Palletizer trailer and storage container

• US 5,525,026 A
• Filed: 08/26/1994
• Issued: 06/11/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Demonte FAB Limited
• Original Assignee: Demonte FAB Limited
• Inventors: DeMonte, Tim P., DeMonte, Walter P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bucci, David A.
• Application Number:
  US08/296,810
• Time in Patent Office: 655 Days
• Field of Search: 414/540-542, 414/498, 414/786, 414/561, 414/234, 414/239, 414/240, 414/679, 410/8-10, 410/24, 410/89, 410/24.1, 410/26, 410/28.1, 294/81.53, 294/81.4, 294/81.3
• US Class Current: 414/542
• 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: B60P 1/54 using cranes for self-loading or self-unloading vehicles for transporting cranes B60P3/28, mobile or traveling cranes B66C
• CPC Class Codes: B60P 1/64 the load supporting or containing element being readily removable B60P1/48 takes precedence; caravan, camping, or the like vehicles characterised by living accommodation in the form of a removable body supported by the vehicle unit B60P3/34
• CPC Class Codes: B60P 3/08 Multilevel-deck construction carrying vehicles

Abstract

An apparatus and method for storing in a cargo transport of irregular shape, such as vehicles. The cargo transport comprises an elongate hollow highway truck semi-trailer having a pair of longitudinally extending spaced apart upright-side walls defining an interior cargo space therebetween. The trailer has a rearward openable end through which vehicles may be conveyed, and longitudinally extending internal crane runway rails supported by the side walls. A rear portion of the runway is longitudinally extendable rearward of the open rear end of the trailer. A plurality of standardized, stackable vehicle supporting pallets are provided upon which vehicles are individually loaded at a trailer-exterior loading position. A crane travels on the runway longitudinally within the trailer for conveying each loaded pallet longitudinally and vertically from the loading position to a selected forward storage position, and can pivot the pallet as needed about a non-vertical axis from a loading orientation to a storage or transport orientation. The cargo-facing surfaces of the side walls have a fixed excess array of pallet supports arranged in a known pattern coordinated with on-board pallet supports for releasably coupling each pallet to the side walls of the trailer in the storage orientation at the selected storage position. A preprogrammable automatic controller capable of controlling the operation of the crane may be used and preprogrammed using the wall support pattern to select storage positions and orientations of loaded pallets in the cargo space to optimize the use of space within the trailer.

Claims

1. Apparatus for storing and transporting vehicles and general cargo comprising:

an elongate hollow transport container having a pair of longitudinally extending laterally spaced apart upright pallet-supporting side walls extending longitudinally of said container and defining parallel boundary planes forming an interior cargo-carrying space of said container having a longitudinal axis extending lengthwise of said container between rearward and forward ends thereof, a rearward openable end through which palletized vehicles may be conveyed, and longitudinally extending internal cargo conveyance means including a pair of rails supported one along each said side walls, said cargo conveyance means including a rear portion longitudinally extendable rearward of said rearward end of the cargo space over a pallet loading and unloading position exteriorly of the cargo space of said container;

a plurality of vehicle supporting pallet means upon which the vehicles are individually loadable and securable at the exterior loading-unloading position, each said pallet being generally rectangular in plan view and dimensioned widthwise to span the cargo space with a travel clearance along its longitudinal side edges;

cargo conveyance means including hoist means running on said rails longitudinally within said cargo space and being capable of conveying each of said pallet means endwise individually longitudinally and vertically between the loading position and a selected forward storage position in the cargo space, and of pivoting each said pallet means about a non-vertical axis from a loading orientation to a storage orientation within the cargo space,

and a plurality of on-board pallet support means provided on each of said pallet means and positioned thereon at a given distance apart along the longitudinal edges thereof and operable for releasably coupling each associated pallet means to said side walls of said container in the selected storage orientation of such pallet means,

said side walls each having an array of individual pallet support means provided thereon facing the cargo space and in substantially greater quantity than the total number of said pallet on-board support means and being arranged in a predetermined fixed pattern along known Cartesian coordinates in the cargo space boundary plane of each said side wall and pattern related to the given spacing between said on-board pallet support means whereby each said pallet means is supportable with a vehicle loaded thereon by releasable interengagement of its on-board pallet support means with associated selected spaced apart ones of said side wall pallet support means such that each said pallet means is thereby held in the cargo space by and laterally between said side walls in a predetermined storage orientation and at the selected predetermined storage position at identifiable appropriate Cartesian coordinates in said pattern of said side wall pallet support means selected for cooperable engagement with said pallet on-board support means to provide for such storage orientation and positioning of each said pallet means.

