Patent Application
20240051762
The invention concerns a hauling beam lifting mechanism suitable for moving palletized loads and heavy loads such as cargo containers used in containerization. In addition, the invention relates to a transporter comprising such a hauling beam.
The transfer of heavy loads requires durable and reliable equipment. Various loading methods and mechanisms have been developed for the transfer of heavy loads. Typically, the loads are assembled on a transfer system and run along a loading line specifically made for them. The loading equipment used are large and at least partly solid structures. In addition to transfer lines, means are needed to transfer the load from the line to a means of transport carrying the load, such as a container, trailer or train. A trailer of a truck can be loaded and unloaded with a forklift. This is slow, but frequently used, especially for larger goods. In addition, in order to prevent damage to the trailer or container or in order to support a single or few pieces of goods, a pallet may be used in each truck-mounted load unit. Pallets are mainly used for collecting smaller goods or packages to larger palletized units for transport or to support the goods during transport. They offer standardized sized load or package and a sturdy support for handling and transport. In modern logistics, loading and unloading time of transport vehicles like trucks or trains should be minimized. Therefore, it would be advantageous to collect a load dimensioned for a container or a truck bed in advance and move it as a single unit to the container or other transport unit.
Publications KR-10-1183183 and FI 127072 disclose hauling beams and methods for transferring heavy loads. These are obviously applicable for other types of loads also.
The invention is defined by the features of the independent claims. Some specific embodiments are defined in the dependent claims.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hauling beam comprising at least two parallel slats having two parallel sides and two opposite ends, the slats being set at a distance from each other so that here is a gap between the adjacent parallel sides, at least one support beam set on the parallel slats so that the slats and the support beam are configured to be movable longitudinally with respect to each other, a support arm movably attached to the support beam, an axle and a roller coaxially attached to the support arm, and a wedge placed between the parallel slats and having a slot for the roller and a wedge tongue for connecting to the axle upon longitudinal movement of the parallel slats and the support beam, further comprising a spring retainer having a body with at least one mounting block attached to at least one of the parallel slats, a slide mounted on the body and a spring retained between the slide and detent on the body wherein the slide is attached to the support beam, a chain running as a loop around chain sprockets at each end of the hauling beam, one end of the chain being connected to the slide and one end connected to the body of the spring retainer, and an actuator configured to move one of the sprockets in the longitudinal direction of the chain.
Some further aspects of the invention that are combinable with the first aspect as single features or in any combination are:
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hauling transporter comprising a frame, at least one hauling beam supported on the frame and comprising at least two parallel slats having two parallel sides and two opposite ends, the slats being set at a distance from each other so that here is a gap between the adjacent parallel sides, a support beam set on the parallel slats so that the slats and the support beam are configured to be movable longitudinally with respect to each other, a support arm movably attached to the support beam, an axle and a roller coaxially attached to the support arm, and a wedge placed between the parallel slats and having a slot for the roller and a wedge tongue for connecting to the axle upon longitudinal movement of the parallel slats and the support beam, further comprising a spring retainer having a body with at least one mounting block attached to at least one of the parallel slats, a slide mounted on the body and a spring retained between the slide and a detent on the body, wherein the slide is attached to the support beam, a chain running as a loop around chain sprockets at each end of the hauling beam, one end of the chain being connected to the slide and one end connected to the body of the spring retainer, and an actuator configured to move one of the sprockets in the longitudinal direction of the chain. and a step beam supported on the frame and configured to be movable longitudinally along the frame parallel to the hauling beam.
Some of the mechanical parts of the invention are preferably made of flat material, preferably steel. In this context flat material is bar, sheet or full profile having correlation of thickness to width of at least 1:3, preferably greater like at least 1:5 and having an even thickness. There may be grooves, indentations, ridges, protrusions or similar formations on the surfaces of the flat material.
A hauling beam is referred to herein as a beam used to move goods, cargo, loads or the like, typically loads consisting of pallets, single goods or combinations thereof. The hauling beam can be placed in connection with, typically underneath or below, a load to be moved, so that by moving the hauling beam the load can be moved. The hauling beam can be moved, for example, by dragging. Hauling refers to grabbing, dragging, dragging, retouching, cumbersome carrying, or pulling. The hauling beam described herein makes it possible to lift the load to be transferred on the rollers, wheels or rolls and to transfer the load by means of them. The vertical dimensions (height) of the hauling beam can be dimensioned to be very small, which enables using most the height of a loading space.
