JP7685407B2 - Rack Equipment - Google Patents

Description

Application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act Published on May 3, 2021 on the website "https://diamond.jp/articles/-/269803"

Application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act Published in the publication "REA Kansai No. 48" on May 26, 2021

Application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act Published on May 26, 2021 in the publication “BLUE SINGNAL vol.193”

Application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act Published on April 7, 2021, on the website "https://www.westjr.co.jp/press/article/2021/04/page_17684.html"

Application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act Published on June 1, 2021 in the publication "NESCO NOW vol. 389"

Article 30, paragraph 2 of the Patent Act applied. Publicly displayed on the "West Japan Railway Company (JR West Japan) tracks" from May 20 to September 14, 2021.

The present invention relates to a rack device for loading movable brackets, which are railway materials.

An example of a vehicle equipped with a loading platform for carrying railway materials such as movable brackets is the road-rail vehicle of Patent Document 1. The road-rail vehicle of Patent Document 1 is a truck-type vehicle equipped with a driver's cabin at the front of the vehicle and a loading platform at the rear on which work equipment, movable brackets (work materials), etc. are loaded. A crane device is provided between the driver's cabin and the loading platform for lifting the loaded movable brackets, etc., and a clamp mechanism for gripping the movable brackets is provided at the tip of the crane device. The loading platform on which the movable brackets are loaded has a flat upper surface. The movable brackets are equipped with a pair of support pipes.

Utility Model Registration No. 3153761

In the road-rail vehicle of Patent Document 1, when multiple movable brackets are loaded onto the flat-topped platform, the movable brackets are laid down horizontally (with both support pipes arranged along a horizontal plane and the movable brackets laid down horizontally), and the movable brackets are stacked vertically while wooden lumber is sandwiched between each of the movable brackets in the laid-down position. However, with this loading method, for example, when different types of movable brackets are stacked, in order to remove a lower movable bracket, it is necessary to move the movable bracket above it to another location, which is extremely time-consuming. In addition, when the topmost movable bracket is gripped by the clamping mechanism, the clamping mechanism interferes with the movable bracket one level below, preventing the movable bracket from being smoothly removed.

The present invention aims to provide a rack device that makes it easier to remove any one of multiple loaded movable brackets.

The present invention is a rack device for loading a movable bracket 9 having a pair of support pipes 10, 11 onto the bed 2 of a vehicle, and is characterized by comprising a base 17 installed on the bed 2, a plurality of racks 16 arranged side by side in the left-right direction on the base 17, each of which accommodates a movable bracket 9 in an upright position with both support pipes 10, 11 aligned vertically, and each of which is configured so that the movable bracket 9 can be inserted and removed in the vertical and/or front-to-rear directions, and a displacement mechanism 31 provided between the base 17 and the racks 16 for sliding and displacing each rack 16 in the front-to-rear direction between a storage position on the front side and an extraction position on the rear side.

The displacement mechanism 31 is composed of a slide rail 32 provided on the base 17, a slide block 33 provided on the rack 16 and slidably guided by the slide rail 32, and an operating means 34 that operates the sliding displacement of the rack 16.

The rack 16 includes a rack base 22 that is long in the front-rear direction, and a number of mounting tables 23 that are arranged in the front-rear direction on the upper surface of the rack base 22. The mounting table 23 includes a support table 24 that is fixed to the rack base 22 and receives the movable bracket 9, and a pair of support arms 25 that extend upward from the left and right ends of the support table 24 and receive the left and right tilting movement of the movable bracket 9 that is received in an upright position on the support table 24.

A locking device 40 is provided that is connected to one of the opposing faces of the pair of support arms 25, 25 and restricts the vertical and front-to-rear movement of the movable bracket 9 supported by the support base 24.

The rack device 6 is equipped with a lifting device 18 for raising and lowering the base 17.

The rack device 6 is equipped with a rotation device 19 for rotating the base 17 around a vertical axis.

In the rack device of the present invention, a displacement mechanism 31 is provided between the base 17 and the racks 16, and each rack 16 is configured to be slidably displaced in the front-rear direction between a storage position on the front side and a removal position on the rear side. When only one of the racks 16 is displaced to the removal position, the rear end of the rack 16 can be protruded rearward from the racks 16 in the other storage positions. In this way, when the rear end of one of the racks 16 can be protruded rearward from the racks 16 in the other storage positions, a part of any one of the movable brackets 9 to be removed from the group of movable brackets 9 loaded on the loading platform 2 can be protruded rearward. Therefore, the movable bracket 9 to be removed can be removed from the rack 16 by gripping the protruding part with a clamp mechanism or the like without the adjacent movable brackets 9 getting in the way.

