Freight accommodation on freight carrier – Particular article accommodation – Wheeled vehicle
Patent
1996-10-15
2000-08-01
Gordon, Stephen T.
Freight accommodation on freight carrier
Particular article accommodation
Wheeled vehicle
410 10, 410 12, 410 19, 410119, B60P 708
Patent
active
06095731&
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is related to the fixation of a wheel of a vehicle to a selected place, for example, on a floor or on a pallet. It is also related to an apparatus for performing the fixation, particularly a pallet for performing the fixation, the method for the fixation, an automated fixation system and apparatus, and a mode-interchange for loading a vehicle onto a pallet or unloading the vehicle from the pallet. In this invention, as described and except as further explained below, the "wheel" includes a tire, steel wheel or roller; the "vehicle" means automobiles including cars and trucks, coaches, vans or containers with wheels attached; and the "pallet" includes a pallet itself, a rack, or a container with wheels attached.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
When a vehicle needs to be fixed in place, usually, a triangle-shaped apparatus is set in front and in back of the vehicle's wheel. Sometimes a chain is used to connect the vehicle to the floor of the pallet. Also, when a vehicle is loaded onto a parking area, an uneven or friction device is sometimes used to hold the vehicle on the pallet. For example, Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 146684/94 discloses adhering the bumper to the pallet.
Usually, when the vehicle needs to be fixed-in place, the general form of transporting or shipping the vehicle involves a train system or piggyback system.
Now, the usual style of fixing an automobile is slow and cumbersome, using the triangle block and chain with a turn buckle. Each apparatus must be set individually. In order to minimize this clumsy manual operation within the piggyback system, a car rack is used.
In multiple level parking garages, we see a vast difference in degrees of automobile security. The current method for securing an automobile on a parking pallet is basically a hand brake or emergency brake within the automobile. The level of safety, therefore, depends upon the strength and effectiveness of each automobile's brake system.
The Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 59270/91 proposes the installation of an indented area, for the lower part of the tire, on a pallet in a garage parking system. In this case, the proposed system may be able to fix the tire only for slow moving pallets. However, there are inevitable problems within this proposed system because these indentions do not guarantee tightness while fixing tire.
Actually, the only fixing force comes from the friction between the tire and the indented area in the pallet floor. The tire is stopped only by the vehicle's brake. This proposed system only functions when the pallet moves slowly in a negligible acceleration or deceleration. For example, in the parking system, the pallet moves less than 10 Km/Hr. If the pallet moves faster, the system gains a higher acceleration or deceleration rate. The friction between the tire and the surface of the floor of the pallet becomes insufficient to hold the tire and vehicle. In a high speed scenario, the automobile may easily come free of the pallet.
To solve the above problems, a new method was introduced. The proposed Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 193733/90 system incorporates a harness which is attached to the wheel. This apparatus is connected to a harness web and is attached over the wheel. Basically, in this method, a harness web wraps around the rail wheel which harness web is fixed to the wheel fixing body on the rail. Also, because the mechanism of the wheel fixing is complicated, this method is not a good method except for the railroad system in the United States of America. The whole procedure must start with fixing the wheel fixing body on the rail road. Thus, the process and mechanisms are complicated, cumbersome and time consuming.
Also, as to the method of fixing the automobile utilizing its bumper as it is seen in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 146648/94, the apparatus required to perform such fixing becomes large in size. As a result, the pallet's thickness becomes thicker. According to the above proposed method, in o
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Minakami Hiroyuki
Minakami Motoyuki
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