Patent Application
20090169350
This invention relates generally to motorized carts for the transport of paper rolls in a print shop of the type having paper roll unwinders and roll reminders located at the input and output end of a printer. The transport cart of the present invention is particularly designed and configured for the transport of relatively heavy (one thousand pounds and up) paper rolls of the type commonly used with laser printers.
While motorized carts are now available for this purpose, the present invention provides a unique cart that is not only capable of picking up the roll and transporting the roll in a motorized fashion, but wherein the cart is provided at it's aft or rear end with a motorized driven wheel that can be conveniently steered with a hand held yoke having a speed control similar to that provided on a motorcycle. The yoke is manually steerable from the upper, or handle end. The yoke is also moveable fore and aft, such that the cart can be conveniently stopped by a self operating braking system in response to movement of the handle from its active operating position, to a forward or stowed position to set the braking system.
The cart includes a load lifting carriage in the form of a pair of pivotably mounted roll support arms that allow the operator to raise or lower a paper roll from and to position in a roll unwind or rewind machine of the type manufactured by the Assignee of the present application, Energy Saving Products, Inc. of Burlington, Conn., USA.
In the cart of the present invention, the above described yoke includes a lower portion which supports a single motorized drive wheel on a vertical axis (the steering axis) and wherein the drive motor and braking means are provided in the lower portion of the yoke. The drive means comprise an electric motor which is DC driven so as to serve as a brake for the single steerable drive wheel. Rechargable electric batteries are provided on either side of the drive wheel for better balance of the three wheel cart, and to improve traction for the single drive wheel.
The motorized load lifting carriage is operated by a hydraulic system, including at least one hydraulic motor coupled between the carriage and the machine frame. Electric circuitry, including a pump motor for generating hydraulic pressure, is provided in the transport unit, also includes means for controlling both the drive motor and the brake associated with the single steerable rear wheel.
The drawings show the cart of the present invention as having a U-shaped frame 12 with forwardly projecting leg portions 12a and 12b. The paper roll R may be raised upwardly off the floor F by a U-shaped carriage 10 having parallel arms 10a and 10b joined at a pivoted end of the carriage by a cross member 10c. These carriage arms 10a and 10b are arranged parallel to the leg portions 12a and 12b of the frame 12.
Each of the U-shaped carriage arm portions, 10a and 10b, has a hydraulic actuator, 14a and 14b, provided between it and the frame 12. As so constructed and arranged the U-shaped lifting carriage arms 10a and 10b raise and lower the paper roll R from the position shown for it in
The transport cart is operated from the rear driven end, as best shown in
The frame 12 further comprises a forward portion 12d that defines an enclosure for the electric batteries B1 and B2 that are provided one on either side of the steering axis. The yoke lower portion has a fork that carries the motorized or driven wheel 20 referred to previously.
Aft of the battery compartment, described in the preceeding paragraph, is an enclosed compartment or chamber of the frame 12 provided to house the hydraulic system components for raising and lowering the U-shaped carriage 10 described previously. The hydraulic system comprises an electric motor coupled to a hydraulic pump that provides hydraulic pressure to the hydraulic actuators 14a and 14b. These actuators are controlled by conventional valves from electric switches located conveniently on a control panel within reach of the cart operator, for operation of solenoid valves in the hydraulic systems.
The upper handle portion of the yoke is provided with a throttle grip, twist style speed control on at least one side of the handle, preferably the right hand side, with a rheostat type electric speed control providing input to the electrical circuitry for operating the drive motor associated with the single driven wheel 20. The steerable handle and yoke arrangement provides the operator with ease of operation in the forward and aft direction as well as in the left and right hand turning directions.
Braking of the transport unit is achieved by movement of the upper handle portion between a normal operating, or aft position as illustrated in
The electrical circuitry associated with driving the motor, operating the motor as a brake, and controlling the speed of the drive motor, are preferably of the form shown in the operating manual provided by the manufacturer Curtis Instruments of Mt. Kisco, N.Y. sold under the trade name Motor Speed Controller model no. 1210, and currently used in electrified wheelchairs or similar devices.
In light of the above, it is therefore understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.