As described above, according to the rack device 6 of the present invention, it is possible to directly access only one movable bracket 9 to be removed from the multiple movable brackets 9 loaded. In other words, it is possible to directly access only the movable bracket 9 to be removed without moving the other movable brackets 9. This eliminates the need to move the other movable brackets 9 and makes it easier to remove the movable bracket 9 to be removed.

When the displacement mechanisms 31 provided between the base 17 and each rack 16 are each composed of a slide rail 32 provided on the base 17, a slide block 33 provided on the rack 16 and slidably guided by the slide rail 32, and an operating means 34 for slidingly displacing the rack 16, the rack 16 can be easily displaced from the storage position to the removal position by driving the operating means 34 of the rack 16 on which the movable bracket 9 to be removed is placed. In addition, the rack 16 can be easily returned from the removal position to the storage position by the operating means 34.

The rack 16 includes a rack base 22 that is long in the front-rear direction, and a number of mounting tables 23 arranged in the front-rear direction on the upper surface of the rack base 22. The mounting table 23 is fixed to the rack base 22 and includes a support table 24 that receives the movable bracket 9, and a pair of support arms 25, 25 that extend upward from the left and right ends of the support table 24 and receive left and right tilting of the movable bracket 9 received in an upright position on the support table 24. This allows the rack 16 to have a simple structure, yet allows the movable bracket 9 to be mounted in an upright position, and further allows the movable bracket 9 to be configured to be removable in the up-down and front-rear directions, thereby reducing the manufacturing costs of the rack device 6.

If a locking device 40 is provided that is connected to one of the opposing faces of the pair of support arms 25, 25 and restricts the vertical and front-to-rear movement of the movable bracket 9 supported by the support base 24, the locking device 40 can prevent the movable bracket 9 placed on the rack 16 from moving inadvertently, so the movable bracket 9 can be safely transported to its destination.

If the rack device 6 is equipped with a lifting device 18 for raising and lowering the base 17, the movable bracket 9 can be raised and lowered to change its height position from a reference surface such as the ground, for example. This allows the movable bracket 9 to be positioned at a height that makes it easy to remove, making it easier to remove the movable bracket 9.

If the rack device 6 is equipped with a rotation device 19 for rotating the base 17 around a vertical axis, the orientation of the movable bracket 9 in a plan view of the rack device 6 can be changed, so that the movable bracket 9 can be oriented in a direction that makes it easier to remove, making it possible to remove the movable bracket 9 more easily.

1 is a side view of a rack device according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a state in which one rack has been displaced to a removal position. 1 is a side view showing a rack device according to the present invention mounted on a transportation vehicle; 1 is a plan view of the rack device, showing a state in which one rack has been displaced to a removal position. FIG. FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view of the rack device. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 4. 1 is a side view showing a transport vehicle equipped with a rack device and a construction vehicle equipped with a handling device. FIG.

(Embodiment) Figs. 1 to 6 show an embodiment in which the rack device according to the present invention is mounted on a transport vehicle. In this embodiment, the front, rear, left, right, and up and down refer to the crossed arrows shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and the indications of front, rear, left, right, and up and down written near each arrow. As shown in Fig. 2, the transport vehicle 1 is based on a truck-type vehicle and has a loading platform 2 at its rear. The transport vehicle 1 is configured as a road-rail vehicle equipped with wheels 3 having rubber tires for traveling on roads and track running wheels 4 made of iron wheels for traveling on rails (tracks). On the loading platform 2, a driving source 5 that supplies air pressure and hydraulic pressure for operation to each device, and a rack device 6 on which railway materials are loaded and which operates with air pressure and hydraulic pressure supplied from the driving source 5 are installed in the order shown from the cabin side (front side) of the loading platform 2.

The railway materials loaded on the rack device 6 are so-called movable brackets 9 that are fixed to a support structure such as a pillar and suspend the overhead wires. As shown in FIG. 4, the movable bracket 9 includes a first support pipe (support pipe) 10 that is horizontally installed, a second support pipe (support pipe) 11 that is diagonally installed relative to the first support pipe 10, and a pull fitting 12 that suspends the overhead wires supported by the first and second support pipes 10 and 11. The free ends of both support pipes 10 and 11 are provided with connecting fittings 13 each equipped with an insulator. The movable bracket 9 is fixed to the support structure with the first support pipe 10 on the upper side and the second support pipe 11 on the lower side (the movable bracket 9 in FIG. 4 is inverted). The rack device 6 is loaded with multiple movable brackets 9 arranged side by side in the left-right direction, with the connecting fitting 13 located at the rear, the second support pipe 11 on the upper side, and the first support pipe 10 on the lower side, in an upright position with both pipes 11 and 10 aligned vertically (see Figure 3).

