The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to a cargo loader and more specifically to a multi-use cargo loader that comprises a vertical adjustment assembly with a lifting mechanism and removable attachments.
With the development of globalization and economic growth, the activity level and volume in the transportation industry have grown tremendously. Cargo loaders have always served as an essential tool for freight movement in the transportation industry and are frequently used to load or unload cargo, materials, supplies, commodities, merchandise goods, pallets, or equipment from one facility to another. They are widely used in a variety of industries, including aviation, maritime shipping, railroads, trucking, as well as logistics.
Conventionally, cargo loaders may include forks, risers, articulated arms, or other lifting mechanisms to aid lifting of objects and repositioning. However, heavy weighted or bulky objects may require a certain amount of personnel which may be difficult, laborious, and time-consuming.
There have been attempted solutions for reducing input force when positioning objects on the cargo loader platforms, such as adding rollers or cylinders to reduce fraction between the object and the cargo loader platform. Nevertheless, rollers and cylinders may cause the object to accidentally glide or fall when the cargo loader is in motion which may be unpredictably precarious.
Furthermore, cargo loaders are often limited to single functions, and with the forks, risers, or articulated arms protruding, cargo loaders occupy much space when storing.
Therefore, there is a need for a cargo loader to facilitate loading, repositioning, and unloading of objects, particularly in a manner that is safe, convenient, and efficient and in addition with interchangeable attachments that provides multi-functions and can be compactly stored.
The following is a concise summary of the invention presented herein with the primary aim of providing a preliminary understanding of certain aspects of the invention. It should be noted, however, that this summary is not intended to serve as a comprehensive overview of the invention, nor does it seek to identify or describe any critical or significant elements of the invention or the boundaries of its scope. Its sole purpose is to provide a rudimentary understanding of the invention's concepts and features, which will be expounded upon in greater detail in the ensuing sections.
The present disclosure is generally directed towards a cargo loader that facilitates loading, repositioning, and unloading of objects. An exemplary, nonlimiting embodiment of the present disclosure, herein after as the “exemplary embodiment”, provides a cargo loader generally comprising a tractor assembly and a vertical adjustment assembly.
The cargo loader may further comprise a ramp assembly, a plurality of attachments, a winch assembly and a fairlead set, or a combination thereof. A mounting bracket may be further disposed on a front end of the deck platform, and the aforementioned attachments may be interchangeably and removably attached to the mounting bracket, including a fork riser assembly and a variety of fork extensions for lifting, and a ramp set for self-loading.
The tractor assembly comprises continuous tracks and an engine compartment that mechanically couples to and provides mechanical energy to the continuous tracks. Preferably, the cargo loader further comprises a hydraulic system driven by the engine compartment to provide greater force for heavy loads. The lifting mechanism, the fork riser assembly, and the winch assembly may also be powered by and connected to the hydraulic system. It is anticipated an alternative mechanical mechanism may be used to provide mechanical energy to the cargo loader without departing from the spirit of the invention.
The vertical adjustment assembly is carried by the tractor assembly and further comprises a base and a deck platform disposed above the base and linked to the base by a lifting mechanism to adjust the deck platform to a desired height. The vertical adjustment assembly is configured to retract and extend in a vertical direction, such that a height of the deck platform varies between a predetermined retracted height and a predetermined extended height. A plurality of rollers is disposed on the deck platform, enabling a palletized cargo on the deck platform to be moved effortlessly. Preferably, the lifting mechanism comprises a scissor lift, which is further comprised of at least two scissor link sets, each of which has two arms pivotally coupled at a central brace. However, an alternative lifting mechanism such as a telescopic lift may be used to adjust the deck platform to a desired height without departing from the spirit of the invention.
In some implements, the deck platform further comprises a plurality of rings, preferably positioned on sides of the deck platform.
In one aspect, a plurality of stanchions vertically extend from the base, and a height of each of the stanchions is greater than the retracted height and less than the extended height of the deck platform. The stanchions are arranged in an arrangement that evenly distributes the weight of an object to be lifted. Preferably, equal number of the stanchions are symmetrically disposed on two sides of the base. The deck platform may further comprise a head frame along a periphery. The headframe further comprises two or more receptacles configured to receive and provide passage for the stanchions.
Consequently, when the deck platform extends to a height greater than or equal to the stanchions, a pallet facilitated by the rollers can be easily loaded or off-loaded. On the contrary, when the deck platform retracts to a height less than the stanchions, the stanchions lift the pallet away from the rollers, thereby preventing the pallet to glide or slip off the deck platform when the cargo loader is in motion.
