JP7794775B2 - Equipment loading devices and vehicles - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an equipment loading device used to load equipment such as a portable pump onto a vehicle, and a vehicle equipped with such an equipment loading device.

There are known fire engines equipped with portable pumps that can be used while still loaded on the fire engine, or that can be removed from the fire engine and carried to the fire by firefighters when the fire engine cannot reach the fire due to road conditions, etc. Portable pumps are heavy objects, so they are generally loaded and unloaded from the vehicle using a device.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an emergency vehicle equipped with a loading platform on which a portable fire pump can be mounted, in which an installation section on which the portable fire pump can be mounted is provided at the rear of a cabin that is located at the front of the loading platform and has a driver's seat, and the portable fire pump can be raised and lowered from the loading platform by a foldable lifting means, and it is described that the lifting means includes a rail member and a cart with wheels, and that the portable fire pumps can be stacked and lowered by pulling or releasing a wire connected to the cart with wheels by a pulling means such as a winch.
Patent document 2 also discloses a portable fire pump vehicle that has a fixed base fixed above the floor of the vehicle's loading platform, a pump base that is positioned above the fixed base and is used to carry a portable small power pump, and a slide member provided between the fixed base and the pump base.
Patent Document 3 also discloses a vehicle-mounted fire pump that can be loaded onto a lifting platform, consisting of a high-pressure pump connected to an engine started by a starter motor and a recoil starter, and can be transported and loaded/unloaded horizontally and vertically by removing the fastening devices that restrict the movement of the lifting platform, and that can be lowered to the ground from the rear of the fire pump transport vehicle using multiple portable support rods and belts or strings attached to the fire pump, and then lifted by hand.
Patent Document 4 also discloses a lifting/loading device for a portable fire pump for a vehicle, in which a multi-stage slide mechanism consisting of an upper slide section and a lower slide section is provided on a base frame, a portable fire pump is loaded on the lower slide section in a freely detachable manner, a link that receives power from a hydraulic cylinder is connected to the lower slide section, the lower slide section and the upper slide section are supported by rails and rollers, the extension and contraction of the hydraulic cylinder is transmitted to the multi-stage slide mechanism section to raise and lower, stoppers are provided at the ends of each rail of the lower slide section and the upper slide section, and the sliding operation is restricted when the rollers hit the stoppers.
Patent Document 5 also discloses a device for lifting and lowering a truck, in which a pair of fixed rungs are fixed in the front-to-rear direction on the bed of a truck, and a pair of movable rungs consisting of a front half movable rung and a rear half movable rung connected by a hinge are connected to the fixed rungs so that they can be raised and lowered, and when a cart on the road surface is made to travel from the movable rung via a winding drive means to a loading position on the fixed rung via a wire, the movable rung follows behind it and is stored on the bed in an upright state in two folded and overlapping states, and when the cart is lowered from the bed, the movable rung is deployed so that the rear end of the bed and the road surface are connected at an incline.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-24462 Registered Utility Model No. 3234575 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-81719 JP 2015-030324 A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-362214

Portable pumps and other equipment are generally installed on the loading platform of a vehicle, but because they are quite high from the ground, when using the equipment while it is loaded on the vehicle, it can be difficult for people who are not very tall to operate it. However, Patent Documents 1 to 5 do not take this point into consideration.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an equipment loading device that can lower the loading position of equipment such as a portable pump compared to conventional equipment, and a vehicle equipped with the equipment loading device.

