AU722446B2 - Work stations - Google Patents

Description

P00011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act, 1 990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT TO BE COMPLETED BY THE APPLICANT NAME OF APPLICANT: ACTUAL INVENTORS: ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: INVENTION TITLE: DETAILS OF ASSOCIATED PROVISIONAL APPLICATION NO: SADARKIS HOLDINGS PTY LIMITED ACN 001 382 823 NICHOLAS SADARKIS; STEVEN

SADARKIS

Peter Maxwell Associates Level 6 Pitt Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 WORK STATIONS PO 6535 1 May 1997 Australia The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me:- -2- The present invention relates to work stations and, in particular, to a work station that can be mounted to commercial or field service vehicles to facilitate the provision of goods and services therefrom. For the purposes of this specification, the term "work station" is to be understood to embrace a vehicle borne construction that is used to store, convey and exhibit a wide variety of products for purposes of sale or use.

Work stations of the aforementioned kind have been developed in recent times so that they are expandable from the vehicle, that is, they are compactable for ease of transport on the vehicle, but extendable outwardly *i 10 from the vehicle for the purposes of sale or use of the products carried thereon.

~Australian Patent No. 624,836 discloses an expandable work station for a field service unit having a downwardly inclined support frame upon .**which slides a carriage for a designated purpose structure. However, that 15 work station may be subject to undesirable frictional "creeping" arising from the grab of metal on metal when the carriage slides along the support frame. This will be particularly pronounced in instances when the carriage does not carry much weight. Furthermore, the sliding surfaces need to be sufficiently greased for effective and prolonged use.

United States Patent No. 4,073,502 discloses a retractable step in which the link members thereof pivot toward the step member during retraction and in which the step member is raised in "concertina" fashion towards its supporting member. As a result, the retractable step is illequiped to operate as a work station because it would crush, damage or otherwise interfere with any product carried by the step member during retraction.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a work station that overcomes or at least substantially ameliorates these and other shortcomings and disadvantages of the prior art.

In one broad form of the invention, there is provided a work station comprising a support frame mounted on a vehicle, a product support member pivotally connected to the support frame by pivotal arm means, the product support member including a plurality of panel members for supporting product, the panel members being vertically spaced apart from each other, and ram means for causing the pivotal movement of said product support member from a compact location with respect to said support frame, whereby the work station is transportable, to an extended location downwardly and outwardly with respect to said support frame, whereby the work station may assume operation, and wherein the pivotal arm means comprise at least one pair of linkage members, the first and second members of the or each said pair 0: 15 maintaining a parallel alignment therebetween throughout the pivotal o• movement of the product support member, whereby each of the panel members is maintained in a horizontal position, and wherein the first and eeo.

coo.

second members of the or each pair of linkage members are adapted to o.0 o'o .assume a longitudinally abutting position whereby a portion of the first member 20 overlaps and abuts against a portion of the second member when the product support member is pivotally moved to the said extended location, thereby preventing further pivotal movement.

The product support member is preferably a bench table having an upper support panel and a lower support panel, to each of the opposed 2/05/00 4 ends of the upper support panel is pivotally connected the first and second members respectively of a pair of linkage members.

In a preferred form of the present invention, the product support member is pivotally moved to an extended location outwardly from the vehicle.

Preferably, the pivotal arm means comprise two pairs of linkage members, the first and second members of each of the said two pairs maintaining a parallel alignment therebetween throughout the pivotal movement of the product support member.

10 It is preferred that the support frame is located to the side of the panel members where the frame will not interfere with or damage any product supported on the panel members during pivotal movement of the product support member.

It is also preferred that the work station includes a locking system 15 for locking the product support member to the support frame when required.

The locking system may consist of a hydraulic locking ram assembly secured to the support frame and a lock-in bracket secured to the product support member so that when the product support member is in its compact location with respect to the support frame, the said ram assembly is able to be operated so as to lockably engage the said lock-in bracket.

Preferably, the ram assembly consists of a ram cylinder and a ram rod, and is able to lockably engage the lock-in bracket upon hydraulically controlled operation of the ram cylinder to extend the ram rod therefrom.

It is preferred that the so extended ram rod passes through and is rigidly retained within an aperture formed through the lock-in bracket, whereby the portion of the lock-in bracket which defines the said aperture provides the impediment to movement of the product support member with respect to the support frame.

In order that the invention may be readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a work station according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2 is a side elevational view showing the work station of Fig. 1 at three stages of its pivotal movement from a 10 compact location to an extended location, Fig. 3 is a cut away perspective view of a work station according to another preferred embodiment of the invention, in which the work station includes a locking system but is otherwise similar to the work station of Figs. 1 and 2, 15 Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the locking system of Fig. 3 when it is in its locked position, and 5 is an isolated front elevational view of the locking system shown in Fig. 4.

