Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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VEHICLE FOR CARGO TRANSP~RT
The invention relates to a vehicle for transporting cargo,
i.e. bulk materials or piece goods, especially to a combination
consisking of a tractor and a trailer, having a loading and unloading
device which comprises a flexible loading floor adapted to be moved
forward and backward by drive means.
Motor vehicles for transporting cargo having a loading
and unloading equipment are known the loading floor of which is conducted
via guide rollers by means of wire cables or a chain system and is
suitable only for transporting pallets.
An equipment for the longitudinal displacement of goods
on a trailer during loading or unloading is known from United States
Patent No. 3,704,798. This equipment substantially comprises a belt
supported by and longitudinally slidable on the vehicle floor and -
coupled to a platform at its front end. The belt can be pulleddirectly to the rear side by a drum, and, via a guided cable acting
on the platform, to the front side by a roll. As a result of the cable
guidance the movable belt cannot cover the whole width of the vehicle
floor so that the loading capacity cannot completely be utilized. The
suspension oF the platform at overhead rails is only possible with
closed vehicle bodies. Furthermore, the platform prevents the loading
floor from being completely taken up so that load placed on the plat-
form cannot be unloaded backwards by simply wrapping up the belt
A vehicle having a flexible loading floor movably supported
on the vehicle floor is also known from the European Patent Application
No. 0 027 ~09. In this case the loading width of the belt is smaller
than the width of the loading space. This vehicle is little suited
for transporting piece goods because the goods covering the belt do
not completely fill up the whole loading capacity of the vehicle,
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It is the principal object of the present
invention to provide a vehicle for transporting freight with
an unloading and loading device which can be used for
transporting bulk materials as well as piece goods.
In accordance with the present invention there is
proved a vehicle for transporting cargo comprising a movable
loading 100r consisting at least partially of a be]t
supported by the floor of the vehicle, said loading floor
being connected at its one end to at least one loading drum
arranged near the front end of the vehicle floor and at its
other end to an unloading drum arranged near the rear end of
the vehicle 100r and being adapted to be wound onto and off
said drums which are coupled to rotational drive means, the
belt of the loading floor extending substantially over the
lS full width of the vehicle floor and at least one fluid motor
being arranged in the unloading drum, the shaft of each
fluid motor being rotationally connected to the inside of
the unloading drum.
Preferably, the unloading drum substantially
extends over the full width of the vehicle floor because it
is driven by fluid motor(s) lying within the drum. In this
way motors laterally projecting from the vehicle as well as
unloading drums and belt floors designed smaller than the
available vehicle floor are avoided. So it is possible to
cover practically the whole vehicle floor, especially the
entire width--------------------------------------------
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of the floor, with the belt~ and to grasp the whole width of the beltby the drum. In this way bulk materials can be unloaded without residues
remaining on the vehicle loading area and without special sealings to
prevent bulk material frolTI creeping aside or below the belt. The dimen-
sions of the load-carrying portion of the loading floor simultaneously
result in a maxinlization of the loading area. In the preferred embodi-
ment a cloth is used as the belt.
Preferably the unloading and loading equipment of the
vehicle is designed so that the belt formincJ
the load-carrying portion of the loading floor is substantially supported
by the vehicle floor, the loading floor being connected at its one end
to a loading drum which forms part of the driving means, is capable of
being rotated clockwise and counter-clockwise and is located near the
driver's cab, and at its other end to an un10ading drum which forms
part of the driving means, is capable of being rotated clockwise and
counter-clockwise and is located remote from the driver's cab.
The portion of the loading and unloading device which forms
the loading floor can conveniently have two different designs. According
to one embodiment not only the load-carrying portion of the load;ng
floor is a belt, e.g. a cloth belt, but the loading floor as a whole
substantlally consists of a belt. This embodiment is suitable for trans-
porting bulk materials as well as piece goods.
According to the other embodiment the loading floor is a
combination of its load-carrying portion consisting of a belt and at
least one cable, one end of said belt being coupled to the cable and
the other end of the belt being coupled to the unloading drum.
When the loading floor is formed by a bel~ and at least
one cable the coupling between the cable and the end of the belt is
preferably attained via a substantially vertical frame or front wall
capable of being moved together with the belt. The use of a front wall
which can.be moved together with the cloth belt has the advantage that
the toppling ahead of piece goods (when braking suddenly) is avoided
when the vehicle is only partially loaded or the partially filled
loading floor is displaced for loading or unloading purposes.
