A TRANSFER DEVICE THAT GRIPS WHEELS

Abstract: The object of the invention is a transfer device that grips wheels, which is intended to move an aircraft (1) or other wheeled device on a base, which transfer device includes a frame (5, 2), its own support wheels (12, 13), a pair of rollers (3, 4), devices to compress the rollers and devices to rotate at least one of the rollers (4), locating devices to place the rollers from the side in front and behind of the wheel (6) of the device (1) to be moved, and in which by rotating the rollers (3, 4) compressed against the wheel (6) of the device to move the wheel (6) is made to rotate and the entire device is made to move. The intention of the invention is to achieve a wheel rotating transfer device, in which the longitudinal movement of the rollers in a guide has been replaced by an alternative method. In accordance with the invention an intermediate arm (8) is jointed to the frame (2), at the other end of which is jointed the support (7) of the roller (3) and which intermediate arm (8) can be turned between two extreme positions in order to move the joint point (11) of the support (7) of the roller (3) in a curve determined by the intermediate arm (8), in which case the roller (3) can be moved longitudinally and compressed against the wheel (6).

Description: A Transfer Device that grips Wheels The object of the invention is a transfer device that grips wheels, and which intended to move an aircraft or device equipped with wheels over a base, which transfer device includes a frame, its own support wheels, a pair of rollers, devices to compress the rollers, and devices to rotate at least one of the rollers, locating devices to locate the rollers in a sideways direction in front and behind the wheel of the device to be moved, and in which by rotating the rollers pressed against one or both wheels the wheel of the device to be moved is made to rotate and.the entire device is made to move. The construction of the transfer device can be substantially reduced when the rotating force is transferred to the airc¬ raft's own wheel from the drive wheel or friction roller of the transfer device. The construction of a light transfer device that is universally applicable is shown in the Finnish Patent Application FI 833275 (partly corresponding to W085/01265) . This requires no contact with the bogie of the aircraft in order to compress the drive wheel against the aircraft wheel. The compression is achieved by means of the mutual adjustment of compression rollers that are placed round the aircraft wheel and which are connected by intermediate devices. Other transfer devices based on the mutual compression of pairs of rollers and their rotation are shown in International Patent Application PCT/FI89/40. In these the longitudinal movement of the rollers is arranged by means of various kinds of slide members. In trials in practice slide members have been demon¬ strated to be unreliable components. It is difficult to avoid their becoming dirty, which in time leads to operating prob¬ lems. The constructional dimensioning of slide members is also difficult as in practice they are subject to loading from many directions. The intention of this invention is to achieve a transfer vehicle that rotates wheels, in which the longitudinal movement of the rollers by means of slide members has been replaced by some alternative. The characteristics of the invention appear in the accompanying Patent Claim 1. The main principle of the invention is that the longitudinal movement of the rollers is carried out by means of an intermediate arm. The turning of this intermediate arm also causes a lateral movement in the roller, but this lateral movement can be either arranged to be so small as to be of no significance or it can be compensated for by means of a genuine lateral movement. The form of application in accordance with Patent Claim 3 is easier to use than the former, because in this the roller remains in a given direction, generally transverse in relation to the roller. It is most advantageous when the final compres¬ sion of the roller is created by turning only the roller itself, in which case its centre line does not move any further in a lateral direction. The operation is most easily achieved by meams of, for example, a pressure sensor in a hydraulic system. The transfer device shown in Patent Claim 5 has a separate lateral roller movement, in which case the longitudinal movement of the roller can be carried out by means of two intermediate arms, which together form a parallelogram or other quadrilateral. A construction of this kind withstands greater stresses than the former and is better suited to high-powered transfer devices. In what follows the invention is illustrated by means of examples with reference to the accompanying figures, which show various forms of application of the invention. Figure 1 shows the transfer device seen from above in partial cross-section Figure 2 shows the transfer device seen from the side Figure 3 shows the control mechanism of the interme¬ diate arm in detail Figure 4 shows another transfer device seen from above Figure 5 shows a third joint arrangement Figure 6 shows the joint arrangement of Figure 5 wit the roller in the fully open position Figure 7 shows the joint arrangement seen from the direction A in Figure 5 The transfer devices shown in Figures 1-3 are intended for the movement of aircraft on an airfield. In the figures the aircraft 1 is represented by only the landing-gear vogie and wheels 6. The transfer device travels to the aircraft driven by its rear support wheel 13, and in addition to this its princi¬ pal components are friction rollers 3 and 4, devices to compress and rotate them, a power device unit, and frame components 5 and 2. The transfer device, which has a U-shaped