GB2170466A

GB2170466A - Wire reel for interchangeable-platform equipment

Info

Publication number: GB2170466A
Application number: GB08510956A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ossi L Rantala
Original assignee: Partek Oy AB
Current assignee: Partek Oy AB
Priority date: 1985-02-06
Filing date: 1985-04-30
Publication date: 1986-08-06
Also published as: DK186985A; FI850480A0; DE3514612A1; GB8510956D0; DK186985D0

Abstract

Wire reel for an interchangeable-platform equipment of a vehicle, which reel can be rotated by means of a drive unit. Inside the wire reel, a power transmission mechanism (17, 20, 17') is fitted, by means of which the movement of rotation of the shaft (6) of the drive unit can be transferred to the mantle (21) of the wire reel and by means of which the movement of rotation of the mantle of the wire reel can be disconnected from the movement of rotation of the shaft of the drive unit. Inside the wire reel, two members (10, 10') revolving around the axis of rotation of the reel are fitted, of which said members one (10) is connected with the shaft (6) of the drive unit. The rotary members (10, 10') are connected with each other and with the mantle (21) of the wire reel by means of a power transmission mechanism (17, 20, 17'). The power transmission mechanism transfers the movement of rotation of the rotary member (10) connected with the shaft (6) of the drive unit to the mantle (21) of the wire reel when the movement of rotation of the other rotary member (10') is prevented. The movement of rotation of the mantle (21) of the wire reel is transferred to the other rotary member (10') when the movement of rotation of the rotary member (10) connected with the shaft of the drive unit is prevented. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Wire reel for interchangeable-platform equipment The present invention is concerned with a wire reel for an interchangeable-platform equipment of a vehicle, which said reel can be rotated by means of a drive unit.

Devices that can be dumped and that are provided with pulling wires for the loading of an interchangeable platform or container onto a vehicle are known in prior art. In these devices, at the front end of the dumping frame, there is a hydraulic motor, on whose shaft, at both sides of the motor, wire reels are fitted. The pulling wires are, at one of their ends, attached to the wire reel, and at their free ends there are grasping loops, which are attached to the interchangeable platform. The interchangeable platform is pulled onto the vehicle by winding the wire onto the drums and, correspondingly, the platform is shifted off the vehicle by releasing the wire from the drums.

It is a drawback of the prior-art wire-operated devices of interchangeable platforms that the wire reels are fixed directly onto the shaft of the hydraulic motor, and therefore they can revolve only together with the hydraulic motor, at the same r.p.m. rate. It is an objective of the present invention to provide such a wire reel as can revolve or be locked immobile irrespective of whether the hyraulic motor is revolving or not.

The wire reel in accordance with the invention is characterized in that inside the wire reel, a power transmission mechanism is fitted, by means of which the movement of rotation of the shaft of the drive unit can be transferred to the mantle of the wire reel and by means of which the movement of rotation of the mantle of the wire reel can be disconnected from the movement of rotation of the shaft of the drive unit.

When a wire reel in accordance with the invention is used, even a load of low weight can be lowered onto the ground freely while, at the same time, driving the vehicle off from underneath the platform, without necessity alternatingly to release the wire at the speed of the hydraulic motor and thereupon to drive the vehicle forwards so as to tension the wire.

Likewise, the vehicle can be easily driven off from underneath the platform when the platform is being shifted onto a trailer. As an additional advantage, by means of the device in accordance with the invention, locking of the wire reel is achieved while the platform is in its position in the dumped position as well as during driving. The wire reel in accordance with the invention may be provided with a gearbox of appropriate transmission ratio, in which case it is possible to use a smaller hydraulic motor.

The details and the advantages of the invention will be described in more detail in the following with reference to the attached drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a schematical presentation of a vehicle provided with an interchangeable-platform device, with the platform in a partly lowered position, Figure 2 shows the upper end of the dumping frame of the interchangeable-platform device with the wire reels, Figure 3 shows a wire reel in accordance with the invention in the longitudinal direction partly in section, Figure 4 shows a section A-A of Figure 3 in its lower part and a section B-B of Figure 3 in its upper part, Figure 5 shows the same as Figure 3 does, but therein the parts that are connected permanently together and that move together are denoted with different degrees of shading, and Figures 6a to 6d are schematical views of different stages of shifting the platform from the interchangeable-platform device onto a trailer.

Onto the chassis 2 of the vehicle 1, a dumping frame 3 has been fitted. The dumping frame can be dumped by means of a cylinder-piston device 4 around a transverse shaft placed at the rear end of the vehicle. At the front end of the dumping frame, there is a hydraulic motor 5, and a wire reel 7 is mounted at each end of the shaft 6 of the motor. The wire 8 starts from the wire reel, and a grasping member placed at its free end is attached to the interchangeable platform 9.