2. The apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein said conveyance means comprises an overhead crane running upon said longitudinal rails, said rails being constructed and arranged one along the upper edge of each of said side walls to provide an upper crane runway for movement of said hoist means longitudinally within the cargo space of said container.

3. The apparatus set forth in claim 2 wherein the said extendable rear portion comprises movable crane runway extension rails longitudinally extendable rearward of the openable rear end of said container to form an exterior continuation of said rails in the cargo space.

4. The apparatus set forth in claim 3 wherein said container comprises a truck semi-trailer road vehicle.

5. The apparatus set forth in claim 3 wherein said container comprises a rail car.

6. The apparatus set forth in claim 3 wherein said container comprises an intermodal cargo container.

7. The apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein said pattern of said side wall individual pallet support means comprises first and second rows of spaced apart individual pallet support means exposed on the associated one of said side walls to the cargo space, said rows extending transversely relative to one another in the cargo space boundary plane of each associated side wall.

8. The apparatus set forth in claim 7 wherein the spacing of individual pallet support means from one another on said side walls in said first and second rows is at equal increments longitudinally of each such row and is the same for all said first rows and the same for all of said second rows.

9. The apparatus set forth in claim 8 wherein said first and second rows respectively extend generally perpendicular and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the container cargo space.

10. The apparatus set forth in claim 8 wherein said spacing is the same in both said first and second rows.

11. The apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein said on-board pallet support means provided on each of said pallet means comprises movable couplers, and said plurality of side wall pallet support means comprises a series of static couplers cooperable for releasable support engagement with said on-board pallet movable couplers and being disposed in said predetermined fixed pattern over generally the entire area of said side walls exposed to the cargo-carrying space of said container, said couplers comprising cooperatively interengageable male and female couplers.

12. The apparatus set forth in claim 11 wherein said interior side walls of said container each comprise a panel-like structure and said static couplers are formed as said female couplers and comprise sockets or holes in said panel-like side wall structure.

13. The apparatus set forth in claim 11 wherein all of said pallets have the same predetermined length and width dimensions defining respectively a major plane of each said pallet.

14. The apparatus set forth in claim 13 wherein said pallets are constructed and arranged so as to be generally thin and flat and stackable on one another when empty.

15. The apparatus set forth in claim 14 wherein said pallet onboard support means are provided in sets of four each with one set on each of said pallets and are constructed and arranged on each said pallet generally one at each of the four corners of each said pallet so as to extend therefrom in the major plane of said pallet in a direction perpendicular to the plane of said side walls with the pallet major plane likewise oriented perpendicular to said side wall planes, said sets having the same orientation pallet-to-pallet.

16. The apparatus set forth in claim 11 wherein said static couplers are formed as said female couplers and said movable couplers are formed as said male couplers, and each of said male couplers includes a movable male member cooperative selectively with each of said female couplers for engaging the same in pallet-supporting relationship, said male members being operable to move laterally outwardly from the opposite longitudinally sides of each associated and pallet to a wall-engaged pallet supporting position in engagement with a spaced-apart selected female couplers, and being retractable therefrom to a position providing said side clearance between each associated pallet and said laterally spaced side walls when each said pallet is oriented with its major plane perpendicular to the cargo space boundary planes of said side walls.

17. The apparatus set forth in claim 16 wherein said female couplers provided on said interior side walls are static structures with no moving parts.

