Apparatus for handling and transporting containers, load supporting bodies, pallets and the like
This invention relates to an apparatus for handling, loading, unloading and transporting containers, load supporting bodies, pallets and like bulky and heavy means. 
     Containers and detachable load supporting bodies with or without walls are utilised to an ever increasing extent because of the advantages gained by unit-loading. A problem associated with the handling and transporting of containers and detachable load supporting bodies is that strong lifting appliances must be available to permit transferring the containers between for instance railway cars, trucks or like transport vehicles. 
     The present invention has for its object to provide an apparatus which permits the loading and unloading of containers and like heavy objects, wherever this is desired, and also the transportation of such containers and objects. 
     According to the invention, the apparatus comprises a per se known fork lift device mounted to a frame at the rear end of a transport vehicle, and a preferably wheeled load supporting body, the frame being pivotally mounted in relation to the chassis of the transport vehicle, mating coupling means being provided at the fork lift device and the load supporting body, respectively, the fork lift device being adapted, when used in the conventional manner, to permit transferring containers from an optional support onto and from the load supporting body and also, after coupling of the mating coupling means of said fork lift device and said body, loading and unloading said body onto and from the transport vehicle under simultaneous shifting of the fork lift device along the frame thereof and pivotment of said frame. 
     The invention is also concerned with a method of handling, loading, unloading and transporting containers, detachable load supporting bodies, pallets and like bulky and heavy objects with the use of a transport vehicle and a fork lift type lifting device thereon. This method comprises the steps of arranging a frame carrying the fork lift device and serving as a guide therefor at the end of the chassis of the transport vehicle in such a way that the frame can be pivoted between a substantially vertical position and a substantially horizontal position in which said frame rests on the vehicle chassis, providing the fork lift device with one or more coupling means, providing a detachable preferably wheeled load supporting body with one or more mating coupling means at least at one end thereof, conventionally utilising the fork lift device for transferring containers from and to an optional support and to and from the detachable load supporting body, engaging the coupling means of the fork lift device with the mating coupling means of the load supporting body for lifting said body onto the transport vehicle, and lifting said body and pulling it onto the chassis of the transport vehicle under simultaneous shifting of the fork lift device along the frame carrying said fork lift device and lowering of said frame onto the vehicle chassis. 
    
    
     Embodiments of the apparatus according to the invention will be more fully described hereinbelow and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIGS. 1 to 4 illustrate a transport vehicle equipped with said apparatus during various phases of a loading operation; 
     FIG. 5 illustrates a modified embodiment of said apparatus mounted to a tractor-semitrailer combination. 
    
    
     The transport vehicle 1 in the embodiment illustrated is an articulated tractor-semitrailer combination, but the vehicle can also be a truck or other self-propelled or drawn vehicle. 
     A per se known frame 3 for a fork lift device 4 is pivotally mounted at the rear end of the chassis 2 of the vehicle 1. The hydraulically or mechanically operated fork lift device may be of substantially conventional construction. In the embodiment shown, the fork lift device comprises a yoke 4&#39; movable along the frame 3 which is provided with an extension member 3&#39;. A plate 5&#39; carrying the lifting forks 5 is pivoted to said yoke by pivot means at the lower end of the plate 5&#39;. The yoke 4&#39; is actuated by means of a jack assembly (16), and a further jack assembly (17) is connected between the yoke 4&#39; and the plate 5&#39;. Coupling means 6 in the form of suitably shaped recesses, projections or the like, are arranged at the forks 5. 
     A load supporting body with which the described mechanism is adapted to co-operate, is designated 7. In the embodiment illustrated, the body 7 is equipped with wheels 8 and a front end wall 9. Coupling means 10 in the form of suitably shaped projections, recesses or the like are arranged at said body 7. The coupling means 10 of said body 7 are adapted to engage in the mating coupling means 6 of the lift forks 5. 
     The apparatus functions as follows: 
     FIG. 1 shows how the vehicle 1 has been backed up to a container X and how the forks have been inserted beneath it. The container is then placed on the load supporting body 7. 
     FIG. 2 shows how the vehicle has been driven up to the front end wall 9 of the load supporting body 7 so that the mating coupling means 6 and 10 can engage in each other, after the lift forks have been inserted beneath said body. 
     FIG. 3 shows how the front end of the load supporting body 7 is pulled onto the vehicle chassis 2 under simultaneous shifting of the fork lift device 4, 5 along the frame 3, lowering of said frame 3 onto the vehicle chassis 2 and outward pivotment of the plate 5&#39; from the yoke 4&#39;. It should be mentioned that the coupling means are capable of mutual pivotment about an axis at right angles to the load supporting body 7 and about a horizontal axis, while retaining their relative engagement. 
     FIG. 4 shows the position of the load supporting body 7 with the container X thereon, after loading has been concluded. 
     Unloading is effected in the reverse order. 
     In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, which is employed in fundamentally the same manner as that illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, the frame 103 is included as rear part in the subframe 12, pivoted at 11, of a semitrailer which is supported at its front end by a tractor 13. FIG. 5 shows how a container X rests on the forks 105 of the fork lift device 104 so that the container can be placed on a body similar to the load supporting body 7. The forks 105 are equipped with coupling means 106 so that, by using the forks, the body can be lifted and pulled onto the support formed by the frame 103 and the subframe 12. The difference between the earlier embodiment and that of FIG. 5 resides in that the wheels 14 supporting the load carrying section of the transport vehicle are connected with the frame 103 of the fork lift device 104, and not, as before, with the vehicle chassis. The construction illustrated in FIG. 5 is suited for one-axle semitrailers and brings the advantage that the wheels can be more or less completely relieved of load while lifting is effected by means of the forks 105. 
     In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5 the coupling means 106 are disposed at the outer ends of the forks which are nonrotatably connected with the yoke of the fork lift device. As indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 1, the coupling means 10&#39; of the load supporting body shall in such a case be disposed at the upper part of the body front end wall at a distance from the bottom thereof, which substantially corresponds to the fork length. 
     The design of the mating coupling means of the fork lift device and the load supporting body can be varied. In the embodiments illustrated, the coupling means are placed at the forks themselves. However, nothing prevents the coupling means from being placed directly on, for example, the plate 5&#39; in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, while the corresponding coupling means of the load supporting body are placed at the front end of said body. 
     While the invention has been described and shown in some preferred embodiments, it is readily understood that modifications can be resorted to within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.