The present disclosure relates to lifts, and, more particularly, to a material handling lift.
A wide variety of material handling lifts are well known. In general, material handling lifts may transfer materials and/or people from one position to another position, e.g., by vertically lifting the material, moving the material horizontally, rotating the material, etc. For example, a vertical lift may be configured as a roll-on lift configured with a platform that moves between lowered and raised positions, e.g., using hydraulic power. When the platform is in the lowered position, a user may move one or more pallets or other containers onto the platform and then energize the lift to raise the platform and the pallet thereon to the raised position. The user may then roll the pallets or other containers off the platform.
One challenge with material handling lifts is the potential for injury to users caused by the moving components. In an effort to avoid injury, users may be trained in the safe operation of the lift. Training of users can be time consuming and costly and, despite the training, human error in operation of material handling lifts may still result in injury.
For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other objects, features and advantages, reference should be made to the following detailed description which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying figures, wherein:
The present disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The examples described herein may be capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various ways. Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting as such may be understood by one of skill in the art. Throughout the present description, like reference characters may indicate like structure throughout the several views, and such structure need not be separately discussed. Furthermore, any particular feature(s) of a particular exemplary embodiment may be equally applied to any other exemplary embodiment(s) of this specification as suitable. In other words, features between the various exemplary embodiments described herein are interchangeable, and not exclusive.
In general, a material handling lift consistent with the present disclosure includes one or more safety features for preventing injury of a user during operation. In some embodiments, the lift may include a roller shade that blocks access to moving parts. In a vertical lift configuration, for example, the lift may include a roller shade positioned between the platform and the lift mast. The roller shade may raise and lower with the lift platform to block the user from inadvertently extending a body part, e.g., a limb or fingers, into spaces between moving components of the mast or between the platform and the mast that would otherwise be exposed in the absence of the roller shade.
In some embodiments, a lift consistent with the present disclosure may include a scanner, e.g., a laser scanner, for detecting presence of person in a protected area, e.g., a potentially dangerous area, of the lift. In a vertical lift configuration, for example, the scanner may detect presence of a person at the front of the vertical lift and disable operation if a person is detected in the front of the lift. This feature may reduce the possibility of injury to a person during operation of the lift.
In some embodiments, the scanner may be housed within the lift, e.g., within an entrance guard located at the entrance to a lift platform and a fan may be disposed adjacent the scanner. The fan may be configured to force air over the scanner to prevent dust from settling on the scanner and disrupting operation of the scanner. In some embodiments, the scanner may be visible through a window in the lift to allow a user to observe that the scanner is covered with dust. The user can then clean the scanner to ensure proper operation.
In some embodiments, a lift consistent with the present disclosure may include a floating spacer between a moving component of the lift and a stationary component of the lift. In a vertical lift configuration, for example, the floating spacer may be located between the platform and the side panels to block spaces that would otherwise provide pinch points between the platform and side panels. This feature may reduce the possibility of injury to a person caused by placing a body part in the pinch points.
In some embodiments, a vertical lift consistent with the present disclosure may include side panels with perforations therein. The perforations allow a user located outside of the lift to view the interior of the lift through the side panels to determine if person is underneath the platform. If a person is underneath the platform, a user can disable operation of the lift until the person is no longer underneath the platform to prevent possible injury to the user as the lift is lowered from a raised position.
In some embodiments, a vertical lift consistent with the present disclosure may include platform entrance guards on the sides of the platform entrance. The entrance guards may be shaped to keep people back and away from the platform entrance to prevent them from reaching into the platform area during operation. This feature may reduce the possibility of injury to a person caused by placing a body part beneath the platform or into other pinch points as the platform lowers. The front surface of the entrance guards may also be beveled inward toward the platform to prevent people or material from catching on the entrance guards when entering or exiting the platform area.
In some embodiments, the power unit located in the mast and configured to drive the moving part of the lift, e.g., a platform or other component, may include a hydraulic cylinder and dual redundant locking valves to prevent hydraulic fluid from leaving the cylinder when a person is detected in a dangerous area of the lift, e.g., by the scanner. This feature can prevent operation of the lift when operation would otherwise potentially cause injury to a person. In some embodiments, the mast cover enclosing the power unit may be secured to the mast using tamper-resistant fasteners to prevent a person from accessing pinch points and/or electrical components within the mast that could potentially cause injury.
A lift consistent with the present disclosure may include any one or more of these safety features. For ease of explanation only, these features will be shown and described herein in connection with a front-entry vertical lift configuration consistent with the present disclosure wherein the vertical lift includes all of the features. It is to be understood, however, that a lift consistent with the present disclosure may include any one or more of these safety features and may be provided in any lift configuration, e.g., in a side entry vertical lift configuration, in a lift configuration without sides, in a lift configuration that moves materials in horizontal or angular direction, in a lift configuration that rotates materials, etc. The example embodiments shown and described herein are thus provided by way of illustration, not limitation.
