WO2000039000A1 - Pallet for storing and transporting goods comprising a roll-back base - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a pallet (10) for carrying and transporting loads which comprises a roll-back base (18). The pallet (10) can be made of two longitudinal members (12) which are joined by several cross-bars (14), the roll-back base (18) being guided on a closed, endless belt parallel to the longitudinal members (12) on deflection rollers (16, 17) situated parallel to the cross-bars (14). The pallet (10) can be configured such that it can move on rollers (26). A driving roller (28) for the roll-back base (18) can be brought directly or indirectly into driving contact with the ground. The driving roller (28) is driven by the rollers (26) via a clutch (56, 58) which can engaged and disengaged. The drive for the roll-back base (18) comprises a free-wheel so that the base (18) is moved by the driving roller (28) only when reversing. When the pallet (10) is reversed the drive moves the roll-back base (18) forward at the same speed so that the base (18) remains immobile in relation to the ground.

Description

 Pallet for storing and transporting goods with a roll-off floor

description

The invention relates to a pallet for transporting and storing goods.

From DE-A-40 36 702 a mobile container and a mobile pallet are known which have retractable wheels.

From DE-A-39 30 626 a truck with a movable loading floor is known. The loading floor is formed by an endless loading belt, which is guided at the ends of the loading area via deflection rollers. In order to be able to make optimum use of the loading space for a given overall height of the vehicle, the loading belt has several partial longitudinal belts and each cross-member of the chassis with its cross-sectional profile projects into the space between two adjacent partial longitudinal belts.

A horizontal conveyor is known from DE-U-94 02 204, in which a number of pallets are conveyed on roller chains on an endless path. The pallets are held by pawls at standby stations, loading stations and unloading stations. If the pawls are released, the pallets are taken from the roller chains by friction. On the underside, the pallets have counterholders which engage on the underside of the roller chains and are dimensioned such that their end faces bear against rollers of the chains in the region of the deflection wheels of the roller chains, so that the movement of the roller chains is transmitted to the pallets in a form-fitting manner .

From US-A-2, 432, 182 a pallet for transporting and for unloading loads is known. The bottom of the pallet is formed by a variety of rollers that overlap extend almost the entire width of the pallet and are held in a rectangular frame. The pallet rests on side rails so that a forklift can drive under the pallet and lift it. The pallet is lifted by the fork lift truck, the fork arms of which are equipped with a corresponding number of rollers. The rollers of the pallet and the forklift each have the same diameter and are arranged in the same grid, so that the rollers of the pallet come to rest between two rollers of the forklift. The forklift places the pallet at an unloading position and moves back. The rollers of the forklift roll on the ground and transfer their rotational movement to the rollers of the pallet, so that the load lying on the pallet rolls off the pallet. This rolling movement is exactly the opposite of the backward movement of the forklift and the pallet, so that the load remains in position as it rolls off the pallet.

Lifting cranes are often required to transfer large machines to and from a truck. In particular, when unloading such machines at the recipient, lifting cranes can sometimes not be used because, for example, the gate or ceiling height of the factory buildings is too low. If other means are used to unload the machine, there is often a risk of damage to the machine.

Another problem is that it takes a lot of time to load picked goods.

The invention has for its object to provide a range that can be used in many ways and can be unloaded in a particularly simple manner.

According to the invention, this object is achieved in that the pallet has a roll-off base. Because the floor can be rolled off, heavier machines or picked goods can be unloaded in such a way that the pallet is pulled away from under the machine or the picked goods. The loaded pallet is moved to the installation site using a forklift. The forklift can use the fork to engage in special shafts provided at the rear end of the pallet on the underside. At the place of installation, the forklift then slightly raises the rear end of the pallet and moves back so that the machine, the picked goods or the other load slowly slides off the pallet on the rollable floor.

The pallet can be formed by two longitudinal beams, which are connected by several cross struts, with the rollable floor running on a closed, endless path parallel to the longitudinal beams around guide rollers, which are parallel to the cross struts at the front and rear end of the pallet . The upper load-bearing strand of the rolling, circumferential floor can rest on a carrier plate, so that the machine or the other good rests on a flat surface.

The pallet can be mobile on heavy duty castors. Rigid heavy duty castors are suitably provided at the front end of the pallet and steerable heavy duty casters at the rear end.

The pallet can also have only the rigid heavy-duty rollers at the front end. At the rear end of the pallet, a turntable is then arranged on the underside, which has a receiving shaft into which the fork arms of a forklift can engage in order to raise the rear end and to move the pallet.

Pallets for lighter loads do not have to have rollers, as they can be lifted by a forklift truck. The roll-off floor can be driven by a hydraulic motor or an electric motor, which is supplied by the hydraulics or the battery of the forklift.

