A MATERIALS HANDLING APPLIANCE

Abstract: A materials handling appliance for moving pallets (4) or similar load-bearing elements in a vertical and/or horizontal direction between setting-down locations (33-36) disposed around an axis of rotation (8) appertaining to the appliance, wherein a load-moving arrangement (6) is composed of a load-moving slide arrangement (18) which is telescopically extensible towards and away from the respective setting-down locations is designed to be operated by means of fluid. The invention makes it possible to achieve rational and rapid moving of pallets, etc. This is accomplished due to the face that the load-moving slide arrangement (18) is mounted unrestrictedly rotatable around the said mounting (7).

Description: A Materials Handling Appliance The present invention relates to a materials hand¬ ling appliance for moving pallets and similar load-hearing elements in the vertical and/or horizontal direction be¬ tween setting-down locations disposed around an axis of rotation appertaining to the appliance, wherein a load- moving arrangement which consists of a load-moving slide arrangement which is telescopically extensible up to and away from the respective setting-down locations is de¬ signed to be operated by means of fluid. The main object of the present invention is primarily to provide a materials handling appliance of the above- mentioned kind with which it is possible to move pallets, etc. quickly and rationally between setting-down locations situated at a distance from each other around an axis of rotation of the load-moving arrangement. This has not previously been possible since the pipelines for the fluid which run between the existing source of fluid pressure and the fluid-operated drive arrangements become twisted when the load-moving arrangement is rotated around an axis of rotation. The said object is achieved by means of an appliance according to the present invention which is essentially characterised in that the load-moving slide arrangement is mounted unrestrictedly rotatable around the said mounting. The invention is described below by way of a preferred embodiment example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, on which: Figure 1 is a schematic view of a materials handling appliance constructed accordingto the invention and arran- ged stationarily, viewed from above, Figure 2 shows the movement possibilities for a fluid- operated load-moving slide arrangement incorporated in the appliance, Figure 3 is a section along the line III-III in Fig- ure Figure 4- is a side view of the appliance, Figure 5 shows the appliance from the upper side, Figure 6 is a section along the line 7I-VI in Fig¬ ure , Figure 7 is a section along the line VII-VII in Fig¬ Figure 8 is a schematic perspective view of a load- moving slide arrangement and the drive arrangement forit. The materials handling appliance 1 according to the present invention is stationary, but it would also be possible to use the invention on a mobile appliance. An arm-like frame 5 projects substantially horizon¬ tally in front of the appliance 1 from a lifting column 2 which can be fixed to a foundation 3 in an appropriate manner and which is positioned at a suitable location to enable rational and compact movement and/or storage of pallets - or similar load-bearing elements to be carried out. A load-moving arrangement 6 is mounted on the free end A of the frame so that it can rotate around a mount- ing 7 which consists of a pin-like so-called swivel 8. Via one part SA of the said swivel 8 the latter is con¬ nected to the load-moving arrangement 6, and via another part 8B it is connected to the frame 5. A plate 9 which is connected to the upper face of two arms 5 1 and 52 res- pectively of the frame, which are disposed at a mutual distance from each other and are fixed to a plate 10 mounted on the lifting column 2 and which form the said top-like lifting frame 5, houses the said swivel part 8B in a hole 11. An axial bearing 12 is provided to act be- tween the plate 9 and a locking device 13 for the said swivel part 8B. A reinforcing plate 1 extends between 1 2 the plate 9 and the arms 5 , 5 of the frame. The frame 5 is expediently lifted by means of a fluid- operated drive arrangement 15, such as a hydraulic piston motor, for example, and guiding of the frame 5 can be effected by means of running wheels 16, etc. mounted on OMPI the plate 10, which co-act with vertical guideways 17. The load-moving arrangement 6 comprises at least one telescopically extensible load-moving slide arrangement 18 which is in three parts and consists of a base slide member 19, an intermediate slide member 20 and an outer slide member 21. The slide members 19-20 are guided lat¬ erally via a guide way 22 and the.base slide member 19 is rigidly connected to a baseplate 23 which appertains to the load-moving arrangement 6 and which encircles the swi- vel 8 via a central hole 24. A needle roller bearing 25 acts between the plate 24 and a ring 26 which rests on the plate and which surrounds the swivel 8 circumferentially. An axial bearing 27 rests over the upper part 26A of the ring 26, and bears a support 28 connected to the plate 23. Two slide arrangements 18 disposed at a mutual distance from each other and adapted to the under-frame of a pal¬ let are designed to be operated synchronously with each other, for example by means of a drive coupling 29. A drive arrangement 30 for effecting the extension of " t e telescopically extensible slide members 20-21 in the desired arbitrary extension direction towards and away from setting-down locations 33-36 for pallets 4 may consist of a plurality of toothed wheels 37 which roll against each other and which are divided into an upper and a lower set of