DISPOSITIF DE TRANSFERT DE CHARGE

LOAD TRANSFER DEVICE

Abrégé anglais

ABSTRACT
The invention provides a free standing load transfer device
for transferring bulk goods supported on a first pallet to a
second pallet. The device comprises a unitary three sided load
platform supported for rotation between an upright and an
inverted position and adapted to receive the bulk goods on the
first pallet. The platform comprises a floor, side member and
rear wall all of reinforced rigid sheet material. A lid also
of reinforced rigid sheet material is slidably supported in
spaced relationship to the floor and is adapted on inversion
of the load platform to support the base of a second pallet
placed with its load accepting surface on top of said bulk goods.
Actuating means are connected between the load platform and
lid to extend the lid away from the floor thus allowing the
bulk goods and pallets to be loaded into the platform. A
stand having a rotatable shaft mounted thereon which is affixed
to the rear wall is provided to support the load platform. Means
for rotating the load platform between an upright and an
inverted position are provided.

Revendications

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A free-standing, palletized load inverter for trans-
ferring bulk goods, packed in a plurality of sacks, boxes
and the like and supported on a first generally rectangular
pallet, to a second similar pallet, said palletized load
inverter comprising:
a unitary, three sided load platform of reinforced
sheet metal rotatable as a unit between an upright attitude
and an inverted attitude, said load platform when in its
said upright attitude being capable of receiving and support-
ing bulk goods stacked onto the first pallet, said load
platform having a reinforced sheet metal floor constituting
one side of said three-sided platform onto which the first
pallet can be placed, a reinforced sheet metal side wall
constituting a second side of said three-sided platform for
retaining the stacked bulk goods resting against it, said
sheet metal side wall being disposed substantially perpendi-
cular to said floor and being located in abutment with one
end edge of said floor, and a reinforced sheet metal rear
wall constituting the third side of said platform and being
disposed substantially perpendicular to said floor and side
wall, said rear wall having edges which are in abutment with
edges of said floor and side wall and having a length corres-
ponding to that of said floor and a height corresponding to
that of said side wall, and said sheet metal floor, side wall
and rear wall being fixedly attached to one another at their

abutting edges respectively in a unitary configuration which
defines a three-sided load receiving region;
means defining a slideway on said rear wall directed
parallel to the rear wall at right angles to said floor;
a sliding member in said slideway which slideably
supports a reinforced sheet metal lid projecting therefrom in
overlying relation to said three-sided load receiving region
and in spaced parallel relationship to said sheet metal floor
for rotation as a unit with said load platform and for movement
along a line normal to the plane of said floor, on inversion
of the load platform said lid being capable of supporting the
second pallet which had previously been placed in said load
platform, when said load platform was in its said upright
attitude, with the load accepting surface of the second pallet
resting on the top of the said bulk goods;
hydraulic ram actuating means external to the load
platform and connected between said load platform and said lid
for selectively extending said lid away from said floor while
said load platform is in its upright attitude to allow the
first and second pallets to be loaded into said load platform,
and said actuating means also for selectively retracting said
lid toward said floor to engage the base of the second pallet;
a stand having a rotatably shaft mounted thereon and
affixed to said sheet metal rear wall for supporting the load
platform rotatably above ground level, said stand including
a ground-contacting base extending underneath the load platform
to provide stable support therefor and an upstanding support

frame for the load platform; and
means in driving engagement with said rotatable shaft
for selectively rotating said load platform between its said
upright attitude and its said inverted attitude, the direction
of rotation being such that said reinforced side wall supports
said bulk goods during the rotation.
2. The load transfer device of claim 1, wherein said stand
comprises:
first and second side members underlying the load plat-
form to either side thereof;
cross members rigidly secured between the side members;
an upwardly convergent A-frame secured at its lower end
to said first and second side members; and
a bearing rigidly secured to the top end of said A-frame
within which said shaft from said load platform is pivotally
received.
3. The load transfer device of claim 2, wherein the lower
edges of said cross members are positioned above the lower
edges of said side members whereby the forks of a fork lift
truck may be inserted beneath said cross members into lifting
engagement therewith.
4. The load transfer device of claim 2, wherein a double-
acting hydraulic ram is secured along one side of the A-frame
with its direction of action approximately parallel to said
side, a rack is secured to the pushrod of said ram, a pinion
is secured to said shaft for rotation therewith and is in
meshing engagement with said rack, whereby extension or
retraction of said pushrod effects rotation of said load platform.