The construction of the wire reel 7 comes out from Figures 3 and 4. The sleeve 10 provided at one end of the wire reel is connected permanently with the shaft 6 of the hydraulic motor. Every other disc in the multiple-disc clutch 11 of annular shape is fixed to the said sleeve 10, around the sleeve. Against the multiple-disc clutch, an annular piston 12 is fitted.

Outside the multiple-disc clutch, a part 13 is fitted which is attached to the dumping frame by means of screws 23 and to which every other disc in the clutch is fixed. An oil duct 14 is connected with the space placed at the side of the piston 12 facing the clutch, which said oil duct communicates with the hydraulic system of the hydraulic motor 5. Springs 16 fitted in housings 15 press the piston 12 against the clutch 11.

One end of the sleeve 10 is closed, and onto the said closed end, a bevel gear 17 has been fixed stationarily. The pins 19 of the four-arm spider shaft 18 are placed in a plane perpendicular to the shaft of the motor, and on each pin a bevel gear 20 is journalled rotably. The teeth of the gear 20 are jointly operative with the teeth of the gear 17. The outer ends of the pins 19 are fixed stationarily to a part 22 attached to the mantle 21 of the wire reel.

The other end of the wire reel is symmetrical relative the end described above, placed next to the shaft of the hydraulic motor. The sleeve 10' placed at the other end does, however, not contain a shaft. In a way corresponding to the end placed next to the shaft of the motor, the part 13' provided at the latter end of the reel is also attached to the dumping frame by means of screws 23'. An oil duct 14' passes into the space placed at the side of the annular piston 12' facing the multiple-disc clutch 11'.

The wire reel in accordance with the invention operates as follows.

During the transportation of the load, the springs 16 and 16' press the multiple-dise clutches 11 and 11' and thereby lock the sleeves 10 and 10' relative the frame of the dumping device, whereby the sleeves and the shaft 6 cannot revolve. Thus, in this way, the wire reel is also locked immobile. A corresponding locking also prevents revolving of the wire reel during dumping of a platform placed on the dumping frame to the dumping position, whereat the hydraulic motor might tend to revolve owing to slippage.

When the interchangeable platform is to be loaded onto the vehicle, pressure is connected to the hydraulic motor so as to rotate the wire reel by means of the motor. At the same time, pressurized oil is also passed into the duct 14. Thereby the oil pressure displaces the piston 12 against the force of the springs 16, and the clutch 11 is opened. In this way, the locking of the sleeve 10 and, at the same time, of the shaft 6 of the hydraulic motor relative the dumping frame is opened. On the contrary, the clutch 11' placed at the other end of the reel is still closed. The bevel gear 17 revolves along with the shaft of the hydraulic motor and, at the same time, rotates the gears 20. As the bevel gear 17' is locked immobile, the gears 20 roll along it.Thereby, the spider shaft 18 revolves, and along with the spider shaft, the mantle 21 of the wire reel also revolves.

The transmission ratio of the gearbox formed by the bevel gears 17 and 17' as well as by the spider shaft 18 and the bevel gears 20 is 1:2, so that, when the hydraulic motor and the gear 17 placed on its shaft revolve two revolutions, the spider shaft 18 and, along with it, the mantle 21 of the wire reel revolve one revolution.

In view of illustrating the operation ofthe device, in Figure 5the parts 10,17 revolving jointly together and along with the shaft of the motor are shown as somewhat shaded. The parts that revolve along with the spider shaft 18 are denoted with a darker shading. Correspondingly, the parts 10', 17' moving together in the other half of the reel are also denoted with a lighter shading.

When the wire reel is supposed to be disconnected from the hydraulic motor, e.g., during the final stage of the lowering of the load, i.e. after the rear end of the load has touched the ground (Figure 1), the clutch 11 is kept closed by the spring force of the spring 16. Thereby, the shaft of the hydraulic motor and the bevel gear 17 do not revolve. In stead, pressurized oil is passed into the oil duct 14', whereby the clutch 11' is opened. As the dumping frame 3 has been raised up and the vehicle is, at the same time, driven forwards, the interchangeable platform 9-tends to glide down. The wire 8 is unwound from the reel 7 and rotates the mantle 21 of the reel. Along with the mantle 21, the spider shaft 18 revolves, while the gears 20 roll on the stationary gear 17.The gears 20 rotate the gear 17', which was made free from the frame on opening the clutch 11'.

When the reel revolves one revolution, the gear 17' and the connected sleeve 10' revolve two revolutions.

In prior art, it has been necessary to carry out the final stage of the removal of the load so that first some ofthe wire was released from the real, and thereupon the vehicle was driven forwards. These two steps were repeated alternatingly until the front end of the load was also lowered onto the ground, Simultaneous releasing of the wire and driving of the vehicle forwards has not been possible, because, by means of the hydraulic motor, releasing of the wire is not possible at the same speed as the vehicle moves forwards.