When long loads or equipment are handled, the dimensions of the hauling beam become long, or large. This causes high stresses on the structure if the surface on which the loading is performed is even slightly uneven. Also, the length of the hauling beam can't be changed after it is assembled and transporting long items is tedious and expensive. A modular structure wherein the hauling beam is constructed of hauling beam modules connected to each other by joints allowing the relative movement of the hauling beam modules in the height direction (in direction crosswise to the longitudinal direction of the hauling beam) allows the hauling beam to accommodate to the profile of the surface on which it is operated. At least some embodiments of the hauling beam utilize parts made of flat rectangular bars or sheets providing small structural height and high flexibility in crosswise direction of the hauling beam.
As can be seen from
The purpose of the hauling beam is to enable moving loads by lifting them on roller or wheels. In the above hauling beam 1 the lifting is performed by relative movements of support beam and the structure formed of parallel slats and wedges. The movement is provided by drawing (tensioning) the support beam 8. When the parallel slats 7 and wedges 9 are held stationary and the support beam is drawn in the direction of wedge tongues 11, the slip rings 5 engage the wedge tongues 11 and force the rollers 2 downwards. The support beam 8, parallel slats with wedges and all of the rest of the hauling beam is lifted on the rollers 2. This lifting may be a sole operation or the hauling beam 1 can be moved on the rollers 2 in order to move a load on the support beams 8. It is preferable to move the support beam 8 as the parallel slats 7 rest on a supporting surface. However, the operation and structure (direction of the wedges) may be reversed, if desired. This may be reasonable in situations when a sliding surface, rollers or such can be provided under the parallel slats 7, for example in a loading device or platform.
The hauling beam described above can be used as a single beam or in combination of multiple parallel beams. However, a modular structure where two or more hauling beam modules are connected to a longer beam provides benefits. Transport of shorter modules is easy and length of a hauling beam can be adjusted as desired. The joints between the modules provide further flexibility for adjusting to uneven ground, for example on pushing loads to containers or vehicles. Basically, each hauling beam module is the one described above. In order to join the modules together, joining elements have to be provided.
Joining elements are need for parallel slats 7 and support beams both. As all other parts and elements of the hauling beam module are connected to these elements, structural and operational combination is achieved for whole structure.
The parallel slats are joined by tongue joint secured by screws. This is a simple joint and provides the strength needed. A person skilled in the art can contemplate other joints, if so desired. In order to facilitate assembly of the hauling beam, the support beam is provided with holes 16, through which the screws attaching the parallel slats together may be assembled and tightened.
In order to fully utilize the modular structure, the hauling beam is assembled by screws. However, in a solid mounting, or for other reasons, other joining and assembling methods such as welding may be used. The slip rings are optional and a freely rotating axle or low friction surface coating may be used instead. As rollers, ball bearings or other type of bearings are usable, but the choice of rollers depends on required loadability and surface conditions.
The spring retainer 24 comprises a longitudinal body 25 and has a mounting block 26 at it both ends. The mounting blocks 26 form a gap between them. The Mounting blocks 26 are attached to the slats 7, or at least one of them. When the hauling beam with slats 7 and support beam 8 is transferred, the spring retainer moves with the slats 7. A slide 35 extends between the mounting blocks 26. The slide 35 has a first end, a guide end 36 running through a mounting block 26 of the body 25. At the opposite end of the slide 35 is a chain connector 37 that extends through a mounting block 26 at that end. At the side of the guide end 36 is a slide block 40 that is arranged to run on guides 39 on the body 25. A spring rod 38 runs from the chain connector 37 to the slide block 40 and a spring 42 is set around the spring rod 39. The spring 42 is retained between mounting block 26 on the chain connectors 37 side and the slide block 40. The slide block 40 is attached to the support beam 8. One end of the chain 28 is attached on the chain connector 37 of the slide 35 and the other end on an ear 41 on the body 25
When the composition of the hauling beam comprising support beam and the slats is moved in the longitudinal direction, the chain 28 is drawn by the motor unit 23 in the desired direction, forwarding the composition. When a lifting action is needed, the chain 28 is tensioned by actuating the hydraulic cylinder 33 that pushes the turning sprocket 30 and tensions the chain 28. In order to compensate the tensioning of the chain 28, the slide 35 moves to the direction of the turning sprocket 30 and tensions the spring 42 between the slide block 40 and a mounting block opposite to it. The slide 35 is kept in place on the spring retainer 24 by guiding action of the spring rod 38 and the guide end running through respective mounting blocks 26. The slide block 40 moves the support beam and lifting action occurs as described above. When the turning sprocket is returned back to its position, tension on the chain is released and the spring 42 returns the assembly to its original position.