Further, advantageously, the vertical adjustment assembly may also be utilized with the plurality of attachments. Taking the fork extensions as an example, with the fork extensions mounted to the deck platform, the fork extensions bear the load and may extend or retract in unison with the deck platform to a desired height.
The above features and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings.
The following detailed description and accompanying drawings provide a comprehensive disclosure of an exemplary embodiment for the purpose of facilitating one of ordinary skill in the relevant art to make and use the invention. As such, the detailed description and illustration of the one or more exemplary embodiments presented herein are purely exemplary in nature and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention or its protection in any matter. It is further noted that the drawings may not be to scale, and in some cases, certain details may be omitted which are not necessary for an understanding of the present invention, such as conventional details of fabrication and assembly. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description.
For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “rear”, “right”, “front”, “vertical”, “top”, “bottom”, “side” and derivatives thereof shall relate to the device as oriented in
A non-limiting, exemplary embodiment (herein after as the “exemplary embodiment”) of a cargo loader 10 is disclosed herein. The exemplary embodiment of the cargo loader 10 may be interchangeably and removably coupled to a variety of attachments and serves multiple purposes. The cargo loader 10 facilitates secured transportation of objects, preferably, palletized cargo 610, on unimproved grounds or challenging environmental surfaces, including but not limited to mud, water, snow, terrains, and tarmac surfaces. Moreover, the cargo loader 10 supports effortless uploading and unloading of the transported objects to aircrafts or vehicles and provide self-loading options to a user.
Referring to
With continued reference to
Turning now to the vertical adjustment assembly 200, as shown in
The base 230 may further comprise a base plate 234, and a base frame 232 along a periphery of the base plate 234. A plurality of stanchions 236 extend vertically from the base frame 232, and a height of each of the stanchions 236 is greater than the retracted height and less than the extended height of the deck platform 220. In the exemplary embodiment, the stanchions 236 on two sides of the base 230 has a rectangular prism configuration, equal in number and arranged symmetrically, such that weight of the palletized cargo 610 can be evenly distributed. However, it is anticipated that the number, arrangement and shape of the stanchions 236 may vary without departing the spirit of the invention. In addition, a plurality of rollers 222 is disposed on the deck platform 220, enabling the palletized cargo 610 on the deck platform 220 to be moved effortlessly.
The vertical adjustment assembly 200 may further comprise a head frame 210 along a periphery of the deck platform 220. The head frame 210 is comprised of two head side members 212, a head front member 214, and a head rear member 216. Each of head side members 212 further comprises one or more receptacles 218 configured to receive and provide passage for the stanchions 236 to protrude through the head frame 210, as shown in
With continued reference to
Moreover, the deck platform 220 comprises a tail stock set 270 disposed on the head rear member 216 and further comprises a pallet stop 272 on a rear end and a winch assembly 274, and a fairlead set 276 to facilitate self-loading of the palletized cargo 610. The pallet stop 272 holds the palletized cargo 610 when the vertical adjustment mechanism 200 inclines backwards, thereby preventing the palletized cargo 610 from sliding along the tilted angle.
Turning to
Referring now to
Next with reference to
An exemplary method of using the cargo loader 10 is presented herein to further demonstrate the convenience and securement of the cargo loader 10. It is anticipated that several steps may be sequentially interchangeable and equivalent application of one or more permutations of such sequentially interchangeable steps does not alter the spirit of the invention in any meaningful way.
First, to upload a palletized cargo 610 to the deck platform 220, by operating the remote control or the hard wire control panel, an exemplary user extends the vertical adjustment assembly 200 to a height greater than or equal to the stanchions 236, for example, shown in
For repositioning the palletized cargo 610 from a platform 600, the exemplary user may add the fork riser 500 or the first and third fork extensions 280, 710, shown in
Advantageously, the stanchions 236 together with vertical movements of the vertical adjustment assembly 200 provides a more secured way of transporting palletized cargo 610 or other supplies. The removable and interchangeable attachments provide versatility to the cargo loader 10. Moreover, the cargo loader 10 may easily fit inside aircrafts such as, MV-22, CH-53E, CH-47, C-130 or C-17 or the like.
While the embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, certain modifications may be made by those skilled in the art to modify the invention without departing from the spirit of the invention.
This application is a continuation application of International Application (PCT) No. PCT/US24/21182, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/454,041, filed Mar. 22, 2023, and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20240391744 A1 | Nov 2024 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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63454041 | Mar 2023 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/US2024/021182 | Mar 2024 | WO |
Child | 18776213 | US |