The pallet can also have a drive roller for the rollable floor, which can be brought into drive contact with the ground or other underground. When resetting, the movement of the pallet can thus be converted 1: 1 into an opposite rolling movement of the rollable floor, so that the machine or the other load cannot be changed and precisely positioned when the pallet is pulled away. For this purpose, a drive roller is preferably arranged at one end of the pallet, which can be brought into drive contact with the ground by lifting the other end of the pallet. The drive rollers can also be driven by a gear or a drive chain from the rigid heavy duty rollers at the front end of the pallet. A switchable coupling is expediently provided between the drive rollers and the heavy-duty rollers.

Using the same procedure, a machine or other load can also be reloaded into a truck via a loading ramp.

For heavy loads, the roll-off floor consists of a chain belt. For lighter loads, it is sufficient if the roll-off floor is designed as a plastic band.

A so-called black box can be attached to the pallet, which continuously records the environmental conditions to which the pallet is exposed during transport. It is particularly useful to continuously record the vibrations and the temperature conditions. In the event of damage to the goods or spoiled goods, the cause of the damage or spoilage of the goods can then be determined subsequently. The pallet according to the invention also enables the pre-commissioning of small parts and smaller packaging units regardless of the actual loading time. The small parts and smaller packaging units are put together on a single pallet in the warehouse, whereby the dimensions of the pallet are only limited by the size of the truck loading area. After the truck arrives, the pallet with the goods that have already been picked is pushed into the truck via the loading ramp. The pallet can remain in the truck to bring the goods to their destination on the pallet in the hall or to another place where the goods are to be unloaded. For unloading, the pallet is then raised again by means of a forklift at the rear end, so that the drive roller comes into contact with the ground, or the coupling between the heavy-duty rollers and the drive rollers is engaged and the pallet is then withdrawn, so that the goods standing on the rollable floor are removed the pallet is unloaded. In the same way, the goods can be placed in the truck by lifting the rear end of the pallet and pulling the pallet back if the pallet itself is not to be transported.

Warehouse personnel can thus be saved at peak times and the loading workflow can be rectified in time. Goods can be picked around the clock and therefore with a small number of permanent staff. This also counteracts the causes of incorrect and incorrect loading.

In the case of fruit, vegetables and other foodstuffs and ripened products, the pallet according to the invention also makes it possible to carry out commissioned storage, since the goods can be put together on the pallet at any time in the warehouse. When the truck intended for transport to the customer or recipient arrives, the pallet in question can be pushed into the truck immediately. Here, too, the goods can be loaded from the pallet into the truck immediately or the goods can be transported on the pallet in the truck and then from the pallet at the destination. unloaded. In principle, the pallet can also be shipped using the pool method, so that the advantage of easier unloading at the destination is exploited.

For bulky goods and goods that require special handling, e.g. Vehicles, cars, individual versions of the range according to the invention are possible, e.g. with a container-like structure. With such a structure, the pallet can be locked and is also suitable as a customs goods box and for more secure and faster shipping of customs goods.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing. Show it:

1 shows a pallet according to a first exemplary embodiment from the side;

Figure 2 shows the pallet of Figure 1 in plan view;

3 shows the pallet from FIG. 1 in a view from the front;

4 shows a pallet according to a second exemplary embodiment from above;

FIG. 5 shows a detail from FIG. 4 with the coupling for the drive rollers;

Figure 6 shows the pallet of Figure 4 from the side;

FIG. 7 shows a detail from FIG. 6 with the steering stool at the rear end of the pallet;

Figure 8 shows a detail of Figure 6 with the front end of the pallet; Fig. 9 shows a detail of a pallet according to a third embodiment from above and

Fig. 10 shows the detail of Fig. 9 from the side.

Figures 1 to 3 show a first embodiment of a pallet 10 according to the invention. The pallet 10 has two side longitudinal members 12 which are connected by a plurality of cross struts 14, so that a rectangular frame is formed. At the front and rear end of the pallet 10, deflection rollers 16, 17 are mounted in front of the foremost and behind the last cross strut 14 and parallel to these cross struts 14. An endless chain belt 18, which spans the entire width between the longitudinal beams 12, is guided over the deflection rollers 16, 17 as a rollable base. A support plate 20 is fastened on the cross struts 14, on which the upper run of the chain belt 18 rests. The lower run is guided by means of guide rollers 22. A drive chain 24 is attached to each of the two lateral edges of the chain belt 18. The pallet 10 rolls on heavy duty rollers 26, which are provided on the underside of the side members.