The equipment loading device of the present invention as set forth in claim 1 is a device that is installed at the rear of a vehicle 1 having a chassis frame 5 provided in the vehicle longitudinal direction, and loads equipment 4 so that it can be pulled out of the vehicle, and includes a platform 10 on which the equipment 4 is placed and which can be moved between a loading position on the vehicle and a pulled-out position outside the vehicle which is lower than the loading position, a holding member 70 that holds the platform 10 between the chassis frames 5, rail members 20 that are installed on a subframe 6 provided on the chassis frame 5 at an angle to the horizontal so that the rear side of the vehicle is lower, a slide member 30 to which the platform 10 is attached and which slides along the rail member 20, a winch 40 having a wire rope 41 wound around a drum, and a wire rope 41 that is connected to the slide member 30. and a locking member 60 that locks the sliding of the sliding member 30. When the platform 10 is installed on the vehicle 1, the loading surface of the platform 10 in the loading position is lower than the floor surface of the cargo bed 3 of the vehicle 1. When the platform 10 is in the loading position, if the wire rope 41 connected to the rope fastening member 50 is unwound from the drum with the locking member 60 unlocked, the sliding member 30 slides diagonally downward, causing the platform 10 to move to the drawn-out position. When the platform 10 is in the drawn-out position, if the wire rope 41 connected to the rope fastening member 50 is wound onto the drum, the sliding member 30 slides diagonally upward, causing the platform 10 to move to the loading position.
The present invention as set forth in claim 2 is characterized in that in the equipment loading device as set forth in claim 1, a hook 42 is provided at the tip of the winch 40 to be detachably connected to the rope fastening material 50 .
The present invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that, in the equipment loading device described in claim 2 , it is provided with a detection means 80 for detecting whether or not the hook 42 is hooked on the rope fastening material 50, and an alarm means 81 for notifying the detection result of the detection means 80.
The present invention as set forth in claim 4 is characterized in that in the equipment loading device as set forth in claim 1 , the rope fastening member 50 is positioned on the tip side of the loading platform 10.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the equipment loading device of the first aspect , the loading platform 10 is attached to the slide member 30 with the loading surface horizontal.
The present invention as set forth in claim 6 is characterized in that in the equipment loading device as set forth in claim 1, the inclination angle of the rail material 20 is 5 degrees or more and 15 degrees or less.
A vehicle 1 according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is characterized by including the equipment loading device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects .

The present invention provides an equipment loading device that allows equipment such as portable pumps to be loaded at a lower position than conventional devices, and a vehicle equipped with such an equipment loading device.

1 is a schematic side view of a vehicle equipped with an equipment loading device according to an embodiment of the present invention; A schematic diagram of the rear of a vehicle equipped with the equipment loading device (with the loading platform in the loading position) A schematic diagram of the rear of a vehicle equipped with the equipment loading device (with the loading platform in the extended position) A schematic diagram of the rear of a vehicle equipped with the equipment loading device (with an obstacle being pulled by the winch wire rope) Image showing the safety device for connecting the hook An image showing how to secure the portable pump to the mounting base

The equipment loading device according to the first embodiment of the present invention is a device that is installed at the rear of a vehicle having a chassis frame provided in the vehicle longitudinal direction, and loads equipment so that it can be pulled out outside the vehicle, and includes a loading platform on which the equipment is placed and which can be moved between a loading position on the vehicle and a pull-out position outside the vehicle that is lower than the loading position, a holding member that holds the loading platform between the chassis frames, rail members that are installed on a subframe provided on the chassis frame at an angle to the horizontal so that the rear side of the vehicle is lower, a slide member to which the loading platform is attached and which slides along the rail members, a winch having a wire rope wound around a drum, and a wire rope that is connected to the slide member. The device includes a rope tether to which the ear rope is tethered and a locking member that locks the sliding of the sliding member, and when installed in a vehicle, the loading surface of the platform in the loading position is lower than the floor of the vehicle's bed. When the platform is in the loading position, if the wire rope connected to the rope tether is unwound from the drum with the locking member unlocked, the sliding member slides diagonally downward, causing the platform to move to the extended position. When the platform is in the extended position, if the wire rope connected to the rope tether is wound onto the drum, the sliding member slides diagonally upward, causing the platform to move to the loading position. Furthermore, because the loading height of the equipment is lower than when it is placed on the floor, operability and visibility of instruments are improved when operating the equipment while it is placed on the platform.
According to this embodiment, by moving the mounting platform using an inclined rail member and a slide member that slides along the rail member, when raising or lowering the portable pump, it is possible to move it from the mounting position to the extended position, or from the extended position to the mounting position, in a single operation. Furthermore, by using a winch, the burden on firefighters and others can be reduced compared to manually raising and lowering the mounting platform, and the mounting platform can be raised and lowered safely and quickly.