2 and 3, the rack device 6 includes a rack 16 on which a single movable bracket 9 is placed, a base 17 on which a plurality of racks 16 are provided in the left-right direction on the upper surface, a lifting device 18 for raising and lowering the base 17 relative to the loading platform 2, a rotating device 19 for rotating the base, and a displacement mechanism 31 provided between the base 17 and the rack 16 for sliding and displacing each rack 16 in the front-rear direction. Seven racks 16 are provided side-by-side in the left-right direction on the upper surface of the base 17, and the transport vehicle 1 can transport a maximum of seven movable brackets 9. The lifting device 18 is a pantograph-type lifting platform that has a pair of link arms and is hydraulically driven, and the height position of the movable bracket 9 relative to the upper surface (reference surface) of the loading platform 2 can be changed by raising and lowering the base 17 with the lifting device 18. In addition, the rotation device 19 is made of a hydraulically driven turntable, and by rotating the base 17 around a vertical axis with the rotation device 19, the orientation direction of the movable bracket 9 in a plan view of the rack device 6 can be changed.

As shown in FIG. 4, each rack 16 includes a flat rack base 22 that is long in the front-rear direction, and three (or more) mounting tables 23 arranged in a row in the front-rear direction on the upper surface of the rack base 22. As shown in FIG. 5, each mounting table 23 includes a support base 24 that receives the first support pipe 10 of the movable bracket 9, and a pair of left and right support arms 25 that extend upward from the left and right ends of the support base 24. The support base 24 includes a support block 26 that is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a pair of buffer blocks 27 that are made of resin and are formed in a substantially right-angled isosceles triangle shape and are fixed to the left and right sides of the upper surface of the support block 26. The pair of buffer blocks 27 form a support surface 28 consisting of a V-shaped notch on the upper surface of the support base 24.

The mounting bases 23 are arranged at the front and rear ends of the rack base 22 and slightly rearward of the center. The movable bracket 9 mounted on the rack 16 has the first support pipe 10 received on the support surface 28 of each mounting base 23, and the second pipe 11 and pull fitting 12, which tilt left and right around the axis of the first support pipe 10 received on the support surface 28, are received on one of a pair of support arms 25, 25. The left and right movement of the first support pipe 10 received on the V-shaped support surface 28 is restricted. Since the mounting bases 23 are open in the front-rear and upward directions, the movable bracket 9 mounted on the rack 16 can be inserted and removed from the rack 16 in the up-down and front-rear directions.

Each rack 16 is displaced in the front-rear direction by a displacement mechanism 31 provided between the rack 16 and the base 17. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, each displacement mechanism 31 is composed of a pair of left and right slide rails 32, 32 provided on the base 17, a slide block 33 provided on the rack 16 and slidably guided by each slide rail 32, and a rodless cylinder (operation means) 34 that displaces the rack 16. The slide blocks 33 are fixed to the underside of the rack base 22, and five slide blocks 33 are arranged at equal intervals in the front-rear direction for each slide rail 32 (see FIG. 4).

A number of rail stands 35 made of square pipes longer than the front-to-rear length of the base 17 are fixed to the top surface of the base 17 at equal intervals in the left-to-right direction, and the slide rail 32 is fixed to the top surface of the rail stands 35. The slide rail 32 is also formed to the same length as the rail stands 35. The rodless cylinder 34 is disposed between the rail stands 35, 35 adjacent to each other on the left and right, and the left-to-right center position of the rodless cylinder 34 is disposed so as to coincide with the left-to-right center position of the rack base 22. The slider 36 of the rodless cylinder 34 is connected to a connecting block 37 fixed to the underside of the rack base 22, and the rack 16 is displaced in the front-to-rear direction as the slider 36 moves back and forth.

Each rack 16, which is displaced by the displacement mechanism 31, is displaced between a storage position (the position of the rack 16 on the left side when looking at FIG. 1) and a removal position displaced from the storage position to the rear of the loading platform 2 (the position of the rack 16 on the right side when looking at FIG. 1). The storage position is on the front side of the loading platform 2, and in the storage position, each rack 16 fits within the projected area of the loading platform 2 in a plan view. The removal position is on the rear side of the loading platform 2, and in the removal position, each rack 16 protrudes rearward from the projected area of the loading platform 2 in a plan view. In the normal state, the rack 16 is held in the storage position.

