CA1268908A - Truck loading - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT

A loading device for automatic rear end loading of trucks or trailers includes a forklifting type device movably mounted on a platform that can be lowered and lifted. A docking and loading gate defines a particular position for the rear end of a truck or trailer on one hand and of a direction of loading on the other hand, the position being established with respect to the truck or trailer when positioned in and at the loading dock.
A loading bridge is arranged in the loading gate for bridging the loading platform on one hand and a truck or trailer when in the loading dock on the other hand, there being means for lowering the bridge to obtain particular positions in which the bridge exerts a particular load upon the truck or trailer.

Description

fRO~ EEHLEF~ PflUI TT ~THU ~03. 27. ' 86 17: ~5 NO. 5 P~GE 2~10 1 ~2~ 8 3M13I/K313-s TRUC~C LOADING
5~CKG~OUNI:~ OF T~E IN,~TIQN

7The p~e~ent inven'~ n rel~tes to ~utoa~a~ed rear 8 end load~ng of trucks or trallers u3in~ pallet5 ~ well ~9 a 9 llftlng ~ork type unmanned loading device whlch rec~lve~ the 10 pallets ~rom a height a~stable pl~t:~orm dev~ce or the like 11 and moves the pall~st~ throu~h a helç~ht ad~ustabl~ loadlny 12 b~id51e lnto ~he truck or tra~ler ~hich 1~ turn h~s~ been 1~ po~ ioned 1~ relation to the dir~l3ction oP mo~remcnt; pravlded 14 b~ and o~ which ~h~ lc?i~din6~ d~ice i~ ca~able.

16~erman prlnted p~tent ap~lic~tion 31 ~2 8gg ~nd 33 1716 419 dls~lose and descrlbe devices of th~ ~e to which 18 the inve~tion pertain~. ~enerally speaking ~ load~n~ o~
1~ trucks OI~ trailer~ 1~ means of a loading bridge or the l~ke 20 encounter~ certaln problem5. The l~avel o~ that ~rldge must 21 be ma~ched on one hand with ;~ loading surface o~ the truck 22 or ~r;ailer and wlth a platform that carries the loadins~
23 de~lce, ~rehic;le ~r 3na~h~ne on ~he other h~nd. Thi~; pro~lem ~4 Dpe~ifi~ally i5 en~ou~tered for an ln~r~a~:in~ load causin~

25 an increa~ng lowering of the loadlns~ ~sur~ce of the tru~k 6 so ~h~t a lev~l compens~t ~ on mu~;t be provided ~or becau~e ~ t 2r is necessary that ~ the tran3~er of and b~ the loadin~ ~

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~X~90~3 vehicle, device or machine is carried out without encountering any s~ep.
SU ~ Y OF THE INVENTION
I~ is an ~bject of the present invention to provide for a new and improved loading device of the type referred to above such that in a very simple manner there is continuously provided a level compensa~ion between truck ttrailer) loading ~urface on one hand and any transfer and bridging equipment on the other hand.
The invention provides loading device for automatic rear-end loading of co~mercial vehicles or trailers with pallets by means o~ a loading machine whlch operates according to the fork-li~t princlple and, working from a vertiaally adjustable platform, takes the pall.et~ from a aolleatlng platfor.m and drlves them onto a loading surface in the commercial vehiale or trailer vla a vertically ad~ustable transfer bridge, the commerclal vehlcle or trailer being located with its rear end in a dock, by means of which its posltion wlth respect to the driving direction of the loading machine is determined, characterized in that said transfer bridge is arranged in the dock ~hat accommodates the rear end of the commercial vehicle or traller and ls provided with ; means for lowerlng, under load, said loading surface.
The arrangement provides fo the u~ilization of an unmanned forklifting type loading machine which transfers a pallet from a height-adjustable platform across a height-adjus~able ~; loadin~g bridge into the truck or trailer.
The invention offers the advantage that ~he ac~ual construction features necessary for practiciny the invention are .~

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quite minimal so that the rear loading end of the ~ruck or trail~r can in fact be retained in the level of the loading bridge.
~ESCRIPTIQN OF THE DRAWINGS:
While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as the invention, it is believed that the invention, and the features and advantages thereof w~ll be better understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