To prevent damage to the lift 100 when moving or shipping the lift 100, a removable rigid brace 126 may be coupled between the second ends of the left and right side guard panel 106, 108. In the illustrated example embodiment, the left and right side guard panel 108, 106 each include a brace receptacle for removably receiving an end of the brace. The rigid brace may be installed into the receptacles in the left and right side guard panel 108, 106 and removed prior to operation of the lift 100.
In the illustrated front-entry configuration, a front side 128 of the lift 100 is open to allow access to the platform 104 for loading and unloading material onto/from the platform 104. The mast 102 houses a power unit that uses hydraulic power for driving a platform 104 from a lowered position, as shown in
The illustrated example embodiment includes a roller shade housing 130 coupled to a top of the mast 102 adjacent front surface of the mast 102, i.e., the surface of the mast 102 adjacent the platform 104. The roller shade housing 130 may include a roller shade 132 extendably and retractably disposed therein. The roller shade 132 may be constructed from a heavy-duty fabric and may extend across the width of the platform 104.
The roller shade 132 may have a first end coupled to a spring biased roller that is rotatably mounted inside the roller shade housing 130. The spring biases the roller shade 132 to roll around the roller and into the roller shade housing 130. An opposite end of the roller shade 132 may be coupled to the platform 104.
When the platform 104 is in a raised position, as shown in
In the illustrated example embodiment, the platform 104 includes a base 134, a left side wall 136 coupled to the base 134 and positioned adjacent the left side guard panel 108, a right side 138 coupled to the base 134 and positioned adjacent the right side guard panel 106, and a mast end 140 coupled to the base 134 and positioned adjacent the front surface of the mast 102. The first end of the left side wall 136 is coupled to one end of the mast end 140 and a first end of the right side wall 138 is coupled to an opposite end of the mast end 140. The second ends of the left and right side walls 136, 138 are positioned adjacent the front entry of the 100, which as an open side of the platform 104.
As shown in
The roller shade 132 may be coupled to the mast end 140 of the platform 104 along the width thereof using fasteners 302. With reference also to
Turning now to
In the illustrated example embodiment, the scanner 602 is a known laser scanner disposed within a bottom of the right entrance guard and the protected area 604 is defined generally by the illustrated rectangular shape at the front entry of the lift 100. The laser scanner 602 transmits a laser output through an opening in the bottom of the right entrance guard and into in the protected area. The laser scanner 602 detects reflection the laser output from a person in the protected area. In the illustrated example embodiment, the protected area has a length that is greater than the width of the lift 100 and a width that extends forward of the front entry of the lift 100. In some embodiments, the protected area may have a length extending beyond the left and right side guard panel 108, 106 by 2 feet or more and beyond the left and right entrance guards 112, 110 by 1 foot or more, and may have a width extending forward from the front entry 128 of the lift 100 by 2 feet or more.
In some operating environments for the lift 100, dust or debris may possibly accumulate on the scanner 602 and interfere with operation of the scanner 602. To address this, and as shown for example in
In some embodiments, a fan 704 may be provided adjacent the scanner 602. The fan 704 may be positioned to force air over the scanner 602 to prevent dust from accumulating on the scanner 602. In the illustrated example embodiment, the fan 704 is disposed in the right side guard panel 106 and positioned above the scanner 602 to force air downward onto the scanner 602. A fan window 706 may be provided for viewing the fan 704 from the exterior of the lift 100 to allow a user to determine whether dust or debris has accumulated on the fan 704. If the user determines dust or debris has accumulated on the fan 704 by viewing the scanner 602 through the fan window 706, the user may disable operation of the lift 100 and clean the dust and debris from the fan 704 before resuming operation. The fan can also create a positive pressure which can reduce the likelihood of dust entering left and right entrance guards 112, 110.
In some embodiments a lift 100 consistent with the present disclosure may include floating spacers 802 for minimizing pinch points between moving and stationary components of the lift 100. As illustrated, for example in
The floating spacers 802 may be coupled to the left 136 and right 138 sides of the platform 104 to move with the platform 104 between the lowered position and the raised position to minimize pinch points between the spacers 802 and the left and right side guard panel 108, 106 throughout the range of travel of the platform 104. In some embodiments, the spacers 802 may be spring biased against the left and right side guard panel 108, 106 to slide against surfaces of the left and right side guard panel 108, 106 during travel of the platform 104 between the raised and lowered positions.
As shown in
A leaf spring 1006 is coupled to the outer surface 1008 of the right side 138 of the platform 104 and engages an interior surface 1010 of the spacer 802. The leaf spring biases the spacer in a direction toward the right side guard panel 106. As the platform 104 and the spacer 802 move between the raised and lowered position, the leaf spring 1006 forces the spacer 802 against the right side guard panel 106 to minimize the space between the right side guard panel 106 and the spacer 802. This substantially blocks access to any pinch point between the moving platform 104 and spacer 802 and the right side guard panel 106. A spacer 802 as shown in
In some embodiments, the side guard panels 106, 108 of a lift 100 consistent with the present disclosure may include viewing panels 1100. The viewing panels 1100 may allow a user to view, from a position external to the lift 100, the platform 104 in the lowered position and the area underneath the platform 104 when the platform 104 is in the raised position. In some embodiments, the viewing panels 1100 may be configured as windows. If a person is viewed by a user as being underneath the platform 104, a user can disable operation of the lift 100 until the person is no longer underneath the platform 104 to prevent possible injury to the user as the lift 100 is lowered from a raised position.