toothed wheels 30A and 30B respectively. The toothed wheels 37 in the upper set 30A are mounted rotatably on the intermediate slide member 20 and co-act at one side with a toothed rack 38 or a similar elongated wheel- engaging running track which is mounted on the top slide member 21, by rolling along the latter, and co-act on the opposite side with a similar toothed rack 39 which is mounted on the base slide member 9. In the lower set of wheels 30B the toothed wheels 37 co-act with a toothed rack 40, etc. mounted on the intermediate slide member 20. The toothed wheels 37 in the set 30B are driven by means of a drive wheel 41 which is connected via a shaft 42 to y the drive coupling 29, which may consist of a bevel mitre gear which co-acts with a worm gear 43 connected to a drive motor 44 designed to effect the extension of the outer slide member 21 into the desired position, prefer- ably a piston motor, which is fluid-operated. The base slide member 19 is mounted on the baseplate 23 via a bracket 45 and on the baseplate 23 there is a drive motor 46 which is preferably a fluid-operated piston motor. Via a bevel gearing system 47 the motor 46 is con- nected to a toothed wheel 48 which is mounted on a shaft 49 and which co-acts with the inside of a toothed ring 50 rigidly connected to the plate 9 of the frame. The two drive motors 44.and 46 are connected via sup¬ ply and return lines 51A, 5^B and 52A, 52B respectively to their respective ducts 53-56 which open into the upper end 8A of the swivel 8 and which extend out from the swi¬ vel 8 through a top cover plate 57 which is firmly screwed on the swivel 8 and follows the rotary movements of the swivel when the load-moving arrangement 6 is rotated re- lative to the frame 5. The said ducts 53-5>6 extend pre¬ ferably axially through the swivel 8 to their respective channel 58-61 extending peripherally round the circum er¬ ence of the swivel 8, which are sealed off from each other and surrounded by the said ring 26. From a pressure source for a fluid, which is not shown on the drawings and which may consist of a hydraulic fluid, supply and return lines 62-65 respectively extend out and are each connected to their respective channel 58-61. The drive arrangement 16 on the lifting column 2 can be connected to the said pres- sure source, and control valves for effecting supply and draining of fluid to and from the drive motors 15, 44, 46 respectively as desired will also expediently be provided, for example on the lifting column 2. The said peripheral channels 58-61 are designed to communicate with each other in pairs so that one channel of a pair of channels can be connected to the pressure "BUREAU OMPI , W1P0 _ source while the other channel of the said channels can be connected to a slide drive arrangement 44 or 46. The functioning of the above-described appliance is as follows: Supply of pressure fluid, for example into the supply line 62, means that a channel 58 is filledwith fluid which flows through the swivel 8 in the duct 53 to the supply line 51A for the motor 46. The gearing 47 is then actuated by the motor 46 to transmit rotary movement to the toothed wheel 48, so that the slide arrangement 6 is rotated around the bearing 8, etc. in a rotary direc¬ tion over an unlimited distance, since there are no lines which can become twisted and thereby prevent continued rotation. Draining of the fluid via the line 63, the channel 60 the duct 54 and the line 51B from the motor 46 means that the motor 46 is actuated to rotate the slide arrangement 6 in the opposite rotary direction to that described above, into the desired position. This enables the slide arrangement 6 to be rotated unrestrictedly to any of the setting-down locations 33-36, around the bearing 8. Supply of fluid, for example via the line 64, the channel 59, the duct 55 and the line 5 A to the motor 44 means that the motor 44 actuates the gearing 29 to rotate in either rotary direction, for example in the direction 66. The larger toothed wheels 37 in the set of wheels 30B is thereby caused to co-act with the toothed rack 40 and drives the rack 40 with the associated intermediate slide member 20 in the direction 67. The larger toothed wheels 37 in the set of wheels 30A are thereby caused to roll away over the toothed rack 39 by the extension of the in¬ termediate slide member, so that the toothed rack 38 with the associated outer slide member moves in the same direc¬ tion 67 as the intermediate slide member 20. Expediently, there will be end stops to limit the movement of the slide members to prevent them from being extended too far. Draining of the fluid from the motor 44 through the line 65, the channel 61, the duct 56 and the line 52B results in the motor 44 being caused to rotate the gear¬ ing 29 in the opposite direction to that described above, in this case in the direction 68. This causes the toothed wheels 37 to extend the intermediate slide member 20 to¬ gether with the outer slide member 21 in the direction 69. The slide arrangement 6 can be raised by actuation of the motor 15. In addition to the advantages mentioned above, the invention makes it possible to save space in materials handling, full automation in production is facilitated, the many degrees of freedom provide a considerable selec¬ tion range in confined spaces, and it is possible to hand- le all standard types of pallet. Moreover, used on a mobile appliance it is possible to turn a pallet in a pallet rack, and the arrangement can be mounted on most types of front-loading truck. The invention is not limited to the embodiment des- cribed above, but it may be modified within the frame of the following Patent Claims. For example, the drivewheels in the sets of wheels may be provided with vertical mount¬ ing axles.