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FRO~ ~EEHLER P~ITT ~THU)~3.27,;~6 1~ N~.5 PRGE 5~1~
~ .89~

2 ¦ the fi~ure illu trate~3 a ~lde ~Tiew ox~ the loadir~g

3 I devlce in accordanc~ with the pre~e3: red em~odiment o~ ~he

4 ¦ present $nven~ion ~03~ p~acticln~ the beæt mode thereof

5 ¦ wh~r~by ~peci~lcally a pha~;e o tk~e loa~llng process l~i

6 ¦ lllus~rated wherein one or several pialletæ are be~ng ms~red

7 ¦ a~ro~3s a loading bridçle onto the load$n51 s~r~ac~ o~ the

8 ¦ cargo pace o~ ~ tl uok . r3 Proceeding now to the detailed de~cripti5n o~ the 11 ~r~wlngs the ~i~ure illu trate~ a loadin~ nlachine 12 cons~r~c-t~d a~ a Porl~ tir~g, vehicle mann~d devioe wi~h 13 forwar~ly ex~en~ling ~ork elernentq la and o~rating in an 14 unmanned environm~n~. The ~orkliftln5;1 devi~e and vehlcle 1 15 in turn i3 moun~ed so as to run on a platform 2. The ~otted 16 1 ~ne~ deplct the vehicle and device 1 in retra~ted position.
17 Pl~tfor~Q 2 iR mounted and positioned for ~rertical a~ u~tmen~
1~ u~ing liftln$~ post~ 2a. The platform 2 may be lowered or 19 ralsed by mean~3 of hydraullcs.

21 The loadinSr vebicle and mach1ne 1 i~ pro~ided for ~2 moving pallets 3 l'rom som~ level lrlto the car~o or loading 2:S space of a truak 4. The rear or trallins~ end ~aa o thls 24 truck is po~1 tloned in a dock and a~tatlonary loadir3g devic~
25 5 ~o that the car~o space ln the truck 4 has a deI'l~lte 26 posi~ion i~ relatlon to the direc'c~on o~ movement ar~d 2~ op~ration o:~ the loadinç~ ~achlne and ~ehicle 1.
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FR011 E~EEHLER PPIJITT (THU)a3.27, '86 17:08 N~.5 I'RGE 6~1~
~ 9()8 3 In ~he particular lnst~nce i3.1ustrated ir~ the 4 ~lgure a pha~qe of siperatio~ aepict~d where~n ~ ~:o~ lectlon 5 or tra~Clporl pl~tform tnot ~hown~ ha~ been ren~ovea Pro~n the 6 are~ an~ ~;p~ce be~cw~en the pla~form 2 on o~e hand a~d the 7 doclc ~trllcture 5 on the other hand . Thîs co~ leotion platform a 1, mo~7ed on r~ils 6 in ~ directlon tra~sverse ~o 'che planc

9 of the drawings. The particula~ p~llet or pa~let~ 3 which

10 thi3 coll~ct~on plat~orm had heen move~ and pl~ced into t~at

11 ~ap~ce be~ween the device~ 5 and 2 i~ now beinS;~ held by an~l

12 on the i~o~k3 la o~ the loadln~ machine and v~hicle 1.

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14 The tr~n~er fro~ loadir~g lp}atform ~ and the

15 a~oremerlt10ned space to the l~ading ~sur~ace s~nd car~o space

16 of the truck 4 i carried out by mean~; o~ a loading ~r~dge

17 7. ~rhis~ b~ldge ~ constitutesl a part of the load~ng docle 5

18 i . ~ connec:ted the~eto and i~ heigh~ ad~ustably

19 mounted thereln. The ~pac~ b~tween the brids~e ~ ~nd ~he ~0 platform 2 1~ bridyed by means o~ pivc)tal, :eold-up bridge 21 part~ 8 an~l 9 bei~g pivotally linked to the platfor~ 2 and 22 the bri~ e 7 respectively. The brids~ ~ moreover i8 provided 2~ wlth a dock part ~a tha~ ext~nds beyond and ov~rha~s the ~4 rear loadlns~ end 10 of truclc 4 a~d into the cargc> spac4~
25 ~thereo~.

