A TRANSPORT VEHICLE

Abstract: A transport vehicle intended for the transportation of goods and people has a wheeled vehicle body (1) provided with a load-carrying floor (5). To enable goods or people to be transferred from the floor to a receiving station, the vehicle body (1) is provided with a driver's cabin (27) which is arranged to move vertically on guides (24, 26, 29) located between one end part of the vehicle body and the rear side of the driver's cabin. The driver's cabin (27) communicates with the interior of the vehicle body (1) through an opening (22, 31), and the driver's cabin is provided with a floor plate (32) having a free surface for transferring goods or people from the vehicle body to driver's cabin. The driver's cabin (27) is raised or lowered to a level at which the level of the floor plate corresponds to the plane of the surface onto which the goods or people are to be deposited outside the vehicle, the goods or people being transferred from the floor plate through an opening located in the side wall of the driver's cabin (27) remote from the driver's seat.

Description: A TRANSPORT VEHICLE The present invention relates to a trans¬ port vehicle of the kind comprising a vehicle body which is preferably self-supporting and which has an ' internal load-supporting floor under which the power unit of the vehicle is mounted, a driver's cabin which is connected to the forward end of said vehicle body and which can be moved vertic- ally by means of drive means , and wheels which carry the vehicle. To facilitate the transportation, or load¬ ing and unloading, of goods it is known to provide vehicles with rear elevators or lifts , to which the load is transferred and moved to street level or to a loading and unloading pier or the like located above the internal load-supporting surface of the vehicle. Even though such vehicles eli¬ minate much of the heavy work, there is still a number of drawbacks. For example, when loading or unloading the vehicle it is normally neces¬ sary to back said vehicle onto a sidewalk or pier approximately at right angles thereto, therewith causing an obstruction to nearby-traffic. ' Further- more, it is ' usually necessary for the driver to share in the work of leading and unloading the vehicle, requiring the driver to leave the dri¬ ver's cabin, so that it is often difficult for him to check whether or not the elevator has been moved to a suitable height relative, for example, a loading pier, ' which r.ear.ε that the driver must be provided with an assistant for superin¬ tending the raising and lowering of the elevator. BAD ORIGINAL It is known, for example, from DE Ausle- geschrift 2 905 236 to employ a vertically move- able driver's cabin which has a load-supporting platform to which goods can be transferred from a load-carrying surface, so that the driver can " readily bring the platform to the correct posi¬ tion or of -loading goods- This arrangement, however, can only be used to transfer goods to loading holds located high above ground level for example, such as the baggage hold of an ' air¬ craft, and thus cannot be used for off-loading goods onto a sidewalk or the like. Accordingly, the primary object of the invention is to provide a vehicle of the aforementioned kind with which goods can be readily and safely off-loaded from a vehicle to any level whatsoever between the foun¬ dation on which the vehicle stands and a selected level above this foundation. Another object of the invention is to pro- vide a vehicle suitable for use in transporting, for example, handicapped persons bound to wheel¬ chairs, who need to be collected at their homes and driven to a hospital or some like establish¬ ment, the requirement being that the -wheelchairs can be moved onto a horizontal platform at pave¬ ment or ground level and then moved into the vehicle, and that the wheelchairs can be moved into and out of the vehicle without requiring the driver to leave his cabin and without requiring the wheelchairs to be moved into the path of nearby traffic. These and ether objecτε are fully realised by the invention set forth in the Claims . An BAD ORIGINAL exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying draw¬ ings , in which Figure 1 is a central, longitudinal sec- tional view taken on a vertical plane through a vehicle according to the invention with the driver's cabin located in its driving posi¬ tion, Figure 2 is a partially cut-away top plan view of the vehicle shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 illustrates the vehicle with the driver's cabin raised to a level above its normal driving level and driven to a position in which it is located above a loading pier, and Figure- 4 shows the vehicle with the driver's cabin lowered beneath the level of its normal driving position, for off-loading goods onto a sidewalk or pavement. The illustrated exemplary embodiment of the invention comprises a motor driven vehicle having a self-supporting body 1, the roof, walls and bot¬ tom of-which comprise, for example, a multi-layer structure having an outer shell 2 of glass-fibre reinforced plastics and an inner shell 3 of glass- fibre reinforced plastics, the two shells between them enclosing a heat-insulating and stablising core 4 of foamed plastics or some other conven- al spacing material. The body 1 has an internal, OMPI - -r - load-supporting floor 5 which is preferably com¬ pletely flat and w * hich comprises, for example, a composite structure of the kind from which the remainder of the body is made. The floor S, however, may also be made from stiffened, corru¬ gated metal sheet or the like, and is connected along the sides thereof to the si ewall 6 , 7 of the body and to a front wall 8 and to the inside of a rear door 9, which is shown in broken lines in Figure 2. Arranged between