GB1584071A - Rola-mobile - Google Patents

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO THE LOADING OF GOODS INTO CONTAINERS (71) I, NOEL REEVES, of 58 Reynolds Way, Raglan Road, Smethwick, Warley, West Midlands, a British Subject, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: - In the context of the present invention the expression containers means vehicular bodies havingat least one axle carrying road wheels and includes, for example, a van body, a railway truck and the trailer of an articulated vehicle.

The invention provides a container for goods to be transported including a floor portion, side walls and a headboard; conveying means forming at least a part of the floor portion and extending for substantially the length of the container for conveying goods from end of the container to.the other; a false head board located in the container and arranged to be moved from one end thereof to the other simultaneously with and at substantially the same speed as the said conveying means; and drive means for imparting drive to the false head board and the said conveying means, said conveyings means comprising a plurality of parallel spaced-apart rollers mounted in said floor portion for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the length of the container, the rolling surfaces of the said rollers lying proud of the said floor portion and at least a proportion of the said rollers being driven.

The false head board may be mounted on horizontally extending members projecting parallel to the sides of the container and supported on freely rotatable rollers located on said member and arranged to move along a horizontal track provided on each side of the container and extending substantially the length thereof. Preferably the track is located in a channel located externally of the container.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing. The said drawing is a diagrammatic, partially broken away, representation of a container of the present invention.

A container generally, indicated at 1, is shown with two open ends 2 and 3. Normally end 2 will be the dosed end of the con-' tainer and will have a fixed head board and end 3 will be the loading or unloading end closed by doors or the like. For convenience the container roof which may be of any conventional type has been omitted.

Walls 4 and 5 of container 1 include upper horizontal channels 6 and 6' and lower horizontal channels 8 and 8' respectively, joined by vertically extending channels 9 (9') and 10, all channels being on the exterior of the container walls.

Wall 4 contains a lengthwise slot 13 (wall 5, 13') opening into channel 6 (6').

False head board 30 is mounted on two horizontal arms 31 (only one shown) attached to a frame 32 to provide a rigid mounting. Freely rotatable wheels 33 and 34 -(33' and 34') are on the end of axles 35 and 36 (35' and 36' (not shown)) at each end of arm 31 and are positioned to run along the bottom surface of channel 6 (6').

As shown in the drawing the false head board is positioned at the loading end of a platform 20.

A series of driven rollers 22, extending the full width of the container 1, are positioned in platform 20 having a false floor 21 with their rolling surfaces just proud of the false floor 21. The rollers 22 are mounted on stub axles (not shown) located in bearings (not shown) contained in channels 8(8').

Each roller is arranged to drive an adjacent roller by means of sprockets 23 (23') keyed onto the roller axles and chain drive 25 (25'). Drive to the rollers is transmitted by sprocket 26 and chain 27 to sprocket 23a keyed onto the axle of the rearmost of rollers 22. Sprocket 26 is keyed onto shaft 28 of an electric motor 29 mounted on the floor 21 of platform 20.

A sprocket 37 (37') is also keyed onto the axle of the rearmost of rollers 22. A corresponding sprocket 38 (38') is carried by the axle of roller 22 at the other end of the platform 20. A chain drive 39 (39') having ends 40 and 41 (40' and 41') passes round sprockets 37 and 38 (37' and 38') and additional freely rotatable sprockets 42 and 43 (42' and 43') mounted at the ends of channels 6 and 6'. Ends 40 and 41 (40' and 41') of chain 39 (39') are attached to axles 35 (35') a nd 36 (36') and the chain passed around sprockets 37, 38 and 42 and 43 (37', 38', 42', and 43'). Suitable selection of the sizes of sprockets 37 and 38 allows the false head board 30 to move at the same speed and in the same direction as the peripheral surface of rollers 22.

Rollers 22 are also supported by centre bearings (not shown) to prevent bowing when carrying heavy loads.

In use the head board 30 is initially moved to the loading end of the container as shown in the drawing. Goods which may be on pallets, for example are stacked on surfaces of rollers 22 projecting above floor 20, adjacent the false head board 30. When the end portion of the container has been filled motor 29 is actuated to cause the false head board 30 to move towards end 2 of the container. Simultaneously the rollers 22 move the goods stacked thereon in the same direction and at the same speed to provide further space on which additional goods may be stacked. This operation is repeated until the container has been filed.

Unloading is the reverse of the loading operation.

The container of the present invention is especially useful when part loads are being carried, since the goods are stored between the false head board and the container and are therefore restrained against movement inside the container without the necessity for extra securing.

The container has particular application when part deliveries are being made. After each delivery has been made the false head board and goods are moved to fill the empty space at the unloading end of the container ready for the next delivery.

The container may, of course, be used for heavy goods such as machinery when rollers 22 enable loading to be carried out more readily than with conventional techniques.