When using the embodiment with a~most the complete loading
floor consisting of a belt it is not ad~isable to providè a co ~ vable
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vertical frame, as transporting bulk material it is possible
that some will fall behind the frame and can no longer be
removed from there with the unloading system in the usual
manner~
With the embodiment having a co-movable vertical frame
the frame is clamped to the belt along almost the whole width thereof
and is furthermore provided with two cable pulleys, the cable connected
to the loading drum being conducted around the pulleys.
Preferably the belt is not directly conducted to the unload-
ing drum but via a guide roller. In this way difficulties are avoided
which arise from the increasing winding diameter when directly rolling
up the belt onto the unloading drum: The rise and lifting of the belt
from the veh;cle floor by the increasing winding diameter would easily
cause bulk material to pass below the belt and - when transporting piece
goods - an e~cessive belt stressing and the danger of the piece units
to tilt over.
According to the preferred embodiment of the invention
each fluid motor is mounted to the chassis of the vehicle by means of
a support. In this case the support is conveniently formed as a cylin-
drical casing surrounding the motor. The assembly of cylindrical casing
and fluid motor is placed in the unloading drum with the chsing being
mounted to a plate solid to the chassis via an external ~lange. The
driving shaft of the fluid motor emerges from the cylindrical casing
through the internal front side facing the center of the unloading
drum, and is connected to the unloading drum via coupling means trans-
mitting the rotation of the driving shaft to the enveloping ùnloadingdrum. With this arrangement the assembly consisting of the fluid motor
; having a stationary casing and a rotary shaft, and the unloading drum
driven by it can be considered as an inverted drum engine.
Conveniently a first disk provided with engagement means
is coupled to the shaft of each fluid motor, a second disk correlated
to said first disk and provided with engagement means is fixed in the
unloading drum, and the engagement means of said first and second disks
are in engagement with each other. With the preferred embodiment two
fluid motors together with their couplings are symmetrically arranged
with regard to the central plane of the unlbading drum in the drum ends.
This double drive avoids torsional stresses of the unloading drum. With
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an other embodiment a fluid motor is mounted only in one end of the
unloacling drum. In this case, likewise, the coupling has to act on the
drunl symnletrically to its cen~ral plane.
The loading and unloading device is particularly used with
an assembly consisting of a tractor truck and a trailer. Its use with
a freight car or being installed in a container or a railroad freight
car is also possible.
In principle all types of bulk materials, even sharp
materials, as e.g. rubbish and sand, can be transported by the vehicle
of the invention. Domestic refuse can be transported, too. Pallets, pots,
vessels, boxes or similar goods can be transported as piece goods.
The above-ment;oned broad use o~ the unloading and loading
device with regard to the type of goods to be moved therewith is an
essential advantage. It is also an important advantage that the maximum
loading area is utilized which is equal to the area of the vehicle floor.
In combination with the fact that the unloading and loading device can
also be installed without any restriction in a veh;cle having a closed
body, this means a further increase of the net load capacity so that
the structure of the body and chassis can be designed lighter because
the closed body has an increased stability. The load capacity is indeed
practically only limited by the legally admissible weight which is
50 metric tons for truck and trailer combinations.
When transporting bulk materials the vehicle according to
the invention can be charged through one or more suitable charging
holes which can be placed e.g. in the roof structure of the vehicle.
According to a particular embodiment a conveyer belt is
adapted to be attached to the rear end of the vehicle below the loading
floor and to be driven by the same drive medium as the unloading drum
for running substantially transversely to said loading floor, the
length of said belt being at least equal to the width of the loading
floor. This conveyer belt allows the dischar~e of ~ulk ~aterial ~n a
substantially smaller width than is possible without the attached
transversely running conveyer belt. Consequently, the bulk goods can
be discharged into narrow chutes, hatches or onto another narrow
35 conveyer belt. The length of the conveyer belt is preferably equal
to at least the width of the loading floor so that the entire discharge
of the floor can be picked up by the conveyer belt. The width of the
conveyer belt amounts to e.g. S to 30 % of the loading floor. Generally,
the conveyer belt is hydraulically driven. This can be accomplished
without problems because the hydraulic conduits are laid to the fluid
S motor(s) of the unloading drum and consequently the fluid connection
of the motor of the conveyer belt can be established by two short
flexible lines. The conveyer belt is advantageously conducted around
two rolls one of which is driven. It can be mounted at the chassis
below the vehicle, and carried along at that place.
