STACKING APPARATUS

Abstract: Apparatus for attachment to or forming part of a vehicle for spacing the bottom of a load from a surface on which it is to be mounted, said apparatus comprising a plurality of spacer means (17), flexible coupling means (19) coupling said spacer means at a predetermined distance apart, and means (27) at opposite ends of said apparatus for connecting said apparatus to the vehicle.

Description: STACKING APPARATUS The present invention relates to stacking apparatus and in particular relates to apparatus for facilitating the stacking of loads onto a vehicle. Although the apparatus will be described with reference to a vehicle in the form of a lorry, it is applicable to other vehicles such as railway trucks, ships or aircraft. Our earlier European Published Patent Specification 321099 describes a pallet arrangement in which a load is mounted on a removable pallet part. As is described with reference to Figure 7 of that earlier patent specification, when loading the load onto a lorry, one leaves behind the removable pallet part and the load itself (or a flat lower panel attached to the load) sits on the deck of a lorry. To put the load onto the lorry deck by a fork lift truck or to remove it, it is necessary for the lorry deck to have grooves into which the forks of the fork lift truck be inserted. Such an arrangement is satisfactory in many instances, but in some circumstances it is required to stack more than one load on top of another on a vehicle. This can be done with the arrangement of our earlier patent specification by mounting a pallet between the lower and upper load, and this may be done by lifting the upper load, together with its pallet and placing it on top of the lower load. However, one of the objects is to move the loads without their pallets and clearly it is impossible to mount an upper load on a lower load without some intervening spacing if a forklift truck is to be used. The present invention provides apparatus for attachment to or forming part of a vehicle for spacing the bottom of a load from a surface on which it is to be mounted, said apparatus comprising a plurality of spacer means, flexible coupling means coupling said spacer means at a predetermined distance apart, and means at opposite ends of said apparatus for connecting said apparatus to the vehicle. Said apparatus may be used to place the bottom of the lower load from the flat deck of a vehicle and/or space the bottom of an upper load from the top of a lower load. The coupling means may be a flexible filament such as wire, rope or the like or netting, but preferably comprises a flexible sheet. The spacer means may be battens of wood, metal or plastic and if the coupling means is in the form of a flexible sheet, the battens may be mounted inside pockets provided in the sheet material . The coupling means may include at its end, means for connection to the vehicle. Said means may be, for example, a hook or other releasable connector. Said apparatus may include means to move said plurality of spacer means from an operational position in which they space the_bo_tt m of the load to a stored position. Thus means may be provided to rollup the spacers and coupling means and to withdraw them into a housing or for them to be pulled into a housing provided under the deck of the vehicle. Alternatively means may be provided to lift or lower said spacer means and said coupling means into said stored position. In a preferred arrangement the apparatus includes posts at each corner and connector means connected to said coupling means at said posts, means being provided to raise said connector means and hence said spacer means and coupling means (which is particularly conveniently a sheet as described above) so as to store them adjacent the roof of the vehicle. There may be provided a plurality of sets of spacer means and coupling means whereby, in said operational positions, one of said sets or spacer means and coupling means spaces the bottom of the lower load from a deck of the vehicle, and the other of said set of spacer means and coupling means spaces the bottom an upper load from the top of a lower load wherein said upper load is mounted on the lower load. Means may be provided to tension the flexible coupling to securely retain the upper load on top of the first load. The present invention also provides a method for spacing the bottom of a load from a surface on which it is to be mounted, said method comprising moving apparatus comprising a plurality of spacer means and flexible coupling means coupling said spacer means at a predetermined distance apart, from a first stored position to a second operative position in which said plurality of spacer means are situated adjacent the surface on which the load is to be mounted, and connecting said apparatus to said vehicle, whereby a load may be mounted on said surface and spaced therefrom by said plurality of spacer means. A preferred embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side view of a lorry incorporating the invention with the apparatus according