In this way all actions are force guided either by the hydraulic cylinder or the spring and the operation is reliable. The chain can be kept under proper tension avoiding slapping on the surrounding structures or skipping over teeth of the sprockets.
The hauling transporter is used for collecting a load of goods, such as pallets 27, for transport and loading them to a transport space. When a load to be transported is collected, the space in the container or trailer should be utilized as well as possible. Therefore it is necessary to position pallets (or other goods) on transporter and to transport space as effectively as possible. This is depicted in
On loading, the set of hauling beams 1 and step beams 21 are pushed on the bed of the trailer 17. The step beams move on their rollers and hauling beams on their rollers. The rollers and mechanism of the hauling beams may be dimensioned so that the rollers rest on the supporting surface continuously or hauling beams may be risen slightly if they are dimensioned to fall below the surface of the step beams. When step beams and hauling beams are pushed as far as required, the apparatus is retrieved from the trailed by using the forwarding action backwards.
The load rests always during movement on large area, whereby the moving elements can be constructed to be light and small. The height of the apparatus is low, whereby empty space on top of the load can be avoided. Small height of the hauling and step beams makes removing the pallets or other goods at the end of the beams reliable as tilting is minimal. An angled ramp of rigid plate or rollers may be used for further reducing tilting. Further, the unloading phase may include a step or steps wherein the pallets or other goods leaving the transporter are pushed towards previous pallet or wall of the transport space in order to remove gaps between the goods as much as possible. This is important for filling the whole floor surface of the transport space. Leaving too large gaps may lead to situation wherein the whole load doesn't fit into the transport space and need to be pushed by for example a truck further inwards in the transport space. This may easily damage the pallets and/or goods and very probably the bed of the transport space.
The hauling transporter may be used for different purposes as a loader or mounted on vehicles. The number of the hauling beams and hauling beam modules can be changed according to the capacity and dimensions needed to handle the particular loads. The hauling beam can be used upside down so that the rollers face upwards. This configuration is usable for loading flat sheets, for example metal sheets or wooden product like veneers, beams of boards, construction boards and such.
The lifting height of the hauling beam according to the embodiments can be, for example, about 10 mm. The lifting height can be determined according to the requirements of the application. According to one embodiment, the beam lifting mechanism is operated by a hydraulic cylinder. In the lifting mechanism according to the embodiments, the force of the hydraulic cylinder can be multiplied by a factor of 2 to 10. This applies also to other actuators. Any actuator providing reciprocating linear movement is applicable, for example a linear screw, pneumatic cylinder, chain magnetic actuator or a toothed rail.
It is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention disclosed are not limited to the particular structures, process steps, or materials disclosed herein, but are extended to equivalents thereof as would be recognized by those ordinarily skilled in the relevant arts. It should also be understood that terminology employed herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based on their presentation in a common group without indications to the contrary. In addition, various embodiments and example of the present invention may be referred to herein along with alternatives for the various components thereof. It is understood that such embodiments, examples, and alternatives are not to be construed as de facto equivalents of one another, but are to be considered as separate and autonomous representations of the present invention.
Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of lengths, widths, shapes, etc., to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.
While the forgoing examples are illustrative of the principles of the present invention in one or more particular applications, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications in form, usage and details of implementation can be made without the exercise of inventive faculty, and without departing from the principles and concepts of the invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited, except as by the claims set forth below.
The verbs “to comprise” and “to include” are used in this document as open limitations that neither exclude nor require the existence of also un-recited features. The features recited in depending claims are mutually freely combinable unless otherwise explicitly stated. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the use of “a” or “an”, i.e. a singular form, throughout this document does not exclude a plurality.
The invention can be used for transport and loading of goods