18. The apparatus set forth in claim 11 wherein the cargo carrying space of said container is enclosed at the top, sides and bottom, as well as fore and aft, by cargo protective weather sealing structures such as wall panels, doors, and tarps.

19. The apparatus set forth in claim 18 wherein said container comprises a road vehicle truck semi-trailer provided with road wheels adjacent but spaced forward from the rearward openable end of said semi-trailer, said wheels being separated from the interior cargo carrying space by an associated wheel well structure protruding upwardly into the cargo carrying space of said semi-trailer, said semi-trailer having a cargo-carrying floor arranged at an elevation below the uppermost elevation of said wheel well structure and extending both forwardly and rearwardly from said wheel well structure in the cargo space.

20. The apparatus set forth in claim 19 wherein said semi-trailer is provided with a pallet stacking storage area between said wheel well structure and the rearward operable end of said semi-trailer that is convertible between a cargo storage area when said pallets are in use and a pallet stacking storage area when said pallets are not in use.

21. The apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein each said pallet includes vehicle supporting structure for individually supporting each of the wheels of a vehicle and associated vehicle tie-down means.

22. The apparatus set forth in claim 17 wherein said side walls each comprise a uniformly corrugated panel configuration with the corrugations defining, in cross section transverse to the cargo space longitudinal axis, alternating front and rear upright panels relative to facing the cargo space of said container, and wherein the longitudinal axis of said corrugations are oriented in one of the following orientations relative to the longitudinal axis of the cargo space of said container:

(a) perpendicular to such longitudinal axis,

(b) parallel to such longitudinal axis,

(c) diagonally relative to said such longitudinal axis.

23. The apparatus set forth in claim 17 wherein said female couplers of each of said side walls of said container have a configuration and orientation in a major plane of the side wall selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a circular opening,

(b) an oval opening oriented with its major axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the container cargo space,

(c) an oval opening oriented with its major axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the container cargo space,

(d) an oval opening with the openings arranged in first and second rows extending with their respective major axes transversely relative to one another and with the major axes of the ovals oriented perpendicular to one another alternately in each of said rows, or

(e) a diamond shaped opening with said openings being formed in a latticework "X" array of channels constituting each said side wall.

24. The apparatus set forth in claim 1 wherein said hoist means of said cargo conveyance means comprises a pair of hydraulically operated telescopic rams spaced apart laterally of the cargo space one adjacent each of said side walls, each of said rams having pallet-lifting attachment means carried thereon on the extendable free ends thereof, and wherein each of said pallets includes on-board hoist coupler means disposed one on each of the laterally spaced longitudinal sides thereof cooperable with the associated hoist pallet lifting attachment means on each of said rams for releasable engagement therewith, said ram hoisting attachment means being operable for pivoting an associated one of said pallets engaged therewith about an axis perpendicular to a major boundary plane of each of said side walls.

25. The apparatus set forth in claim 24 wherein each said pallet includes an on-board power train mechanism operably coupled between each of said on board pallet support means on said pallet and a releasable connection means cooperable with said ram hoist attachment means for controllably operating said on board pallet support means between pallet-retracted positions and extended wall engaging positions.

26. The apparatus set forth in claim 24 wherein each said ram hoist attachment means includes quarter-turn fastener elements cooperable with said on-board pallet coupling means for releasable engagement between said hoist ram and the associated said pallet.

27. The apparatus set forth in claim 11 wherein each of said pallets includes an on-board self-contained power operating system operable for retracting and extending each of said on-board pallet movable coupling means of said pallet, said on-board system including a fluid-operated ram and associated working fluid storage means for said ram and power train means operably interconnecting said ram with said movable coupling means for retracting and extending the same in response to operation of said ram by said working fluid.

28. The apparatus set forth in claim 27 wherein said power train means comprises biasing means associated with each of said movable couplers for yieldably biasing the same to extended wall engaging position and a flexible element means retracting system operably connected between said ram and said movable couplers for retracting said couplers against the biasing force of said biasing means.

