Appendant elevatable loader for vehicles

• US 3,972,427 A
• Filed: 09/25/1974
• Issued: 08/03/1976
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/1974
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Tillman, Russell I., Stanley, Charles R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheridan, Robert G.
• Application Number:
  US05/509,239
• Time in Patent Office: 678 Days
• Field of Search: 214/38 B, 214/38 BA, 214/75 R, 214/512, 214/515, 244/137 R, 280/150.5
• US Class Current: 244/137.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60P 1/02 with parallel up-and-down movement of load supporting or containing element in combination with tipping B60P1/34; devices for lifting or lowering bulky or heavy goods for loading or unloading purposes, movable on wheels or the like, e.g. fork-lift trucks, B66F9/06 ; suspensions with electronic levelling control during loading or unloading B60G17/0157
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 1/22 Other structures integral with fuselages to facilitate loading , e.g. cargo bays, cranes
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 9/00 Devices for lifting or lowering bulky or heavy goods for loading or unloading purposes mobile or transportable lifts in, or associated with, buildings and specially adapted to be shifted from one part of a building or other structure to another part or to another building or structure B66B9/16; cranes B66C

Abstract

An elevated frame which can be moved into and out of an elevated vehicle cargo space has an opening through which an elevatable platform can raise cargo to be moved from the platform into the cargo space. One edge of the frame is normally supported from the vehicle, and the opposite edge of the frame can be supported from the ground by segmented legs, the segments of which are foldable upward from ground-engaging condition into contracted condition for reception in the vehicle cargo space. The loader can be made free-standing by supporting on removable legs the edge portion of the frame normally supported from the vehicle.

Claims

1. An appendant loader for loading and unloading cargo space of a vehicle through an upright opening in a wall of the vehicle comprising a substantially horizontal frame adjacent to the upright vehicle opening, load-hoisting means carried by said frame and raisable relative to said frame substantially vertically upward from a position below said frame to lift a load upward sufficiently for substantially horizontal movement thereof through the upright wall opening into the cargo space, guide means carried by the vehicle and guiding said frame with said load-hoisting means carried thereby for edgewise substantially horizontal movement through the upright wall opening into and out of the cargo space, and supporting means independent of the vehicle and said guide means engageable with the ground and providing support for the portion of said frame exteriorly of the upright vehicle wall opening during movement of the frame through such opening.

2. The loader defined in claim 1, in which the supporting means includes leg means having a plurality of leg sections foldable about hinge means from downwardly extended condition upwardly relative to the horizontal frame into contracted condition for movement with the frame into the cargo space.

3. The loader defined in claim 2, in which the leg means in upwardly contracted condition is disposed adjacent to an edge of the frame in a position higher than the bottom of the frame.

4. The loader defined in claim 2, and skew axis means guiding the leg means for rotation to effect folding of the leg sections.

5. The loader defined in claim 2, and pivot means guiding the folded leg sections for rotation about a generally horizontal axis into stored position.

6. The loader defined in claim 2, the hinge means guiding two leg sections for movement into side-by-side relationship.

7. The loader defined in claim 2, in which the leg means includes at least three leg sections hingedly connected for folding in zigzag substantially parallel relationship.

8. The loader defined in claim 2, including a generally horizontal arm, pivot means pivotally connecting said arm to the lower portion of the lowest leg section when the leg means are in downwardly extended condition for swinging up and down about a horizontal axis, wheel means carried by the end of said arm remote from said pivot means, and inclined shock absorber means bridging across said pivot means and connected between a portion of the lowest leg section above said arm and a portion of said arm spaced from said pivot means.

9. The loader defined in claim 1, independent means connected to a portion of the frame remote from the supporting means and of approximately the same length as such supporting means for supporting from the ground a portion of the frame spaced from the portion of the frame supported by the supporting means, and adjusting means for adjusting elevationally the portion of the frame supported by the independent means for leveling the frame to maintain the frame in substantially horizontal position independently of the vehicle.

10. The loader defined in claim 9, in which the additional independent means are disconnectable from the frame.

11. The loader defined in claim 1, in which the vehicle is an airplane including a fuselage, the upright opening being in one end of said fuselage.