FR2784940A1 - Automatic coupling of trucks used for industrial waste, comprises a coupling bar interacting with guides located on the truck side - Google Patents

Abstract

The device enables a first truck (1) pulled by a motorized vehicle (2) to trail other similar trucks (3,4,5,6) parked perpendicularly to the movement direction (F) of the first truck and the tractor. On one of the sides of the trucks are guides (14,15,17) which intercept a coupling bar (13) at the end of the shaft (12) of a truck. These guides guide the bar to a coupling point (16) located behind a truck in its longitudinal axis.

Description

 The present invention relates to a device for automatically hooking carriages, one after the other.

This device applies, in general, to carts that can support any type of load or container. A more particular application of the invention, but to be considered as a simple example, relates to handling carts, usable in particular in workshops, which can be towed by a motorized forklift, such as carts supporting skips or other containers, especially for industrial waste to be collected.

 Usually, in production workshops, industrial waste is first temporarily stored, near their place of production. From there, the waste is collected and transferred to a collection point, to then be sorted or treated. The means of temporary storage and transfer of waste, from their place of production to the grouping point, consist in particular of self-tipping dump carts.

 In the current state of the art, such carriages must each be supported manually, to be coupled to a tractor vehicle or to another carriage, then to be uncoupled, which involves numerous and often awkward manipulations, which mobilize personnel and require time and which consequently represent significant internal costs for companies, to the point that handling of waste represents the largest part of the total cost of processing industrial waste.

 The present invention aims to avoid these drawbacks, by providing improvements which allow significant savings in time and labor, therefore a significant reduction in costs, in particular in the handling of industrial waste, but also, more generally, in the handling of any other type of material, in a workshop or other place, by a technical solution which is itself simple and economical.

 To this end, the invention relates to an automatic attachment device for carriages, allowing a first carriage, towed by a motor vehicle, to tow at least one other similar carriage parked perpendicular to the direction of movement of the first carriage and towing vehicle, this device being characterized in that it comprises, on at least one of the right and left sides of the carriages, means for intercepting a hooking bar provided at the end of the drawbar of a carriage, and means for guiding said hooking bar towards a hooking point situated at the rear of a carriage, in the longitudinal axis thereof.

 Thus, the invention provides means enabling a first carriage, already towed for example by a motorized forklift, to automatically tow one or more similar carts, initially stationed at the edge of the path of movement of the first carriage. The waiting trolleys can thus be grouped into a convoy, each trolley constituting one of the "wagons" of a "trolley train", without the operator (driver) driving the forklift, which constitutes the tractor element of the convoy, is not obliged to get off his lift truck to carry out manual operations for coupling the carriages. It is sufficient for the operator to properly steer his forklift, without stopping, so that the cart (s) already towed come to intercept the cart (s) still waiting, by their drawbar, each cart being thus hooked and driven, following the previous cart.

 Advantageously, the means for intercepting and guiding a hooking bar are provided symmetrically on the two sides, respectively right and left, of the carriages, so that it is equally possible to tow carriages parked with a either side of the axis of movement of the towing vehicle, for example on one side or the other of a workshop aisle.

 Insofar as it is desired to constitute convoys of several carriages, the device which is the subject of the invention must allow the attachment of the second carriage to the first, then the attachment of the third carriage to the second (while the first carriage passes, before the second, in front of the third carriage still waiting), and so on ... To solve this difficulty, various embodiments are possible.

 According to a first embodiment of the invention, each carriage comprises, on at least one of its right and left sides, a longitudinal element forming a guide channel for a hooking bar of a carriage, intercepted at the front end of this longitudinal element, and an oblique guide starting from the region of the rear end of said longitudinal element and ending at an end point situated in the longitudinal axis of the carriage, while in the transition zone between the longitudinal element and the oblique guide, a curved or bent guide is pivotally mounted about a vertical axis located towards the rear end of said longitudinal element, the pivoting guide being movable between a closed position in which it comes to bear against the oblique guide, and an open position in which it is spaced from the oblique guide, means being provided for the temporary locking of the pivoting guide in the closed position , with automatic unlocking when passing the attachment bar of a carriage during attachment. Initially, the pivoting guides of all the carriages are put in the closed position. When taking the second carriage, the hooking bar of this second carriage slides first along the guide channel formed by the longitudinal element of the first carriage, then it is deflected towards the oblique guide by the curved guide or angled, still held in the closed position. The passage of the hooking bar then causes the opening of this guide and therefore, when taking the third carriage, the hooking bar of the latter will not be deflected towards the oblique guide of the first carriage, but will pass directly to the longitudinal element of the second carriage, and will only be deflected by the pivoting guide (still in the closed position) of the second carriage, and so on ...