to the invention stored, Figure 2 shows the lorry of Figure 1 with the apparatus of the invention in use, Figure 3 is a diagram of the apparatus in more detail in use, Figure 4 is a perspective view of a front end of a lorry with the apparatus in use, Figure 5 is a perspective view similar to Figure 4, but of the rear end of the lorry, Figure 6 is a perspective view of the deck 11 of a lorry incorporating a second embodiment of the invention, Figure 7 is a perspective part view of spacer means of the invention, and, Figures 8 to 10 show a further embodiment of the invention in different opposite positions during use. Referring to Figure 1 there is shown a lorry generally in accordance with that described with reference to our earlier European Patent Specification 321099. The lorry 10 includes a flat deck 11 having transverse open topped grooves 12 spaced at regular predetermined intervals. As is described in our earlier patent specification loads without pallets may be mounted on this deck to provide a first layer, the forks of a forklift truck engaging in the grooves 12. In practice the flat deck 11 includes two sets of loads side by side transversely of the length of the length of the deck 11, the two sets being loaded and unloaded .from opposite sides of the lorr . Figure 2 shows the lorry of Figure 1 with a first lower layer 13 of loads 14L mounted on the deck 11. Above some of the lower loads 14L there is mounted an upper layer 16 of loads 14U. It is necessary, of course, to space the upper surface of the lower loads 14L from the lower surface of the upper loads 14U if the forks of the forklift truck are to be able to disengage from below the upper loads 14U. There is thus provided between the upper surface of the lower loads 14L and the lower surface of the upper loads 14U a plurality of spacers 17, the spacers 17 comprising, for example, battens of wood or solid or tubular steel or metal or, if the loads are light, expanded plastic such as expanded polystyrene. In this way, the upper and lower of loads 14U, 14L are suitably spaced. Referring to Figures 3, 4, and 5, the means for mounting the spacers 17 will be described. The spacers 17 are mounted in pockets 18 of a longitudinally extending sheet 19 of a flexible material such as suitably reinforced plastic material. The pockets 18 are spaced at the necessary predetermined distance so as to, in use, be suitably situated above each lower load 14L and also so s to allow the forks of a forklift truck to engage the under side of the upper loads 14U. As can be seen, in particular from Figure 3, the sheet, when withdrawn, is stored in a space 21 below the deck 11 although it could be rolled into a housing in a head board 27. The headboard 27 is arranged so that it can be moved up and down by means of hydraulic rams 30 so that its upper end is arranged to be at a height generally coincident with the height of the top surface of the lower loads 14L (see Figure 3 in particular). As is clear from Figure 4, the headboard 27 is in two parts corresponding to the two sets of side by side lower loads 14L and the two parts of the headboard may be adjusted with regard to height independently of one another. As will be seen from Figure 3 the space 21 includes adjacent the rear end of the vehicle a pulley 22, and adjacent the front end of the vehicle pulleys 23,24, the space 21 communicating with an upwardly directed channel 26 in the headboard 27 of the vehicle, the end upper end of the channel 26 including a further pulley 28. In use, the sheet 19 and spacers 17 are stored in the space 21 and also extend up into the channel 26. When the lower layer 13 of loads 14L has been mounted on the deck 11, a leading end of the sheet 19 is withdrawn from the upper end of the channel 26 and pulled across the top surface of the lower loads 14. This leading end of the sheet 19 includes, straps 29 which incorporate hooks 31. Pulling out the sheet 19, which may be assisted by motors driving the pulley, causes the sheet to move through the space 21 and over the pulleys. The hooks 31 are engaged with bars 32 provided in the deck 11 (a plurality of bars 32 being provided spaced along the length of the deck so that the straps 29 may be engaged with the bars 32 at a suitable position) and then the sheet 19 is tensioned by reversing the motors driving the pulleys. As is clear from Figure 2, 3, 4 and 5, above each lower load 14L there is provided at least two transverse spacers 17 so that an upper load 14U may be deposited on the lower load 14L and spaced therefrom whereby loading may take place with a forklift truck. In a second embodiment of the invention, as shown in Figure 6, there is shown mounted above the flat deck 11 of the lorry 10 a series of bridge sections 10 which extend from side to side of the lorry (or, perhaps, from each side to the middle) and comprise vertically upright ends 101, one end being mounted at each side of the lorry, and a flat section 102 extending between the upper edges of each pair of ends 101. Thus, grooves 12 are formed between the bridge section 100 and