In a second embodiment of the present invention, in the equipment loading device according to the first embodiment, a hook is provided at the tip of the winch for detachably connecting to a rope fastening material.
According to this embodiment, the winch can be used not only to raise and lower the table but also for other tasks such as removing obstacles.

The third embodiment of the present invention is an equipment loading device according to the second embodiment, which is provided with a detection means for detecting whether or not a hook is attached to the rope fastening material, and an alarm means for alarming the detection result of the detection means.
According to this embodiment, it is possible to prevent firefighters or the like from unlocking the locking member when the hook is not engaged.

In a fourth embodiment of the present invention, in the equipment loading device according to the first embodiment, the rope fastening member is positioned on the tip side of the loading platform.
According to this embodiment, the hook can be easily attached to and detached from the rope anchoring material.

In a fifth embodiment of the present invention, in the equipment loading device according to the first embodiment, the loading table is attached to a slide member with the loading surface being horizontal.
According to this embodiment, the equipment placed on the table is also horizontal, making it easier to operate the equipment while it is placed on the table.

In the sixth embodiment of the present invention, in the equipment loading device according to the first embodiment, the inclination angle of the rail material is set to 5 degrees or more and 15 degrees or less.
According to this embodiment, the slide member can be smoothly slid with the equipment placed on the platform without requiring a particularly large winch capacity. Also, in the unlikely event of a winch malfunction, the platform with the equipment placed on it can be manually pushed up from the extracted position to the loaded position with a relatively small force, and can be safely extracted from the loaded position to the extracted position.

A vehicle according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention is equipped with an equipment loading device according to any one of the first to sixth embodiments.
According to this embodiment, the loading height of the equipment is lower than when it is placed on the floor, so a vehicle can be provided that is easy to operate when the equipment is placed on the loading platform and has excellent visibility of the instruments.

Hereinafter, an equipment loading device according to an embodiment of the present invention and a vehicle equipped with the equipment loading device will be described.
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a vehicle equipped with an equipment loading device according to this embodiment. Note that FIG. 1 also shows some of the components arranged inside the vehicle to make the configuration easier to understand. FIGS. 2 to 4 are schematic diagrams of the rear of a vehicle equipped with an equipment loading device, with (a) being a perspective view, (b) being a side view, (c) being a rear view, and (d) being a top view. FIG. 2 shows the loading platform in the loading position, FIG. 3 shows the loading platform in the extended position, and FIG. 4 shows the winch wire rope pulling an obstacle. Note that exterior panels and the like are omitted from FIGS. 2 to 4 to make the configuration easier to understand.
The vehicle 1 is provided with a chassis frame 5 having a left chassis frame 5A and a right chassis frame 5B extending in the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle. The vehicle 1 in this embodiment is a fire engine, and an equipment loading device is provided at the rear of a loading platform (luggage compartment) 3 installed behind the cabin 2, utilizing a subframe 6 installed on the chassis frame 5 of the vehicle 1, so that equipment (portable pump) 4 loaded on the equipment loading device can be pulled out toward the rear of the vehicle. The pulled-out portable pump 4 can be removed from the equipment loading device and transported to the fire scene, etc. Note that the portable pump 4 is not shown in Figures 2 to 4.

The equipment loading device is a device for loading a portable pump 4 so that it can be pulled out of the vehicle, and is equipped with a mounting platform 10 on which the portable pump 4 is placed, a pair of rail members 20 installed on a subframe 6, a pair of slide members 30 to which the mounting platform 10 is fixed and which slide along the rail members 20, an electric winch 40 installed on the subframe 6 and having a wire rope 41 wound around a drum, a rope fastening member 50 to which a hook 42 attached to the tip of the wire rope 41 is connected, a locking member 60 that locks the slide member 30 to prevent it from sliding, and a holding member 70 that holds the mounting platform 10 in a state where it is spanned between the chassis frames 5.
The platform 10 is movable between a loading position on the vehicle and a pulled-out position outside the vehicle that is lower than the loading position, and is located between the left chassis frame 5A and the right chassis frame 5B in a top view. The left chassis frame 5A is located to the left of the center in the vehicle width direction, and the right chassis frame 5B is located to the right of the center in the vehicle width direction.
The rail material 20 consists of one rail material 20A located above the left chassis frame 5A and the other rail material 20B located above the right chassis frame 5B, and is installed at an angle to the subframe 6, which is approximately horizontal and to which it is attached, so that the rear side of the vehicle is lower.
The slide member 30 is made up of one slide member 30A fitted to one rail member 20A, and the other slide member 30B fitted to the other rail member 20B. The slide member 30 has a multi-stage telescopic structure, and its length increases as it protrudes from the rail member 20. When the slide member 30 is in its most contracted state, it does not protrude further rearward than the rear face of the vehicle 1.