Other niethods for imparting drive to the fixed head board and rollers may be em plowed. Thus each roller may be intergeared with adjacent rollers and drive transmitted to one roller by a bevel gear carried on the drive shaft. The drive shaft may, of course, be driven directly from a vehicle engine by the provision of suitable drive shafts, clutch and gearing arrangements.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: - 1. A container for goods to be transported including a floor portion, side walls and a head board; conveying means forming at least a part of the floor portion and extending for substantially the length of the container for conveying goods from one end of the container to the other; a false head board located in the container and arranged to be moved from one end thereof to the other simultaneously with and at substantially the same speed as the said conveying means; and drive means for imparting drive to the false head board and the said conveying means, said conveying means comprising a plurality of parallel spaced apart rollers mounted in said floor portion for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the length of the container, the rolling surfaces of the said rollers lying proud of the said floor portion and at least a proportion of the said rollers being driven.

2. A container according to Claim 1 wherein the second means includes a drive shaft having means for transmitting drive to said false head board and said conveying means.

3. A container according to Claim 2 wherein the drive shaft is driven by an independent motor.

4. A container according to Claims 2 or 3 wherein one roller is driven by the said drive means, and each other driven roller by an endless belt engaging an adjacent driven roller.

5. A container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sides of the container include tracks extending substantially along the length thereof and spaced from the roof portion and said false head board includes freely rotatable rollers arranged to run in said tracks.

6. A container according to Claim 8 wherein said tracks are contained in channels located externally of said container.

7. A container according to Claims 5 or 6 wherein said freely rotatable rollers are carried on horizontally projecting members attached to said false head board, and extending parallel to said track.

8. A container according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said head board is moved along the length of the container by belt means having two ends, each end being directly or indirectly fixedly at

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (9)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. axle of the rearmost of rollers 22. A corresponding sprocket 38 (38') is carried by the axle of roller 22 at the other end of the platform 20. A chain drive 39 (39') having ends 40 and 41 (40' and 41') passes round sprockets 37 and 38 (37' and 38') and additional freely rotatable sprockets 42 and 43 (42' and 43') mounted at the ends of channels 6 and 6'. Ends 40 and 41 (40' and 41') of chain 39 (39') are attached to axles 35 (35') a nd 36 (36') and the chain passed around sprockets 37, 38 and 42 and 43 (37', 38', 42', and 43'). Suitable selection of the sizes of sprockets 37 and 38 allows the false head board 30 to move at the same speed and in the same direction as the peripheral surface of rollers 22. Rollers 22 are also supported by centre bearings (not shown) to prevent bowing when carrying heavy loads. In use the head board 30 is initially moved to the loading end of the container as shown in the drawing. Goods which may be on pallets, for example are stacked on surfaces of rollers 22 projecting above floor 20, adjacent the false head board 30. When the end portion of the container has been filled motor 29 is actuated to cause the false head board 30 to move towards end 2 of the container. Simultaneously the rollers 22 move the goods stacked thereon in the same direction and at the same speed to provide further space on which additional goods may be stacked. This operation is repeated until the container has been filed. Unloading is the reverse of the loading operation. The container of the present invention is especially useful when part loads are being carried, since the goods are stored between the false head board and the container and are therefore restrained against movement inside the container without the necessity for extra securing. The container has particular application when part deliveries are being made. After each delivery has been made the false head board and goods are moved to fill the empty space at the unloading end of the container ready for the next delivery. The container may, of course, be used for heavy goods such as machinery when rollers 22 enable loading to be carried out more readily than with conventional techniques. Other niethods for imparting drive to the fixed head board and rollers may be em plowed. Thus each roller may be intergeared with adjacent rollers and drive transmitted to one roller by a bevel gear carried on the drive shaft. The drive shaft may, of course, be driven directly from a vehicle engine by the provision of suitable drive shafts, clutch and gearing arrangements. WHAT I CLAIM IS: -

1. A container for goods to be transported including a floor portion, side walls and a head board; conveying means forming at least a part of the floor portion and extending for substantially the length of the container for conveying goods from one end of the container to the other; a false head board located in the container and arranged to be moved from one end thereof to the other simultaneously with and at substantially the same speed as the said conveying means; and drive means for imparting drive to the false head board and the said conveying means, said conveying means comprising a plurality of parallel spaced apart rollers mounted in said floor portion for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the length of the container, the rolling surfaces of the said rollers lying proud of the said floor portion and at least a proportion of the said rollers being driven.

2. A container according to Claim 1 wherein the second means includes a drive shaft having means for transmitting drive to said false head board and said conveying means.

3. A container according to Claim 2 wherein the drive shaft is driven by an independent motor.

4. A container according to Claims 2 or 3 wherein one roller is driven by the said drive means, and each other driven roller by an endless belt engaging an adjacent driven roller.

5. A container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sides of the container include tracks extending substantially along the length thereof and spaced from the roof portion and said false head board includes freely rotatable rollers arranged to run in said tracks.

6. A container according to Claim 8 wherein said tracks are contained in channels located externally of said container.

7. A container according to Claims 5 or 6 wherein said freely rotatable rollers are carried on horizontally projecting members attached to said false head board, and extending parallel to said track.

8. A container according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said head board is moved along the length of the container by belt means having two ends, each end being directly or indirectly fixedly at

tached to said head board, drive to said belt being transmitted by means engaging said drive means.

9. A container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.