On the contrary, according to the present invention, the wire reel can be disconnected from the hydraulic motor completely, at the final stage of the lowering of the load, by releasing the clutch 11', so that, when the vehicle moves forwards, exactly the correct amount of wire is released from the freely revolving reel.

On the contrary, at the initial stage of the lowering of the load, the wire reel is rotated by means of the hydraulic motor by opening the clutch 11. Since the transmission of the wire reel described above halves the torque caused by the load upon the shaft, for braking down the load, correspondingly, half the power is sufficient as compared with the use of a wire reel connected to the hydraulic motor directly, without a gearbox. Likewise, during raising of the load, the torque produced by the load is halved.

Releasing of the wire reel from the hydraulic motor is also of advantage when an interchangeable platform or container is supposed to be shifted from the vehicle, e.g., onto a trailer. The different stages of such a transfer are illustrated in Figures 6a to 6d.

After the container has first been lowered to the position shown in Figure 1,thedumpingframewith the container is pivoted back to the horizontal position (Figure 6a). Thereupon, the vehicle with the container is backed to ahead of the trailer 24 so that the rear end of the container is supported on the front end of the trailer (Figure 6b). Now the wire reel is disconnected from the hydraulic motor, and the vehicle is driven forwards while the wire is, at the same time, unwound from the reel. In this way, the position shown in Figure 6c is reached, and the wire reel is locked in its position immobile. Finally, the vehicle with the container is backed, so that the container becomes placed completely on the trailer.

Since it has not been possible to disconnect the prior-art wire reels from the hydraulic motor, the shifting of the vehicle between Figures 6b and 6c has had to be performed in the same way as the final stage of the lowering of the load onto the ground, described above, i.e. by alternatingly releasing the wire and shifting the vehicle forwards.

The invention is not confined to the embodiment described above only, but it may show variation in many ways within the scope of the patent claims.

Instead of the bevel gear gearbox described above, it is also possible to use some other, corresponding transmission mechanism, e.g. a planet gear. What is essential is that the transmission mechanism permits revolving of one shaft placed inside the wire reel while the other shaft is locked immobile. The transmission ratio of the gear box may, of course, also be different from 1:2.

Claims

1. Wire reel (7) for an interchangeable-platform equipment of a vehicle, which said reel can be rotated by means of a drive unit (5), characterized in that inside the wire reel (7), a power transmission mechanism (17, 20, 17') is fitted, by means of which the movement of rotation of the shaft (6) of the drive unit (5) can be transferred to the mantle (21 ) of the wire reel and by means of which the movement of rotation of the mantle of the wire reel can be disconnected from the movement of rotation of the shaft of the drive unit.

2. Wire reel as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that inside the wire reel (7), two members (10, 10') revolving around the axis of rotation of the reel are fitted, of which said members one (10) is connected with the shaft (6) of the drive unit (5) and which said members are connected with each other and with the mantle (21 ) of the wire reel by means of a power transmission mechanism (17, 20, 17') which transfers the movement of rotation of the rotary member (10) connected with the shaft (6) of the drive unit to the mantle (21) of the wire reel when the movement of rotation of the other rotary member (10') is prevented, and which transfers the movement of rotation of the mantle (21) of the wire reel to the other rotary member (10') when the movement of rotation of the rotary member (10) connected with the shaft of the drive unit is prevented.

3. Wire reel as claimed in Icaim 2, characterized in that the movement of rotation of the said two rotary members 10, 10') can be prevented by means of a clutch (11, 11') that can be locked relative the frame (3) of the equipment.

4. Wire reel as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the movement of rotation of both of the rotary members (10, 10') can be prevented by means of the clutch (11, 11') at the same time, whereby the movement of rotation of the mantle (21 ) of the wire reel is also prevented.

5. Wire reel as claimed in Icaim 3 or 4, characterized in thatthe clutch (11,11') can be locked relative the frame by means of spring force.

6. Wire reel as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the clutch (11, 11') can be opened by means of a pressure medium,.

7. Wire reel as claimed in claim 6, whose drive unit (5) consists of a hydraulic motor, characterized in that the pressure medium used for releasing the clutch (11) that prevents movement of the rotary member (10) connected with the shaft (6) of the hydraulic motor is connected to the pressure source at the same time as the hydraulic motor is started.

8. Wire reel as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the transmission ratio of the power transmission mechanism (17, 17') is such that the rate of rotation of the mantle (21 ) of the wire reel is lower than the rate of rotation of the rotary member (10) connected with the shaft (6) of the drive unit.

9. Wire reel for an interchangeable-platform equipment of a vehicle, substantially as herein before described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.