the floor 5 and the bottom 10 of the body 1 is a space 9 for accommodating the power unit 11 of the vehicle, for example a diesel motor with associated trans¬ mission means, power-supply batteries etc. In the illustrated embodiment the bottom 10 of the body supports fcur hydraulic piston-cylinder devices, of which -che cylinders 12, 13 and 14 are illustra¬ ted. The cylinders are provided with vertically directed piston rods -which are connected to a frame structure 15 provided with grooves for accommodating a loading plate 16. The hydraulic piston-cylinder devices are double-acting devices and are supplied with pressure medium by means not shown, and are arranged to lower the frame structure 15 to the floor 5, whereafter a loading plate 16 with gooes placed thereon is pushed or drawn onto the frame structure, whereafter the frame structure 15 with the loaded plate 16 there¬ on is raised, so , thai further goods can be loaded onto the fleer 5 or a further leading plate 16 can be pushed or drawn in through the opening 20 at the rear end of the body, as indicated in broken lines in Figure 2. The goods, which may BADORIGINAL ^fEAlT have any form whatsoever, for example pallets or boxes 17, 18, 19 (Figure 2), can thus be trans¬ ported in two loading planes and off-loaded via the driver's cabin, as described hereinafter. As beforementioned , the forward end part of the body 1 has., a front wall 8, which extends at right angles to the longitudinal axis 21 of the body and which has arranged therein an open¬ ing 22 extending from the floor -5 and preferably right up to the ceiling 3 of the body 1. Arran¬ ged on the front side of the wall 8, adjacent one side wall -23 of the body 1 is a first guide 24 in the form of a T-rail, while arranged on a narrow front wall 8' adjacent the other side wall 25 of the body 1 is a second guide 26, which also, has the form of a T-rail. The two guides are parallel with one another and in the operating state of the vehicle extend vertically, as do also the side walls 23 and 25. The two guides 24 and 26 form supporting and guiding means for a dri¬ ver's cabin 27. The driver's cabin 27 has a rear portion having a shape and an area corresponding to the shape and area of the front part of the body, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The rear part of the driver's cabin 27 is provided with two vertical side posts 28 and 29 which are prefer¬ ably joined to upper and lower beams (not shown) to form a rigid rectangular frame. The side posts 28 and 29 are provided with grooves, for example the groove 30 (Figure 2), which are arranged to co-act with respective T-rails 24 and 26, so as to enable the whole of the driver's cabin to be moved vertically upwardly and downwardly relative - 6 - to the body 1. In the illustrated embodiment, the driver's cabin has a wall 30 behind the dri¬ ver, this wall connecting with a free opening 31 which, "together with opening 22, permits free passage between the inside of. the body 1 and the driver's cabin 27. The driver's cabin 27 is pro¬ vided with a planar floor plate 32 whose underside is free from the foundation or driving surface 33 on which the vehicle is driven, since the wheels of the vehicle, for example wheels-34, 35, are located beneath the body and behind a vertical . plane extending through the guides 24 and 26. This means that the floor plate 32 can be lowered right down to, or at least closely adjacent to the driving surface 33, in which position the upper surface 36 of the foot plate 32 will lie practically on the same level as the driving sur¬ face or foundation 33. The driver's cabin 27 is raised and lowered vertically by drive means which. in the illustrated embodiment, comprise at least one hydraulic piston-cylinder device 37 the lower end of which is fixedly mounted onto a fork 38 fixedly secured to the underpart of the body 1. The piston rod 39 of .the centrally located hy- draulic piston-cylinder device 37 is connected to a fork 40 which, in the illustrated embodiment, is fixedly mounted onto the roof of "the driver's cabin 27. When pressure medium is supplied to -the double-acting hydraulic piston-cylinder e- device 37, so that the piston rod 39 is extended, the driver's cabin 27 will be raised to the extent desired within the limits possible, and will be lowered vrhen the piston rod is withdrawn. As indicated in Figure 1, the hydraulic piston- cylinder devices are preferably of the telescope type. The hydraulic piston-cylinder devices are operated by means of the driver to raise and lower the driver's cabin 27, with the driver remaining in his seat in the cabin, using operating means arranged on the instrument panel 43 in the dri¬ ver's cabin. In the illustrated embodiment, there is provided adjacent the driver's seat 41 a fur¬ ther seat 42 for an assistant or a passenger. In the illustrated embodiment, the space allotted to the driver and the passenger is together approxi¬ mately 50% of the free surface of the floor plate 32, and is located to the left of the longitudi¬ nal axis 21. The space located to the right of the longitudinal axis 21 on the floor plate 32 forms a load transfer space, which can be reached from inside the body 1, through openings 22 and 31, and through a oor opening 47 arranged in the right-hand side wall of the driver's cabin 27, this side wall being parallel with the side wall 25 of the vehicle body. The door opening 47 preferably extends along the whole of the side of the driver's cabin between a window 44 and the post 29, and between the floor plate 32 and the roof 45 of the driver's cabin 27. It is impor¬ tant that the floor plate 32 can be exposed so that goods can be freely moved from the free space on the floor plate. By goods is meant here and in the following conventional transport goods and, for example, wheelchair., occupied