Claims: P a t e n t C l a i m s 1. A materials handling appliance (1) for moving pal¬ lets (4) and similar load-bearing elements in the vertical and/or horizontal direction between setting-down locations (33-36) disposed around an axis of rotation (7) appertain- ing to the appliance, wherein a load-moving arrangement (6) which consists of a load-moving slide arrangement (18) which is telescopically extensible up to and away from the respective setting-down locations (33-36), is designed to be driven by means of fluid, characterised in that the load-moving slide arrangement (18) is mounted unrestricted¬ ly rotatable around the said mounting (7)- 2. An appliance according to Patent Claim 1, characterised in that the mounting (7) comprises a swivel (8) which is connected via one part (8A) to the slide ar- rangement (18) and via a further part (8B) to a frame (5) in front of the appliance, and which has a plurality of connections which enable a fluid pressure sburce to be con¬ nected to a fluid-operated drive arrangement (44, 46) or operating the slide arrangement (18). 3. -An appliance according to Patent Claim 3, characterised in that the said connections are composed of a plurality of peripheral channels (58-61) which communi¬ cate with each other in pairs so that one channel of each of the respective pairs of channels can be connected to the pressure source and the other channel of the said pair of channels can be connected to a slide-operating arrange¬ ment (44, 46). 4. An appliance according to Patent Claim 3, characterised in that the connections for supplying and draining the fluid respectively to and from the channels (58-61) at the swivel are formed by ducts, part of which extends through a ring(26) which encircles the swivel (8), and part through a plate (57) disposed at one end of the swivel. _.— IΠJ EA OMPI k ™PO 5. An appliance according to any of the above Patent Claims 2-4, characterised in that the rotary movements of the slide arrangement (18) are effected by means of a toothed wheel (47) which runs over a toothed ring (50) which is connected to the frame (5). 6. An appliance according to any of the above Patent Claims 2-5, characterised in that the load-moving slide arrangement (18) is in three parts and consists of a base slide member (19), an intermediate slide member (20) and an outer slide member (21) with guideways (22) extending in the longitudinal direction, two slide arrangements (18) disposed at a mutual distance from each other adapted to the under-frame of a pallet (4) being driven synchronously with each other via a drive coupling (29, 42, 41) which is driven by a common drive arrangement (44) for effecting the extension of the outer slide members (21) in the des¬ ired extension direction (67, 69). 7. An appliance according to Patent Claim 6, characterised in that a toothed arrangement (30) which con- sists of toothed wheels (37) or similar drive arrangements mounted on the intermediate slide member (20) and on the base slide member (19) respectively, and arranged so that the base member toothed wheels co-act with a toothed rack (40) or a similar elongated track provided with cut-outs located on the intermediate slide member (20), while the toothed wheels on the intermediate slide member co-actwith their respective toothed racks (39 or 38 respectively) etc. located on the base slide member (19) and on the outer slide member (21) respectively, is provided on the respective slide arrangements (18). 8. An appliance according to any of the above Patent Claims, characterised in that the slide arrangement (18) is designed to be able to be extended in the desired direc¬ tion (67 or 69 respectively) away from or towards the said rotary mounting (7). 9. An appliance according to any of the above Patent Claims, characterised in that a lifting column (2) which comprises a lifting drive arrangement (15), preferably fluid-operated, bears the said load-moving arrangement (6) via an arm-like frame (5) projecting laterally from the lifting column. 10. An appliance according to Patent Claim 9, characterised in that the lifting column (2) is location- ally fixed.

Inventors: MALMBOM RUNE, MALMBOM, RUNE
Applicants: MALMBOM RUNE INGBYRA HB, INGENIOERSBYRAO RUNE MALMBOM HB
Application year: 1983
Main classification: B66F9
IPC codes: B66F9