Patent Publication Number: US-2023150806-A1

Title: Device for hoisting loads

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a national phase entry of, and claims priority to, International Application No. PCT/EP2021/057613, filed Mar. 24, 2021, which claimed priority to Swiss Patent Application No. CH 00357/20, filed on Mar. 25, 2020, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This application relates to a system for precise horizontal and vertical positioning of loads located on a trolley, preferably containers filled with cleaned and sterilized small parts, in order to dock them at a transfer device. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In the prior art, containers containing the small parts to be treated, i.e. to be cleaned and/or sterilized, or treated, are lifted off a transport trolley, a so-called trolley, by a stationary device for docking to a treatment station or a transfer device at a so-called isolator and brought into the position suitable for docking. Such positioning devices are described, for example, in the International PCT Application No. WO 00/74735 or in the European Patent Application No. EP 1 769 889. 
     In the International PCT Application No. WO 00/61199, a container is shown being removed from a treatment station after treatment on a trolley with a lifting device, which latter is obviously used to remove the container from the treatment station in the suitable vertical position. 
     From the European Patent Application No. EP 3 253 422, a cleaning device is known, which is characterized in that a container filled with small parts to be treated, which is stored on a transport trolley and firmly connected to it, is not lifted off the trolley for docking at a treatment station, but that it is docked remaining on the trolley and that it remains on the trolley during the entire treatment. 
     In the known solutions for positioning a container at a transfer device, it is disadvantageous that a stationary positioning device is required in addition to the trolley. Such devices, when mounted on the floor, require a lot of space and are usually disruptive. The devices, which are mounted on the ceiling, require large dimensioned brackets, since the forces due to long levers are extreme. 
     Thus, it would be desirable to precisely position a treatment container remaining on a transport trolley for docking with a transfer device. 
     SUMMARY 
     To address these and other problems with conventional devices and methods, a transport trolley, of the type defined above, is provided so as to include the features described below. To this end, the transport trolley includes a positioning system with a lifting device arranged on the trolley for vertical movement of a load, and with a pull-in device for horizontal movement of the trolley with the load. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the following, preferred embodiments of the invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the invention and, together with the general description given above and the detailed description given below, explain the one or more embodiments of the invention. 
         FIGS.  1   a  and  1   b    are side and perspective views of a transfer station where a container is to be docked, in accordance with embodiments of the invention. 
         FIGS.  2   a  and  2   b    are side and perspective views of a trolley approaching the transfer station of  FIGS.  1   a  and  1   b   , with a container stored thereon. 
         FIGS.  3   a  and  3   b    are side and perspective views of the container lifted on the trolley to the vertical position required for docking. 
         FIGS.  4   a  and  4   b    are side and perspective views of the container docked after horizontal retraction of the trolley. 
         FIGS.  5   a ,  5   b , and  5   c    are various detail views of parts of a device for horizontal retraction of the trolley. 
         FIGS.  6   a  and  6   b    are top views of a device for horizontal retraction of the trolley without and with container and isolator. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The  FIGS.  1   a  to  4   b    each show a side view “a” and a perspective view “b.” An isolator wall  1  shown in the  FIGS.  1   a  and  1   b    has a surface  2 , which is inclined, for example, at 45°, in which the alpha part  3  of a rapid transfer port known per se is located. Below the part of the isolator equipped with the rapid transfer port, a pull-in device  4  for a trolley, described in more detail below, is arranged. 
     The  FIGS.  2   a  and  2   b    similarly show a side view and a perspective view with a trolley  5  approaching the isolator, to which a treatment container  6  is fixedly connected. The trolley has a wheeled base  7  and two vertical telescopic lifting columns  8 , at the upper ends of which are bearings for receiving corresponding bearing pins  9  attached to the container. 
     In a manner known per se, the lifting columns consist of several round or rectangular tubes arranged one inside the other, which are telescopically extended or retracted by a threaded spindle. The threaded spindle can be rotated manually or by an electric motor, preferably a servomotor. Depending on the clean room requirements, the telescopic extension and retraction of the lifting columns can also be driven hydraulically or pneumatically. Alternatively, the height adjustment can also be carried out by other drive elements known per se, such as chain drives, etc. 
     The  FIGS.  3   a  and  3   b    show the container  6  lifted by the extended lifting columns  8 , which is in the vertical position suitable for docking with the isolator. 
     The lifting columns of the trolley also allow the container to be lowered until its opening is at a height that allows the operator to load the container. 
     To allow docking, the trolley with the container still needs to be moved horizontally to the alpha part of the rapid transfer port. Instead of moving the container vertically and horizontally in succession, the container can also first be brought into a vertical position in which the axes of the alpha part and the beta part of the rapid transfer port located on the container are in line, and then, through a coordinated simultaneous movement of the lifting columns and the pull-in device, the two parts of the transfer port are brought coaxially to each other. For this purpose, the drive motors of the lifting columns and the pull-in device are controlled in a manner known per se by a control device. 
     The  FIGS.  4   a  and  4   b    show the container remaining on the trolley docked to the isolator for emptying. 
     A device for horizontal retraction of the trolley with the container consists of parts mounted on the floor and on the trolley. In the embodiment shown in the  FIGS.  5   a  through  6   b   , this pull-in device consists of a device  4  mounted on the floor below the insulator, which, as shown in the  FIG.  6   a   , consists of two spindle devices  10  arranged in parallel in housings with spindle rods  16  driven synchronously by motors  11 , preferably servo or stepper motors, arranged inside traction tubes  12 . 
     The  FIG.  5   a    shows a section through one of the spindle devices with a gear  13  for driving the spindle rods and spindle nuts  14  arranged inside the traction tubes and engaged with the spindle rods, which are moved horizontally by the spindle rods and thus extend or retract the traction tubes. 
     At the front of the traction tubes are latches  15  which, when extended, engage in suitable recesses on the trolley. The  FIG.  5   b    shows a side view of the spindle device  10 . The  FIG.  5   c    shows a top view in which the section according to the  FIG.  5   a    is indicated by the line C-C. 
     According to an alternative embodiment, in which the floor remains largely free, the device for horizontal retraction of the trolley with the container is implemented in reverse form. The drive causing the retraction, i.e., for example, the spindle devices  10  and the latches  15 , are not arranged on the floor but on the trolley, while on the floor there is only a simple fixed engagement device in which the latches engage. For docking, the trolley is moved up to the engagement device. When the latches are in the docking position, they are engaged on the engagement device and fixed horizontally. 
     The container can now be lifted by the lifting device, and when the height is reached, the trolley can be moved towards the isolator by the spindle device. 
     The  FIG.  6   b    shows a top view of the trolley in the same position as in the  FIG.  6   a   , but with the container  6  and the insulator  1 .