COUPLING DEVICE AND COUPLING ASSEMBLY

Abstract: Coupling device for, at one end, coupling two trolleys positioned along side one another and, at the other end, for providing a connection for trolleys located behind or in front of said device and optionally also positioned alongside one another. In order to improve the stability of the coupling but, on the other hand, to provide simple fixing, it is proposed to make a connection which extends over approximately the width of a trolley. In the case of a construction which has two openings for engagement means of the coupling device per trolley, this means that, in contrast to what is known, non-adjacent openings of trolleys are used, but in each case these are corresponding openings of two trolleys. That is to say, for example, the left-hand seating of one trolley in combination with the left-hand seating of the other trolley.

Description: Coupling device and coupling assembly The present invention relates to a coupling device for, at one end, coupling two trolleys, such as auction trolleys, positioned alongside one another and, at the other end, providing a connection to one or more fur¬ ther trolleys positioned in front or behind, comprising a coupling rod and at least two engagement means, which are provided for fixing to said trol¬ leys. A device of this type is disclosed in Netherlands Patent Application 9302072. To enable as many trolleys as possible to be transported, for example at auctions and nurseries, it is known not only to link these one behind the other but also to position them alongside one another and to couple them to one another. In this way a large number of trolleys can be moved at one and the same time by forming a double train. However, with this arrangement the length of such a train is restricted by the stability of the connection between the trolleys. On the one hand, a connection of this type must be as simple as possible to produce with the aid of a coupling device and, on the other hand, a connection which is as stable as possible must be produced. The coupling device according to Netherlands Application 9302072 con¬ sists of a coupling rod to which two hook-shaped parts are fixed, engaging from below in the relevant openings in the auction trolleys. The auction trolley used as standard always has two such openings on the end faces. With the structure according to Netherlands Application 9302072 it is proposed that the distance between the engagement means be so chosen that these means, on the one hand, can be used for transporting a single trolley by engaging on openings located alongside one another and, on the other hand, can be used by two auction trolleys positioned alongside one another. In the latter case, the adjacent openings must be used. It has been found that although a structure of this type is adequate in practice, it is not possible to make up long trains because the steering behaviour becomes unstable and the required "road width" increases to an inadmissible extent. It is the aim of the present invention to overcome this disadvantage and to provide a more stable construction so that it is also possible to make up relatively long double trains. This aim is achieved with a coupling device as described above in that the distance between said engagement means is essentially equal to the width of said trolleys. The insight on which the invention is based is not to use the adjacent openings of the trolleys for the engagement means but, instead, to use two openings which are located relatively far apart. It is true that the length (in the transverse direction) of the attach¬ ment increases as a result, but, on the other hand, a much greater stabi¬ lity is achieved. Such an increase in stability can be achieved without special measures having to be taken to modify the engagement means together with the openings in the trolleys. It is obvious that the coupling device described above can be used for all trolleys known from the prior art which have been assembled to form a double train. The field of auction trolleys is particularly important. Such auction trolleys have a width of about 59 cm. By coupling two such trolleys, the width of a Europallet can be obtained and this can be trans¬ ported easily. Third engagement means which engage in the as yet unused seating in the trolley concerned can be arranged in the space between the two engagement means. The stability can be even further improved in this way. With the construction according to Netherlands Application 9302072 pro¬ vision was made for hinging of the auxiliary bar because the engagement means, which in said construction were rigidly connected to the latter, were able to move in a hinged manner in the openings in the auction trol¬ leys. Especially in the case of constructions where such openings do not permit such a hinging movement, and in order to prevent wear of such open¬ ings, it is proposed to fit the coupling rod in a hinged manner to an auxiliary bar, in which case the engagement means are fitted on the auxi¬ liary bar. The engagement means can be constructed in various ways depending on the trolleys to be transported. If auction trolleys with a U-section are used, which U-section is pro¬ vided with inward-facing flanges at the free ends, hook-shaped parts are preferably used, which hook-shaped parts are placed in the downward direc¬ tion into such vertically extending U-sections. Especially at auctions, it is customary to "dismantle" the auction trol¬ leys after use. This means that the vertical sections, that is to say the uprights, are separated from the horizontal section, that is to say the frame to which the wheels are attached. The vertical sections are then taken away separately and the horizontal sections are stacked one inside the other. With a structure of this type it is not possible to fit the engagement means in the manner described above. In such a case preference is given to constructing the engagement means as an arm which extends in a horizontal plane. An arm of this type then engages on the free studs into which the uprights are subsequently slid. The invention also relates to a coupling assembly comprising a coupling device of the type described above and an attachment for fitting between said further trolley and the coupling rod, wherein the attachment is pro- vided with engagement means which engage on said further trolley. Such an attachment will be embodied according to the way in which the engagement means of said attachment are constructed. The engagement means can be realized as in the prior art, that is to say on two adjoining ope¬ nings of two adjacent trolleys. Of course, it is also possible to construct these engagement means as in the case of the coupling means described above, that is to say that there is a distance between the engagement means which approximately corresponds to the width of an auction trolley. If the engagement means are lowered vertically downwards into upright sections of the trolley, it is possible to provide locking which prevents upward movement. Locking of this type can be gravity assisted. The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to an illustrative embodiment shown in the drawing. In the drawing: Fig. 1 shows, diagrammatically, a side view of trolleys coupled to one another; Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of part of