The work station 10 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 includes a support frame 12 consisting of a pair of first vertical frame members 14, 16 and a pair of second vertical frame members 18, 20. The first vertical frame members 14, 16 are interconnected by a pivot rod 22 having opposed pivotal end pins (only end pin 24 shown in Figs. 1 and 2) that engage their respective frame member 14, 16. Each of the second vertical frame members 18, are spaced apart from their respective adjacent first vertical frame member 14, 16 by a connecting cross beam 26.

6 The support frame 12 also consists of a pair of cross frame members 28, 30 and a pair of leg frame members (only leg frame member 32 shown in Fig. so that the support frame 12 assumes a generally shape.

The support frame 12 is mounted on a vehicle (not shown) in a conventional manner, but so that the cross frame members 28, 30 project towards the outside of the vehicle. Commonly, there will be a single support frame 12 mounted in a vehicle.

A product support member 34 is pivotally connected to the support frame 12 by a first pair of linkage members 36, 38 at one of its ends and 10 by a second pair of linkage members (only linkage member 40 shown in Fig. 1) at the opposite other of its ends.

The product support member 34 is in the form of a bench table having an upper product support panel 42 and a lower product support *panel 44 interconnected by bench frame members 46, 48, 50 and 52.

15 The manner in which the product support member 34 is pivotally connected to the support frame 12 is identical at each of its opposed ends S-and so, for simplicity, the arrangement for pivotal connection at the end shown in Fig. 2 will be described hereinafter.

The upper linkage member 36 is pivotally connected at a first end thereof to the frame member 14 by pivotal end pin 24 and at its other end to a rear corner portion of the panel 42,by a pivot pin 54.

The lower linkage member 38 is pivotally connected at a first end thereof to the cross frame member 28 by a pivot pin 56 and at its other end to a bracket member 58 by a pivot pin 60. The bracket member 58 is connected to, and extends downwardly from, an end portion of the panel 42.

The product support member 34 is caused to be pivotally moved by a pair of hydraulic rams 62, 64, respectively connected to the opposed ends of the panel 42. Ram 62 is pivotally connected at its upper end to frame member 18 and ram 64 is similarly connected to frame member The extendable and retractable rods 66, 68 of rams 62, 64 respectively are pivotally connected by pivot pins 70, 72 respectively to the panel 42 by mild steel bracket members 74, 76 respectively which are adapted to carry the weight of the bench table and the products supported thereon.

In order to pivotally move the product support member 34 from a p.

10 compact location with respect to the support frame 12 (as marked A in Fig.

2) to an extended location therefrom (as marked C in Fig. 2 and as shown in Fig. passing through a transitional location (marked B in Fig. 2), control means are provided on the vehicle for operating the hydraulic rams 62, 64 to fully extend their respective rods 66, 68. The direction in which 15 the rods 66, 68 are extended and, therefore, the final location of the product support member 34 is determined by the four pivotal linkage members (only members 36, 38 and 40 shown) which act as guides. The panels 42 and 44 maintain a horizontal disposition throughout the pivotal **movement of the product support member 34 down and away from the support frame 12 (and vice versa) by virtue of the maintenance of a parallel alignment between the equal length members of each pair of linkage members.

The work station 80 shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 is similar to the work station 10 of Figs. 1 and 2 except that it includes a locking system consisting of a hydraulic locking ram assembly 82 and a lock-in bracket 84.

The ram assembly 82 is securably supported on vertical frame member 18 and the lock-in bracket 84 is welded to a region on the rear edge surface of the upper product support panel 42 so that, when the product support member 34 is in a compact location with respect to the support frame 12 (as hereinbefore described), the ram assembly 82 is able to engage the lock-in bracket 84 which is adjacent and in functional alignment with the ram assembly 82, and thereby lock the work station in said compact location (see Fig. 2 for the compact location marked The locking system is shown in its locked position in Figs. 4 and The hydraulic locking ram assembly 82 includes a steel angle mount 86, which is welded to the frame member 18, and a double acting locking 10 ram 88 which is bolted to base portion 90 of the angle mount 86. The ram :0 88 consists of a hydraulically operated ram cylinder 89 and a ram rod 92 .which is reciprocatingly moved by the cylinder 89. There is a circular aperture (not shown) formed through the base portion 90 through which the ram rod 92 may pass.

