rotating arm 155, while by moving the hook 6 in the vertical upward direction, indicated by 9, also the tie rod 51 is raised upwards in the direction 9. During said movement the balancer 251 moves gradually away from the end 357 of the hunting rod 355, so that, being the hunting rod 355 unbalanced towards its end 356 in contact with the external structure 2a, it tends to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow 358, as shown in Fig. 5, and therefore to free the external structure 2a. . As the vertical upward movement continues, when the balancer 251 is no more in contact with the end 357 of the hunting rod 355, this moves to the position shown in Fig.7, thus releasing the connection between the internal structure 2b and the external structure 2a. The lifting of the tie rod 51 causes the rotation of the first connecting rods 52 and of the second connecting rods 53 and the rotation of the latter in the direction 54 causes the rotation in the same direction of the third connecting rods 43 and therefore the movement in the direction 55 of the jaws 4, which, as shown in Fig. 4, are pushed against the sides of the package 3 until they adhere to it. Fig. 10 shows that for greater adhesion each jaw is provided with a rubber pressure element 141 , shaped according to any profile. When the thrust of the jaws 4 against the walls of the package 3 generates a friction exceeding the weight of the package between the jaws and the surface of the package itself, as the lifting of the tie rod 51 continues also the lifting of the internal structure 2b takes place, as shown in Fig. 6. When the internal structure 2b starts lifting, the third pulley 93, fixed to the internal structure 2b, gets near the pair of second pulleys 92, which, as shown in Fig. 7, is fixed to the external structure 2a and this causes a shortening of the pieces 96 of rope included between the pulleys 92 and 93. Thus it is possible to achieve the lengthening of the piece 97 of rope included between the first pulley 91 and the first tubular element 81a of the rolling gate 8 and consequently also the lowering of the rolling gate 8 in the direction 80 is obtained. Said rolling gate is guided by the trackways 86 until the bottom of the equipment is completely closed, as shown in Fig. 8, which takes place when the internal structure 2b is completely raised.

In these conditions, as the lifting continues, even the external structure 2a is raised from the ground, so that the package 3 can be handled in any area of the building yard in absolutely safe conditions. For the unloading of the package 3, the external structure 2a is put on the ground, so that the lowering of the lifting hook 6 makes the pulleys 92 and 93 move away from each other. The rolling gates 8 begin to open due to the traction of the rope 90 and when they are totally open the package 3 is also freed from the clamp of the jaws. It is interesting to observe that during the lowering the contact of the balancer 252 with the end 357 of the hunting rod 355 of the second lock 554 makes the hunting rod itself rotate, thus automatically restoring the fixed connection between the internal structure 2b and the external structure 2a when said structures are again in the configuration represented in Fig. 1 and in Fig. 3.

Successively, as the lowering of the rods 51 continues, the stability of the connection between said vertical tie rod 51 and the internal structure 2b is automatically restored, since, automatically as well, the rotating arm 155 of the first lock 54 returns to the position represented in Fig. 1 , that is, in contact with the balancer 252, getting back to said position due to the elastic return of a spring placed inside the pin 154 with which said rotating arm 155 is connected. In these conditions the structure can be moved to take a new load. The above description of the invention has consequently highlighted that the lifting equipment object of the invention achieves all the fixed aims.

In fact, the implementation of a device suitable for handling stacked materials, no matter how they are packaged, is achieved.

Further, said handling of materials is carried out in completely safe conditions, the equipment being provided with movable closing elements at its bottom and with fixed closing elements at its sides.

Besides, the fact that the bottom, made up of rolling gates, is provided with said protections, which when the equipment isn't in operation are positioned vertically at the sides of the equipment itself, makes for reduced dimensions of the equipment itself, dimensions that are substantially limited to the external structure.

This makes it possible to handle also packages that are placed one over the other and are very near each other.

Even the hooking and unhooking of the package to be handled are automatic, as well as the opening and closing of the bottom of the equipment by means of the rolling gates when the equipment is raised from the ground or put on the ground, respectively.

Upon implementation the reticulated structure that makes up the equipment and its elements may be subject to modifications aimed at making construction easier and more economic. Said modifications, however, are all to be considered protected by the present invention.

Claims

1) Lifting equipment for packaged materials (3), characterized in that it comprises a reticulated structure suitable for being placed outside said package (3) and composed of an external reticulated structure (2a) and of an internal reticulated structure (2b), co¬ operating with each other by means of connecting elements (21 , 22, 254), said internal reticulated structure being provided with at least a pair of jaws (4) that are integral with the structure itself and are moved by linkages (5) that can be hooked to the hook (6) of the lifting equipment by means of connecting elements, said linkages (6) being suitable for pushing said jaws against said package (3) until they adhere to it, thus making for its lifting when the hook (6) of said lifting equipment is raised.

2) Lifting equipment according to claim 1), characterized in that said elements connecting said external reticulated structure (2a) to said internal reticulated structure (2b) are at least a pair of U bolts (21 , 22) fixed to said internal reticulated structure (2b) and. co¬ operating with said external structure (2a), suitable for ensuring their mutual sliding, and a second lock (554) consisting of a hunting rod (355) hinged to a fork (354) fixed to said internal structure (2b) and in contrast with said external structure (2a).

3) Lifting equipment according to claim 1) or claim 2), characterized in that said internal reticulated structure (2b) is provided with protections at the bottom, made up of a pair of rolling gates (8) placed on opposite sides of the internal reticulated structure (2b) itself in correspondence with said jaws (4) and sliding on trackways (86) fixed to the internal reticulated structure (2b) itself.

4) Lifting equipment according to claim 3), characterized in that each of said rolling gates consists of a multiplicity of parallel tubular elements (81) positioned among the links (83) of a pair of chains (82), each one of which is provided with rollers (85) connected with said links and suitable for ensuring the sliding of said chain along said trackway (86).

5) Lifting equipment according to claim 3), characterized in that each of said rolling gates (8) is connected with the end of a rope (90) placed between snub pulleys (91 , 92, 93), said rope (90) having the opposite end fixed to said internal reticulated structure (2b).

6) Lifting equipment according to claim 1), characterized in that said linkages consist of two groups (5) of linkages opposite to each other, each placed at one side of the internal reticulated structure (2b) and comprising a substantially vertical tie rod (51) connected at one end with the hook (6) of the lifting equipment by means of a balancer (251) and at the opposite end with one of the ends of a pair of first connecting rods (52) arranged symmetrically with respect to said tie rod (51), each of said first connecting rods (52) having the other hand hinged to the upper part of a second connecting rod (53) that in turn is linked with a bar (41) connected with the internal reticulated structure (2b) to which third connecting rods (43) supporting one of said jaws (4) are fixed. 7) Lifting equipment according to claim 6), characterized in that each jaw (4) is provided with a rubber pressure element (141).

8) Lifting equipment according to claim 6), characterized in that said internal structure (2b) and said balancer (251) can be fixedly connected with each other by means of a first lock (54) consisting of a pin (154) fixed to said internal structure (2b) and of a rotating arm (155), elastically rotating with respect to said pin (154) by means of elastic elements and in contrast with said balancer (251).