frame, is driven round the double wheel of the aircraft with the front rollers 3 retracted to the side. The U-shaped frame is formed by a rear section 5 and forks 2. The rear section 5 of the frame includes a diesel motor as a power source and a hydraulic pump driven by it. In addition, the rear section 5 includes control devices, a fuel tank, and hydraulic auxilliary devices. In the transfer devices in Figures 1-3 only the rear rollers 4 are driven and they are fixed in place. The rollers 4 are driven by the hydraulic motor 18. The front rollers 3 are not connected to the rotation device, but only compress the rear rollers 4 against the wheel of the aircraft. The support 7 of the front rollers 3 is jointed to the intermediate arm 8, which in practice is made of metal plate. This intermediate arm 8 is further jointed to the frame, and both the intermediate arm 8 and the roller support 7 are operated by their own operating devices 9 and 10, which are comprised of hydraulic cylinders. By meams of the intermediate arm 8, the jointing point 11 of the support 7 carrying roller 3 moves through an arc determined by intermediate arm 8, from which the longitudinal movement required is obtained. The poisition of the front rollers 3 in the extreme position of the intermediate arm and withdrawn to the side inside the fork component 2 is shown in Figure 1 by means of broken lines. Taking known types of narrow-bodied aircraft into account, it is extremely advantageous to dimension the intermediate arm in such a way that when the diameter of the wheel decreases, the space between the centre lines of the rollers also decreases. It has been shown in practice that the rollers need not necessarily be at right angles to the wheel. Because of this, the transfer device shown in Figures 1-3 is suitable, despite its simplicity, for moving very different types of aircraft. Figure 3 shows a mechanism, by means of which roller 3 is made to move through a limited area in one direction. The mechanism utilizes the operating device 9 of the intermediate arm in such a way that the arrangement attempts to keep the joint points of levers 14 and 15 in a parallelogram. The support 7 of the roller is attached to the first lever 14 which operates the operating lever 15 by means of the arm 16 and in turn this operates the three-way hydraulic valve 17. This hydraulic valve 17 keeps both ends of the operating device 9 closed, if the lever is in the central position, and feeds oil to that end of the cylinder which tries to correct a change in the angle of the roller support. The transfer device travels on its own support wheels 12 and 13. The front support wheels 12 of these turn freely and the rear support wheel 13 has both control and rotation connected to it to allow the movement of the transfer device itself. The rear support wheel too turns freely while moving an aircraft. The basic construction of the transfer device shown in Figure 4 is of the same type as that shown in Finnish Patent Application 881057. The lateral movement of the rollers takes place by moving the forks laterally using parallelogram arms 19. The rear section 29 of the frame has the fork sections 20 connected to it by means of the parallelogram arms 19. The front roller 23 and its operating motor 26 are rigidly attached to the fork section 20. The support 22 of the rear roller 24 is attached to the terminal arm 22 jointed to parallelogram arm 21. Fork section 20 is princiaplly formed of pipe section. An opening corresponding to the lateral movement is made in it for the axle of roller 24. Both its motor 25 and the hydraulic cylinder 30 operating the parallelogram are located inside the pipe of the fork section 20. The lateral movement of rollers 23 and 24 takes place in the same way as in the transfer device in accordance with Patent Application FI881057. For lateral the wheel 27 is raised, in which case the fork sections drop onto the front wheel 28. The parallelogram arm 19 can then be used. When the rollers 23 and 24 have brought into the track of the wheel of the aircraft, wheel 27 is lowered and means of it the fork section 20 is raised and by using the parallelogram arms 21 rollers 23 and 24 can be pressed against the wheel of the aircraft and the rotation of the rollers can be commenced. On the basis of the most recent development the best form of application is regarded as being the joint arrangement in accordance with Figures 5-7, by means of which the track of the roller can be determined simply and only one operating device is required for operation. In the figures corresponding reference numbers are used as in Figures 1-3 for operationally similar components, such as 3 and 4 for the rollers, 2 for the frame, 7 for the support of roller 3, and 8 for the interme¬ diate arm. In this form of application the support 7 of the front roller 3 is connected to the frame firstly by means of a jointed intermediate arm 8 and secondly by means of a control roller 30 running in a guide 32. By means of these the track of the roller is precisely determined. The guide consists of a curved initial section 31 and a turning section 33. The curve of the initial section corresponds to the operation of the parallelogram arm, in which case roller 3 moves in one directi¬ on in the track of wheel 6. In the final stage of the opening of roller 3 the control roller moves to the final section 33 of the guide 32, which forces the roller 3 to turn away from the track of wheel 6. It is extremely advantageous that roller 3 turns round against the counter member 35 of the turning front wheel and locks it into a straight forward direction. Due to the compressive force directed onto the roller the intermediate arm 8 is made as sturdy as possible, Figure 7. No moment at all is transferred through the control roller 30 to the guide 32.