Description

50~
The present invention relates -to a load transfer device
for transferring bulk goods packed in sacks, boxes or the li~e
from one pallet to another.
It is known to stack sacks or boxes or the like containing
bulk goods onto a pallet which may be engaged by the forks of a
fork lift truck for movement from one place to another or for
loading into a goods vehicle. A palletised load is commonly
stacked into a goods vehicle and then conveyed by road to a
distribution point from which the goods are distributed to
customers. The customer may accept the load stacked on the
manufacturer's or distributor's pallets, but the customer may
fail to return the pallets to the distribution point. The
customer may have pallets of his own which may become mixed up
with the pallets belonging to the manufacturer or distributor.
Hitherto no machine of which the applicants are aware has been
available which can transfer goods from one pallet to another
and such transfer has been carried out by hand which is a time-
consuming and expensive operation.
The problems associated with the use of timber pallets
in the U.K. transport industry are the subject of a study
commissioned by the Committee for Materials Handling, Department
of Industry and published under the title "Materials Handling:
pallet usage and wastage" by Her Majesty's Stationery Office,
London, 1977.
An object of the invention is to provide a simple and
inexpensive machine for transferring a palletised load from
one pallet to another so that a distributor can rapidly offload
bulk goods from his own pallets onto the customer's pallets.
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S~
The present invention provides a free standing load
transfer device for transferring bulk goods packed in sacks,
boxes and the like supported on a first pallet to a second
pallet, said device comprising in combination:
a load platform supported for rotation between an upright
position and an inverted position and adap-ted to receive said
bulk goods stacked onto said first pallet when the load plat-
form is uprigh-t, and including a floor onto which said first
pallet can be placed, and a side member for retaining bulk
goods resting against it;
a lid slidably supported in spaced parallel relationship
to said floor of said load platform for movement normal -to the
plane of said floor, said lid being adapted on inversion of
the load platform to support the base of a second pallet~placed
in said load platform wi-th its load accepting surface resting
on the top of said stack of goods;
actuating means connected between said load platform and
said lid and adapted to extend said lid away from said floor
to allow said first and second pallets to be loaded into said
load platform and to retract said lid towards said floor to
engage said base of said second pallet;
a stand arranged rotatably to suppor-t said load platform
and including a ground-contacting base which extends underneath
said load platform to provide stable support therefor and an
: 25 upstanding support frame to which said load platform is rotat-
ably secured; and
means for rotating said load platform between an upright
position and an inverted position, the direction of rotation being
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5~3~
such that said side member supports said load during said
inversionO
An embodiment of the invention is described below, by way
of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings,
in which:-
Figure 1 is a perspective view from the front of a loadtransfer device; and
Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the load transfer
device shown in Figure 1.
A load platform generally indicated by the reference
numeral 10 comprises a floor 11, a side wall 1~ and a rear wall
13 each made of sheet steel and welded together at their
adjacent edcJes. The floor 11 is dimensioned to accept standard
size pa].lets which in the U.K. are normally of sizes up to
5' by 4' and the floor is strengthened by means of longitudinal
and transverse reinforcing ribs 1~ welded th~reto to impart
rigidity and enable the floor to support a loaded pallet. The
side wall 12 and rear wall 13 are also similarly reinforced. The
rear wall reinforcing ribs terminate in cut-outs 15 deEining a
slideway directed parallel to the rear wall at right angles to
the floor and a sliding member 16 in the slideway engages the
cut-outs and slidably supports a lid 17 projecting therefrom in
spaced parallel relationship to the floor 11. The lid 17 is
also reinforced with intersecting ribs welded thereto on its
outer face so as to be capable of supporting a loaded pallet
weighing typically up to 2 tons~ The sliding member 16 houses
a pair of hydraulic rams 18 and 18a~ The hydraulic rams are
mounted parallel to one another and each have one end fastened

