GB2129403A - Vehicle mounted lifting device for transport and handling of container-type freight carriers - Google Patents

Abstract

A device in side loaders for use in vehicles designed to transport and handle freight carriers, such as load containers, and arranged to allow loading and unloading from either side of the vehicle as desired with the aid of yoke-chaped lifting member 15 provided on the side loaders. Each lifting yoke 15 is releasably connected with a rotating member 18 on each side loader via a lifting sleeve 19, the latter being mounted in a spherical plain bearing 22 in the lifting yoke. The lifting sleeve is likewise equipped with means 21 to ensure that the lifting sleeve is secured to the rotating member. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Vehicle mounted lifting device for transport and handling of container-type freight carriers The present invention concerns a device in side loaders to be used in vehicles designed to transport and handle freight carriers, such as load containers, and to allow such containers to be loaded and unloaded from either side of the vehicle by means of a yoke shaped lifting member provided on the side loader.

Side loaders of this kind are used on lorry or trailer chassis for road transport of containers or for handling such containers in freight terminals.

The side loaders is designed to lift the containers onto or off the chassis and from and onto the ground or another vehicle, such as a railway truck.

A desired feature in side loaders is to achieve the widest possible loading range while at the same time the hoisting equipment on the chassis must not be so encumbrant as to impair the practicability of the vehicle on ordinary roads. To increase the loading range some side loaders are conventionally equipped with telescopically extensible members.

Side loaders of this kind are usually limited to use in certain areas, such as freight terminals.

Some of them may be driven on public roads when they are folded into their transport position but the cargo space of such loaders is highly restricted. Other prior-art side loaders require manual assistance to interconnect or disconnect the lifting device and the container.

The purpose of the subject invention is to provide a lifting device for vehicles, which lifting device allows maximum utilization of the loading space of the vehicle during road transports without any part of the side loader extending beyond the outlines of the vehicle itself.

A further requirement is that the device is such as to allow remote-control of container grasp and release.

The subject invention provides a sideloader by means of which containers may be handled in a simplified and more efficient manner than is possible with prior-art devices.

The lifting device in accordance with the subject invention is characterized in that each yoke shaped lifting member is releasably connected to a rotating member provided on each side loader via a lifting sleeve, said sleeve mounted in a spherical plain bearing in the lifting yoke, and in that the lifting sleeve is provided with means adapted to secure the lifting sleeve to the rotating member.

One embodiment of the invention will be described in closer detail in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a lateral view of the side loader in accordance with the invention in its folded transport position as well as in two possible operative positions, Fig. 2 shows the invention object in an alternative operative position as well as in two other possible positions, Fig. 3 shows in a view from below the yokeshaped lifting member which forms part of the lifting device, and Fig. 4 is a section through the swivel coupling between the yoke-shaped lifting member and the side loader.

The side loader is supported on a carrier beam 1 which is mounted on a chassis (not shown) of a lorry or a trailer. A lever 4 and a hydraulic pistonand-cylinder unit 5 are pivotally connected to the beam 1 in pivot points 2 and 3, respectively. The piston-and-cylinder unit 5 extends essentially in parallel with the lever 4 up to a pivot point 6 which is positioned in one of the corners of a triangular attachment frame 7 which forms the upper part of the lever 4. The upper corner of the attachment frame 7 forms the pivot point 8 of an upper arm 9. The latter is provided with a shaft 10 spaced somewhat from the pivot point 8.On the shaft 10 are pivotally mounted two hydraulically operated piston-and-cylinder units 11 and 12, one of which, 11, is pivotally mounted in the pivot point 6 of the piston-and-cylinder unit 5 whereas the other, 12, is pivotally mounted in a pivot point 6' formed in the third corner of the attachment frame 7. Consequently, the two piston-andcylinder units 11 and 12 are at an angle relative to one another, their point of intersection being the shaft 10.

The upper arm 9 is provided with guide flanges 9' guiding the movements of a traversing carriage 13 which is arranged for displacement on runner rollers 13' along the upper arm 9 by means of a piston-and-cylinder unit 14. A yoke-shaped lifting member 1 5 is rotatably suspended in the traversing carriage 13. The yoke-shaped lifting member 1 5 is provided with locking pins 1 6 which are arranged to engage in the upper corner boxes of a container 17. The locking pins 16 may be remote-controlled through hydraulic means to grasp or release a container.

Fig. 1 illustrates the side loader in its transport position. The lifting yoke 1 5 is lifted off from the traversing carriage 13 and the corner boxes of the container when the chassis with the side loader thereon is to be used for road transports. The lifting yoke is attached to the chassis and consequently the side loader does not project beyond the container profile, either vertically or laterally.