At the front end of the longitudinal beams 12, a drive roller 28 is mounted, which is coupled to a gear wheel which engages in the drive chain 24. The gear wheel can also be attached directly to the drive roller 28 as a toothed ring. Normally, the drive roller 28 has no ground contact because it sits slightly higher than the heavy duty rollers 26. Only when the rear end of the pallet 10 is raised a little does the drive roller 28 have ground contact and rotate when the pallet is moved. This movement v ^τ ird is transferred to the chain belt 18, in the opposite direction, since the gearwheel engages on the outside of the drive chain 24. The chain belt 18 is then apparently stationary.

Depending on the requirements of the application, a one-way clutch can be present, so that the chain belt 18 only at a reset of the pallet 10 is driven, in the forward direction. A clutch can also be provided, with which the gear wheel can be engaged and disengaged with the drive roller 28.

In order to be able to move the pallet 10 with a forklift, the two rearmost cross struts 14 'and 14' 'are provided with shafts 30 which are horizontal, longitudinal openings in the cross struts 14', 14 '' and into which the stacker fork can be inserted is. The last cross strut 14 'is rigidly connected to the frame and its shaft 30' corresponds to approximately 150% of the fork width and is rounded at the edges 32. The penultimate cross strut 14 ″ is connected to the frame via a swivel joint 34 and can thereby be displaced horizontally in the transverse direction. The shaft 30 '' of this cross strut 14 '' corresponds precisely to the stacker fork (including the guide nose of the stacker fork). In the vertical direction, the shafts 30 are dimensioned such that the fork with the metal hook, which will be explained later, passes through them. On the swivel joint 34, heavy-duty rollers 26 'are arranged on each side of the pallet, which can thereby be steered by means of the swivel joint 34. The steerable heavy-duty rollers 26 'can thus be controlled by pivoting the forklift fork, so that the pallet 10 can be moved and controlled with the aid of a forklift.

At the rear end of the pallet, an access ramp 36 is articulated, which can be folded down by means of a lever (not shown) for loading and raised for transport.

The front edge of the carrier plate 20 is set back somewhat and from there the chain track 18 runs downwards over a guide roller 38 at a flat angle to the front deflection roller 16, which is consequently somewhat lower than the rear deflection roller 17. In front of the front deflection roller 16 the nei supply chain chain 18 continued in a short ramp 40 to just above the floor.

Small, vertical metal rollers (not shown) are provided at the corners of the frame for better rolling on the side walls in the truck.

A container can be built on the frame consisting of the longitudinal beams 12 and the cross struts 14. For this purpose, side walls 42 are fastened by means of guide bolts in plug-in holes 44 in the side members 12. The side walls 42 are stabilized by cross bars or rods (not shown) on the front and back. The side walls 42 consist of aluminum or sheet metal which offers little resistance (ease of sliding). They can be supplemented on the front and rear sides by lockable swing doors.

The pallet 10 according to the invention serves to simplify loading and to save time in the transport system and for goods picking. The pallet 10 can be loaded in the usual way by means of forklifts, lift trucks or hand trucks. The laterally attachable walls 42 made of aluminum or sheet metal serve to be able to stack the goods up to the height of the truck, particularly in the case of small packaging or freight forwarding goods. It is irrelevant here if the pallet 10 is only partially loaded due to smaller quantities.

The loading process is as follows: The forklift approaches the pallet 10 with a metal hook that is attached to the fork and stands up. The ramp 36 is folded up with the lever. The forklift moves the forks into the provided shafts 30 as far as it will go. Due to the steering axis of the heavy duty casters 26 'and the movable cross strut 14'', the pallet 10 can be maneuvered by means of the forklift and pushed into the truck. The vertical metal rollers at the corners of the pallet 10 provide easier resistance when moving in give. If the pallet does not travel to the destination in the truck, the forklift slightly raises the pallet 10 and pulls it backwards out of the truck. By lifting the connection between the now backward running gear of the drive roller 28 and the drive chains 24 located on the sides of the chain belt 18 was closed, so that the chain belt 18 rolls in the opposite direction due to the force acting in the opposite direction and pointing forward and the places goods on it 1: 1 in the truck. Now the empty pallet 10 can be put back in its original place for further use.

If the pallet 10 travels to the destination in the truck, the forklift does not lift the pallet 10, but only drives backwards so that the fork is pulled out of the shafts 30 and the pallet 10 remains in the loading space of the truck. At the destination, the pallet 10 is pulled out of the truck with a forklift, the forklift at the front end of the fork having the upward metal hook and driving the fork into the shafts 30 so that the metal hook engages in front of the rearmost cross strut 14 '. If necessary, disengaging a coupling between the drive rollers 28 and the chain belt 18 prevents the goods from sliding off the pallet 10 when the pallet 10 is pulled back. The pallet 10 is thus moved into the warehouse and can then be unloaded by lifting and pulling the pallet 10 backwards, the clutch being engaged beforehand.

