Abstract:
A stair climber moving system (FIGS. 1-2) for moving a load up flights of stairs FIGS. 4A-4H) which includes a basic tractor unit, a load mounting platform attached to the tractor which allows the load to be shifted longitudinally with respect to the tractor during use, and a collapsible dolly (FIGS. 3A-3D) permitting load changes from horizontal (3B) and inclined (3D) positions. 
     The collapsible dolly includes a fixed horizontal bottom platform supported by five sets of caster wheels. A collapsible load bearing platform is mounted and supported on the fixed bottom platform by a fixed center vertical strut member through a hinge connection. At opposed ends of the collapsible load bearing platform are auxiliary, end, support members, one fixed and the other collapsible, the latter of which is spring biased in a normally vertical, supporting disposition. The load bearing platform is collapsible, i.e. put in an inclined disposition by means of moving said collapsible auxiliary end support out against the force of the spring, allowing the load bearing platform to rotate about its hinged connection. 
     Having the dolly change from an inclined to a horizontal disposition minimizes the total horizontal, longitudinal dimension of the system which is particularly useful in very tight quarters such as occur on stair landings (cf. FIGS. 4G &amp; 4H). Having a load-shifting capability during use permits precise balancing of the system as needed throughout the movement of the load up the stairs.

Description:
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a division of application Ser. No. 461,290, filed Apr. 16, 1974, entitled &#34;Collapsible Dolly Moving System,&#34; now U.S. Patent 3,913,763 issued October 21, 1975, which is a division of application Ser. No. 216,597, filed Jan. 10, 1972, entitled &#34;Stair Climber Moving Method,&#34; now U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,275 being issued on Apr. 16, 1974, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 9,223, filed Feb. 6, 1970, entitled &#34;Moving System,&#34; now U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,774, issued on Jan. 11, 1972. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an improved moving method using a collapsible dolly system which can be for example used for assistance in moving a loaded stair climber around a horizontal stair landing, particularly one which is in tight quarters, the load bearing platform of the dolly being changeable from horizontal to inclined dispositions. 
     Powered stair climbing, load carrying tractors per se are, of course, old in the art as seen, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,658, issued May 19, 1970 to a Mr. Verle M. Harlan. Indeed, for illustrative purposes only, the present invention will be described as applied to and for use with basic &#34;Harlan&#34; tractor similar to the embodiment of FIG. 4 of the Harlan patent; although, of course, the present invention is equally applicable to all types of power operated, load carrying, stair climbing devices as well as to other kinds of moving systems besides stair climbing ones. 
     Although these stair climbing devices are well known in the prior art, their use has left a lot to be desired, particularly when the load to be carried was very heavy, bulky and difficult to handle. 
     A very difficult problem that has been encountered with prior art stair climbing devices was the transferring of the loaded stair climber from one flight of stairs, across a landing and onto a second flight of stairs. Herein problems arose because of the tight quarters found on many stair landings wherein mere inches of clearance are very critical. 
     Thus, the prior art enabled movers to move the heavy machinery up a flight of stairs with ease but, upon reaching the landing, were still faced with the tugging and pushing and jolting of the loaded stair climber in order to manipulate it around the landing and up the next flight of stairs. This prior art method of transgressing the landing has made the advantage of the stair climber usually ineffective with regards to labor savings, in that three or more laborers would still be needed to manipulate the loaded stair climber on the landing. Even then, there would also be the sustained shock to the load during the manual handling thereof which may have been the very problem the stair climber was used to avoid. 
     A basic object of the present invention is inter alia to overcome this prior art problem found in the moving of heavy, bulky loads up flights of stairs in a relatively simple, straight forward and reliable manner; and to solve this prior art problem without the need for any additional complex or particularly sophisticated devices, allowing the use of the present invention by the relatively unskilled working personnel used in the moving industry. 