As the holding member 70, a mounting bracket 71 is provided on the leading stage of each of the slide members 30A and 30B, and a plurality of fixing members 72 are provided on both the left and right ends of the mounting base 10. The mounting brackets 71 protrude downward more gradually as they approach the front of the vehicle.
By connecting the fixing member 72 to the lower part of the mounting bracket 71, the mounting base 10 is attached to the slide member 30 so as to bridge between the left chassis frame 5A side and the right chassis frame 5B side. This also results in one slide member 30A and the other slide member 30B being connected via the mounting base 10.
By arranging the platform 10 between the chassis frames 5 rather than on the floor of the loading platform 3, the loading surface of the platform 10 in the loading position can be made lower than the floor of the loading platform 3 of the vehicle 1. This reduces the loading height of the portable pump 4 (the height from the ground when the platform 10 is in the loading position) compared to a conventional floor-mounted arrangement, improving operability and visibility of instruments when operating the portable pump 4 while it is placed on the platform 10. It is preferable that the height of the loading surface of the platform 10 in the loading position be approximately the same as or lower than the top end of the chassis frame 5.

The mounting base 10 is preferably attached to the slide member 30 so that the mounting surface is approximately horizontal (approximately parallel to the chassis frame 5). This makes the portable pump 4 mounted on the mounting base 10 also approximately horizontal, making it easier to operate the portable pump 4 while it is mounted on the mounting base 10 and also making it easier to see the instruments provided on the portable pump 4.
The area below the mounting table 10 is open and has no floor, making it possible to drain or exhaust the air while the portable pump 4 is still loaded. Furthermore, if the drain pipes and exhaust pipes connected to the portable pump 4 at one end are open to the atmosphere and the other ends are not connected to anything, it is not necessary to remove these pipes when lowering the portable pump 4, and the portable pump 4 can be lowered quickly.

The winch 40 is mounted on a platform 43 attached to the subframe 6 below the rail material 20 so as to span between the left chassis frame 5A and the right chassis frame 5B. The platform 43 protrudes downward from the lower end of the chassis frame 5, and the rear cover 7 is hingedly connected to the rear of the vehicle. By arranging the winch 40 in this manner, the operator of the winch 40 can easily visually check the winding status of the wire rope 41. Furthermore, since no installation space for the winch 40 is required on the loading platform 3, other firefighting equipment can be loaded onto the loading platform 3. The winch 40 is operated by a person using a wired or wireless controller or the like.
A rope anchoring member 50 is provided on the front end side (rear side of the vehicle) of the platform 10. The rope anchoring member 50 has a ring on which a hook 42 at the front end of the wire rope 41 can be hung, and the wire rope 41 is connected to the rope anchoring member 50 by hanging the hook 42 on this ring. The hook 42 is detachable from the rope anchoring member 50, and can be used for other tasks in addition to using the winch 40 to raise and lower the platform 10, such as removing an obstacle α such as a fallen tree, as shown in FIG. 4 . The rope anchoring member 50 can also be provided on the rear end side of the platform 10, but by providing it on the front end side of the platform 10, the hook 42 can be easily attached to and detached from the rope anchoring member 50.

The locking member 60 is mounted on the subframe 6 so that it is positioned near the tip of the sliding member 30 when it is in its most retracted state. A fixing bar 61 protruding outward is also provided at the tip of the sliding member 30. The locking member 60 has a recess to receive the fixing bar 61, and when locked with the fixing bar 61 seated in this recess, the sliding member 30 cannot slide. This prevents the platform 10 from unintentionally moving from the loading position to the extended position.