29. The apparatus set forth in claim 11 wherein each said pallet includes on-board movable coupler power train operating means comprising a flexible element power transmitting loop having a run portion thereof connected in driving relationship to each associated movable coupler means for moving the same between extended and retracted positions in response to driving movement of said loop in opposite directions, and driving means operably connected to said flexible element for reversely driving said loop.

30. The apparatus set forth in claim 29 wherein said loop driving means comprises a servo motor drive unit, and said hoist includes electrical coupling means operable upon attachment to said pallet for energizing and controlling said servo motor means.

31. The apparatus set forth in claim 25 wherein said on-board power train operating means comprises a mechanical drive train system including cooperable gear means and rotary input means operably connected therewith for rotatably driving said gear means to extend and retract said on board pallet support means.

32. The apparatus set forth in claim 25 wherein said on-board power train operating system includes a cam operating mechanism associated with each of said on board pallet support means and operably coupled to said power train for extending and retracting said on board pallet support means.

33. The apparatus set forth in claim 17 wherein each of said female couplers comprises a through-opening in the associated said side walls, and wherein each of said male couplers of each said pallets includes a pallet support pin having a free end shaped for endwise engagement with a selected one of said female couplers, and each said male coupler further includes latch means movably mounted on the wall-engaging free end thereof movable relative thereto between a wall-entry position and a wall-latching position.

34. The apparatus set forth in claim 33 wherein said latch means each comprises a locking finger rigidly fixed on and protruding laterally from a free end of each associated pallet support pin, and wherein said female couplers each comprise an oval shaped through-opening in said side wall, and each said pallet includes pin driving means for rotating said pin and finger bodily as a unit about a longitudinal axis of the associated pallet support pin for aligning said finger with its major axis parallel to a major axis of the associated oval wall opening for passage therethrough, and for rotating said finger to an orientation transverse to the major axis of said oval opening for blocking retraction movement from such opening with the finger disposed on the side of said side wall disposed remote from the cargo space of said container.

35. The apparatus set forth in claim 33 wherein said pin latching means each comprises a finger pivotably mounted on said free end of each associated pallet support pin and pivotable between a wall-opening entry position and a wall-opening interference latching position relative to each associated selectively engaged female coupler opening of said side wall, and means operably coupled between said pivot finger and said pallet including a lost-motion coupling mechanism operable to pivot said finger from entry to latching position during a last increment of travel of said pin free end through such associated opening in said side wall, and vice versa.

36. The apparatus set forth in claim 11 wherein each said side wall of said container has a corrugated configuration, in cross-section transverse to the cargo space longitudinal axis, oriented in a vertically alternating pattern of longitudinally extending shelf corrugations interconnected by associated rear panels, and wherein each of said movable couplers of each of said pallets has a bifurcated free end formation operable upon extension of movable coupler from said pallet to slidably embrace and engage a selected shelf corrugation at a selected location on said wall corrugation.

37. The apparatus set forth in claim 36 wherein the vertical spacing between mutually adjacent shelf corrugations of said wall corrugation is dimensioned to slidably receive therebetween the entire bifurcated portion of said coupling pin head.

38. The apparatus set forth in claim 37 including abutment means located along said shelf corrugations at predetermined spaced increments longitudinally therealong and being constructed and arranged to receive between mutually adjacent ones of said abutment means said bifurcated head of said coupling pin for limiting movement thereof longitudinally along said shelf.

39. The apparatus set forth in claim 11 wherein each of said side walls comprises a corrugated panel having a corrugation configuration, in cross-section transverse to the cargo space longitudinal axis, comprising a repeat pattern of a front wall panel portion closest to the interior cargo space, a rear panel spaced away from said front panel outwardly from the cargo space, a horizontal shelf panel connected to a lower edge of said rear panel and to an upper edge of said front panel via a return bend portion joining said front panel with said shelf panel and thereby defining a rib extending longitudinally of the corrugation, said front wall panels having openings formed therein in a uniformly spaced row longitudinally thereof defining said static couplers on said side wall and adapted for selective reception of a coupling pin of each of said movable coupling means.