There is also the possibility of firmly mounting a movable hook or other coupling device at the rear end of the pallet 10, for example on the rear cross strut 14 ', which is hooked or coupled onto the vertically standing plate of the forklift truck. In this variant, not every forklift needs to be equipped with the hook at the front end of the fork, so that the pallet 10 can be maneuvered with any commercially available forklift. An embodiment without a drive chain and drive roller is also possible. For unloading, the machine or other goods is then tied to a point outside the pallet and the pallet is pulled back so that the machine or other goods are set down on the floor by the roll-off chain belt and via the ramp.

Crane loading is also possible, for which the entire range is also moved by crane using eyelets on the side members.

Figures 4 to 8 show a second embodiment of the pallet according to the invention. The second embodiment corresponds essentially to the first embodiment. The following deviations exist:

There are no rear castors. Instead, a steering bolster 50 is provided at the rear end of the pallet 10, which consists of a turntable 52 and a shaft 54. The shaft 54 is dimensioned so that a forklift can move the fork arms into it and then lift the rear end of the pallet 10 and push the pallet 10 forward or backward. The pallet 10 can be steered by the articulated connection which is produced by the steering bolster 50.

At the front end of the pallet 10, the drive roller 28 is driven by the heavy-duty rollers 26 by means of gear wheels 56, 58. The drive chain 24 transmits the rotation from the drive roller 28 to the deflection roller 16. The drive connection between the drive roller 28 and the heavy-duty rollers 26 can be coupled by means of a toothed coupling, so that the drive connection can be released. For engaging and disengaging, the gear wheel 56 seated on the axis of the heavy-duty rollers 26 is shifted via a Bowden cable 60 by means of a lever 62. In addition, a clutch, not shown in detail, is integrated in the clutch, so that also in coupled state, the pallet 10 can be pushed forward without the rotation of the heavy duty rollers 26 being transmitted to the chain or plastic belt 18.

The chain belt 18 is divided into three belts of the same width. The standing metal rollers 64 at the corners of the pallet can be seen in Fig. 5.

The rolling ramp 40 at the front end of the pallet 10 is designed as a spring-loaded flap. The rolling ramp 40 is pivoted upward in the idle state by a spring, not shown in detail. When a load is unrolled, the unwind ramp 40 is folded down, as a result of which the step at the front end of the pallet 10 is bridged and the load can be unrolled smoothly.

9 and 10 show a third embodiment. In this case, the chain or plastic belt 18 is not driven by the heavy-duty rollers 26, but by an electric or hydraulic motor 70, which is driven by a motor, not shown

Line is fed by the battery or hydraulic system of the forklift. The electric or hydraulic motor 70 can also be supplied by another energy source or have its own energy supply, for example accumulators, for driving the chain or plastic belt 18.

List of reference numbers

palette

Side member

Cross struts, 17 pulleys

Chain strap

Carrier plate

Leadership roles

Drive chain

Heavy duty casters

Drive roller

Manholes

edge

Swivel

Ramp

Leadership role

ramp

side walls

Holes

Steering stool

Slewing ring

Shaft, 58 gears

Bowden cable

Lever standing castors

Electric or hydraulic motor

Claims

claims 1. Pallet (10) for carrying and transporting loads, characterized by a roll-off floor (18). 2. Pallet (10) according to claim 1, characterized by two longitudinal beams (12) which are connected by a plurality of cross struts (14), the rollable base (18) on a closed, endless path parallel to the longitudinal beams (12) around guide rollers (16, 17) which are parallel to the cross struts (14). 3. Pallet (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by a carrier plate (20) on which the region of the rollable bottom (18) rests, on which loads can be placed. 4. Pallet (10) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the pallet (10) on rollers (26) is mobile. 5. Pallet (10) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by a drive roller (28) for the rollable floor (18), which can be brought directly or indirectly into drive contact with the ground. 6. Pallet (10) according to claim 5, characterized in that the drive roller (28) is arranged at one end of the pallet (10) and can be brought into drive contact by lifting the other end of the pallet (10). 7. Pallet (10) according to claim 5, characterized in that the drive roller (28) via an engaging and disengaging clutch (56, 58) is driven by the rollers (26). 8. Pallet (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at the rear end of the pallet (10) there is a shaft (30, 54) into which the fork arms of a forklift can be inserted in order to move the pallet (10). 9. Pallet (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drive for the roll-off floor (18) has a freewheel so that the floor (18) is only moved by the drive roller (28) when reversing. 10. Pallet (10) according to claim 9, characterized in that when the pallet (10) moves backwards, the roll-off floor (18) is moved forward by the drive at the same speed, so that the floor (18) stands still relative to the ground.