Since the platform 10 is attached to the slide member 30, the rope anchoring member 50 provided on the platform 10 is indirectly connected to the slide member 30. Therefore, by hooking the hook 42 of the wire rope 41 onto the rope anchoring member 50 and operating the winch 40, the sliding direction and speed of the slide member 30 can be controlled. It is also possible to connect the rope anchoring member 50 directly to the slide member 30.
When the wire rope 41 with the hook 42 hooked on the rope fastening material 50 is unwound from the drum with the locking material 60 unlocked, the loading table 10 at the loading position moves to the drawing-out position as the slide material 30 slides obliquely downward.
Furthermore, when the wire rope 41 with the hook 42 attached to the rope fastening member 50 is wound onto the drum, the platform 10 in the withdrawn position moves to the loading position as the sliding member 30 slides obliquely upward. After the platform 10 has been moved to the loading position, the sliding member 30 is locked by the locking member 60.
In this way, by providing the rail members 20 at an angle and moving the mounting platform 10 by the slide members 30 that slide along the rail members 20, it is possible to complete the movement from the mounting position to the drawn-out position, or the movement from the drawn-out position to the mounting position, in a single operation when raising or lowering the portable pump 4. Furthermore, by using the winch 40, the burden on firefighters and the like can be reduced compared to manually raising and lowering the mounting platform 10, and the mounting platform 10 can be raised and lowered safely and quickly.
When moving the mounting base, the rear cover 7 on which the license plate and other parts are located is rotated downward and opened so as not to interfere with the slide member 30.

The inclination angle of the rail material 20 is preferably 5 degrees or more and 15 degrees or less, and more preferably about 10 degrees. By using such an inclination angle, the slide material 30 can be smoothly slid with the portable pump 4 mounted on the mounting base 10 without requiring the winch 40 to have a particularly large capacity. Furthermore, in the unlikely event that a malfunction occurs in the winch 40, the mounting base 10 with the portable pump 4 mounted thereon can be manually pushed up from the extracted position to the loaded position with a relatively small force, and can also be safely extracted from the loaded position to the extracted position. When manually raising or lowering the platform 10, the clutch of the winch 40 is placed in neutral.
Furthermore, as will be described later, if the locking material 60 is unlocked when the hook 42 is not hooked onto the rope anchoring material 50, or if the locking material 60 is unlocked when the wire rope 41 is slack, the sliding material 30 will suddenly slide and the portable pump 4 will slide out, but the speed can be reduced compared to when the slope is steep.

5A and 5B are conceptual diagrams showing a safety device for connecting hooks, in which FIG. 5A is a bottom perspective view of the mounting table in the pulled-out position, and FIG. 5B is a top perspective view of the mounting table in the loaded position.
As described above, the hook 42 of the wire rope 41 is detachable from the rope anchoring member 50, and the winch 40 can be used not only to raise and lower the platform 10 but also for other tasks such as removing obstacles a. However, since the hook 42 of the wire rope 41 can be detached even when the platform 10 carrying the portable pump 4 is in the loading position, if the locking member 60 is unlocked when the hook 42 is not engaged with the rope anchoring member 50, the platform 10 carrying the portable pump 4 will suddenly slide off. Therefore, as a safety device to prevent firefighters or the like from unlocking the locking member 60 when the hook 42 is not engaged, it is preferable to provide a detection means 80 that detects whether the hook 42 is engaged with the rope anchoring member 50 and an alarm means 81 that notifies the detection result of the detection means 80.
In this embodiment, the detection means 80 is a U-shaped photoelectric sensor installed near the rope anchoring member 50, and the notification means 81 is a display installed near the locking member 60. The photoelectric sensor detects whether the hook 42 is connected to the rope anchoring member 50, and if the hook is connected, a green light on the display lights up, and if the hook is not connected, a red light on the display lights up. This allows firefighters or others attempting to unlock the locking member 60 to easily determine whether the hook 42 is connected to the rope anchoring member 50, thereby preventing them from unlocking the locking member 60 when the hook 42 is not connected. The notification means 81 may also be one that notifies the user of the presence or absence of a hook connection using text, voice, or sound.
Furthermore, when winding up the wire rope 41 after using the winch 40 to remove an obstacle, etc., there is a possibility that the wire rope 41 will easily become slackened due to the lack of load. If the locking member 60 is released to move the platform 10 to the withdrawn position while the wire rope 41 is in such a slack state, the platform 10 carrying the portable pump 4 will suddenly slide down to a position where the wire rope 41 can be taken up. For this reason, it is preferable to provide the equipment loading device with a slackening prevention device that prevents the wire rope 41 from becoming slackened.