by dis¬ abled persons. BADORIGINAL When the described vehicle is- used for transporting, for example, goods on pallets, the pallets are first loaded onto a loading plate 16, which is then pushed or drawn into the frame structure 15 by means not shown, the frame struc¬ ture then being raised from the floor 5 to the position shown in Figure 1. A further layer of goods is then loaded directly onto the floor 5 or onto a further loading plate 16, which is then pushed or drawn in onto the floor. When the vehicle has been driven to an unloading station, the loading plate or plates can either be re¬ moved through the rear door 9 or, as is the pri¬ mary purpose, that part of the load to be unloaded at the unloading station in question can be moved by the driver into the free goods-handling space on the floor plate 32, with the driver's cabin in its normal driving position, i.e. in the illustra¬ ted embodiment with the floor plate 32 in the same position as the floor 5, which carries the goods to be unloaded. As illustrated in Figure 3, when the ve¬ hicle has been driven to off-load onto a pier 46 and the driver's cabin -27 raised so that said pier 46 can pass under the floor plate 32 of the dri¬ ver's cabin, off-loading of the vehicle can com¬ mence. In this case, there is first opened a door 47, illustrated in a simplified fashion in Figure 4, and the goods can be readily moved from the upper surface 36 of the floor plate 32 to the pier 46 by the driver, through the cabin opening 47. If the goods to be unloaded onto the pier 46 are located on a loading plate 16 in the frame structure 15, it is necessary, in order to trans¬ fer the goods, to first raise the driver's cabin 27 to an extent such that the floor plate 32 registers with the loading plate 16 , and to then lower the driver?s cabin to an extent such that the floor plate 32 is located as close to the upper surface of the pier 46 as possible. If the volume of the goods to be off-loaded at one and the same station exceeds the load volume of the floor plate 32, then off-loading must take place in stages. Under no circumstances is it neces¬ sary for the driver to leave his seat except at those times when he needs to move goods from inside the body 1 to the floor plate 32 and possi- bly when moving the goods from the floor plate 32 onto the pier. Figure 4 shows another, normally occurring unloading procedure which well illustrates the advantages afforded by the invention when trans- porting goods to shops and stores where there is no economic reason for using people other than the driver to unload the vehicle. In this case, it is assumed that the goods are to be moved onto a pavement or side wal * k 48, or to a trolley on the pavement. The driver drives the vehicle up to the pavement or sidewalk and, subsequent to transferring the goods onto the floor plate 32, lowers the driver's cabin to a position in which the floor late 32 lies on the same level as the pavement 43. Lowering and raising of the dri¬ ver's cabin is effected with a high degree of accuracy., since the driver has a good view of both the floor plate and the pavement or loading - 10 - pier when the off-loading opening 47 is exposed. When the freight carried by the vehicle com¬ prises invalids confined to wheelchairs, who are to be transporte , for example , between their respective homes and a hospital, the vehicle body is-only provided with a floor 5 and the wheel¬ chairs, together with their occupants, are moved into the vehicle body by first wheeling one or more wheelchairs onto the floor plate 32 with the driver's cabin 27 in the position shown in Figure , whereafter the driver wheels the wheel - chairs through the openings 22 and 31 into a free space on the floor 5 , where each wheelchair is optionally firmly secured. If the hospital is equipped with a special exit ramp and the height of the ramp corresponds with the height of the floor 5, when picking up the wheelchairs together with their occupants, the wheelchairs can be wheeled directly into the vehicle body 1, without needing to use the driver's cabin. As will be understood, the invention is not restricted to the described and illustrated embodiments, but that many modifications are conceivable within the scope of the invention. For example, the hydraulic piston-cylinder de¬ vice 37 can be replaced with a sprocket and chain arrangement for moving the driver's cabin 27. The supporting and guiding means between the vehicle body and the driver's cabin may, for example, comprise carriage wheels w τ ith the shafts extending in the longitudinal direction 21 of the vehicle body and mounted on the dri¬ ver's cabin and jcurnalled in grooves on the end m part of the vehicle body. Even though the vehicle body is preferably self-supporting, the inven¬ tion can be applied equally as well to a conven¬ tional vehicle construction having a chassis and a body structure placed thereupon, provided that the driver's cabin lies in front of the chassis so that said cabin can be lowered to a desired position. Adjustment of the floor plate 32 in the same plane as the floor 5 and the elevated frame structure 15 is effected fully automati¬ cally upon an order being given by the driver, limit switches being arranged to sense the posi¬ tion of. the driver's cabin and to stop the same when the floor plate 32 is located in the plane of the floor 5 or the frame structure 15. Move¬ ment of the driver's cabin 27 to a maximum lower position, i.e. a position in which the prefer¬ ably completely planar undersurface of the floor plate 32 lies against or closely adjacent to the surface of the ' ground can be controlled in a similar fashion by means of a limit switch arranged to interrupt supply of pressure medium to the piston cylinder device 37 when this lower position has been reached.

