Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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1. Field of the Invention
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Palletised goods which are to be stored in a throughrun shelf
store installation are usually placed onto rolling supports.
In this way the stored pallets can roll from the input side
of a shelf compartment towards the removal side, be it from
its own force as a result of a gradient of the shelf itself,
or be it under the action of transportation members. When a
loaded pallet, together with its rolling support, has been
removed from the shelf compartment and has been set down some-
where, the necessity can arise of shifting this pallet, re-
placing it or moving it in some other way. If it is a que-
stion only of a short movement path, the use of mechanical
aids is often inexpedient. On the other hand, loaded pallets
often have a great weight, up to 1000 kp, so that an operator
can, with great exertion, possibly shift a loaded rolling
support in a straight line. Since the rolling supports, how-
ever, have no steerable rollers, displacement along a curved
path only with muscle power is not possible without further
aids.
2. Description of the Prior Art
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For this purpose, i.e. for the manual manoeuvering of heavily-
laden rolling supports, it has already been proposed to use
so-called lever rollers. These consist substantially of a long
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lever arm and a short lever arm which extend at an angle to
one another. A pair of rollers is situated at the junction
of the two lever arms. The short lever arm is engaged under -
the rolling support and can be raised somewhat, so that the
support can be moved relatively easily along a curve.
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However, these known lever rollers fail completely in the `
cases where the free space under the rolling support is very -
slight, since then either engagement there under of the rolling
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support is not at all possible, or the lever arm ratio is un-
favourable, so that a heavy pallet can no longer be lifted.
A further disadvantage of the known lever rollers is to be
seen in the fact that often the raised rolling support can un- ~-
intentionally slide down from the lever roller, which can pos- ;
sibly lead to slippage or even to collapse of the load. More-
over, these known forms of apparatus involve a not inconsider-
able risk of accident, since they are unstable, i.e. when the
lever arm is let go they whip upwards and, moreover, when not
required for use they are inconvenient to stow away.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to preclude all these dis-
advantages and to provide transportation apparatus for palletised
goods which is particularly suitable for use in connection with
rolling supports having only slight underneath free space, which
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supports are nowadays increasingly wide-spread.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION -
The storage and transport unit in accordance
with the lnvention for palletised goods comprises a
rolling support which has substantially a rectangular
frame provided wlth four rollers, as well as a drawbar ~ `
which is provided with rollers and which can be coupled up -
to the ~r, t;~l~.? rolling support. This transportatlon
apparatus is characterised in that two opposlte frame
10 sides of the rolling support are formed by an inverted `
U-section having limbs of unequal length, and in that the ~
drawbar has a coupling member which is substantially
cubic in shape and which is provided with a groove for
receptlon of the shorter limb~f the U-section and which ;~
is mounted so as to be swingable about an axis extending
perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the drawbar rollers.
Stated in other words, the invention relates to
a mobile-~s~orage and, transport unit for use in a shelf
storage system comprising a first part comprising a four
sided frame supported with two pairs of rotatable supports
disposed at opposite sides respectively of the frame, a
second part comprising a drawbar provided with a pair of
rollers and adapted to be coupled to said four sided frame
of said first part, the frame of said first part comprising
two pairs of longitudinal struts and two cross members
rigidly connected to form a four sided right-angled frame,
the respectlve rotatable supports being disposed between
the respective pairs of said longitudinal struts, said
two cross members being formed by an inverted U-section
having limbs of unequal length~ said second part compri-
sing a coupling member which is substantially cubic in
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shape ~nd which is provided with a groove for reception j~
of said shorter limb of said U-section, said coupling mem-~ -
ber belng pivotably mounted on said drawbar about an
axis extending perpendicular to the axis Of rotation of
said pair of rollers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
One exemplified embodiment of the transport
unit of the invention will be described in more detail
hereinunder, with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which: -
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Fig. 1 is a side view of the rolling support of the said -
embodiment; `
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the rolling support of Fig. l;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of part of the `
rolling support of Figs. 1 and 2;
Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of the drawbar of
the said embodiment;
Fig. 5 is a partial front view of the drawbar;
Fig. 6 is a partial side view, to a reduced scale, showing
the drawbar in the set-down state;
Fig. 7 is a view comparable with Fig. 6, but showing the
drawbar in position ready for coupling up to the
rolling support; and
Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7, but showing the draw-
bar coupled up to the support. 1-~
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Initially reference is made to Figs. 1 and 2. The unit com-
prises a rolling support which has two transverse traverses -
1 and 2 connected together by two pairs of longitudinal struts
3a, 3b and 4a, 4b. It can be appreciated from Fig. 2 that the
longitudinal struts are set in somewhat relative to the ends
of the transverse traverses 1 and 2. The longitudinal struts
respectively of each pair are arranged side-by-side at a small
spacing apart and serve for the mounting of respective rollers
5, which are rotatably mounted by respective axles 6. The longi-
tudinal struts 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b can be simple square hollow sec-
tions which are welded at their ends to the transverse traverses
1 and 2.
