US 4,147,261 AGranted

Loading device for goods vehicles

AssigneeFirma Emil Dautel, Kipperbau

InventorsHelmut Dautel, Mathias Fritz, Gerd Bar

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Abstract

A loading device for a goods vehicle comprises a lifting platform which can be raised to the height of the loading surface and then pivoted into a vertical position to form a tail gate. The rear end of the lifting platform can also be tilted downwardly when the lifting platform is at road level or a loading surface height. The lifting platform is supported and operated by two hydraulic rams in conjunction with two lifting arms and two guiding arms. The rams are hingedly connected with the lifting platform differently so that both serve to raise the platform and one serves to pivot the platform to vertical position after the platform has reached loading surface height. The cylinders of the two rams are commonly connected to a liquid reservoir through a valve-controlled return line containing a resistance so that pressure in the two cylinders is equalized and the different load moments resulting from the different hinge connections of the two rams causes the platform to swing down from a vertical position to a horizontal position before it is lowered. The guiding arms may consist of telescopic arms or hydraulic rams.

Claims29

Dependent claims

A loading device for a goods vehicle having a superstructure with a loading surface, comprising support means fixed to the vehicle between road level and said loading surface, a lifting platform for receiving goods to be loaded, two lifting arms and two associated guiding arms hinged at their inner ends to said support means and hinged at their outer ends to said lifting platform with said guiding arms below said lifting arms and with each lifting arm and associated guiding arm together with said support means and said lifting platform forming a parallelogram linkage, a pressure fluid operated cylinder-piston ram associated with each said parallelogram linkage, each of said rams being hinged at its inner end to said support means below the hinge axes of said lifting and guiding arms, the outer end of a first one of said rams being hinged to a first one of said lifting arms in the region of its outer end and a second one of said rams being hinged to said lifting platform at a distance from and below the hinge, connection of a second of said lifting arms to said lifting platform, means for supplying pressure fluid to said rams to actuate the same, both of said rams being operable in cooperation with said lifting arms to raise said lifting platform from a lower position to loading surface height and said second ram in cooperation with said second lifting arm being also operable to swing said lifting platform upwardly in a closing pivoting motion from horizontal position toward vertical position to act as a tailgate, said pressure fluid supply means comprising fluid connections between said rams to equalize the pressure therein, a fluid reservoir and a common return line from said rams to said reservoir, said return line having a restriction therein, whereby fluid pressure produced in said second ram by movement of said lifting platform from vertical position toward horizontal position by its own weight is transmitted through said fluid connections to said first ram to retain said lifting platform at loading surface height until it has returned to horizontal position.

A loading device for a goods vehicle having a superstructure with a loading surface, comprising support means fixed to the vehicle between road level and said loading surface, a lifting platform for receiving goods to be loaded, a lifting arm and associated guiding arm hinged at their inner ends to said support means and hinged at their outer ends to said lifting platform with said guiding arm below said lifting arm and with said lifting arm and associated guiding arm together with said support means and said lifting platform forming a parallelogram linkage, at least one pressure fluid operated cylinder-piston ram hinged at its inner end to said support means below the hinge axes of said lifting arm and connected at its outer end to said lifting platform and means for supplying pressure fluid to said ram to actuate the same to raise and lower said lifting platform, said support means comprising a fixed support, a support lever hinged on said fixed support with a fixed hinge axis, means for fixedly supporting the hinge axis of said guiding arms on said fixed support at a location below the fixed hinge axis of said support lever, the inner ends of said lifting arm and inner end of said ram being hinged to said support lever, the fixed hinge axis of said support lever being above the hinge axes of the inner ends of said lifting arm and said ram, said support lever being limitedly rotatable about its fixed hinge axis, fixed abutment means against which said support lever rests during raising and lowering of said lifting platform and from which said support lever separates in the manner of a toggle lever system only for tilting said lifting platform to lower the outer end thereof.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.