15 The lock-in bracket 84 includes a seat portion 94 which has a circular aperture 96 formed therethrough of a similar dimension to the aperture formed through the base portion When the work station 80 is in its compact location, the base portion 90 of the angle mount 86 and the seat portion 94 of the lock-in bracket 84 are in generally close coplanar relationship and their respective circular apertures are in substantially axial alignment so that the ram rod 92 may, under control of the hydraulically operated ram cylinder 89, be extended to pass through and be rigidly retained within both apertures and thereby enable the ram assembly 82 to engage the lock-in bracket 84 for locking the work station 80 in its compact location. In order to allow the product support member 34 of the locked work station 80 to pivotally move from the compact location to an extended location (see Fig. 1 and 9 Fig. 2 for the extended location marked the ram rod 92 is firstly retracted from both apertures (or at least aperture 96) so as to enable the product support member 34 to move under the control of the hydraulic rams 62, 64 and under the guidance of the linkage members (only members 36, 38 and 40 shown), as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The work stations 10 and 80 are, in the aforementioned embodiments, predominantly fabricated of mild steel, although stainless steel, aluminium and other resilient materials may be used. It is envisaged that each of the work stations 10 and 80 would besold commercially as a 10 kit to be assembled and mounted on the vehicle by the end user.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the upper and lower support panels 42, 44 are, at all times, equidistant and maintained in horizontal positions so as to support products when the work station is both in its **compact location for transportation and in its extended location for 15 operation. This is achieved by the pivotal linkage members 36, 38, moving in a strictly parallelogram fashion throughout the extension and ~retraction of the rams 62, 64 and pivoting away from the upper surfaces of the support panels 42 44 during retraction of the rams 62, 64. It is also achieved by locating the rigid support frame 12 to the side of the panels 42, 44 where the frame 12 will not interfere with or damage any product supported on the panels during retraction, which would otherwise occur if there was a rigid support member above the uppermost panel 42 that would interfere with such products when the product support member 34 is raised to its transportable position.

In addition, the linkage members 36, 38 and 40 are preferably moveable to a longitudinally overlapping and abutting position whereby further extension of the rams 62, 64 is prevented by the contact made by one linkage member (say 36) against its adjacent linkage member (38) (see, in particular, Fig. When such contact is made, the product support member 34 is at its most outwardly extendable position from the support frame 12.

Therefore, it is a further advantage of the aforementioned preferred embodiment of the present invention, that the extension of the rams 62, 64 is limited not by the rams themselves but by the arrangement of the linkage members 36, 38 which are adapted to make longitudinally overlapping contact (and hence stop the extension of the rams 62, 64) when the panels 42, 44 are at their most outwardly or extended locations.

The aforementioned ram extension stop mechanism used in the preferred work station of the present invention is better suited to work stations where the product support member consists of two or more vertically spaced apart panels, and is "built in" to the structural 15 arrangement of the linkage members 36, 38 so as to provide an automatic stop when the work station is at its most outwardly or extended location.

Various modifications may be made in details of design and outo construction without departing from the scope or ambit of the invention.

Claims (9)

1. A work station comprising a support frame mounted on a vehicle, a product support member pivotally connected to the support frame by pivotal arm means, the product support member including a plurality of panel members for supporting product, the panel members being vertically spaced apart from each other, and ram means for causing the pivotal movement of said product support member from a compact location with respect to said support frame, whereby the work station is transportable, to an extended location downwardly and outwardly with respect to said support frame, whereby the work station may assume operation, and wherein the pivotal arm means comprise at least one pair of linkage members, the first and second members of the or each said pair maintaining a parallel alignment therebetween throughout the pivotal omovement of the product support member, whereby each of the panel .r members is maintained in a horizontal position, and wherein the first and second members of the or each pair of linkage members are adapted to .assume a longitudinally abutting position whereby a portion of the first member overlaps and abuts against a portion of the second member when the product support member is pivotally moved to the said extended location, thereby preventing further pivotal movement.

2. The work station of claim 1 wherein the product support member is a bench table having an upper support panel and a lower support panel, to each of the opposed ends of the upper support panel is pivotally connected the first and second members respectively of a pair of linkage members. 2/05/00 12

3. The work station of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the product support member is pivotally moved to an extended location outwardly from the vehicle.

4. The work station of any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the pivotal arm means comprise two pairs of linkage members, the first and second members of each of the said two pairs maintaining a parallel alignment therebetween throughout the pivotal movement of the product support member.

The work station of any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the support frame is located to the side of the panel members where the frame will not oo o interfere with or damage any product supported on the panel members during pivotal movement of the product support member. lOB

6. The work station of any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the work station includes a locking system for locking the product support member ooo to the support frame when required. i:

7. The work station of claim 6 wherein the locking system consists of a hydraulic locking ram assembly secured to the support frame and a lock-in bracket secured to the product support member so that when the product support member is in its compact location with respect to the support frame, the said ram assembly is able to be operated so as to lockably engage the said lock-in bracket. 2/05/00 13

8. The work station of claim 7 wherein the ram assembly consists of a ram cylinder and a ram rod, and is able to lockably engage the lock-in bracket upon hydraulically controlled operation of the ram cylinder to extend the ram rod therefrom.

9. The work station of claim 8 wherein the so extended ram rod passes through and is rigidly retained within an aperture formed through the lock-in bracket, whereby the portion of the lock-in bracket which defines the said aperture provides the impediment to movement of the product support member with respect to the support frame. A work station substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 2nd day of May, 2000 SADARKIS HOLDINGS PTY LIMITED Patent Attorneys for the Applicant •PETER MAXWELL ASSOCIATES l*l t* i i 2/05/00