 The longitudinal element, forming a guide channel, advantageously consists of a lateral spar of the chassis of a carriage, this spar being of "U" shaped cross section. Likewise, the or each oblique guide advantageously has a "U" profile, suitable for guiding the hooking bar up to the end point. As for the means for temporarily locking the pivoting guide, these may be constituted by a lock mounted to pivot about an axis transverse to the oblique guide, the lock comprising an internal flap located in the oblique guide, on the path of the bar 'hooking, and an external flap, linked in rotation to the internal flap and capable of holding the pivoting guide in the closed position. During its passage in the oblique guide, the hooking bar strikes the internal flap of the lock and makes it rotate, causing the simultaneous rotation of the external flap and the release of the curved or bent guide.

 According to a second embodiment of the invention, each carriage comprises, on at least one of its right and left sides, an oblique guide situated at the rear of this carriage, starting from the side considered of the carriage and leading to a end point located in the longitudinal axis of the carriage, while there is provided, at the front of the oblique guide, a hooking guide mounted pivoting about a vertical axis and movable between an open position, in which it protrudes on the side of the carriage, and a closed position, in which it is oriented in the longitudinal direction of the carriage and is connected to the front end of the oblique guide, means being provided for returning and stopping the hooking guide in the open position, and also to lock it in the closed position.

 The open position of the hooking guide, which is its initial position, allows it to intercept the hooking bar of a waiting carriage. The locked closed position, reached during the passage of the hooking bar, allows the guiding of said bar towards the oblique guide, and maintains the hooking guide in the retracted state (no longer projecting laterally); thus, when taking the next carriage, the attachment bar of this carriage will only be intercepted by the attachment guide, still in the open position, of the last towed carriage.

 The pivoting attachment guide advantageously has a "U" profile, and it comprises, in its part located in front of its pivot axis, a notch allowing the engagement of an intercepted attachment bar. This fastening guide is preferably subjected to the faction of a spring urging it towards its open position, defined by a fixed stop. As in the first embodiment, the or each oblique guide also advantageously has a "U" profile suitable for guiding the attachment bar to the end point.

 In the case of a device equipping the two sides of the carriages, each carriage comprises, at the rear, two oblique guides which start respectively from the two sides of the carriage, and which converge at the same end point situated in the longitudinal axis of the cart. Means can also be provided, at this end point, for retaining the hooking bar of a trolley taken in tow, in order to avoid any untimely stalling.

 On the whole, we thus obtain, by simple mechanical means, an automatic attachment device for carts which, when applied to carts supporting skips or other industrial waste containers, saves time and significant labor, providing a reduction of 50% or more in the costs of collecting and handling industrial waste, i.e. an overall saving of 20% fi 30% over the entire treatment cycle of this waste, with a limited initial investment.

In any case, the invention will be better understood with the aid of the description which follows, with reference to the appended schematic drawing representing, by way of example, some embodiments of this device for automatically attaching carriages:
Figure 1 is a plan view from above illustrating the principle of the carriages attachment device according to the present invention, in the case of a first embodiment;
Figure 2 is a plan view from below of a carriage equipped with the automatic attachment device according to the first embodiment;
Figure 3 is an end view, from the front, of the figure carriage;
Figure 4 is a partial detail view, in perspective, of this first automatic attachment device, during operation;
Figure 5 is a partial detail view, from the side and with partial section, corresponding to Figure 4;
FIG. 6 is a plan view from below representing a trolley equipped with the device for automatically hooking trolleys according to a second embodiment, with partial indication of another trolley ready to be hung;
Figure 7 is a partial end view, from the front, of a carriage of Figure 6;
Figure 8 is a plan view, similar to Figure 6, but illustrating subsequent phases of taking a cart;
Figures 9 and 10 are partial detail views, in perspective, of the latter automatic attachment device during operation, at two successive stages.

 As shown in FIG. 1, a first carriage 1 is towed by a motorized forklift 2, driven by a forklift driver, who heads in a straight line, in the direction of arrow F, on a workshop aisle. Other trolleys 3,4,5 and 6 are initially parked, perpendicular to the axis of the aisle traveled by the forklift 2. The device, object of the invention, allows the trolley 3 to be hooked to the first trolley 1 , then the carriage 4 to the preceding carriage 3, and so on, so as to gradually form a "train of carriages", as the forklift 2 advances, this automatically, that is to say without the driver being forced to get off his lift truck 2 to carry out manual coupling operations.

