LOADING SYSTEM FOR LOADING AND UNLOADING TRUCKS WITH PALLETS IN TRANSVERSE DIRECTION

Abstract

A loading system for loading and unloading cargo compartments of trucks includes conveyors positioned parallel or substantially parallel to one another and such that standard pallets can be moved back and forth on the conveyors in a conveying direction, and an autonomous conveyor vehicle. The conveyors are positioned at a height above a floor such that the conveyor vehicle with vertically movable pallet fork assemblies can be positioned below the conveyors.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A loading system for loading and unloading cargo spaces of trucks, the loading system comprising: conveyors positioned parallel or substantially parallel to each other and such that pallets can be moved back and forth on the conveyors in a conveying direction; and an autonomous conveyor vehicle including at least one steerable wheel; wherein the conveyors are positioned at a height above a floor such that below the conveyors, the conveyor vehicle with vertically movable pallet fork assemblies can be positioned.

17. The loading system according to claim 16, wherein the conveyor vehicle includes at least two pallet fork assemblies each including two parallel and spaced pallet forks.

18. The loading system according to claim 16, wherein the conveyors protrude at least about 0.8 m beyond free ends of the pallet fork assemblies in the conveying direction when the conveyor vehicle is in a rest position below the conveyors.

19. The loading system according to claim 16, wherein a total of six parallel chain conveyors are provided such that adjacent pairs of the chain conveyors are spaced at a distance of about 0.5 m to about 0.7 m from one another.

20. The loading system according to claim 16, further comprising a feed area upstream of the chain conveyor in the conveying direction, and a roller conveyor with rollers whose axes of rotation are aligned transversely to the conveying direction.

21. The loading system according to claim 20, wherein chain conveyors operating transversely to the conveying direction are provided in the feed area to transfer the pallets on the roller conveyor.

22. The loading system according to claim 20, wherein the rollers are capable of being at least partially braked and driven.

23. The loading system according to claim 20, wherein an alignment aid is provided transversely to the conveying direction upstream of the feed area.

24. The loading system according to claim 16, further comprising measuring columns with sensors to measure a loading space opening not belonging to the loading system.

25. The loading system according to claim 16, wherein the conveyor vehicle includes at least one drive, at least one lifter and a controller.

26. The loading system according to claim 16, wherein the conveyor vehicle includes sensors to assist with navigation within a loading space.

27. The loading system according to claim 26, wherein the conveyor vehicle includes an accumulator to supply power to the drive, the lifter and the controller, and the accumulator is electrically chargeable by an electrical coupling or inductively in the loading system.

28. The loading system according to claim 16, wherein the conveyor vehicle does not project beyond the chain conveyors in a rest position below the chain conveyors.

29. The loading system according to claim 16, wherein the floor includes a base plate on which at least the feed area and the chain conveyor are mounted.

30. The loading system according to claim 28, wherein the base plate is mounted on rollers or on a rail system so as to be movable transversely to the conveying direction.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in more detail with reference to the drawing.

[0024] FIG. 1 shows a self-propelled conveyor vehicle for a loading system in a side view with lowered pallet fork units.

[0025] FIG. 2 shows the conveyor vehicle from FIG. 1 with the pallet fork units raised.

[0026] FIG. 3 shows perspective views of the loading system with the conveyor vehicle in the rest position.

[0027] FIG. 4 shows the loading system of FIG. 3 with a row of two pallets put in place and a semi-trailer having approached the loading system with the loading space opening.

[0028] FIG. 5 shows the loading system from FIG. 4, where the row of pallets has been moved towards the trailer.

[0029] FIG. 6 shows the loading system of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, in which the pallets have been lifted from the conveyor vehicle and removed from the chain conveyors and moved towards the loading space opening.

[0030] FIG. 7 shows the loading system shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, in which the conveyor vehicle with the pallets has driven all the way into the loading space of the trailer and deposited the pallets there.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a side view of a self-propelled conveyor vehicle 1 as part of the loading system to be described here. The conveyor vehicle 1 has a chassis 2 with support rollers 3 and steered drive wheels 4. The steered drive wheels 4 are arranged on a drive block 6. The drive block 6 includes the elements not shown here for control, drive and batteries for energy storage for the operation of the conveyor vehicle 1 and, if necessary, stabilizing weights. In addition, the drive block 6 carries a number of lifting units 7 which are connected to pallet fork units 8 and which are arranged to raise and lower the pallet fork units 8 in response to a control system, together with any load thereon. The pallet fork units 8 are shown in FIG. 1 in a lowered condition. The height of the upper side of the pallet fork units 8 above the contact surface corresponds at most to the clear height under a standard pallet for logistics. The support wheels 3 are arranged below the lifting units 7, as far as possible in the direction of the pallet fork units 8.

