Apparatus and system for facilitating loading and unloading cargo from cargo spaces of vehicles

In a vehicle for shipping multiple cargo containers having various goods stored therein for dropping off at multiple locations, an enclosed cargo space carried by said vehicle, said cargo space having a front side, a pair of laterally spaced sides, and a rear side movable between open and closed positions for movement of said cargo containers in and out of said open position of said cargo space, said cargo space further having a substantially horizontal floor enclosed between said front side, said laterally spaced sides, and said rear side, an improvement for said shipping vehicle, said improvement comprising, in combination,

• first and second elongated laterally spaced sets of longitudinal, generally parallel tracks securely mounted along said floor, said elongated spaced sets of tracks being positioned along each of said lateral sides and extending from said front side toward said rear side of said cargo space, at least one set of transverse tracks mounted on said floor of said cargo space, said transverse tracks operatively interconnecting said first and second sets of laterally spaced tracks,
• multiple support carriages for supporting said cargo containers, said support carriages having wheel assemblies secure to a lower side of said carriages for supporting said cargo containers in a substantially upright position, said wheel assemblies being sized and shaped for moveably positioning on said tracks, said carriages being movable on said tracks by operation of said wheel assemblies on said laterally spaced tracks and on said transverse tracks,
• first and second drive mechanisms operably positioned respectively along said first and second laterally spaced tracks,
• a third drive mechanism operatively positioned along said transverse tracks,
• a connection mechanism for operably interconnecting said support carriages to said first, second and third drive mechanisms, and
• a lifting mechanism for moving said tracks between a raised mobile position for movement by said wheel assemblies of said carriages along said tracks and a lowered immobile position on a seat adjacent said tracks, said carriages when said tracks are in the raised mobile position, moveable from one position to another position along said sets of laterally spaced tracks and said transverse tracks by said drive mechanisms;
• and
• further including guide members located along the sets of tracks for guiding carriage movement along said sets of tracks.

In a vehicle for shipping multiple cargo containers having various goods stored therein for dropping off at multiple locations, an enclosed cargo space carried by said vehicle, said cargo space having a front side, a pair of laterally spaced sides, and a rear side movable between open and closed positions for movement of said cargo containers in and out of said open position of said cargo space, said cargo space further having a substantially horizontal floor enclosed between said front side, said laterally spaced sides, and said rear side, an improvement for said shipping vehicle, said improvement comprising, in combination,

• first and second elongated laterally spaced sets of longitudinal, generally parallel tracks securely mounted along said floor, said elongated spaced sets of tracks being positioned along each of said lateral sides and extending from said front side toward said rear side of said cargo space, at least one set of transverse tracks mounted on said floor of said cargo space, said transverse tracks operatively interconnecting said first and second sets of laterally spaced tracks,
• multiple support carriages for supporting said cargo containers, said support carriages having wheel assemblies secure to a lower side of said carriages for supporting said cargo containers in a substantially upright position, said wheel assemblies being sized and shaped for moveably positioning on said tracks, said carriages being movable on said tracks by operation of said wheel assemblies on said laterally spaced tracks and on said transverse tracks,
• first and second drive mechanisms operably positioned respectively along said first and second laterally spaced tracks,
• a third drive mechanism operatively positioned along said transverse tracks,
• a connection mechanism for operably interconnecting said support carriages to said first, second and third drive mechanisms, and
• a lifting mechanism for moving said tracks between a raised mobile position for movement by said wheel assemblies of said carriages along said tracks and a lowered immobile position on a seat adjacent said tracks, said carriages when said tracks are in the raised mobile position, moveable from one position to another position along said sets of laterally spaced tracks and said transverse tracks by said drive mechanisms,
• wherein the carriage location bays comprise a first and a second series of adjacent bays extending along the first and second laterally spaced sets of tracks between the front and rear end of the floor and further wherein the transverse tracks are located at the front end of the floor intermediate bays of said first and second sets of tracks.