 As also shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each carriage, such as the carriage 1, has a total of four wheels, including two fixed rear wheels 7, and two front wheels 8 joined together in a directional axle 9, pivotally mounted around a vertical axis 10 relative to the chassis 11 of the carriage. The directional axle 9 is linked to a drawbar 12, which is provided with a vertical hooking bar 13 at its free end.

The chassis 11 of each carriage, such as the carriage 1, has two side rails 14, of inverted "U" section as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. At the rear of the carriage, beyond the two rails lateral 14, two oblique guides 15, also of "U" profile, are provided, which depart respectively from the two sides of the carriage, and which converge at an end point 16 situated in the longitudinal axis of the carriage. In the transition zone between each lateral spar 14 and the corresponding oblique guide 15, a curved or bent guide 17 is pivotally mounted, around a vertical axis 18 located on the side of the carriage, towards the rear end of the spar 14 and on the outside of it. The curved or bent guide 17 is thus movable between:
a closed position, in which it is applied externally against the corresponding oblique guide 15 (see FIG. 2, on the left, and FIG. 4 drawn in solid lines);
an open position in which this curved or bent guide 17 is moved away from the corresponding oblique guide 15 (see FIG. 2, on the right, and FIG. 4, drawn in dashed lines).

 Finally, the device comprises, on each side and at the level of the oblique guides 15, a pivoting latch 19 which comprises an internal flap 20 and an external flap 21, secured and pivotally mounted around a horizontal axis of rotation 22, orthogonal to the guide oblique 15. The internal flap 20 takes place inside the U-shaped profile of the oblique guide 15.

 In the parking position illustrated in FIG. 1, the carriages 4,5 and 6 still on standby are positioned so that their hooking bar 13 comes to protrude inside the aisle traversed by the forklift 2. It is the same, originally, for the carriage 3. It will also be noted that, on all the waiting carriages, the curved or bent guides 17 are held in the closed position, by the external flaps 21 of the pivoting latches 19 correspondents. It is the same, initially, for the guides 17 of the first carriage 1, towed by the forklift 2.

 To hook a waiting trolley, the forklift driver steers his forklift 2 so that the vertical hanging bar 13 of the next trolley encountered engages in the channel formed by a lateral spar 14 of a previous carriage, already in tow, entering through the open front end of this beam 14.

 More particularly, if only the first carriage 1 is already pulled by the forklift 2, it is the second carriage 3 which will first be encountered. The attachment bar 13 of this second carriage 3 will engage at point A, at the front end of the side member 14 of the first carriage 1. While the assembly formed by the forklift 2 and the first towed carriage 1 continues to advance along arrow F, the attachment bar 13 of the second carriage 3 slides in the channel of the beam 14 to point B, at the rear end of this beam 14.

Then, the curved or bent guide 17 still being held in the closed position, the hooking bar 13 of the second carriage engages in the oblique guide 15, and slides in this guide in the direction of the point.
C, corresponding to end point 16.

 When passing at the level of the lock 19, the attachment bar 13 of the second carriage 3 strikes the internal flap 20 of this lock 19 and makes it pivot; the external flap 21, also pivoting, then releases the curved or bent guide 17, which can thus return to the open position. This particular phase is illustrated in Figures 4 and 5.

 Simultaneously, the second carriage 3 initiates, by virtue of its directional axle 9, a forward and turn movement (illustrated at the bottom of FIG. 1), which brings you into alignment with the forklift 2 and the first carriage 1 , the attachment bar 13 of the second carriage 3 remaining retained at the end point 16 of the oblique guides 15 of the first carriage 1. Thus, the second carriage 3 forms the second "wagon" of a "train of carriages".

 The attachment of the third carriage 4 is carried out in a similar manner, taking account however of the attachment, previously carried out, of the second carriage 3. Thus, the attachment bar 13 of the third carriage 4 first engages in the front end of the beam 14 of the first towed carriage 1. Reaching the rear end of this beam 14, where the curved or bent guide 17 now remains open, the hook bar 13 of the third carriage 4 is not deflected toward the oblique guide 15 of the first carriage, but it emerges from said beam 14 then enters the corresponding beam 14 of the second carriage 3.

It is only when arriving at the rear end of this last spar 14 that the hooking bar 13 of the third carriage 4 is deflected, by the curved or bent guide 17 of the second carriage 3 still held in the closed position, in the oblique guide 15 of the second carriage 3. Thus, the third carriage 4 is hooked after the second carriage 3.

 The process of towing is analogous for the following carriages 5 and 6, and it is thus possible to constitute a "train of carriages", more or less numerous, without the operator having to get off the lift truck 2.