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The shape of the two transverse traverses 1 and 2 can be seen ~ -
from Fig. 3. They are substantially invertedly-arranged U- ~
sections each having a shorter limb 8 and a longer limb 7. `
The longer limb 7 is connected to the longitudinal struts 3
and 4, while the short limb 8 lies at the other end of base ~
9 of the section. Situated at the free end of the longer limb -
7 is an extension 10 which protrudes perpendicularly towards `
the interior of the U-section. The shorter limb 8 forms, with ~ `
the base 9 of the U-section, an angle which is less then 90,
preferably about 70 to 80.
The construction of the drawbar can be seen from Figs. 4 and 5.
Fastened to a supporting tube 11 is a manoeuvring lever 12 which
has a length of about 100 to 120 cm. The supporting tube 11 re-
ceives a shaft 13 at each end of which is a rotatable roller ~
14. Moreover, a shaft journal 15 is fastened in such a way to ~ `
the supporting tube 11 that is forms a right angle with the
rotational axis of the rollers 14, and that it forms an angle
of about 60 with the manoeuvering lever 12. This shaft jour-
nal 15 can, for example, be welded securely to the supporting
tube 11 and serves for the reception of a coupling piece 16.
The latter has a substantially cubic shape and is mounted so
as to be rotary on the shaft journal 15. The external dimensions
of the coupling piece 16 correspond approximately to the clear
inside cross-section of the cross traverses 1 and 2.
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The upper edge of the coupling piece 16, which is turned to
the manoeuvering lever 12, is bevelled and provided with a
groove 17. The swivel axis of the coupling piece 16 on the
shaft journal 15 also extends through this groove 17. The ;~
groove 17 is intended for the reception of the shorter limb 8
of one or the other of the cross traverses 1 and 2, as will
be described in yet more detail later on.
The edge of the coupling piece 16 which lies diametrically
opposite the aforesaid edge, i.e. that lower edge of the
coupling piece which is averted from the manoeuvering handle,
is bevelled to form a bearing surface 18. This surface 18 lies
in plane T which is tangential to the rollers 14 of the draw-
bar. The direction of this bevelling 18 is immediately clear
~rom Fig. 6 from which it will be seen that in the set-down
state of the drawbar, said drawbar is supported by the bevel
18 and thus assumes a stable disposition.
Fig. 7 shows the rolling support resting with its rollers 5
on the floor 19, this support being required to be moved in-
to a different position. For this purpose, the drawbar descri-
bed in the foregoing is brought into the position, evident in
Fig. 7, in which it is disposed under one of the cross tra-
verses, in the present example under the cross traverse 1. The
disposition of the drawbar, ready for coupling to the rolling
support corresponds approximately to the set down position,
shown in Fig. 6S of the drawbar. It should be pointed out that
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during attachment of the drawbar the manoeuvering lever 12
assumes a substantially vertical position and thus its manipu- ~-
lation is not hindered by any load built up on the rolling
support. The short titled limb 8 of the U-section 1 is posi-
tioned directly over the groove 17 in the coupling piece 16. ` `
Thereupon, the manoeuvering lever 12 is swung in the direction
of the arrow P, until the position shown in Fig. 8 is reached.
It can clearly be seen how, as a result, the coupling piece 16
engages into the interior of the U-section 1, and the shorter
limb 8 enters into the groove 17 and is located therein in -~
self-locking manner as a result of its obliquity.
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As soon as the position of Fig. 8 is reached, the rolling sup-
port can be manoeuvred virtually effortlessly. Because of the
wingable mounting of the coupling piece 16, travel around very
tight curves is possible, providing for simple manoeuvrability
of the loaded rolling support even in the narrowest spaces.
Slipping-down of the rolling support from the drawbar is not
possible, since the design of the groove 17, with its bevelled
side wall, is such as to hold the correspondingly bevelled limb
8 of the U-section 1 all the more securely the greater the
tractive force on the drawbar. By appropriate selection of the
lever arm ratio, the result can be achieved that the pressure
which is exerted in the vertical direction on the coupling
piece, and which is reflected in a torque at the axis 13 of the
rollers 14, is compensated for by the torque which is exerted
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by the weight of the manoeuvring lever on the axle 13. Ad- . .
vantageously there can be mounted at the free end of the ma- ;
noeuvring lever 12, a handle (not shown) which extends perpen-
dicularly thereto and which can possible be provided with a
weight for the additional compensation of the torque which :
is exerted by the laden rolling support. ~ -
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