     The present invention achieves this goal by providing a relatively simple collapsible dolly system wherein the total horizontal, longitudinal dimension of the overall loaded moving system is minimized in tight quarters by the use of a collapsible dolly having both inclined and horizontal positions. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the total loaded moving system of the present invention, having a &#34;XEROX&#34; 2400 series unit as a load and with the collapsible dolly in its horizontal position; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded, perspective view of the loaded moving system of FIG. 1 with the elements &#34;exploded&#34; apart; 
     FIGS. 3A--3C are top, side and front views of the collapsible dolly of the present invention in its collapsed or horizontal position, with its inner, hidden structural elements in phantom lines; 
     FIG. 3B is a side view of the collapsible dolly in the upright or inclined position, again with its inner, hidden structural elements shown in phantom lines; 
     FIGS. 4A-4H are side views of the moving system of the present invention being driven up a flight of stairs and onto an intermediate stair landing, each figure showing a different stage of the move; 
     FIG. 4I is a schematic, geometrical figure illustrating the difference in the total horizontal, longitudinal dimension between the system being in an inclined position and a horizontal one; and 
     FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, perspective view showing the attachment of a bridging element to the front edge of the collapsible dolly when the loaded tractor unit is to begin transversing a flight of stairs, as shown in FIGS. 4A-4C. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Introduction 
     The preferred embodiment of the collapsible dolly of the present invention can be used for example as part of an overall moving system for moving a heavy, bulky load up a series of stairs which, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes primarily a stair climber basic tractor unit 9 with a special slotted loading platform 8 attached thereto, a load sled base unit 1&#39;, similar to that disclosed in the prior parent application Ser. No. 9,223 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,774) but with special flange adapters 67, and the collapsible dolly 32 which forms the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Built into the tractor unit and utilizing the slidable mating relationship between the load 1 and the tractor unit 9 is a winch system for altering the position of load 1 with respect to the tractor unit 9 for changing the center of gravity of the loaded moving system which forms the primary subject matter of the parent application Ser. No. 216,597 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,275). The preferred embodiment of the collapsible dolly of the present invention itself is best seen in its structural details in FIGS. 3A- 3D. 
     For illustrative purposes only, the preferred embodiment of the collapsible dolly of the present invention will be described in association with a typical situation encountered in the field and how the over-all moving system is used in such a situation. However, the collapsible dolly of the present invention can of course be used in many other systems and for many other purposes where it is desirable to change the load disposition from horizontal to inclined and vice versa. 
     For examplary purposes, it will be assumed that a mover is faced with moving a heavy, bulky load up at least two flights of stairs with a landing therebetween; that is, with a horizontal platform upon which one flight of stairs ends and the other flight of stairs begins. Additionally, for purposes of illustration only, the over-all moving system will be described as applied to the moving of a XEROX duplication machine of the 2400 family, but it is, of course, applicable to the moving of heavy equipment or loads up stairs generally, particularly loads which are large, bulky and difficult to handle. 
     Finally, for purposes of illustration only, it will be assumed that the load 1 is a combined load having a base sled 1&#39; attached thereto. The method and means of attaching the base sled 1&#39; is disclosed in and is the subject of the first parent application Ser. No. 9,223 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,774). Additionally, the method and detailed means of mounting the sledded load onto the stair crawler and moving the sledded load by an internal winching system with respect to the crawler is disclosed in and is in part the subject matter of the parent application Ser. No. 216,597 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,275). For the sake of brevity, the full disclosures of both applications/patents will not be repeated here and, instead, their entire disclosures are hereby bodily incorporated herein for the fullest understanding and appreciation of the present invention. However, it should be realized that the present invention is not restricted to use with the moving systems of those application/patents but is adaptable to many other types of loads and systems. 
     The completely loaded over-all moving system, including the load 1, the sled 1&#39;, the load platform 8, the crawler 9, and the collapsible dolly 21, is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the latter in exploded array. Referring now to the drawings of the parent application (U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,275), the initial sequence of loading steps using an interim platform 4 and a lever jacking handle 3 is shown in FIGS. 3A &amp; 3B; while the final sequence of loading steps is shown in FIGS. 4A-4C using a wedge member 5 and special &#34;caster&#34; adapter elements 6 and 7. The means of fastening the sledded load 1-1&#39; to the load platform 8 of the crawler 9 with locking pins 19, 19&#39; and co-operating flanges 13 and slots 15-18 is shown in FIGS. 5A &amp; 5B. The details of these steps and structures are more fully described in the parent, copending application (U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,275). 
     The tractor unit 9 is more fully described in the Harlan patent (U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,658) and reference is made thereto. Likewise, the basic technique of traversing stairs with the use of a fixed (non-collapsible) inclined dolly discussed in the Harlan patent is generally pertinent here. However, for the sake of brevity, the pertinent disclosures of the Harlan patent will not be repeated in detail, but instead the entire disclosure thereof is hereby bodily incorporated herein for the fullest understanding and appreciation of the present invention. Thus, in the following discussion of the stair climbing technique, emphasis will be placed more on the differences and modifications taught by the present invention. 
     Also, again in the interest of brevity, the structural make-up of the various elements of the present invention will not be discussed in great detail, but only generally alluded to throughout this specification, because these structural details are often clearly shown and fully disclosed in the highly detailed drawings presented herewith. Full reference thereto is hereby made. 