5~
to the sliding member 16 adjacent the line where the lid joins
the sliding member and their other end fastened to -the load
platform 10 adjacent the line where the floor 11 joins the
rear wall 13. ~xtenslon or retraction of the hydraulic rams
18 and 18a extends the lid 17 from the floor 11 or retracts the
lid 17 towards the floor 1l.
The load platform is suppor-ted on a free standing base
comprising channel section side members 20 and 21 and R.S.J.
cross members 22 and 23. The bottom flanges of the cross
members are positioned above the bottom flanges of the side
members so that the forks of a fork lift truck can engage the
cross members for movlng the load transfer device from place
to place. Ex-tending upwardly from the side members 20 and 21
are frame members 24 and 25 which converge at their -top end to
support a bush (not shown). Gussets 26, 27 are welded between
the ~rame members and the side members and a horizontal rein-
forcing member 28 is welded between the frame members 24 and
25 at an intermediate point. ~ pivot shaft (not shown) is
rigidly secured to the rear wall 13 of the load platform behind
the sliding member 16 and extends through the bush at the top
end of the frame members 24 and 25 and terminates in a pinion
29 rigidly secured thereto. ~ rack 30 directed parallel to
the longitudinal direction of the frame member 24 is slidably
supported in spaced guides 31 and 32 and is attached at its
lower end to a pushrod 33 of a hydraulic ram 34 aligned with
the rack. Extension or retraction of the pushrod is transmitted
via the rack 30 and pinion 29 to rotate the load platform 10
and lid 17. Limit members (not shown) are provided to define

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the upright and inverted positions of the load platform and
to limit the travel of the load platform.
On the base is mounted a 3 h.p. electric motor 35 whose
output shaft is connected to a Dowty 3020 hydraulic pump 36 for
hydraulic fluid which pump is connected to a reservoir 37 for
the hydraulic fluid. A first pair oE extension and retraction
hydraulic lines extends from a first control valve 38 to the
hydraulic ram 34. A second pair of ex-tension and retraction
hydraulic lines extends from a second control valve 39 to the
hydraulic rams 18, 18a.
In operation the motor 35 is switched on and -the first
control valve 38 is operated to cause the ram 34 to effect
rotation of the load platform 10 to the upright position. The
second control valve 39 is then operated to cause the rams
18 and 18a to extend the lid 17 away from the floor 11 of the
load platform. A load of bulk goods stacked on a manufacturer's
or distributor's pallet may be brought on a fork lift truck or
other suitable conveyor from a store or from a van or lorry as
the case may be and loaded onto the load platform. A customer's
pallet is then placed onto the top of the load of bulk goods
with its load accepting surface directed downwardly. The second
control valve 39 is then operated to lower the lid 17 until
it engages the base of the customer's pallet r af-ter which the
first control valve 38 is operated to cause the ram 34 to
rotate the load platform 10 to the inverted position. The
direction of rotation is such that the side wall 12 moves
downwardly and supports the load against side thrust while tha
load platform is moving to the inverted position. The second

control valve 39 is then operated to extend or lower the lid
17 which now supports the stack of bulk goods. The manufacturer's
or distributor's pallet is removed, the goods are unloaded from
the load platform on the customer's own pallet and conveyed
to his lorry after which the lid 17 is retracted towards the
floor 11 and the load platform is returned to the upright
position to receive the next pallet.
Vari.ous modifications can be made to the embodiment
described herein without departing from the invention. Although
hydraulic operation has been found to be the most convenient
for the present purpose, the load platform and lid could be
mechanically actuated, for example by means of nuts travelling
on lead screws~ The sliding member could be positioned on
the side wall rather than the rear wall. Instead of being
free standing, the load platform with its associated actuating
and control mechanism could be supported on a bracket fi.xed to
a column or stanchion of a factory or warehouse or to a wall
thereof.