Other objects, advantages and features of the invention
will be apparent from the following description of the preferred
embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
lS Fig. 1 is a part;ally broken away side view of a tractor
and trailer combination equipped with the embodiment of a loading
and unloading device provided with belt and cable and a co-movable
frame, consequently to be used for transporting piece goods;
Fig. 2 is a front view of the front winch ins~allation
or loading drum equipment;
Fig. 3 is the sectional view taken along reference
line III-~II of Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along reference line IV-IV
of Fig. 2;
Fig. 5 is a front view of the movable frame;
Fig. 6 is a side view of the movable frame;
Fig. 7 is a front view of the front winch installation with
the loading drum for the embodiment in which the loading floor of the
unloading and loading device consists almost completely of a belt;
Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along reference line
YIII-VIII of Fig. 7 showing the loading drum;
Fig. 9 is a side view ot the rear portion of the vehicle
with attached conveyer belt for unloading bulk material;
Fig. 10 is a top plan view of the arrangement shown in
Fig. 9;
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Fig. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of the unloading
drum with the internal drive according to the invention~ in an enlarged
scale; and
Fig. 12 is a sectional view of one end of the unloading
drum in an enlarged scale showing the passage of the fluid lines to
the motor.
In Fig. 1 reference number 1 denotes a combination of a
truck tractor 2 and a trailer 3. The trailer has at its front end
the front winch installation 4 and at its rear end the unloading
installation 6. Reference number 5 denotes the co-movable front wall
or frame, and reference number 7 marks the belt which lies on and
covers the tractor floor.
The front winch installation 4 comprises two cable drums 8
(groove length lS m) and two pressure rubber drums 9 placed above the
cable drums in order to conduct the cable into the groove 11. The
cable drums 8 are hydraulically driven via a transmission system lQ
comprising a speed reduction and a chain transmission.
The unloading installation 6 comprises the unloading
drum 13 and the guide drum 12 around which the belt 7 is conducted.
The front wall or frame 5 (Figures 5 and 6) has the shape
of an open-work grating and is provided with two steel cable pulleys
1~,15 with the steel cable (not shown) running around the pulleys to
the front end, i.e. through two slots in the front wall of the trailer
to the front winch installation. The dimensions and the arrangement
of the front winch installation including the protecting cover 16 is
selected so that it totally remains within the head radius of the
trailer.
The belt 7, one end of which is led via the guide drum 12
to the unloading drum 13 and connected therewith, is connected at its
other end to the frame 5 over its entire width (Fig. 6).
With the embodiment of the loading and unloading device
the loading floor of which comprises belt and cable as shown in the
Figures 1 to 6, the length of the belt is equal to the length of the
loading area + about 2 meters. The length of the cable amounts to
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2 times the length o~ the trailer -~ 3 m and can amount to
about 28 m depending on the length of the trailer.
In practice th~ unloading and loadin~ system is
operated in a way that, for unloadin~, the helt with the
car~o placed thereon is pulled over the trailer floor to the
rear b~ means of the unloadin~ installa~ion. For loading the
belt is pulled the opposite direction to the front side of
the trailer by means of ~.he front winch installation at the
same speed as the cargo is successively put on the belt. It
is particula~ly useful before loading to take care that at
least one trailer leng~h o~ belt is wrapped upon the
unloading drumO After having put e.g. pallets on the belt
by means of a stacker truck so that the whole width and
height of the loading space is u~ilized the belt is hauled
forward by the depth of one pallet. This cyle is repeated
until the whole trailer is loaded. The loading can, of
course, take place at diffe~ent loading stations.
The unloading and loading installation is usually provided
with a limiting system having two !imit switches mounted between one
of the cable drums 8 and the frame 5. These limit switches br;ng about
the stopping of the system in the foremost and hindmost position. The
. 20 switching of the limit switches is performed by the cable. The limiting
system has to stop the device automatically when during loading the
first row of the loaded piece goods, e.g. pallets, has arrived in the
foremost position. The loading velocity is inf;nitely variable up to
4 meter/minute or even more.
The unloading can be performed by steps so that at first
the last row of pallets is lifted from the belt and then the belt is
pulled backwards by the depth of one pallet~ It is also possible to
unload continuously if a gravity-roller conveyer or a conveyer belt
is arranged behind the trailer. The unloading time and the loading
time is variable between 3 and 10 minutes and may be shorter or
longer.