the space 21 below the flat deck 11 in the embodiment of Figures 1 to 5 is replaced by the enlarged space below the flat section 102 of the bridge sections 100. In this way, therefore, the spacers 17 may be stored above the flat deck 11 of the lorry, but below the bridge sections 100. The bridge sections are preferably made of steel, aluminium and wood. To protect the spacers 17 whilst they are stored in this space, there may optionally be provided end walls 103 between the adjacent ends 101, the end walls 103 extending upwardly about half the height of the ends 101. In this way, the grooves 12 are preserved, but the forklift truck when entering the groove will enter above the flat deck of the lorry and so, is less likely to become entangled with the spacer 17 stored in that space. We also prefer to interconnect the spacer 17 by means of webbing. Figure 7 shows one end of the spacer, which comprises a block, in this case of wood, there being mounted at each end of the spacer 17 a pair of rings 105,106 facing in opposite directions, and webbing straps 107,108 are connected to the rings 105,106 by connectors such as rings 109,110 " attached to the end of respective straps 107,108. Such an arrangement is more economical than that described in Figures 1 to 5 and the parts which might wear out or break, for example, the straps 107,108 may be readily replaced. An alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures 8 to 10. Similar parts will be labelled similarly to the earlier figures. Referring to Figure 8 there is shown a trailer forming part of a vehicle 10. The trailer is of the type has open sides 60 and at least at each corner there is an upright post 61. In some arrangements the area between the front posts will be closed by panels and similarly the area between the rear posts 61. Extending between the upper ends of each of the posts 61 is a paneled roof 62. Thus far the arrangement is quite conventional. However, in the present arrangement, there is mounted, in the non- operative position, a pair of sheets 19 one above the other, the sheets 19 being mounted in this non-operative position immediately below the roof 62. For ease of convenience the upper sheet is labelled 19U and the lower sheet 19L. The sheets 19 are similar to those described with respect to the earlier embodiment, that is they comprise a sheet of material including pockets 18 in which spacers 17 are mounted. The sheets extend substantially from side to side and from front to rear of the trailer of the lorry 10. Each corner of both sheets 19U,19L are attached to the relevant post 61 by connector means so as to allow the sheets to be lowered or lifted. Thus, in use, the trailer may be used as shown in Figure 8 as a normal trailer. When it is being used with a pallet system such as that described in our European Patent Specification 321099, then the lower sheet 19L may be lowered to the deck 11 of the lorry as shown in Figure 9. Loads may then be mounted onto the deck 11, the loads 14L being spaced from the deck by means of the spacers 17 in the pockets of the lower sheet 19L. When the lower layer has been completed, if it is desired to mount an upper layer of loads 14U, then the second, upper sheet 19U is lowered in a similar manner to sit on top of the lower loads 14L, and the upper layer can then be mounted thereon and spaced from the lower loads by means of the spacers 17 in the upper sheet 19U. This configuration is shown in Figure 10. A variety of means may be provided to move the sheets up and down from the position shown in Figure 8 to the positions shown in Figures 9 and 10 and back to the position shown in Figure 8. This means may take a variety of forms, but in one arrangement, to each corner of each sheet 19L, 19U there is attached a wire which passes over a pulley at the top of the adjacent post 61, passes down through or adjacent the post 61 to a winch (not shown) . Each corner of each sheet 19U,19L is connected to its respective wire by a connector means which may, be, for example in the form of an eye through which the wire passes and is connected. A separate wincbrmay be provided for each post 61 and eac sheet, or alternatively the four wires for one particular sheet may be passed under the trailer to a single winch. Thus, the respective winch may be released to allow the sheets 19L,19U to descend from the position shown in Figure 8 to the positions shown in Figures 9 and 10 under their own weight and may be lifted from their lowermost positions up to the position shown in Figure 8 by a motor driving the respective winch. Alternatively, the single length of wire attached to each corner of the sheet may be replaced by a continuous length of wire, one run of the wire passing as before over a pulley at the top of each post 61, and the other run of the wire passing down adjacent the post 61 to a pulley or guide at the lower end thereof, so that the respective winch may be driven in one direction to raise the sheet 19L or 19U, and in the opposite direction to lower the relevant sheet. Other configurations for moving the