US3219216A - Apparatus for handling sheets - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 23, 1965 J. G. PINAUD APPARATUS FOR HANDLING SHEETS Filed June 11, 1963 3 SheetsSheet 1 'II/Ill/II/IlIII/IIIIIIIII/lIIIIIIIII/IIIIIIIIII ,g wvi g V INVE/l/ 70R 5} W,O@-4 ATTOIQ/VEXJ Nov. 23, 1965 J. G. PINAUD APPARATUS FOR HANDLING SHEETS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 11, 1963 Nov. 23, 1965 J. G. PINAUD 3,219,216

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING SHEETS Filed June 11. 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 A TTaEA/E y s United States Patent 3,219,216 APPARATUS FOR HANDLING SHEETS Jean G. Pinaud, Saint-Etienne, Loire, France, assignor to Compagnie des Ateliers et Forges de la Loire, Paris,

This invention relates to apparatus for handling sheets of metal or the like, and more specifically to handling apparatus whereby heavy sheets can be turned over rapidly and safely.

Conventional handling apparatus for heavy gage metal sheets, as used especially for turning over the sheets for treatment in rolling mills and the like, generally comprise clamping means adapted to grip one side edge of the sheet and attached to hoisting apparatus. The latter is operated to lift the clamping means and the edge of the sheet gripped by it so as to raise the sheet of the ground and then to ease the sheet down eg in inverted condition, assuming the purpose of the handling operation is to turn the sheet over. During the period the sheet is raised clear of its support on the floor the sheet is retained exclusively by the engagement of its uppermost edge with the clamping means, so that in the event of failure of the latter the sheet will necessarily drop to the ground with consequent hazard to personnel and equipment. Also, in case of a clumsy manoeuvering of the hoisting gear it can happen that the lower edge of the sheet touches the ground surface before the proper time, causing premature disengagement of the clamping means and release of the sheet.

Objects of this invention are to provide improved handling apparatus for sheets, whereby heavyweight sheets can be turned over and otherwise handled with increased safety and positive assurance against untimely release; the provision of such apparatus in which the forces of gravity are utilized in an improved manner to achieve safer operation and facilitate the rnanoeuvering of hoisting gear for the turning over of the sheet; the provision of such handling apparatu which will be simple, strong and economical, and minimize floor space requirements.

According to a broad aspect of the invention improved sheet handling apparatus comprises first gripping means, such as a first pair of spaced hooks, engageable with one side edge of a sheet; second gripping means such as a second pair of spaced hooks engageable with the opposite side edge of the sheet; flexible cable means attached to the first gripping means and extending slidably through guide passage means provided in the second gripping means; and hoisting apparatus connectable to said cable means beyond said guide passage means. Thus, operation of the hoisting apparatus will lift the second gripping means or hooks together with said opposite sheet edge gripped thereby above the first gripping means or hooks and the one sheet edge gripping thereby, and gravity will retain both gripping means in positive engagement with the related edges of the sheet.

Further important aspects and features of the invention will appear as the disclosure proceeds. An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described for purposes of illustration but not of limitation with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGS. 1 to 5 are simplified views, in elevation, of improved sheet handling apparatus according to the invention in various stages of the process involved in turning over a metal sheet upon its supports;

FIG. 6 is an overhead plan view corresponding to FIG. 1.

Referring especially to FIGS. 1 and 6, the handling de- 3,219,216 Patented Nov. 23, 1965 ice vice of the invention in the embodiment shown comprises a pair of hook members 1 adapted to engage one side of the sheet 2, and a pair of hook members 3 adapted to engage the opposite side of the sheet. Preferably the two spaced hook members in each of the pairs 1 and 3 are interconnected by suitable balancing means, not shown. It will also be understood that where the invention is applied to sheets of relatively short length, a single gripping member or hook may be provided for engagement with each of the opposite side edges of the sheet instead of the two members shown.

Cable means schematically indicated at 4 are provided, one end thereof being attached to the hook means 1 in any suitable manner, such as by means of the pins 5. The opposite hooking members 3 are each provided with a guide passage 6 formed in a side thereof. The guide passage 6 has outwardly flaring side walls 7 and 8 providing a diverging outlet aperture with rounded sides. The passage 6 is laterally offset with respect to the hooking portion of the member 3 for reasons that will presently appear. The cable means 4 extending from their points of attachment 5 with the hook members 1 are passed through the guide passages 6 in the hook members 3, below the under surface of the sheet 2 supported on ground supports such as sillS A and B, and the far end of the table means at 4' is adapted to be connected, e.g. through a suitable balance beam, with hoisting apparatus not shown, e.g. a travelling crane.