40. The apparatus set forth in claim 39 wherein said corrugated wall panel includes a slider block received between mutually adjacent shelf panels and entrapped in the guideway space defined therebetween and by the mutually adjacent connecting ribs of said corrugations, said slider block being movable longitudinally of said corrugations within its associated guideway and having a opening formed therein adapted to receive a coupling pin of said pallet.

41. The apparatus set forth in claim 11 wherein each of said side walls comprises a latticework-type construction made up of first and second channel members respectively arranged in first and second rows of spaced apart parallel channels with the channels of the first row being fixedly interconnected to the channels of the second rows, said first set of channels being disposed on the cargo interior side of said side wall and the second set of panels being disposed on the exterior side thereof, and wherein the mutual lateral spacing of skid channel sets respectively at each intersection thereof forms an opening through said latticework wall construction adapted to receive selectively therein a pallet coupling pin.

42. The apparatus set forth in claim 41 wherein said first and second channel members each have a flange extending along each of the opposite transversely spaced edges thereof and extending perpendicularly to the cargo space boundary plane of said latticework side wall, said flanges in assembly of said channels in said latticework array forming boundary walls around each of said openings to further assist and support in cradling of a pallet pin received in pallet supporting relationship in the selected latticework opening surrounded by said flanges.

43. The apparatus set forth in claim 42 wherein said first and second channel members each have a generally C-shaped cross-sectional configuration and are overlayed and affixed together in back-to-back relationship.

44. The apparatus set forth in claim 11 wherein each of said side walls comprises a generally flat metal sheet or plate portion disposed with its length and width dimensions in the cargo space boundary plane of said side wall, said side wall panel static couplers comprising a uniform pattern of circular openings formed in said flat portion, said movable couplers each comprising a cylindrical pin having a free end insertable in wall supporting engagement in each selected associated one of said wall openings, each of said openings being defined by a margin portion of said panel having an annular configuration surrounding and defining the associated panel opening and generally defining a concavity facing the interior cargo space of said container for cam guiding said pin free end into the associated wall hole.

45. The apparatus set forth in claim 44 wherein said free ends of said pallet pins have a convexly pointed shape cooperable with said concave camming surface of each said wall opening to assist in guiding and registry of a pin through a selected wall opening.

46. The apparatus set forth in claim 23 wherein said container has an exterior shroud wall construction disposed one on the exterior-remote side of each said side wall panel construction and spaced exteriorly of said container therefrom, and further includes a grid array of illuminating devices mounted on the interior surface of said exterior shroud facing the associated one of said side walls and individually oriented for illuminating each associated opening in said side wall to thereby selectively visably identify within the cargo space pallet pin receiving positions on said side wall for a given pallet storage location.

47. The apparatus set forth in claim 46 wherein said interior surface of each said exterior shroud wall further includes detecting means associated with each of said illuminating means and operable to detect and signal the presence or absence of a pallet pin registered in the associated wall opening.

48. The apparatus set forth in claim 11 wherein each said side wall is constructed and arranged from one or more panel members, each said panel member comprising an extrusion having a configuration, in cross-section transverse to the cargo space longitudinal axis, made up of a flat panel-like major portion oriented with its length and width dimensions extending in the cargo space boundary plane, said panel major portion having rows of pallet-pin-receiving openings arranged in a uniform pattern and each said opening having an oval configuration with its major axis extending generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cargo space, said panel member further having a row of integral flanges protruding from the exterior surface thereof away from the cargo receiving space, each flange extending adjacent and along the lower edge of each associated longitudinal row of said openings to provide shelf-type support for a pallet pin registered through an associated opening in said exterior wall panel.

49. The apparatus set forth in claim 48 wherein said flanges are angled upwardly slightly from perpendicular to the side wall boundary plane in a direction exteriorly of the cargo space and constructed to have a slight resilience under the load bearing weight of a pallet pin resting thereon.