When a container which is positioned to the left of the chassis is to be lifted, the lever 4 is swung outwards sideways with the aid of the piston-andcylinder unit 5. The travelling carriage 1 3 is moved to its outer extreme position on the upper arm 9 and the lifting yoke 1 5 may now be hooked onto the travelling carriage. Alternatively, the lifting yoke may already be positioned on top of the corner boxes at each end of the container. As soon as the lifting yoke 1 5 has been connected to the hydraulic system of the side loader the locking pins 1 6 may be moved to their positions in engagement with the corner boxes, whereafter the upper arm is raised and the container is lifted.The arm elevation is achieved by means of the piston and-cylinder unit 1 2 assisted by the piston-and cylinder unit 1 1. The two piston-and-cylinder units 11, 1 2 operate side by side on the common shaft 10. The mounting means mounting the upper arm 9 to the attachment frame 7 of the lever 4 consist of two short trunnions, thus allowing space for the passage of the two piston-and-cylinder units between and past the pivot point 8.

When the container 1 7 is to be deposited on the chassis for transport, the lever as well as the upper arm 9 are swung back to their respective positions of transport while at the same time the travelling carriage 1 3 is moved back towards the centre of the upper arm. The lifting yoke 1 5 is disconnected from the travelling carriage and the container is ready for transport.

When the container 17 is instead to be lifted onto a vehicle which is positioned on the right hand side of the chassis and which is not equipped with hoisting devices (as is the case in conventional flat-car railway trucks), the container 1 7 is lifted above the chassis as illustrated in Fig.

2. The lifting work is then gradually transferred from the piston-and-cylinder unit 12 to the piston and-cylinder unit 11. In this manner the side loader in accordance with the invention may be used in freight terminals to load and unload containers to and from railway trucks and vehicles without the assistance of other hoisting equipment. With the use of the lifting device in accordance with the invention the loading and unloading operations may be performed quickly and efficiently in small-scale terminals which are not designed and equipped to handle large quantities of goods. In such small-scale terminals loading and unloading of occasional large cargos otherwise often cause considerable problems.

The connection between the lifting yoke 1 5 and the travelling carriage 1 3 is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. The traversing carriage 13 is provided with a rotating member 18 which is mounted in the traversing carriage and is provided at its end projecting beyond the latter with a round vertical flange 18' having a centrally located, round conically tapering recess. The lifting yoke 1 5 is provided with a sleeve 1 9 arranged to form a seat of engagement for the rotating member 1 8.

The sleeve is arranged on a transverse shaft 20 formed in the lifting yoke 1 5. The transverse shaft 20 is provided with guides preventing it from turning relative to the yoke, and at its centre with a conical locking pin 21 which is hydraulically operated for movement between positions in and out of engagement with the flange 1 8'. The transverse shaft 20 is connected with the lifting yoke 15 via a spherical plain bearing 22, thus allowing some angular movability relative to the lifting yoke.This makes it possible to deposit the container on surfaces which slope somewhat relative to the longitudinal axis of the chassis without this operation making it difficult to connect or disconnect the locking pins 1 6 of the lifting yoke 1 5. To centre the transverse shaft 20 relative to the lifting yoke 1 5 a helical spring 23 is held between a shoulder 24 formed on the transverse shaft 20 and a shoulder 25 formed on the lifting yoke.

Valves and lines incorporated in the hydraulic system of the device are not shown in the drawings in order not to unnecessarily complicate or clutter the latter. For the same reason, the electric equipment which is preferably used to control the valves from the vehicle driver's cabin or from a portable control box are not shown either. The coordination of the movements of the two piston-and-cylinder units 11 and 12 is preferably achieved via angle sensing means provided between the lever 4 and the support beam 1 and between the upper arm 9 and the lever 4, which sensing means control the oil pressure with the aid of valves ensuring that the two piston-and-cylinder units 11, 12 do not perform mutually opposing movements but take loads commensurate to the angular positions of the arms.

Within the scope of the subject invention various modifications are possible. The pistonand-cylinder units 5 and 11 need not be mounted in a common pivot point 6. The chassis may be provided with outrigger legs provided on the longer sides the chassis. Furthermore, the support beam 1 may be attached to the chassis with the aid of means provided to adjust the distance between the front and rear side loaders. This makes it possible to handle containers of varying lengths on the same chassis.

Claims (2)

1. A device in side loaders for use in vehicles designed to transport and handle container-type of freight carriers (1 7) said device arranged to allow said freight carriers (17) to be loaded and unloaded from either side of the vehicle as desired by means of yoke-shaped lifting members (15) provided on the side loaders, characterised in that each yoke-shaped lifting member 415) is removably connected to a rotating member (18) provided on each side loader via a lifting sleeve (19), said lifting sleeve (19) mounted in a spherical plain bearing (22) in the lifting yoke (15), and in that the lifting sleeve (19) is provided with means (21) adapted to secure the lifting sleeve to the rotating member ( 18).

2. An arrangement in side loaders as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said means is a conical locking pin (21) which is movable into or out of engagement with a recess formed in the centre of said rotating member (18).