two trolleys, which are located alongside one another and coupled to one another, and the attach¬ ment according to the invention; Fig. 3 shows a top view of the construction according to Figs 1 and 2 in the coupled position; Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of a variant of the coupling; and Fig. 5 shows a coupling assembly for transport of auction trolleys placed on top of one another. Parts of auction trolleys are shown in the figures. Auction trolleys of this type are available, for example, from the 'Containercentrale Neder- land' (Netherlands Container Centre), Amstelveen. It must be understood that there are many other trolleys with which the invention can be realized. In Fig. 1 the pulling trolley is indicated by 2 and the pulled trolley by 1. It can be seen from Figs 2 and 3 that there is always a further trol¬ ley alongside trolley 1 and trolley 2, respectively, which trolleys are likewise designated by 1 and 2, respectively. Between the trolleys there is a coupling assembly 3 according to the invention, which consists of a coupling device 4 and an attachment 5 con¬ nected by a pin 1 . Further details of the coupling device 4 can be seen in Fig. 2. This coupling device 4 consists of a coupling rod 6 which is hingeably fixed to an attachment 11, to which engagement pins 7 are fixed. The enga¬ gement pins 7 are designed to fit in U-sections 18 with flanged sides. Said U-sections 18 are part of the trolley, as can be seen from Fig. 1. With this arrangement the width of the engagement pins 7 is equal to the spacing between the flanged sides of the ϋ-sections 18. Because said U-sections 18 are fitted in studs 19 which are closed on all sides and the lower parts of engagement pins 7 drop into said stubs 19, there is no risk that the enga¬ gement pins will come loose after being inserted vertically downwards. It can be seen from Fig. 2 that the distance between engagement pins 7 corresponds to the width of a trolley. An additional engagement pin 9 is located between the pins 7. In structure according to the prior art, only the right-hand pin 7 and pin 9 were present. With the structure according to the invention, in which the attachment has an appreciable length, connection takes place over a much greater distance. It has been found that, as a result, much greater stability is obtained during transport. The attachment 5 is provided with corresponding engagement pins 7, 9. It is also possible to provide the attachment 5 with an auxiliary bar 11 such as is used in the coupling device 4. Because it has been found that, despite the fact that the attachment 5 is pushed down over some distance, jolts can cause upward movement of the attachment 5 such that the latter jumps out of the stub 19, locking means 13 are fitted. These locking means are a hinged arm, and as a result of the effect of gravity and the hook- shaped construction of the arm, disengagement of pins 7, 9 is prevented. This can be seen from Fig. 1. If uncoupling is desired after use, all that is required is to move arm 13 into the position shown in Fig. 2, after which the attachment 5 can be removed. A top view of the various features is shown in more detail in Fig. 3. Fixing between coupling rod 6 and attachment 5 is by means of pin 14, as is shown in Fig. 1. It is also possible to use a coupling as is shown in Fig. 4. In this case a pin 17 which has a thickened lower section 20 and narrower upper section 21 is fitted on the attachment 16. The diameter of section 21 is smaller than the slot 22 of opening 23 in coupling rod 6, which is not shown in more detail. Locking can be obtained by pushing coupling rod 6 against section 21 , guiding the latter through slot 22 and placing pin 17 in opening 23 and then allowing rod 6 to drop down over section 20. It has been found that particularly good stability can be achieved with the coupling according to the invention, so that it is possible to make up longer trains of trolleys positioned in front of and behind, as well as alongside, one another than is possible in the prior art. Fig. 5 shows a structure which is used in particular where there are no metal sections 18 present. This is the case, for example, if a number of trolleys are stacked on top of one another, the sections 18 having been removed. In such a case only the studs 19 are present and these cannot be engaged from above. In the case of the construction shown in Fig. 5, the engagement means act laterally, i.e. engagement arms 8 are present which enclose the stubs from the sides. In the illustrative embodiment shown in Fig. 5, not only the coupling device, which is provided with an auxiliary bar 10 and coupling rod 12, is constructed to extend over the width of an auction trolley, but the attach¬ ment is also constructed with appreciable width and the attachment is indi- cated by 15. 24 indicates a locking arm which prevents lateral movement of part 15 or part 10. It can immediately be seen from the appended figures that a large number of variants of the inventive thought are possible. Many more further variants are possible and these will be immediately obvious to those skilled in the art and all of these variants are con¬ sidered to fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims: Claims 1. Coupling device (4) for, at one end, coupling two trolleys (2, 2), such as auction trolleys, positioned alongside one another and, at the other end, providing a connection to one or more further trolleys (1) posi¬ tioned in front or behind, comprising a coupling rod (6, 12) and at least two engagement means (7, 8), which are provided for fixing to said trol¬ leys, characterised in that the distance between said engagement means is essentially equal to the width of said trolleys. 2. Coupling device according to Claim 1, wherein said distance between said engagement means is greater than about 50 cm. 3. Coupling device according to one of the preceding claims, comprising third engagement means (9) arranged between said first and second engage¬ ment means. 4. Coupling device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said coupling rod (6, 12) is hingeably mounted on an auxiliary bar (10, 11), said engagement means being fixed to said auxiliary bar. 5. Coupling device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said engagement means comprise hook-shaped components which in the position of use have downward-pointing free arms (7, 9). 6. Coupling device according to one of Claims 1-5, wherein said engage¬ ment means comprise hook-shaped components which in the position of use have free arms (8) which extend horizontally. 7. Coupling assembly comprising a coupling device according to one of the preceding claims as well as an attachment (5, 15, 16) for fitting between said further trolley and the coupling rod, wherein the attachment is provided with engagement means which engage said further trolley. 8. Coupling assembly according to Claim 7, wherein said engagement means in the position of use engage from above on said further trolley. 9. Coupling assembly according to Claim 8, wherein the attachment is provided with locking means (13) which prevent upward movement of the at¬ tachment (5, 16). ******

Inventors: KORTLEVE JOHANNES, KORTLEVE, JOHANNES
Applicants: KORTLEVE JOHANNES, KORTLEVE, JOHANNES
Application year: 1997
Main classification: B60D1
IPC codes: B60D1, B62B5