50. A method of storing palletized cargo nested within a hollow container transport having longitudinally extending and laterally spaced upright side walls defining laterally between the mutually facing surfaces thereof a cargo-receiving interior space of the container, a rearward openable end through which palletized cargo may be conveyed to and from the cargo space, and a self-contained pallet conveying hoist running in the cargo space on longitudinally extending internal rail means supported along the side walls, the method comprising:

(a) prior to storing of the cargo in the container transport providing on each of said side walls an array of pallet support coupling means in a predetermined pattern covering generally the entire area of the cargo-space facing surface of each of said side walls, said mutually facing side wall coupling means being cooperable for releasably coupling with a cargo-loaded pallet to support the same on and between said side walls in a multiplicity of predetermined locations corresponding to a selected storage position of respectively associated cargo-loaded pallets,

(b) providing a plurality of cargo supporting pallets upon which cargo is individually loaded at a loading station exteriorly of the cargo space, and each having wall coupling means provided thereon at given uniform locations related to a selected plurality of said side wall pallet support coupling means for defining therewith two or more wall-coupled storage positions of differing angular orientation for each said pallet,

(c) providing pallet connector means on the hoist operable for releasable coupling to each pallet for lifting and carrying of the same,

(d) individually loading on and securing to the pallets an associated cargo load at the loading station,

(e) individually releasably coupling the hoist pallet connector means to a pallet so loaded with cargo,

(f) individually sequentially conveying cargo loaded pallets from the loading station longitudinally and vertically within the container cargo space to a selected forward storage position, the cargo loaded pallet being supported on the hoist running on the rail means;

(g) pivoting the cargo loaded pallet as needed about a nonvertical axis while suspended from the hoist from a loading orientation to a storage orientation;

(h) releasably coupling the cargo loaded pallet to the mutually facing side wall support means in the storage orientation at the selected storage position;

(i) decoupling the hoist from the stored cargo loaded pallet and returning the hoist to the loading station, and

(j) repeating the above steps for successive cargo loaded pallets to nest a plurality of cargo loaded pallets in a selected series of progressively rearward longitudinal storage positions in associated storage orientations thereby enabling substantial filling of the interior of the container with a space optimized total load of cargo loaded pallets.

51. The method according to claim 50 wherein the selection of cargo loaded pallet storage positions and orientations is automatically computer program optimized prior to the loading operation for a given container total cargo load, and wherein the operation of the hoist is preprogrammed on the computer program to be automatically controlled to operate to sequentially perform at least steps (f) through (h).

52. The method according to claim 50 wherein step (a) is performed by first laying out the X and Y Cartesian coordinates on the facing surface of each side wall in uniform increments along each coordinate to provide a graphic grid layout of the side wall cargo facing surface dimensionally scaled to correspond with the height and width dimensions of such side wall cargo facing surface generally coextensive with the cargo space,

then selecting a cargo total load for the container to be palletized for loading therein as discrete subloads on each pallet,

then laying out to scale the side silhouette of each pallet and associated subload thereon,

providing said pallet connector means on each pallet along the opposite longitudinal edges thereof at given locations spaced longitudinally of each said pallet a given distance apart to predetermine the wall engaging points for each said pallet on the layout silhouettes,

then arranging all of the pallet subloaded scaled silhouettes on said grid pattern in a manner such as to optimize the cargo carrying capacity of the cargo space of the container in side view to thereby provide an optimum array of storage positions for the cargo loaded pallets for said given total load,

during said optimization layout step locating on sid grid pattern spaced pallet support coupling means on the facing surface of the side wall providing the closest approximation to optimized storage locations and identifying such selected wall engaging positions,

then performing steps (f) through (h) by following said preprogrammed scaled storage layout as thus identified in the preprogramming of the cargo load.

53. The method as set forth in claim 52 wherein step (h) is performed by providing movable coupling mechanisms on each pallet at said given positions thereon operable to extend and retract in the major plane of the pallet into and out of engagement with the selected pallet support coupling means on each of the mutually facing side walls at the selected storage positions for such pallet, and operating said coupling members from retracted to extended positions when so located to thereby releasably couple the associated cargo loaded pallet to the mutually facing side wall support means in the storage orientation at the selected storage position.