A locking device 40 is connected to the support arm 25, and the movable bracket 9 placed on the rack 16 is restricted from moving in the vertical and front-to-rear directions by the locking device 40. As shown in FIG. 5, the locking device 40 is formed in a U-shaped block shape when viewed from the rear, and has insertion holes 42 on the top and bottom, through which the locking bolts 41 are inserted, which penetrate the locking device 40 from left to right. The left and right support arms 25 are each provided with a group of screw holes 43 into which the locking bolts 41 are screwed through the insertion holes 42. The group of screw holes 43 is made up of two rows of screw holes 44 formed in the front and back at equal intervals in the vertical direction.

The locking device 40 is arranged so that it surrounds the second support pipe 11 of the movable bracket 9, which is placed on the rack 16 and received by the support arm 25, and the upper and lower locking bolts 41 are screwed into the corresponding screw holes 44 through the insertion holes 42, thereby fastening and fixing the locking device 40 to the support arm 25. The second support pipe 11 passes obliquely through the opening formed by the support arm 25 and the locking device 40, so that the locking device 40 and the second support pipe 11 come into contact with each other, restricting the movement of the movable bracket 9 in the up-down and back-and-forth directions. The height position at which the locking device 40 is fixed can be changed by changing the screw hole 44 into which the locking bolt 41 is screwed up or down, so that the locking device 40 can be fixed at a height position corresponding to the second support pipe 11.

The transport vehicle 1 equipped with the rack device 6 is operated together with a construction vehicle 51 equipped with a device for handling the movable bracket 9. As shown in FIG. 6, the construction vehicle 51 is based on a truck-type vehicle and has a loading platform 52 at its rear. The construction vehicle 51 is configured as a rail-mounted vehicle equipped with wheels 53 having rubber tires for traveling on roads and track running wheels 54 made of iron wheels for traveling on rails.

On the loading platform 52, an overhead line support device 55 that supports the overhead lines during construction work, a work platform 56 that can be raised and lowered and on which workers sit, and a handling device 57 that handles railway materials during construction are installed in the order listed from the cabin side of the loading platform 52. The handling device 57 includes a moving structure 58 equipped with an industrial robot installed on the loading platform 52, and a bracket hand 59 that is provided at the movable tip of the moving structure 58 and grasps the movable bracket 9. The bracket hand 59 includes a pair of upper and lower pipe supports 60 and 61, and the upper pipe support 60 holds the first support pipe 10 and the lower pipe support 61 holds the second support pipe 11, so that the bracket hand 59 can grasp the movable bracket 9.

When removing the movable bracket 9 loaded on the rack device 6, the rack 16 on which the movable bracket 9 to be removed is placed is displaced from the storage position to the removal position, so that the first and second support pipes 10 and 11 of the target movable bracket 9 protrude further rearward than the other movable brackets 9. In this state, the first and second support pipes 10 and 11 protruding rearward are held by the upper and lower pipe supports 60 and 61, so that the movable bracket 9 can be grasped by the bracket hand 59 without being hindered by the other movable brackets 9. In addition, since the movable brackets 9 are each placed on the rack 16, only the desired movable bracket 9 can be made to protrude rearward. The movable bracket 9 held by the bracket hand 59 is removed from the rack 16 by moving it upward or backward by the moving structure 58. Conversely, when loading the movable bracket 9 removed from the support body onto the rack device 6, the empty rack 16 is displaced to the removal position, and the removed movable bracket 9 is placed on the rack 16. After this, the rack 16 is displaced to the storage position, and the recovered movable bracket 9 is loaded onto the rack device 6.

As described above, the rack device 6 of this embodiment is provided with multiple racks 16 arranged side-by-side on a base 17, on which a single movable bracket 9 in an upright position is placed so that it can be inserted and removed in the vertical and/or front-to-rear directions. This allows multiple movable brackets 9 to be loaded without stacking, and allows direct access to the movable bracket 9 to be removed. It also eliminates the effort required to move the movable bracket 9, which was required with conventional loading methods.

In addition, each rack 16 is configured to be displaceable between a storage position and a removal position displaced backward from the storage position by a displacement mechanism 31 provided between the base 17 and the rack 16, so that one of the movable brackets 9 can be advanced backward by displacing one of the racks 16 from the storage position to the removal position by the displacement mechanism 31. This allows a part of the movable bracket 9 to be removed to protrude from the group of movable brackets 9 loaded, so that the protruding part can be grasped by a clamp mechanism or the like without the adjacent movable brackets 9 getting in the way. As described above, according to the rack device 6 of this embodiment, any one of the multiple movable brackets 9 loaded can be removed without hassle, and can also be removed without other movable brackets 9 getting in the way.