 The following figures 6 to 10 illustrate a second embodiment of the invention, applied to carriages 1,3 which, as before, each comprise a chassis 11, two fixed rear wheels 7 and two front wheels 8 joined together in a directional axle 9, pivoting about a vertical axis 10 and linked to a drawbar 12 provided with a vertical hanging bar 13.

 At the rear, each carriage 1 or 3 here again comprises two oblique guides 15, of inverted "U" profile, which depart respectively from the two sides of the carriage, and which converge at an end point 16 situated in the longitudinal axis of the cart.

In front of each oblique guide 15, on each side of the carriage 1, an attachment guide 23 is provided here, pivotally mounted around a vertical axis 24 on the chassis 11 of the carriage 1. Each attachment guide 23, also having a "U" profile, is subject to the faction of a return spring 25 and is stopped in rotation by a stop 26, fixed on the chassis 11 of the carriage 1. The attachment guide 23 is thus movable between :
an open position, in which this guide 23 has an oblique orientation, defined by the stop 26, and protrudes on one side of the carriage 1 (see FIG. 6 and FIG. 8, on the left);
a closed position, in which said guide 23 is oriented parallel to the longitudinal direction of the carriage 1, and is also connected to the front end of the oblique guide 15 located on the same side (see FIG. 8, on the right).

 Each attachment guide 23 also has, in its part located in front of its pivot axis 24, a wide notch 27.

 Locking means, not shown, also make it possible to temporarily maintain each hooking guide 23 in the closed position.

 The process allowing the carriages to be hung here successively one behind the other, is in principle the same as that described above for the first embodiment. In particular, the arrangement of the carriages before they are hooked up is the same: the first carriage 1, already towed by the forklift, advances in a straight line along the arrow F. The other waiting carriages, such as the second carriage 3 (see figure 6), are parked perpendicular to the direction of movement of the first carriage 1, their hooking bar 13 protruding in the aisle traversed by the forklift and by the first carriage. The attachment guides 23 of all the carriages 1,3, etc. are placed, initially, in the open position, a position which is maintained by the springs 25 and the stops 26.

 As shown in Figure 6, the carriage 1 pulled by the forklift moving along arrow F, its hooking guide 23 located on the right side (with reference to the figure) will intercept the hooking bar 13 of the second carriage 3 (see also figure 9). The attachment bar 13 then engages, through the notch 27, in the attachment guide 23, and it is guided in sliding in this guide 23, which it travels from front to back.

Once the attachment bar 13 has passed the pivot axis 24 of the attachment guide 23, the latter pivots around
The axis 24, against the action of the spring 25, moving away from the stop 26-see Figures 8 and 9. The attachment guide 23 is then placed in the continuity of the corresponding oblique guide 15 . Once this rotation has been brought to the closed position, the hooking guide 23 is held in said closed position by the locking means. The attachment bar 13 of the second carriage 3 can then continue its course, following the rear part of the attachment guide 23 (in the closed position) then the oblique guide 15 of the first carriage 1, to the end point 16.

 For the attachment of the third carriage, the attachment guide 23 (right side) of the first carriage 1 remaining in the closed position, the attachment bar 13 of this third carriage can pass freely on the side of the first carriage 1, and it will only be intercepted by the hooking guide 23 of the second carriage 3; the hooking process of the third carriage will be carried out in the same way as that of the second carriage, and so on.

 The automatic attachment device, previously described, is applicable in particular to trolleys which support self-tipping skips, or any other containing industrial waste. The invention allows in this case a rationalized collection of waste, produced or deposited at several points in a workshop, by grouping these trolleys in the form of convoys which are then directed to a collection point, where the waste can in particular be discharged in a larger bucket, all of these handling operations can be done without the operator having to get off his forklift.

 Once the carriages are off the hook, and brought back to their starting point, their movable guides 17 or 23 must be returned to the initial position, to allow a new automatic attachment, as described above.

It goes without saying that the invention is not limited to the sole embodiments of this device for automatically attaching carriages which have been described above, by way of examples; on the contrary, it embraces all of the variant embodiments and applications which respect the same principle. In particular, we would not depart from the scope of the invention:
by modifying the detail of the various guides, and where appropriate of their locking means;
by providing the device on one side (right or left) of the carriages, even if a symmetrical arrangement, therefore on both sides, is advantageous for making the device universal;
by supplementing the device with additional provisions, such as means for retaining the hooking bar at the end point of the oblique guides, or additional means for automatically detaching the carriages;
- by applying the device to carriages with steerable front wheels, without directional axle;
- by devoting this device to carts that can support any type of load or container;
-towing these carts by any suitable motorized towing vehicle, not necessarily a forklift.

