Apparatus for Automatic Insertion and Alignment of Freight Units

The present invention is directed to an apparatus for automatic insertion and alignment of freight or cargo units, such as pallets or containers, in mobile cargo compartments, with conveyor paths including storage locations for the freight units with latching elements projecting from such locations. The latching elements engage into guide elements on the freight units for the insertion and arresting or locking the freight units in place.

When transporting freight units, such as pallets or containers in mobile cargo compartments, it is important to rapidly load and unload the transport means utilized. This is particularly significant in cases where long loading and unloading times immobilize expensive transport means, such as transport airplanes. The loading and unloading of mobile cargo containers, however, frequently leads to overloading the freight or cargo containers, whereby the freight units deform at corners or edges due to overloads, especially in the case of pallets. Such deformations are frequently the cause of disruptions, since the edges or corners or guide elements of the freight units are not engaged by the latching elements of in the cargo compartments in the manner intended.

To avoid this problem, in the past, a forced guiding or pressing down of the deformed freight units using rigid guide rails directed obliquely downwards has been used. Such guide rails, however, are effective only where pallets are transported. Since containers have grooves different from the retaining means of pallets, the transportation in common of pallets and containers is impossible because of the guide rail required for the guiding operation.

Therefore, the primary object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for automatic insertion and alignment of freight units, so that pallets and containers can be transported together or in common. In accordance with the present invention, the apparatus includes a pivotal guide lever including a hold-down member or pressure pad, and the guide lever is adjustable for the insertion of the freight units by an adjustment lever extending upwardly from the base of the cargo compartment whereby it can be displaced so that the freight units pass over the adjustable lever from three possible directions.

The apparatus of the present invention permits, by pivoting the guide lever, to automatically align and guide or line-up deformed pallets and containers and thus to transport them in common or together. Accordingly, it is appropriate to position the guide lever at an entry guide in the region of an opening into the mobile cargo compartment and to connect the guide lever by coupling members with the adjustment or actuating lever. The hold-down member is adjustable so that it is positioned at the level of a so-called "Z-latch" of the freight loading system when the guide lever is pivoted.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention .

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus, embodying the present invention, for automatic entry and alignment of freight units;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 and 4' are sectional views taken along the line IV--IV in FIG. 2 displaying two different positions of the guide lever;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating an alignment procedure for a pallet; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5, depicting an alignment process for a container.

As set forth in the perspective view of FIG. 1, an apparatus for automatic entry and alignment of freight units is located at an entry guide 10 in the region of an opening into a transport aircraft. A guide lever 11 extending in the long direction of the entry guide 10 includes a hold-down member 12 and the lever is pivotally supported on a bearing bolt 13 located in the side wall of the entry guide 10. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 4', hold-down member 12 is pivotally displaceable from the oblique position shown in FIG. 1 into a horizontal position, note FIG. 4' coincident with the level of a Z-latch 14 located downstream of the pivot lever in the path of movement of the freight units. An adjustment lever 15 pivots the guide lever 11. Adjustment lever 15 is an elongated body extending in the long direction of the entry guide 10 and its opposite ends are beveled at approximately 45.degree. to the base of the cargo compartment. The adjustment lever 15 is supported at the entry guide 10 transversely of its long direction, whereby its bearing axis extends parallel to its long direction. The adjustment lever 15 is supported and arranged at the entry guide 10, so that it projects upwardly from the bottom of the cargo compartment. In FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the upward projection of the adjustment lever 15 is illustrated while FIG. 4' shows the adjustment lever pivotally displaced downwardly so that the freight unit can move or pass over it. In the position illustrated in FIG. 4' the surface of the adjustment lever 15 is located in the bottom plane of the cargo compartment.

The displacement movement of the adjustment lever 15 is transmitted to the guide lever 11 as displayed in FIGS. 4 and FIG. 4', so that when a freight unit passes over the adjustment lever 15, the guide lever 11 is pivoted downwardly from the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. Accordingly, the adjustment lever 15 is coupled to a side bar 17 by a bolt or pin 16, and the side bar is coupled by another bolt 18 spaced from the bolt 16 to a transmission lever 19. Note in FIGS. 4 and 4', that the transmission lever 19 is located in the entry guide 10 below the guide lever 11 and is supported in the entry guide by a bearing bolt 20 and is coupled by a spring 21 with a lowering lever 22 also mounted on the bearing bolt 20. An upwardly extending coupling link 23 is connected at its lower end to the lowering lever 22, while its upper end is articulated to a support bar 25 extending through an opening in the entry guide 10 and connected to the guide lever 11. The coupling link 23 is articulated to the support bar 25 by a bearing bolt 24. A return spring 26, located at the bearing bolt 20, acts between the entry guide 10 and the transmission lever 19 for returning the adjustment lever 15 and with it the guide lever 11 into the upper position shown in FIG. 4.

As displayed in FIG. 5, a pallet 30 is engaged by the hold-down member 12 of the guide lever 11 as it moves into the cargo compartment and is guided below the Z-latch 14 of a freight or cargo system. If the freight unit is a container 35, as shown in FIG. 6, having a groove as a guide element, the entry and insertion of the container is effected by the pivotal displacement of the guide lever 11 shown in FIG. 6. Accordingly, both pallets and freight containers can be moved into and aligned within the cargo compartment with the described apparatus for automatic entry and insertion of the freight units without encountering any problems.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.