     STAIR CLIMBER TECHNIQUE 
     Now that the load, for example, the Xerox 2400 unit 1 is mounted atop the stair climber tractor unit 8-9, the operation of moving the loaded system from the horizontal ground level surface up and over the first flight of stairs will be described. In order to accomplish the move, three additional pieces of equipment will come into action, namely, the wedge block 5 which was used to support the end of the load platform 8 during loading, the collapsible dolly 21 and a bridging element 22. These additional units are best shown in use, for example, in FIGS. 4A and 5A, wherein they are used to allow the loaded stair climber to begin its movement from the horizontal ground level to the initial steps of the first series of stairs. 
     The wedge block 5 is simply a wedge that allows the stair climber to gradually start its upward climb to the stairs. The wedge block 5 is placed in front of the collapsible dolly 21 as illustrated best in FIG. 4A. 
     Dolly Structure 
     As shown in FIGS. 3A-D, the collapsible dolly comprises a fixed horizontal bottom platform 28 onto which five sets of caster wheels 23-27 are located, and disposed all across the bottom as needed and desired in view of the load to be carried. Because the overall load is placed on the dolly 21 at different points and in different dispositions, a large number of casters are usually needed. 
     The center strut member 31 is the support upon which the collapsible platform 32 is hinged at its center. The end support member 34 at end 29 of the collapsible dolly is hinged to the collapsible platform 32 at hinge 35. The end support member 34 is held in its raised, supporting position by spring 33 which is attached at one end to the end support 34 and at the other to the horizontal bottom platform 28. The spring 33 holds the end support member 34 in the vertical position against abutment 36 which is fixedly attached to the horizontal bottom platform 28. With end support 34 in its spring biased raised position, the loadbearing form 32 is parallel to the platform 28, as illustrated in FIG. 6B. 
     In order to collapse the dolly from a horizontal to an inclined position, the end support member 34 is moved from the perpendicular position to platform 32 to an angular position with respect to platform 32. At the same time, the end 29 of the platform 32 is lowered so that it comes into contact with the horizontal platform 28, producing an inclined surface (note FIG. 3D). To lock and secure the dolly 21 in its inclined position, a locking and support member 37 located towards the end 30 of the collapsible dolly is swung up into position at hinge 38 and interlocks into a lip lock 39 located on the inside of the support member 42 of the collapsible platform 32. 
     To return the dolly 21 to its horizontal position, upward pressure is applied to the member 42 at end 30, releasing hinged locking plate 37, the latter then being returned to its inoperative position (as shown in FIG. 3B). Applying downward pressure to the member 42 causes the platform 32 to return to a horizontal disposition while spring 33 pulls hinged locking plate 34 back into its raised, locking position shown in FIG. 3B. 
     The bridge member 22, as shown in FIGS. 4A-4D, consists of a rigid rectangular element designed to sustain a load while only being supported at each end. In use, the forward end is supported on the stairs, while the rear end is supported on the member 41 attached to the vertical support member 42 of the tiltable platform 32 (note FIG. 5). The interlock here consists of a circular trough 40 within the end of the bridging member 22 that interlocks with a horizontally disposed rounded member 41 attached to the vertical support member 42. This interlock between the half-round trough 40 and the circular dowel 41 gives excellent resistance to the forward and backward motion that may be caused due to the stair crawler moving from the vertical platform 32 to the bridging platform 22. 
     With the wedge block 5 in position, the tiltable or collapsible dolly tilted and in position, as shown in FIG. 4A, and the bridging member 22 positioned from the collapsible dolly to the stairs, as also illustrated in FIG. 4A, the loaded stair climber can now ascend from the horizontal surface up the stairs. 
     By activating the electric motor power switch, the tractor unit of the loaded stair climber is caused to begin traveling up onto the inclined dolly 21, then up and across the bridging member 22 and up the flight of stairs (FIGS. 4A-4E). 
     During its traverse, it is often desirable and sometimes even necessary to alter the center of gravity of the loaded stair climber in order to make it easier to handle or to prevent it from tumbling back over onto itself and down the stairs. Changing of the center of gravity is accomplished by an internal winch system the structure and operation of which is best shown in the parent application Ser. No. 216,597 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,275) and reference is made thereto. Alternately, the crawler could be of the type disclosed in the copending patent application entitled &#34;Crawler and Moveable Load Platform&#34; Ser. No. 545,807, filed Jan. 31, 1975). 
     As seen in FIGS. 4E-4H, after moving up the stairs, the next movement of the stair climber will be to go from the inclined stairs to a horizontal surface. 
     There are two possibilities. First, the horizontal platform could be a middle landing so that the landing must be crossed over to then proceed up a second flight of stairs. In such a case, the block wedge 5, collapsible dolly 21 and the bridge member 22 would be used again as before, after the system has been properly aligned and the landing crossed. 