In using the apparatus described for turning over the sheet 2 upon its ground supports A and B, after the two pairs of hook members 1 and 2 have first been engaged with the opposite side edges of the sheet in the manner shown, the hoisting apparatus is operated to raise the cable 4 as indicated by the arrow L in FIG. 1. The sheet is thus lifted in the manner indicated in FIG. 2, the hooking members 3 being lifted off the ground first, with the cable 4 engaging the upper side walls 7 of the guide passages 6, while the hook members 1 remain trailing on the ground. The hoisting movement being continued, as the trailing hooking members 1 are lifted clear of the ground as shown in FIG. 3, the sheet 2 of its own accord swings to a position lying to the opposite side of the now substantially vertical cable 4, as will be clear from FIG. 3. This is due to the fact that the guide passages 6 in the upper hooking members 3 are olfset laterally with respect to the line of application of the hooking portions of the members engaging the edge of the sheet, so that when the suspended assembly assumes its condition of balance in which its centre of gravity is vertically aligned with the vertical axis of suspension of the overhead part 4 of the cable, the sheet is angled beyond the vertical. In this condition the gripping members 3 act to retain the sheet against overturning and dropping, the cable 4 now being in engagement with the opposite side 8 of the passages 6. The rounded end portions of the sides 7 and 8 of the passages prevent damage to the cable.

If the hoisting gear is now lowered it will be clear that the sheet can be eased to the ground in inverted condition as compared to its original state. Assuming it is desired to turn the sheet over while keeping it in the same horizontal location as originally, the hoisting apparatus is displaced as indicated by the arrow T in order to bring the lower gripping members to a position corresponding to the initial position of the upper gripping members 3, as indicated in FIG. 4, and is then lowered as indicated by the arrow D. The gripping members 1 and the edge of the sheet supported by them are thus eased on to the ground supports A and B, after which the sheet rocks about said edge as a fulcrum until it is brought to the horizontal inverted position shown in FIG. 5. The gripping members 1 and 3 are then easily disengaged from the sheet, completing the operation.

It will be noted that the turning over operation as described can be performed in a minimum of floor space, no greater than the width dimension of the sheet. The process is completely safe since the sheet is at all times positively supported from below and, moreover, premature lowering of the sheet into contact with the ground will not result in a premature release of the sheet due to the fact that the sheet is simultaneously being retained at its upper edge. Thus the forces of gravity are at all times in action throughout the process to ensure safe and 001- proof operation. The force of gravity is furthermore taken advantage of to produce the desired automatic reversal of the sheet while suspended due to the aforementioned lateral displacement of the guide passage 6 for the cable with respect to the point of gripping engagement of the hook member with the sheet. This further facilitates the hoist manoeuvering operations. An additional advantage of the apparatus disclosed is that in view of the sliding engagement of the cable 4 with the upper gripping members 3, the apparatus will automatically adjust itself to sheets of varying width.

It will be apparent that various modifications may be introduced into the embodiment shown withoutexceeding the scope of the invention. Thus, the hook members could easily be redesigned in such a manner that the cable-means 4 shall extend over rather than under the sheet in its initial condition, this involving primarily a recontouring of the walls 7 and 8 of the guide passages 6 in the upper gripping members to ensure the desired reversal of the sheet while suspended.

What I claim is:

A method for turning a sheet lying flat on a surface comprising engaging one edge of said sheet with a first hooking means, engaging the opposite edge of said sheet with a second hooking means, attaching one end of a cable means to said first hooking means, extending said cable means slidably through a guide passage on aid second hooking means which passage is laterally and downwardly off-set with respect to the line of engagement of said second hooking member and said opposite sheet edge, suspending said sheet by raising the opposite end of said cable whereby said sheet is rocked by gravity to a partially inverted position, and lowering said sheet to lie fiat on said surface in an inverted position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 665,499 1/1901 Baldt 294-73 X 846,337 3/1907 McFarland. 1,373,349 3/1921 Peardon 2484 1,618,557 2/1927 Sims. 1,824,027 9/ 1931 Lundquist 294-74 3,034,632 5/ 1962 Wampler. 3,047,916 8/1962 OBrien 2143 14 X FOREIGN PATENTS 209,033 5/ 1960 Austria.

HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner.

Images