Claims: C A I M S 1. A transport vehicle comprising a body (1) which is preferably self-supporting and which has an inner load-supporting floor (5) under which the vehicle power unit (11) is arranged; a driver's cabin (27) which is connected to the forward end part of the vehicle body (1) and which can be moved vertically by means of drive means (37, 39); and wheels (34, 35) carrying the vehicle, characterized in that the wheels (34, 35) are arranged between the front and rear end parts of the vehicle body, beneath the plane of the floor; that the forward end part is provided with first: supporting and guiding means (24, 26) arranged to GO-act with second supporting and guiding means (28, 29, 30) located on the driver's cabin, said first and said second supporting and guiding means being arranged to carry the driver's cabin (27) on the vehicle body (1) and to permit vertical movement of the driver's cabin (27) re¬ lative to the vehicle body (1) by means of said drive means (37, 39); in that the driver's cabin (27) has a width which corresponds substantially to the width of the vehicle body, and is provided with a fixed floor plate (32) which forms on one side of the driver's cabin (27) a surface accommo¬ dating the equipment (41, 42, 43) of the driver's cabin and on its other side forms a platform; and in that in a first vertical position of the driver's cabin the upper surface (36) of the floor plate (32) lies in substantially the same plane as the upper surface of the floor (5) of the vehicle body, said plate being able to take posi¬ tions located between a -first plane beneath the plane of the floor (5) and a second plane above the plane of said floor by displacing the driver's cabin (27); and in that arranged between the driver's cabin and -the vehicle body is a free opening (22, 31) through which goods can be transferred between the floor (5) and the floor plate (32) when τhe driver's cabin is located in said first vertical position; and in that the side surface of the driver's cabin remote from the driving seat has arranged therein an opening (47) through which goods can be passed frcm said floor plate (32). 2. A transport vehicle according to Claim 1,. characterized in that arranged between the forward end parts of the vehicle body (1) and the rear enepart of the driver's cabin (27) are guides (24, 26, 29, 28) along which the driver's cabin can be moved. 3. A transport vehicle according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterized in that the floor plate (32 )of the driver's cabin (27) has a planar under- surface. 4. A transport vehicle according to any one of Claims 1 - 3 , characterized in that the drive means of t e driver's cabin (27) comprises at least one hydraulic piston-cylinder device (37) having a piston (39) which is connected between the body (1) and the driver's cabin (27). 5. A transport vehicle according to any one of Claims 1 - 4 , characterized in that the dri¬ ver'ε cabin (27) is arranged to be moved by said BAD ORIGINAL OMPI drive means to a lower position in which the under surface of the floor plate (32) is in contact with or located closely adjacent to the surface of the ground (33). 6. A transport vehicle according to any one of Claims 1 - 5, characterized in that the interior of the vehicle body (1) has a loading plate (15) arranged for vertical movement from the floor (5) .

Inventors: ALGE BJOERN, AOHLMAN TOMAS, ALGE, BJOERN, AOHLMAN, TOMAS
Applicants: ALGE BJOERN, AOHLMAN TOMAS, ALGE, BJOERN, AOHLMAN, TOMAS
Application year: 1982
Main classification: B60P1
IPC codes: B60P1, B62D33