[0032] The conveyor vehicle 1 is also equipped with sensors 10 and additional safety sensors 11, which provide the necessary information for the autonomous navigation of the conveyor vehicle 1. Furthermore, a coupling is provided on the rear side in the direction of travel, which is used to charge the energy storage device when the conveyor vehicle 1 is docked to the loading system in the rest position.

[0033] In FIG. 2, the conveyor vehicle 1 is shown in a view corresponding to FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, the lifting units 7 are raised together with the pallet fork units 8 attached to them.

[0034] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an example of a loading system at rest. The loading system comprises the conveyor vehicle 1 and a chain conveyor arrangement 13 with a number of chain conveyors 13a to 13f. A conveying direction F is indicated by an arrow in FIG. 3. For loading trucks, the load is conveyed in conveying direction F, and for unloading a truck, the load is conveyed against conveying direction F.

[0035] The chain conveyor arrangement 13 has a feed area 14 in which a rear alignment aid 16 is provided transverse to the conveying direction F, which can preferably be raised and lowered during operation. Furthermore, at least two, but preferably three vertically movable chain conveyors 15 are integrated in the feed area 14 in order to be able to regulate the distance between the pallets and to realize a second conveying direction transverse to the conveying direction F.

[0036] The chain conveyors 13a to 13f are arranged downstream of the feed area 14 in conveying direction F. Their orientation is chosen such that they can be driven parallel to the conveying direction F in both directions. In detail, a total of six individual conveyor chains 13a to 13f are provided, of which the conveyor chains 13a and 13b are spaced between 0.5 m and 0.7 m apart, so that the total width of the two chain conveyors corresponds to the width of a standard pallet. The conveyor chain 13c is arranged immediately adjacent to the conveyor chain 13b. The distance between the conveyor chains 13c and 13d again corresponds to the width of a standard pallet. The conveyor chain 13e is arranged directly next to the conveyor chain 13d. Finally, the distance between the conveyor chains 13e and 13f again corresponds to the width of a standard pallet. In total, therefore, three pallets can be placed on the chain conveyor 13 in the longitudinal direction and transported there in parallel at the same time. However, the conveyor chains arranged in this way also allow two pallets loaded in the transverse direction to be carried.

[0037] The conveyor vehicle 1 is shown in the rest position below the chain conveyor 13. In this perspective view, it can be seen that the conveyor vehicle 1 consists of a total of three modules, each of which has its own pallet fork unit 8 and two lifting modules 7 assigned to the pallet fork unit 8. Not all pallet forks are shown here.

[0038] The loading system is arranged on a floor, in this case in the form of a base plate 20, which supports a measuring column 21 on the right and left respectively (as seen in the direction of conveyance F). The measuring columns 21 are provided with a number of sensors, not shown in more detail, and are set up to measure the exact position of the loading bay opening as soon as a truck has approached the ramp. Further, the base plate 20 carries a flap 22 which can be folded down in the conveying direction F during operation as soon as a loading space opening is ready. The flap 22 bridges a distance and, if necessary, a height difference between the loading space opening and the base plate 20.

[0039] FIG. 4 shows the situation already indicated above, in which a semitrailer 25 of a truck with a loading space opening 26 has been driven up to a ramp (not shown) of a storage building. The flap 22 is folded down and rests on a loading space floor 27 of the semitrailer 25. In contrast to FIG. 3, the loading process has already begun. For this purpose, two pallets 28 have been placed on the feed area 14 parallel to each other. For alignment in the conveying direction F, the pallets 28 can be moved backwards against the alignment aid 16. The two pallets 28 form a row which is to be conveyed into the loading area of the trailer 25.

[0040] The next step is shown in FIG. 5. Here, the pallets 28 have first been conveyed forward from the feed area 14 in the conveying direction F on the chain conveyor 13, on which one pallet 28 at a time is positioned in transverse orientation as described above on a total of three spaced chain conveyors. The chain conveyor 13, in turn, has conveyed the pallets 28 in the conveying direction F to such an extent that they have been moved beyond the pallet fork units 8 of the conveyor vehicle 1.