Claims (13)

 1. Automatic attachment device for carriages, allowing a first carriage (1), towed by a motorized vehicle (2), to tow at least one other similar carriage (3,4,5,6) parked perpendicularly to the direction of movement (F) of the first carriage (1) and of the towing vehicle (2), characterized in that it comprises, on at least one of the right and left sides of the carriages (1,3, ... ), interception means (14,17,23) of a hooking bar (13) provided at the free end of the drawbar (12) of a carriage, and guide means (15) of said hooking bar (13) towards a hooking point (16) located at the rear of a carriage (1,3, ...), in the longitudinal axis thereof.  2. Automatic attachment device for carriages according to claim 1, characterized in that the interception means (14, 17, 23) and guide (15) of a hooking bar (13) are provided symmetrically on the two sides, respectively right and left, of the carriages (1,3 ...).  3. Automatic carriage attachment device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each carriage (1,3, ...) comprises, on at least one of its right and left sides, a longitudinal element ( 14) forming a guide channel for a hooking bar (13) of a carriage (3,4, ...), intercepted at the front end of this longitudinal element (14), and an oblique guide (15 ) starting from the region of the rear end of said longitudinal element (14) and ending at a terminal point (16) located in the longitudinal axis of the carriage, while, in the transition zone between the longitudinal element (14) and the oblique guide (15), a curved or bent guide (17) is pivotally mounted about a vertical axis (18) located towards the rear end of said longitudinal element (14), the pivoting guide (17) being movable between a closed position in which it comes to bear against the oblique guide (15), and an open position in which i l is moved away from the movable guide (15), means (19) being provided for the temporary locking of the pivoting guide (17) in the closed position, with automatic unlocking during the passage of the hanging bar (13) of a carriage (3,4, ...) during attachment.  4. Automatic attachment device for carriages according to claim 3, characterized in that the longitudinal element, forming a guide channel for a fastening bar (13), is constituted by a lateral spar (14) of the chassis (11 ) of a carriage (1,3, ...), this beam (14) being of section in the shape of a "U".  5. Automatic attachment device for carriages according to claim 4, characterized in that the or each oblique guide (15) also has a "U" profile, suitable for guiding the attachment bar (13), deflected towards this oblique guide (15) by the pivoting guide (17), to the end point (16).  6. Automatic attachment device for carriages according to claim 5, characterized in that the temporary locking means of the pivoting guide (17) consist of a latch (19) pivotally mounted about an axis (22) transverse to the guide oblique (15), the latch (19) comprising an internal flap (20) located in the oblique guide (15) on the path of the hanging bar (13), and an external flap (21), linked in rotation to the internal flap (20) and capable of holding the pivoting guide (17) in the closed position.  7. Device for automatically attaching carriages according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each carriage (1,3, ..) comprises, on at least one of its right and left sides, an oblique guide (15 ) located at the rear of this carriage, starting from the side considered of the carriage and ending at an end point (16) located in the longitudinal axis of the carriage, while it is provided, at the front of the oblique guide (15 ), a hooking guide (23) mounted pivoting about a vertical axis (24) and movable between an open position, in which it protrudes on the side of the carriage, and a closed position, in which it is oriented in the longitudinal direction of the carriage and is connected to the front end of the oblique guide (15), means (25, 26) being provided for returning and stopping the hooking guide (23) in the open position, and also to lock it in the closed position.  8. Automatic attachment device for carriages according to claim 7, characterized in that the pivoting attachment guide (23) has a "U" profile, and comprises, in its part located in front of its pivot axis ( 24), a notch (27) allowing the engagement of an intercepted hanging bar (13).  9. Automatic attachment device for carriages according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the attachment guide (23) is subjected to the action of a spring (25) urging it towards its open position, defined by a fixed stop (26).  10. Automatic attachment device for carriages according to claim 8, characterized in that the or each oblique guide (15) also has a "U" profile, suitable for guiding the attachment bar (13), up to end point (16).  11. Automatic trolley attachment device according to claim 2 and any one of claims 3 to 10, characterized in that each trolley (1,3, ...) comprises, at the rear, two oblique guides ( 15) which depart respectively from the two sides of the carriage, and which converge at the same end point (16) situated in the longitudinal axis of the carriage.  12. Automatic attachment device for carriages according to claim 11, characterized in that means are provided, at said end point (16), for retaining the hooking bar (13) of a carriage (3,4 , ...) taken in tow.  13. Automatic trolley attachment device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that it is applied to trolleys (1,3, ...) supporting skips or other containers, in particular of waste manufacturers to collect.