The front winch installation shown in Figures 7 and 8
is used in case that the loading floor of the unloading and loading
device almost complete1y consists of a belt. Through a hor;zontal slot
provided in the front wall of the trailer and extending over the whole
trailer width the belt is conducted forward, i.e. to the front
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winch ;nstallation 17, and connected to the loading drum 18. The load;ng
drum 1~ is at both ends coupled to a driving system 19 which comprises
a combination of fluid motor and toothed-wheel ~ear~ng. This double
drive avolds torsional stress act;ng on the loading drum.
One of the drive systems is provided with an impulse counter
in order to stop the belt in the foremost and the hindmost position,
respectively.
According to the Figures 9 and 10 several dismountable
supporting beams 22 are mounted at the rear end of the trailer 3. A
conveyer belt 20 equipped with an undercarriage can be placed on said
beams 22. The gap between the belt 7 and the adjacent longitudinal wall
of the conveyer belt ;s br;dged by a flexible sealing member 21. A
baffle plate 23 is inserted into the opposite longitudinal wall which
is adapted to avoid the overflo~ing of the bulk material when being
unloaded at a high speed. The conveyer belt can be taken along with
the trailer at its bottom side and can always be used when bulk goods
have to be unloaded only in a small width.
The length of the belt amounts to twice the length of the
trailer ~ 6 meters if the loading floor consists almost totally of a
belt. It can amount to 30 meters depending on the trailer lengthO
The net loading length of both embodiments of the loading
floor are almost the same. Becaus~ ~f the head radius the cable system
all~ws thR trailer to be s~[~wElat.loIlger` t~an witt~ ~he ~bbod;-
ment using only a belt. Some of the net loading length is1 however,
lost due to the co-movable frame.
According to Fig. 11 fluid motor 24 is stationarily mounted in-
side the unloading drum 13 near one of its ends, and fluid motor 37
near the other end, The fluid motors 24,37 are supported at their
flanges 24a and 37a respectively by means of cyclindrical casings 25
and 3g respectively. The casings 26 and 39 respectively are mounted
to support plates 41 and 42 respectively by means of flanges 27 and
40 respectively, said support plates being solid with the chassis of
the vehicle. A sleeve 25 or 38, respectively, consist;ng preferably
of plastics material is fixed on the outside of each cylindrical
housing 26 and 39~ respectively, and serves for bearing the ends of
the unloading drum 13.
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One disk 28 and 36 respectively, is fixed on the shaft of
each fluld motor 24 and 37, respectively, Each disk carries two teeth
29 and 34, respectively, projecting from the dlsks to the central
plane o~ the unloading drum l3. Two annular disks 30 and 33, respectively,
are inserted, especially welded into the drum 13. The annular disks
S have each two holes 31 and 35, respectively, diametrically opposite
to each other, the teeth 29 and 34, respectively, being in engagement
with the holes 31 and 35, respectively. The annular disks 30 and 33
are furthermore connected by a tube 32. This structure allows to mount
the fluid motors 24, 37 and the couplings 28-31 and 33-36 easily in
the drum 13.
The unloading drum l3 has e.g. a leng~h of 250 cm and an
external diameter of 32.5 cm. The supply of the fluid medium to the
fluid motors 24,37 is accomplished by means of lines which are con
ducted to the motors through an aperture 27a and 40a, respectively, in
lS the flanges 27 and ~0, respect;vely. As shown in Fig. 12 for one end
of the drum the lines 43 are conducted through an aperture 41a in the
support plate ~1 and in a longitudinal aperture 27a of f1ange 27 to
the motor 24 without projecting beyond the periphery of flange 27.
The driving means shown in the drawings are hydraulically
operated, For stopping the loading floor in the foremost and hindmost
position the hydraulic system is provided with e1ectrica11y actuated
valves so that the system can be switched off by the above-mentioned
limit switches. The hydraulic pump feeding the motors is coupled to
the output end of the tractor. In special cases in which it is not
allowable to load and unload with running tractor engine (tobacco,
food) the trailer is provided with a 24 Volt battery with a connected
electric motor which drives the hydraulic pump.
The quality of the belt forming a part of the loading
floor can be different. Important properties decisive for the belt
selection are aside from flexibility the coefficient of friction and the
breaking strength. A plast;cs and/or cloth belt can be selected
having e.g. a coefficient of friction of approx. 0.5, a thickness of
approx. 3 mm and a maximum load of e.g. 33 metric tons. The belt can
also be a material having the quality of a conveyer belt. It can likewise
consist of a flexible metallic belt.
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The vehicle with the installed unloading and loading device
as specified hereabove and shown in the drawing can be modified without
departing from the invention. Thus, it is possible e.g. to design the
front winch installation in the same manner as the unloading drum as
an inverse drum motor.