In some embodiments, as shown for example in
In some embodiments, the entrance guards 110, 112 may be sized and shaped to keep people back and away from the front entry to the lift 100 to prevent them from reaching into the platform 104 area during operation. In some embodiments the entrance guards 110, 112 may extend laterally outward beyond the exterior surfaces of the side guard panels 106, 108 and forward beyond the entry of the lift 100. In some embodiments the entrance guards 110, 112 may extend laterally outward 1 foot or more beyond the exterior surfaces of the side guard panels 106, 108 and forward 1 foot or more beyond the entry 128 of the lift 100. The front surface 1112 of the entrance guards 110, 112 may be beveled inward toward the platform 104 to prevent people or material from catching on the entrance guards 110, 112 when entering or exiting the platform 104 area.
The entrance guards 110, 112 can take a variety of shapes and configurations and may extend along the entire height of the side guard panels. In the illustrated example embodiment, as shown for example in
In some embodiments, the power unit disposed in the mast 102 may include dual redundant locking valves to block fluid from unintentionally exiting the hydraulic cylinder, which would result in the platform 104 moving from the raised position to the lowered position.
As shown, the power unit includes a pump 1206, a hydraulic fluid reservoir 1208, a first locking valve 1210, a second locking valve 1212, and a cylinder 1214. In a known manner the pump 1206 forces hydraulic fluid from the reservoir 1208 and into the cylinder 1214 to move the platform 104 to the raised position. To lower the platform 104 to the lowered position, the valves 1210, 1212 may be opened in response to a control signal from user controls and gravity force on the platform 104 forces fluid out of the cylinder 1214 and back into the reservoir 1208.
The first 1210 and second 1212 valves provide redundancy since fluid cannot exit the cylinder 1214 without both valves receiving the required control signal. In some embodiments, one or more of the control signals for opening the valves 1210, 1212 may be provided in response to the scanner output, thereby allowing the platform 104 to lower only when the scanner 602 does not detect a person in the protected area. This feature can prevent inadvertent lowering of the platform 104 onto a person positioned underneath the platform 104.
In the illustrated side-entry configuration, a side 128a of the lift 100a is open to allow access to the platform for loading and unloading material onto/from the platform. The mast 102a houses a power unit that uses hydraulic power for driving the platform 104 from a lowered position to a raised position. A user may selectively control operation of the power unit by operation of user controls placed on the exterior of the lift 100a, e.g., on the right side guard panel 106 or the rear side guard panel 108a, to place the platform 104 and any materials loaded thereon in the lowered position or the raised position.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is thus provided a material handling lift. The material handling lift includes a mast, a platform coupled to the mast, a power unit configured to drive the platform along the mast to a raised position and lower the platform to a lowered position, and a roller shade having a first end coupled to a top of the mast and a second end coupled to the platform, the roller shade being configured to extend along a length of the mast when the platform is lowered to the lowered position and to retract toward the top of the mast when the platform is raised to the raised position.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is thus provided a material handling lift. The material handling lift includes a power unit configured to drive a component of the material handling lift for moving an object, and a scanner positioned to scan a protected area adjacent the material handling lift for presence of a person and provide a scanner output if the person is detected in the protected area, the power unit being responsive to disable drive of the component in response to the scanner output.
According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, there is thus provided a material handling lift. The material handling lift includes a mast, a platform coupled to the mast, a power unit configured to drive the platform along the mast to a raised position and lower the platform to a lowered position, at least one guard panel positioned adjacent a side of the platform, a spacer coupled to the side of the platform and at least partially disposed between the side of the platform and the at least one guard panel, and a spring coupled to the platform and configured to bias the spacer toward the at least one guard panel.
While several embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision a variety of other means and/or structures for performing the functions and/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantages described herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications is deemed to be within the scope of the present invention. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations described herein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters, dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon the specific application or applications for which the teachings of the present invention is/are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described herein.
It is, therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described and claimed. The present invention is directed to each individual feature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein. In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent, is included within the scope of the present invention.
All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood to control over dictionary definitions, definitions in documents incorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the defined terms.
The term “coupled” as used herein refers to any connection, coupling, link. Components described herein as “coupled” may be directly coupled to one another or may be indirectly coupled through intermediate components.
Unless otherwise stated, use of the word “substantially” may be construed to include a precise relationship, condition, arrangement, orientation, and/or other characteristic, and deviations thereof as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, to the extent that such deviations do not materially affect the disclosed methods and systems.
The terms “comprising”, “including” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.
The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”
The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in the claims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements so conjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some cases and disjunctively present in other cases. Other elements may optionally be present other than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified, unless clearly indicated to the contrary.
Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” below,” upper,” “lower,” “above” and the like may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the drawings. These spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation shown in the drawings. For example, if the device in the drawings is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
The present application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/266,956, filed Jan. 20, 2022, the entire teachings of which application is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63266956 | Jan 2022 | US |