     On the other hand, if the mover has reached the top of the stairs to which the load is to be transported, the only change that need be taken at this point is to change the center of gravity back down to its preferred position when horizontal so that, when the climber reaches the top step, the moving system will not have a tendency to fall forward onto the horizontal surface. Of course, the center of gravity should then be changed as previously described. 
     However, for the purpose of further illustration and discussion of the invention, it will be assumed that the horizontal surface is a landing which must be transgressed to get to a second flight of stairs and that the second flight is at 90° to the first (note FIGS. 4G and H), requiring the rotation of the system by 90°. The transgressing of such a landing is illustrated in FIGS. 4F-H. The wedge block 5 is placed at the top of the last step and the collapsible dolly 21 in its inlined position positioned behind the block 5. As the stair climber proceeds up the block 5 and onto the collapsible or inclined dolly 21, the load should be positioned to its rearmost position with respect to the tractor unit 9, thereby positioning the center of gravity more to the rear of the tractor unit 9. The change in the center of gravity is done in anticipation of bringing the loaded stair climber back to the horizontal position when it is sitting on the dolly 21. As the stair climber 9 moves up on the dolly 21, its weight will cause the tiltable platform 32 to move into its horizontal position, the locking plate 37 having been moved aside. At the same time, the spring biased support member 34 is pulled into its vertical position by the spring 33 until it is stopped by the abutment 36, locking the dolly 21 in its horizontal disposition. At this point, the loaded stair climber is not atop the collapsible dolly and in a horizontal position. 
     In the horizontal position and with the load moved all the way back with respect to its platform 8, the 90° rotation of the unit on the landing will take less room and less space, thereby allowing movement of much larger loads through smaller spaces or landings than have been accomplished before. 
     The amount of space savings achieved by being able to change from an inclined to a horizontal disposition can be seen by considering FIG. 4I. If X and Y are the longitudinal and vertical dimensions of the load or machine 1, and A is the angle of inclination of the dolly, then the effective horizontal, longitudinal dimension E by basic geometry is seen to be -- 
     
         E = Y sin A + X cos A. 
    
     typical dimensions encountered, for example, in the movement of a Xerox 2400 family machine is X=60 inches, Y=45 inches and A = 45°. It is thus seen that in such a situation E is approximately 73.5 inches long or 13.5 than X. Although just a matter of inches, this amount (in excess of a foot) is often the difference between being able to use a stair climber and being forced to manually carry the machine up the stairs with a crew of men, the latter &#34;alternative&#34; almost being a guarantee of damage to the machine. 
     After the loaded stair climber is effectively shortened by being moved to a horizontal position (FIG. 4H), it is rotated 90° so it can then face the next flight of stairs (shown in the background of FIGS. 4G and 4H). Once the rotation is complete and the unit is in position to start ascending to the next flight of stairs, the spring-biased element 34 can be moved into its angular, non-locking position with the tiltable platform 32 and the dolly 21 again inclined. The bridging element 22 is put in position from its horizontal support member 42 on the opposite end of the dolly and the other end of the bridging member 22 mounted on the next flight of stairs. 
     The stair climber is again actuated and the ascending of the next flight of stairs is accomplished. It should be noted, though, that as the angle increases in moving from the dolly to the bridge to the stairs, the center of gravity of the unit should be shifted with respect to the load platform 8 by using the winch mechanism, as described in the parent application, and repositioning the pins 19 and 19&#39; in the furthermost holes of the flanges 15, 16 or by using for example the subject matter of copending application Ser. No. 545,807. 
     The final step is the unloading of the machine 1. Once the top step on the last flight of stairs is reached, the center of gravity of the combined load 1, 1&#39; is shifted to the rearmost position with respect to the load platform 8, allowing the stair climber to gradually fall to a horizontal disposition. The stair climber is then driven to the desired location of the Xerox machine, or other load, within the building. 
     The unloading of the machine 1 from the tractor unit and then from the sled 1&#39; is accomplished by reversing the steps followed in loading the machine. 
     It should be noted that the stair climber is very slow. Thus, if any distance is still involved once the proper level is reached, the combined sled/machine 1, 1&#39; can be placed on the dual set of caster wheel (elements 2, 2 of the &#39;275 patent) for speed in transporting the unit to its desired location. 
     As is true with most mechanical systems, many variations in structure and use within the present invention are possible. For example, although a precise centering of the central support member 31 is preferred some variation in position is possible. Thus nearly unlimited variations, alterations and changes in the design and detail of the preferred embodiment are possible within the scope of the present invention. In addition to those exemplary changes discussed above, there are, of course, many other ways in which the present invention may be practiced. 
     Because many varying and difference embodiments may be made within the scope of the inventive concept herein taught, and because many modifications may be made in the embodiments herein detailed in accordance with the descriptive requirements of the law, it is to be understood that the details herein are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.