sheets 19L and 19U up and down may be utilised. Although we have described the arrangement of Figures 8 to 10 with respect to sheets 19U,19L, the sheets can of course be replaced by an arrangement similar to that shown in Figures 6 and 7. The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing examples. Sometimes, the size of the loads varies and in these instances the spacer 17 will be incorrectly spaced. To overcome this it may be arranged so that there are a plurality of pockets 18 spaced more frequently than shown in the drawings. All of the pockets may contain spacers so that only some spacers are relevant to each size of load or alternatively, the spacers may be removable from the pockets and may be inserted into the relevant pockets when the lower layer of loads has been completed and it is possible to determine where the spacer should be.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Apparatus for attachment to or forming part of a vehicle for spacing the bottom of a load from a surface on which it is to be mounted, said apparatus comprising a plurality of spacer means, flexible coupling means coupling said spacer means at a predetermined distance apart, and means at opposite ends of said apparatus for connecting said apparatus to the vehicle. 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 characterised in that the coupling means is at lease one flexible filament. 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 characterised in that the coupling means is a flexible sheet. 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 characterised in that the spacer means are mounted inside pockets provided in the sheet material. 5. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 characterised in that the spacer means is of wood. 6. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 characterised in that the spacer means is of metal. 7. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 characterised in that the spacer means is of plastics material. 8. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7 characterised in that the coupling means includes at its end, means for connection to the vehicle. 9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 characterised in that said coupling means comprises a releasable connector. 10. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9 characterised in that means is provided to move said plurality of spacer means from an operational position in which they space the bottom of the load to a stored position. 11. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 10 characterised in that means is provided for storing said spacer means and coupling means. 12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 characterised in that means is provided to roll up said spacer means and coupling means into a housing. 13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 characterised in that means is provided to move said spacer means and coupling means • into a housing provided under a deck of the vehicle. 14. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 13 characterised in that means is provided to lift or lower said spacer means and said coupling means into a stored position. 15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 14 characterised in that the apparatus includes posts at each corner, and connector means connected to said coupling means at said posts, means being provided to raise said connector means and hence said spacer means and coupling means so as to provide a stored position adjacent the roof of the vehicle. 16. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims characterised in that means is provided to tension the flexible coupling. 17. A method for spacing the bottom of a load from a surface on which it is to be mounted, said method comprising moving apparatus comprising a plurality of spacer means and flexible coupling means coupling said spacer means at a predetermined distance apart, from a first stored position to a second operative position in which said plurality of spacer means are situated adjacent the surface on which the load is to be mounted, and connecting said apparatus to said vehicle, whereby a load may be mounted on said surface and spaced therefrom by said plurality of spacer means. 18. A method as claimed in claim 17 characterised in that said apparatus may be moved to its stored position adjacent the roof of the vehicle. 19. A method as claimed in claim 17 or claim 18 characterised in that there are two sets of spacer means and flexible coupling means, whereby one set in its operative position * spaces said load from the surface of the vehicle on which the load is to be mounted, and the second set is moved to an operative position above said first load whereby a second load may be mounted above said first load and spaced therefrom by said second set of spacer means and flexible coupling means.

Inventors: SHEPHERD GARY MARTIN, SHEPHERD, GARY, MARTIN
Applicants: PALLET HANDLING LTD, PALLET HANDLING LIMITED
Application year: 1989
Main classification: B65G57
IPC codes: B60P7