Material or article handling – Opposed shelf-type elevator and transporter
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-15
2004-06-15
Lillis, Eileen D. (Department: 3652)
Material or article handling
Opposed shelf-type elevator and transporter
C414S495000, C414S662000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06749387
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates, in general, to an industrial truck with a drive part and a load part for handling packed or empty pallets, in accordance with the preamble of Claim
1
and, in particular, to an industrial truck for handling pallets of a certain format, such as those used in the commissioning sector and in the transport of piece goods.
STATE OF THE ART
Such an industrial truck is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,040. The load part has two load arms in the form of fork prongs that are oriented in the travel direction, i.e. the longitudinal direction of the industrial truck, and can be raised vertically, with which loads such as pallets or goods packed on pallets can be handled. The term “handling” includes activities such as picking up, transporting, and setting down a pallet, goods packed on a pallet, or a stack of pallets. Other examples of such industrial trucks are conventional manual forklifts, electric forklifts, wheel-supported stackers, counterweight stackers, or reach mast trucks. In order to pick up a pallet or goods packed on a pallet, the pallet is particularly provided with suitable recesses for engagement of the fork prongs of the industrial truck, for example of a stacker.
In the transport of piece goods, and in the commissioning sector of commercial facilities, the pallets used are predominantly pallets made of wood, with a certain format, particularly so-called euro-pallets with a length of 1200 mm, a width of 800 mm, a height of 150 mm, and a weight of about 20 to 30 kg. In such facilities, quite a large number of empty pallets that are not needed are often left behind on the floor after roll-out cycles have been completed, and until now, these had to be stacked, either manually or using one of the aforementioned commercially available industrial trucks, to form pallet stacks of 15 to 17 pallets, for example (corresponding to the inside height of a transport truck), that could be transported and loaded. Making such a stack by hand involves a high level of physical effort. For this reason, the empty pallets are usually handled with one of the aforementioned industrial trucks.
However, the use of conventional industrial trucks for handling empty pallets proves to be extremely inefficient, since the activities that are involved in this task can only be performed with a high level of time expenditure, and therefore result in high personnel costs. In order to stack several empty pallets that are lying around on the floor into a pallet stack, for example, using one of the aforementioned industrial trucks, first the truck is driven towards a first empty pallet and the fork prongs of the industrial truck are placed under the first pallet. Subsequently, the first pallet is raised to a certain height, by means of a vertical movement of the fork prongs. In this condition, the industrial truck is driven towards a second pallet, specifically in such a way that the first pallet is essentially aligned with the second pallet. Then the first pallet is set down on the second pallet. At this point in time, the fork prongs are still engaged with the first pallet. In order to place a third pallet onto the pallet stack that now consists of the first and the second pallet, or to place this pallet stack onto a third pallet, the industrial truck must therefore first be put into motion in such a way that the fork moves out of the first pallet. Subsequently, the fork is lowered. Now the second pallet that is located on the floor, or the third pallet, can be approached and lifted. Subsequently, the stated steps can be repeated.
Without discussing the matter further, it is evident that stacking a pallet stack that consists of 15 to 17 empty pallets, for example, requires a constant back and forth movement of the industrial truck, particularly because of the fork prongs that project in the direction of travel, i.e. the longitudinal direction, in order to move the fork from a pallet in a higher position into a pallet in a lower position, or vice versa. This is very time-consuming and is accordingly connected with high personnel costs. The same holds true for unstacking empty pallets that have already been stacked together to form a stack, which fundamentally takes place in the reverse sequence as stacking the empty pallets.
In order to guarantee problem-free handling during pallet storage in a high-shelf facility or in automatic pallet packing, the pallets furthermore are not allowed to demonstrate any damage, such as pieces splintered off, missing wooden parts, etc., since the damaged pallets cannot be transported, or can be transported only with restrictions, and might no longer be suitable for use in a high-shelf facility, because they might no longer meet the static requirements. Severely damaged pallets can therefore no longer be used. In order to keep the acquisition costs for new pallets low, a high level of pallet quality is therefore considered to be very important. For this reason, a person who is entrusted with the operation of conventional industrial trucks or, in general, with the handling of empty pallets, requires a certain amount of practice in order not to damage the pallets with the fork of a stacker while bringing the fork into place, and in order to accomplish the task to be performed within a reasonable amount of time.
Furthermore, in order for a pallet stack made up of 15 to 17 empty pallets to possess the necessary stability to prevent it from tipping to the side, and to allow it to be temporarily stored or loaded onto a transport truck to take up as little space as possible, the pallet on the top of the pallet stack, in each instance, must be precisely aligned with the pallet under it, in each instance. This again presupposes a certain level of experience in the operation of the industrial truck. The number of persons who are able to assure safe handling of pallets, using conventional industrial trucks, is therefore limited to specially trained personnel.
Other industrial trucks are known from the European Patent Application No. EP 0 045 553 A1 and the U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,535. EP 0 045 553 A1 particularly describes a device for handling several boxes arranged in a row, or several stacks of boxes arranged in a row, using two clamping plates that are arranged opposite one another and can be moved horizontally towards one another. U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,535 discloses a forklift truck with a forklift mechanism and a carrying device, which holds pallets or pallet boxes that have been picked up by the forklift mechanism and raised to a certain height at this certain height.
Presentation of the Invention
Proceeding from an industrial truck as known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,040, the invention has the task of creating an industrial truck designed for simple and efficient handling, particularly of pallets with a certain format, which also allows picking up and transporting loads packed on a pallet.
This task is accomplished by means of the industrial truck in accordance with the characteristics of Claim
1
.
The industrial truck according to the invention particularly demonstrates a drive part and a load part, as is the case for a conventional industrial truck. The load part comprises two load arms, oriented in the longitudinal direction of the industrial truck, to hold a pallet that can be packed or empty. In conventional industrial trucks, as indicated initially, the load arms are usually structured as fork prongs, which are brought into engagement with recesses provided in the pallet, by means of a forward movement of the industrial truck, forming a positive lock. The load arms are therefore arranged in accordance with the distance between the recesses, i.e. at a distance that is less than the dimension of the pallet to be picked up, in the crosswise direction of the industrial truck. In contrast to this, the load arms of the industrial truck according to the invention are arranged on different sides of the pallet to be picked up, in each instance, viewed in the direction of travel, i.e. the longitudinal direction of the industrial truck, in other words at
Saxer Robert
Schinkinger Wilhelm
Lillis Eileen D.
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Tran Thuy V.
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