Claims: Patent Claims 1. A transfer device that grips a wheel, which is intended to move an aircraft (1) or other wheeled device on a base, which transfer device consists of a frame (5, 2) , its own support wheels (12, 13), oppositely positioned rollers (3, 4) located on a support (7) , devices to compress the rollers and devices to rotate at least one of the rollers (4) , locating devices to place the rollers behind and in front of the wheel (6) of the device (1) to be moved, and in which by rotating the rollers (3, 4) compressed against the wheel (6) of the device to be moved, it (6) is made to rotate and the entire device is made to move, characterized in that an intermediate arm (8) is jointed to the frame (2) , at the end of which intermediate arm there is jointed a support (7) for roller (3) and which intermediate arm (8) can be turned between two extreme posi¬ tions in order to move the joint point (11) of the support (11) of the support (7) of this roller (3) through a curve deter¬ mined by the intermediate arm (8) , when the roller (3) can move longitudinally and press against the wheel (6) . 2. A transfer device in accordance with Patent Claim 1, characterized in that the transfer device includes separate operating devices (9, 10) to turn both the intermediate arm (8) and the support (7) of the roller (3) . 3. A transfer device in accordance with Patent Claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the transfer device includes devices (14, 15, 17) to control the operating device (9) operating the intermediate arm (8) in such a way that it keeps the roller (3) at a certain angle at least over a limited area during its movement. 4. A transfer device in accordance with Patent Claim 3, characterized in that the devices for the control of the so-called operating device consist of a first lever (14) attached to the support (7) of the roller (3), which operates an operating lever (15) jointed to the frame (2) through an arm (16) , which further controls valves (17) or corresponding control devices. 5. A transfer device in accordance with Patent Claim 1, characterized in that the support (22) of the roller (24) is carried by a terminal arm (22) that is jointed to the two parallel ends of an intermediate arm (21) , the lines between the joint points forming a quadrilateral. 6. A transfer device in accordance with Patent Claim 3, characterized in that the aforementioned quadrilateral is a parallelogram, in which case the roller (3) always remains at the same angle. 7. A transfer device in accordance with Patent Claim 1, characterized in that the frame (2) includes a guide (31) , a control roller (30) fitted to this from the support (7) of the roller (3) , so that the track of the roller (3) is completely predetermined due to the intermediate arm (8) and the control roller (30) that runs in the guide (31) . 8. A transfer device in accordance with Patent Claim 7, characterized in that the guide (31) includes a curved section (32) corresponding to the track of the parallelogram and a turning section (33) , which guides the roller (3) to turn away from the track of the wheel (3) at the end of the opening stage. 9. A transfer device in accordance with one of Patent Claims 1-8, characterized in that the transfer device includes a U-shaped frame (5, 2), with a pair of rollers (3, 4) attached to both forks and locating and compression devices for them, so that the transfer device can grip a device equipped with double wheels from both of its wheels. 10. A means of operating a transfer device in accordan¬ ce with Patent Claims 3 or 4, in which the rollers (3, 4) jointed by means of an intermediate arm (8) are compressed b means of operating devices (9, 10) against the wheel, characte¬ rized in that the roller (3) is moved in one direction up to a certain predetermined compression value, after which the compression is carried out solely by turning the roller (3) .

Inventors: SINKKONEN MATTI, SINKKONEN, MATTI
Applicants: TANA JYRAE KY, TANA-JYRAE KY
Application year: 1989
Main classification: B64F1
IPC codes: B64F1