Material or article handling – Opposed shelf-type elevator and transporter
Patent
1996-05-14
1998-09-01
Keenan, James W.
Material or article handling
Opposed shelf-type elevator and transporter
414498, 410 82, 280 4323, B66F 336, B66F 346
Patent
active
058001140
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of handling standardized containers used for transporting various merchandise and having a height and a width of the order of 2.4 m and a length of the order of 6 m or 12 m.
2. Description of Related Art
Although handling in transshipment areas does not pose any particular problem since handling is provided by suitable gantry-shaped trucks which can straddle a container and can lift it, for example in order to deposit it on another container, handling in non-equipped areas is much more difficult since it requires the use of a lifting machine, such as a crane, the hourly hiring cost of which is high.
The same is true for loading and unloading a vehicle assigned to transporting such containers, for the movement of a container within one place of use, for example between an unloading area, a holding area and a loading area, and, more simply, in order to stack a container on another container.
In order to overcome this, it has already been imagined to produce handling devices composed of vertical support feet which are fixed to the end faces of a container and including mechanical lifting means, such as cables, cable pulleys, ratchet and winch. Fixing these means to the container, installing stabilizing means between support feet and manipulating the mechanical lifting means entails a lengthy handling operation requiring a sizeable crew.
A lifting device is also known, from WO 88/04276, which includes four assemblies each equipped with a subframe having rolling means, with a structure which can move vertically with respect to the subframe by means of a hydraulic cylinder supplied by an electrohydraulic structure controlled by an independent control cabinet, and with respectively upper and lower coupling means interacting with the corners of the corresponding corner upright of the container.
Since the rolling means of each assembly are arranged halfway along the movable structure and since each assembly is used vertically, its vertical erection close to the corresponding upright of the container requires either several men or lifting means. Moreover, the positioning of the upper coupling means requires human intervention, lengthening the preparation time and being dangerous as this is carried out 4 meters from the ground when the container is on the platform of a lorry.
A handling device is also known, from FR-A-2,252,277, which comprises four independent assemblies each composed of a truck carrying a vertical hydraulic cylinder supplied by a manual pump and of a support structure interacting with an intermediate component attached to the lower corner of the corresponding upright of the container.
In order to instal this device against the container, as well as to operate it, it is necessary to have several people available, leading to high operating expenses. Moreover, because of its structure, this device has a small lifting travel which limits its application to manoeuvring a container between the platform of a vehicle and a bay substantially level with this platform.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to overcome these drawbacks by providing a handling device for containers and other boxes including standardized corners, which is autonomous, simple and quick to operate, requiring only a single person, while at the same time being less expensive, both in terms of purchasing cost and operating cost, than the current means.
For this purpose, in each lifting assembly, one of the elements of the hydraulic cylinder is fastened to a frame carrying the electrohydraulic set and itself fastened to the central member of a yoke which is in the form of a "C" in the vertical plane and has a height less than that of the container, this yoke possessing, at its lower end, a horizontal angle bracket capable of going around the external angle of the lower corner of a container and, at its upper end, a horizontal angle bracket capable of going around the corner upright of the container, whereas the means of
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Hydro 7 International
Keenan James W.
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