Material or article handling – Wheel and wheel-type article handler and transporter – Vertically swinging article engager
Patent
1996-11-04
1999-01-19
Werner, Frank E.
Material or article handling
Wheel and wheel-type article handler and transporter
Vertically swinging article engager
414429, 244 50, 180904, B64F 122
Patent
active
058607854
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a towing vehicle for maneuvering aircraft without a towbar, the chassis of which vehicle has a fork-like receiving area between the wheels of a wheel axle, in which receiving area there is arranged a retractable and extensible gripping and drawing-in device which is fastened to a lifting blade and by means of which the nosewheel of an aircraft can be gripped and drawn onto the lifting blade which is pivotable relative to the chassis both about a transverse axis and, for matching to oblique positions of a nosewheel which as been received, about a longitudinal axis by means of two fluid piston-cylinder units arranged symmetrically relative to one another between the chassis and the lifting blade.
A towing vehicle of this design is known (DE-A 38 01 855), in which the lifting blade is arranged on the chassis in such a way that it can be raised, lowered and optionally tilted onto an angular position by means of lower and upper longitudinal coupling rods and can be actuated by means of fluid piston-cylinder units, the upper and lower longitudinal coupling rods forming a linkage which is coupled at one end to the chassis and at the other end to the blade. In order to allow the lifting blade to adapt automatically to any inclination of the nosewheel, the directions in which the upper longitudinal coupling rods act should intersect on an imaginary longitudinal axis at a point forming a pendulum point of the lifting blade. In this case, the longitudinal coupling rods can be designed as fluid piston-cylinder units which are connected to one another in a communicating manner with regard to their fluid, for automatic adjustment of the angular position of the lifting blade, under the influence of the nosewheel of the aircraft transported, when cornering. In the event of a loss of fluid as a result of leakage in the hydraulic system or a rupture of a hydraulic hose, a sudden lowering of the lifting blade may disadvantageously take place with probable damage to the nosewheel or its suspension on the aircraft. Furthermore, it is complicated to use two upper longitudinal coupling rods whose directions of action have to intersect on the imaginary longitudinal axis at a point forming a pendulum point of the blade.
In comparison thereto, the object on which the invention is based is to provide a towing vehicle of the construction mentioned at the beginning, which allows upper longitudinal coupling rods to be dispensed with, and in which any leakage in the fluid supply can no longer have the consequences mentioned for the two fluid piston-cylinder units.
According to the invention, this object is achieved in the towing vehicle mentioned at the beginning, in that the lifting blade is coupled so as to be pivotable in all directions by means of a ball joint which is fastened to the chassis of the towing vehicle and acts centrally on the back of the lifting blade, and in that at least one fluid piston-cylinder unit, acting on the lifting blade above or below the ball joint at distance from the latter, can be locked and released in a position which raises the lifting blade.
The use of a ball joint instead of two specifically arrange longitudinal coupling rods leads to a particularly simple and sturdy, uncomplicated construction which nevertheless guarantees the required degree of freedom of the lifting blade. In this case, although the lifting blade can no longer be raised as a whole, this is not even necessary; it is already sufficient for the fluid piston-cylinder unit to tilt the lifting blade when it is acted upon by pressurized fluid, the lower region of the lifting blade rising, as a result of which the nosewheel resting on it is also raised. The lifting blade is thus tilted in this case about a transverse axis passing through the center-point of the ball joint.
Since the at least one fluid piston-cylinder unit is mechanically locked after it has tilted the lifting blade up, it then acts as a coupling rod which, on the one hand, supports the lifting blade against tilting down under load and, on the ot
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Goldhofer Fahrzeugwerk GmbH & Co.
Werner Frank E.
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