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FROM eEEiJLER PRUITT ~THU)03.27. '~6 17~8 NO.5 PR5E 7~10 1 ~;89~3 The brtds~e ~ mu~t ~e ~a~usted hydr~ul~ally ir 3 vertical directlon but oth~r h~3ight acl~u t~nSf struc~r~s and 4 d~ive can be u~ed. In ope~a~ion ~nd a~te~ t~e truck 4 has 5 been placed lnto ~he illustrated position, the brid~e 6 flrl3t lowered rom an inittal and startln~ po lticn whçreir 7 the bri~e ic: po~;itlo~ed well a~ove the load~n~ Elar~ace in 8 the yet unloaded truck 4 . ~he br~clge ~ ls ¢pe~i $ic~11y lc~wexcd untll the extension ~ come3 to rest on the truck 10 end 10. The bridg~ 7 ls now "loaded't (~lased~ so ~ha~ the 11 ~orce acting on the end 10 i-q equal t~ the ïoad ~hlch 12 co~re~ponds or wlll corref~pond to thc ~um total orq ~he load~
13 that l;z~t~r, ~uring the tran~i~e~, will b~ e~cer te~31 u~n tl~
a~ t~uck end 10 by the wei~ht o~ ~he E~allet plu~: ~he w~ight o~

15 the loading mach~e an~ vec~icle 1. In thls pa~ticu;l~r 1~ po~3ition one wtll ~ix the level of the brid~re ~ a~d the 17 plat~orm with br1ds~e par~ B i~ now ad;lusted so that the 18 olded up part 9 of Jche loadin~ brldge 7 at ~he same level 19 un~er lo~d .

21 D~trln~ the traLnsfe~ operatioI~, wh~an the loa~ g 2Z vehl~le 1 moves th~ palle 1: 3 over the ~rld~e across load enA
2~ 10 and lnto the cargo spa~e o~ truck 4 the force exerted by 2g the hy~raulics upon bridge ~ i~ relaxed ~io tha-t the lev~l o~

25 the brldge ~ is main~airled as the vehicle 1 and the load 3 2~ are moved across the brldge and onto the vehicle platform ln 27 the c~r~o pace. In other word~, the loading vehlcle 1 with ''''' ~".

FRO11 ~EEHLER Pf~lJITT ~THU)a3.27.'86 17:09 NO.5 P~GE 8~10 ~,890~3 2 load 3 is moved a~ros~ the bridge ~1, 9, ~, ~a onto the 1 :3adin~
3 surface Qf ~ruck 4 ~ the hydraulic b~a~ certed upon the 4 truck 4 by th~ br ~ dS~e par t 7a ia relaxed to the exten~ t}~e 5 weight of vehicle 1 and load 3 take ov~r as down~ardly 6 dire~ted l orce that acts on ~he truck 4 . This !3 ~ tuat~ n ie~
~ (or can be) dynami~ally maintalned by c~usin~r the pl~tPorm-8 bridsl~ ? tc) main~ain ana ~old it~3 po~ ion as the load~
9 3 a:re moved on lt and exert their ~orce, ~rs-t on b~id~ae 10 and then on th! load surface o~ the l:ruck 4.

l~ The invention 15 not lim~ted to the embodiments 1~ de~c:ribed above, but all chans~ nd mc~di~lo~tlon~ thereo:e, 14. n~t ~nstltutln~ de~artures ~rom the ~piri~ ~nd ~cop~ o~ ~h~
15 invent~on are intended to be lncluded.

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Claims (3)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. Loading device for automatic rear-end loading of commercial vehicles or trailers with pallets by means of a loading machine which operates according to the fork-lift principle and, working from a vertically adjustable platform, takes the pallets from a collecting platform and drives them onto a loading surface in the commercial vehicle or trailer via a vertically adjustable transfer bridge, the commercial vehicle or trailer being located with its rear end in a dock, by means of which its position with respect to the driving direction of the loading machine is determined, characterized in that said transfer bridge is arranged in the dock that accommodates the rear end of the commercial vehicle or trailer and is provided with means for lowering, under load, said loading surface.

2. Loading device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the transfer bridge is equipped with a part adapted to overlap the rear loading edge of the commercial vehicle trailer.

3. Loading device according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterized in that the transfer bridge can be fixed in preselected vertical positions which depend on the transfer load.