[0041] The positioning of the pallets 28 on the chain conveyor 13 now allows the pallet fork units 8 of the conveyor vehicle 1 to be lifted by means of the lifting units 7. The pallet fork units 8 can be adjusted transversely to the conveying direction F and are set in such a way that they fit into the openings on the longitudinal side on the underside of the pallets 28 and, accordingly, also between the respective spaced-apart chain conveyors on which the pallets 28 are standing.

[0042] The conveyor vehicle 1 can thus insert the pallet forks 8 into the lateral openings of the pallets 28 and lift the two pallets 28 off the chain conveyors 13a to 13f by means of the pallet fork units 8. It then carries the load of the two pallets 28 standing next to each other, which are shown here without the goods being transported on them for the sake of clarity.

[0043] Before the conveyor vehicle 1 now autonomously moves off in conveying direction F with the pallets 28 carried by the pallet fork units 8, the sensors of the measuring columns 21 measure the loading space opening 26 and determine the exact position in the transverse direction and in the vertical direction. This information is transmitted to a control system of the conveyor vehicle 1, which is not shown, which can then approach the loading space opening 26 in an aimed manner. For this purpose, the steerable drive wheels 4 shown in FIG. 1 are provided, which can steer the conveyor vehicle 1 precisely into the loading space opening 26.

[0044] FIG. 6 illustrates how the conveyor vehicle 1 moves with the pallets 28 removed from the chain conveyors 13 in the direction of the loading space opening 26. The pallet fork units 8 are still raised here. It can be seen that the total of six pallet forks 8 have been adjusted in the transverse direction so that two pallet forks 8 each have been inserted into the two outer openings of the pallets 28, while only one pallet fork 8 each engages in the two inner openings.

[0045] Before they are moved into the loading area opening 26, the pallet fork units 8 are lowered so that even pallets loaded to the intended maximum height can be moved safely into the loading area opening 26 without hitting the upper edge. In the process, the pallet fork units 8 are lowered to such an extent that the pallets do not yet come into contact with the base plate 20, the flap 22 or the load compartment floor 27. For positioning and navigation within the loading space, the sensors 10 can be read by the control system. Generally, the conveyor vehicle 1 will navigate so that it is centered on the load compartment floor 27 between the side walls of the trailer 25.

[0046] With the pallet fork units 8 lowered, the conveyor vehicle 1 can now drive into the trailer 25 together with the pallets 28, namely to the end position shown in FIG. 7, in which the pallets 28 are then parked for further transport by lowering the pallet fork units 8 to such an extent that the pallets 28 then stand up on the loading space floor 27 and the pallet forks 8 can be pulled out of the openings when the conveyor vehicle 1 reverses. Without the pallets 28, the conveyor vehicle 1 can automatically reverse backward to the starting position against the conveying direction F.

[0047] Once the pallets 28 have been transferred from the feed area 14 to the chain conveyor 13, i.e. from about the position illustrated in FIG. 5, further pallets can be deposited on the feed area 14 until a new row of two pallets is formed. With this new row of pallets, the loading operation described with respect to FIGS. 4 to 7 then continues, with the conveyor vehicle 1 placing the new row of pallets on the loading area floor 27 of the trailer 25 in the conveying direction F immediately behind the rows of pallets 28 already located there. This continues until all pallets have been processed or the loading space of the semitrailer 25 is completely filled.

[0048] Unloading of a loaded semitrailer 25 is carried out analogously in reverse order. For this purpose, the conveyor vehicle 1 moves into the filled loading space of the trailer 25, lifts one row of pallets at a time and places them on the chain conveyor 13, from which the pallets are then moved in the opposite direction to the conveying direction F to the loading area 14, where they can be removed by a forklift truck.

[0049] The conveyor vehicle 1 can be charged via a corresponding electric coupling or an inductive charging device in the rest position illustrated in FIG. 3, between the respective trips and in particular also during waiting times between two loading operations.

[0050] With the new loading system, rows of two pallets can be moved in the transverse direction or three pallets in the longitudinal direction in the manner described, whereby when the orientation of the pallets is changed, only the positions of the second and fifth pallet forks need to be adjusted to fit, if this is necessary at all depending on the design of the pallets.

[0051] It is evident that the new loading system does not require any new installations in the trailer of the truck or in corresponding swap bodies or containers, but can also be used with standard vehicles. It can also be seen that the space required in the warehouse building in the ramp area is significantly less than with systems in which the entire load of usually 16×2 pallets in the transverse direction or 11×3 pallets in the longitudinal direction has to be positioned on a conveyor system and then conveyed overall into the loading space.

[0052] While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it is to be understood that variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention, therefore, is to be determined solely by the following claims.