6A and 6B are conceptual diagrams showing a method for fixing a portable pump to a mounting table, with FIG. 6A being a top perspective view showing the state before fixing, and FIG. 6B being a top perspective view showing the state after fixing.
The equipment loading device includes, as members for fixing the portable pump 4 to the mounting base 10, nut plates 90 provided at each of the left and right ends of the mounting base 10, a fixing plate 91 that holds down the lower part of the portable pump 4 placed on the mounting base 10 from above, and butterfly bolts 92 that connect the nut plates 90 and the fixing plate 91. The nut plates 90 and the fixing plate 91 have holes formed therein through which the butterfly bolts 92 are passed, and the portable pump 4 is fixed to the mounting base 10 by placing the portable pump 4 on the mounting base 10, engaging the fixing plate 91 with the nut plate 90 so that the holes in the fixing plate 91 overlap the holes in the nut plate 90, and then fastening them together with the butterfly bolts 92.
By fixing the portable pump 4 to the mounting base 10, the portable pump 4 can be prevented from slipping off the mounting base 10 while the vehicle is moving, and the portable pump 4 can be prevented from falling even if the mounting base 10 suddenly slides down due to slack in the wire rope 41 or the like.

1 Vehicle 3 Cargo bed 4 Equipment (portable pump)
5 Chassis frame 6 Subframe 10 Mounting base 20 Rail member 30 Slide member 40 Winch 41 Wire rope 42 Hook 50 Rope fastening member 60 Locking member 70 Holding member 80 Detection means 81 Notification means

Claims (7)

A device that is installed at the rear of a vehicle having a chassis frame provided in the vehicle front-rear direction and that loads equipment so that the equipment can be pulled out of the vehicle,
a loading platform on which the equipment is placed and whose position can be changed between a loading position inside the vehicle and a pull-out position outside the vehicle that is lower than the loading position;
a holding member that holds the mounting table between the chassis frames;
a rail member installed obliquely with respect to the horizontal on a subframe provided on the chassis frame so that the rear side of the vehicle is lower;
a slide member to which the mounting base is attached and which slides along the rail member;
a winch having a wire rope wound on a drum;
a rope anchoring member that is connected to the slide member and to which the wire rope is connected;
a locking member that locks the sliding of the sliding member,
When the stand is installed in the vehicle, the mounting surface of the stand at the loading position is lower than the floor surface of the loading platform of the vehicle,
When the mounting table is in the loading position, if the wire rope connected to the rope fastening material is unwound from the drum with the locking material unlocked, the sliding material slides obliquely downward, and the mounting table moves to the withdrawing position,
An equipment loading device characterized in that when the loading platform is in the pulled-out position, the wire rope connected to the rope fastening material is wound onto the drum, and the sliding material slides diagonally upward, causing the loading platform to move to the loading position. The equipment loading device described in claim 1, characterized in that a hook is provided at the tip of the winch for detachable connection to the rope fastening material. a detection means for detecting whether the hook is engaged with the rope anchoring material;
3. The equipment loading device according to claim 2 , further comprising a notification means for notifying the result of detection by said detection means. 2. The equipment loading device according to claim 1 , wherein the rope fastening member is located on the leading end side of the table. 2. The equipment loading device according to claim 1 , wherein the loading table is attached to the slide member with the loading surface thereof horizontal. The equipment loading device described in claim 1, characterized in that the inclination angle of the rail material is between 5 degrees and 15 degrees. A vehicle comprising the equipment loading device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 .