The invention relates to the technical field of materials handling and lifting appliances that can be used in the construction industry in order to offer up boards made of any material in order to build suspended ceilings or fit them under the slope of a roof and on partition walls.
For many years, the Applicant has developed appliances of this type that are intended to hold rectangular-shaped plasterboards or plaster panels or boards and panels made of other materials having large dimensions as much as 3 m or more in length and which are therefore very heavy. These boards, thanks to appliances of the above-mentioned type, are then offered up horizontally thanks to a winch mechanism and by means of tilting, so that they can be fixed to the ceiling that is to be covered. Appliances have been developed on the basis of the teaching of Patents FR 2,758,150, 2,780,428 and 2,862,682. In particular, in
The appliances that are the subject of the above-mentioned patents are extensively operated by the Applicant with considerable commercial success.
FIGS. 1 to 3 show a device for articulating the board or panel holder which is articulated relative to a fixed horizontal section (1) that is attached to the upper end of the mast (2) of the appliance. This device comprises a support base (3) having a very wide flat upper wall with a U-shaped yoke (4) that is used for support and attachment to frame (5) of the board holder and/or panel holder. A control arm (6) is joined to the support base and controls the articulation and positioning of the device relative to the mast. Means of locking using control handle (7) and lock bolt (8) lock and unlock swiveling of the support base. In addition, the support base has an opening (3a) for a finger (9) for positioning and locking the board or panel in its limit position.
This implementation is, however, expensive to manufacture and assemble. The lock bolt device, in a classic lock configuration, has to be fitted and this involves additional cost and extra interventions and operations.
The approach adopted by the Applicant was therefore to attempt to make manufacture of these materials handling and lifting appliances for boards or panels more efficient, especially the main part of the appliance, namely that which includes the device for articulating and offering up the panels, without compromising satisfactory operation of the appliance.
The Applicant was also interested in the optimizing and manufacturing the materials handling and lifting appliance so that it offered other functions that meet needs during operation of the appliances on site.
In fact, it was observed that the board support frame was loaded on the device for orienting the boards and panels on a trial-and-error basis. The board support frame is hung and guided on the U-shaped yoke section on the upper surface of the articulation support base. To achieve this, in order to fit the panel/board support frame, the operator often pushes the control lever of the appliance against his shoulder so that he can see placement of the frame. This pressure is therefore applied obliquely and the operator has both hands free in order to ensure positioning. This procedure and operation is therefore not very practical.
The attempt to optimize the appliance developed by the Applicant therefore involved integrating this particular aspect in order to make the operator's interventions and operations even easier. The Applicant's priority was to design the appliance to ensure easiest possible use of the appliance on site.
These objects and others will become apparent from the following description.
According to a first aspect, the support device for board and panel holder for a materials handling and lifting appliance of the type comprising a mast at the end of which there is a means of support that articulatedly accommodates a board support frame is distinctive in that it comprises a U-shaped pedestal that accommodates, between its side pieces, two hinge pins, a first pin that ensures articulation of the support base on which the board or panel support frame is positioned, and a second pin on which there is a pawl that swivels freely due to the distribution of its mass, said pawl having a head that forms a hook in order to cooperate with and fit around a pin forming a finger that protrudes from the support base, a straight rear surface forming a limit stop and a control lever, the end of which is shaped like an unbalancing mass.
The object of the present invention is described, merely by way of example, in the accompanying drawings in which:
In order that the present invention may more readily be understood, the following description is given, merely by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
The board or panel holder device according to the invention can be used with materials handling and lifting appliances of any design and the representation shown in
In FIGS. 5 to 15, the board holder device (D) was designed and built to fulfill various functions that will be explained below. More especially, the device comprises, starting from the end of the mast, a U-shaped pedestal (10) attached to the mast by its bottom (10a) by welding or another method and is positioned horizontally with its exposed surface facing upwards. Between its parallel, vertical side pieces (10b-10c) there are two hinge pins (11-12), one (11) to the rear and the other (12) to the front part of the pedestal. Pin (11), conventionally, enables articulation of support base (13) on which board or panel holder support frame (5) is directly or indirectly mounted. In the version in FIGS. 5 to 13, the support base is designed so that its upper surface has a yoke shape (4) forming a separately mounted slider and is fixed in any appropriate way and delimits a slot (4a) allowing sliding of support base (5), the lower profile of which has a matching design. As appropriate, the yoke can accommodate support base (5) in two positions that are 90° apart, one position allowing so-called horizontal fitting on ceilings and the other position allowing so-called tilted fitting under the slope of a roof. In the version in
The various functions of the device are explained below. Boards or panels can be loaded on the support frame in complete safety either after swiveling the support base so that it is horizontal and locking it in position or by pressing on finger (14a) on the shaped head of the pawl. In the first case, due to the weight of the support frame, the pawl is swiveled backwards to allow hooking on finger (14a). The pawl returns to its locked position because of its unbalance.
Panels or boards can be fitted very easily and quickly by a double action on the part of the operator, firstly unlocking the pawl by raising it by its gripping part and secondly by orienting the carrying arm associated with the support base. Orienting the device makes it possible to offer up the board or panels to be positioned in complete safety. Unlike previously, there is no longer any need for the operator to position the carrying arm so that it presses against his shoulder in order to ensure positioning of the board or panel support frame. The pawl ensures, by means of its various positions, locking of the support base, non-return limit stopping of the board support frame and support, if applicable, for the support base in its tilted position on the other part of the pawl acting as a rest or allowing slanting loading.
The solution devised by the Applicant is simple and achieves a substantial reduction in manufacturing and assembly costs. Operation is simplified and there is no longer any risk of the lock bolt jamming as it previously could.
The solution according to the invention is viable regardless of the manner in which the support frame is positioned and attached.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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0553341 | Nov 2005 | FR | national |