The displacement mechanisms 31 provided between the base 17 and each rack 16 are each composed of a slide rail 32 provided on the base 17, a slide block 33 provided on the rack 16 and slidably guided by the slide rail 32, and a rodless cylinder 34 that slides and displaces the rack 16. Therefore, by driving the rodless cylinder 34 of the rack 16 on which the movable bracket 9 to be removed is placed, the rack 16 can be easily displaced from the storage position to the removal position. In addition, the rodless cylinder 34 can easily return the rack 16 from the removal position to the storage position.

The mounting stand 23 of the rack 16 is fixed to the rack base 22 and includes a support stand 24 that receives the movable bracket 9, and a pair of support arms 25, 25 that extend upward from the left and right ends of the support stand 24 and receive the left and right tilting of the movable bracket 9 received in an upright position on the support stand 24. This allows the rack 16 to have a simple structure, yet allows the movable bracket 9 to be mounted in an upright position, and further allows the movable bracket 9 to be configured to be removable in the vertical and front-to-rear directions, thereby reducing the manufacturing costs of the rack device 6.

The movable bracket 9 is supported by the support base 24 and is provided with a locking device 40 that restricts the movement of the movable bracket 9 in the vertical and forward/backward directions. This prevents the movable bracket 9 placed on the rack 16 from moving inadvertently, allowing the movable bracket 9 to be transported safely to its destination.

The base 17 is provided with a lifting device 18 for raising and lowering it, so the movable bracket 9 can be raised and lowered to change its height position from a reference surface such as the ground, and the movable bracket 9 can be positioned at a height that makes it easy to remove, making it easier to remove the movable bracket 9.

The base 17 is provided with a rotation device 19 for rotating it around a vertical axis, so the orientation of the movable bracket 9 in a plan view of the rack device 6 can be changed, making it easier to remove the movable bracket 9 by orienting it in a direction that makes it easier to remove.

In the above embodiment, the rack device 6 is mounted on the platform 2 of the transport vehicle 1, but the rack device 6 can also be mounted on freight vehicles that carry railroad trolleys and containers. The operating means 34 may be a rack and pinion mechanism, a screw feed mechanism, or a wrap-around transmission mechanism using a chain or belt, in addition to a rodless cylinder. The movable bracket 9 loaded on the rack device 6 is not limited to the shape shown in the above embodiment, and any movable bracket 9 having a pair of support pipes 10 and 11 can be loaded.

1 Transport vehicle 2 Loading platform 6 Rack device 9 Movable bracket 10 Support pipe (first support pipe)
11 Support pipe (second support pipe)
16 Rack 17 Base 18 Lifting device 19 Rotating device 22 Rack base 23 Mounting table 24 Support table 25 Support arm 31 Displacement mechanism 32 Slide rail 33 Slide block 34 Operation means (rodless cylinder)
40 Locking device

Claims (6)

A rack device for loading a movable bracket (9) having a pair of support pipes (10, 11) onto a loading platform (2) of a vehicle, comprising:
A base (17) installed on the loading platform (2);
a plurality of racks (16) arranged side by side in the left-right direction on a base (17), each housing a movable bracket (9) in an upright position with both support pipes (10, 11) aligned vertically, and configured so that the movable bracket (9) can be moved in and out in the up-down and/or forward-backward directions;
A rack device comprising: a displacement mechanism (31) provided between a base (17) and the racks (16) for slidingly displacing each rack (16) in the forward/backward direction between a storage position on the front side and a removal position on the rear side. The rack device according to claim 1, wherein the displacement mechanism (31) is composed of a slide rail (32) provided on the base (17), a slide block (33) provided on the rack (16) and slidably guided by the slide rail (32), and an operating means (34) for operating the sliding displacement of the rack (16). The rack (16) includes a rack base (22) that is long in the front-rear direction, and a plurality of mounting tables (23) that are arranged in the front-rear direction on the upper surface of the rack base (22),
3. The rack device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mounting platform (23) is fixed to the rack base (22) and comprises a support platform (24) that receives the movable bracket (9), and a pair of support arms (25, 25) that extend upward from the left and right ends of the support platform (24) and receive the left and right tilting movement of the movable bracket (9) received in an upright position on the support platform (24). The rack device according to claim 3, further comprising a locking device (40) that is connected to one of the opposing faces of the pair of support arms (25, 25) and restricts the vertical and front-rear movement of the movable bracket (9) supported by the support base (24). A rack device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising a lifting device (18) for lifting and lowering the base (17). A rack device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising a rotation device (19) for rotating the base (17) around a vertical axis.

Images