Pallet transport system
AssigneeGeneral Dynamics, Pomona Division
InventorRalph K. Sanders
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatus easily engageable to a standard pallet or skid of the type commonly utilized in the storage and shipment of bulk items and quantities. A plurality of adaptable wheel dollies, each having a fixed support member to engage the interior of the pallet may be arrayed at the corners of the pallet. Dolly adjustment devices enable each dolly, when engaged to a pallet lying flush upon a flat surface, to raise the pallet for transport by means of the wheels of the dolly. An A-frame tongue is engageable to a pair of dollies to join the pallet transport system to tow the system.
Claims14
An adaptable wheel dolly attachable with a plurality of like wheel dollies to a shipping skid for lifting and transporting said skid comprising:
- a frame;
- a wheel and axle;
- a strut member coupled to the axle and pivotably mounting the wheel to a first portion of the frame positioned over the wheel;
- means coupled to the strut member and the frame for elevating the frame relative to the strut member and wheel between a lowered position suitable for engaging a shipping skid and a selected elevated position for lifting said skid;
- a second portion of the frame angled downwardly from the first portion and extending to a level adjacent the bottom
- an elongated cantilevered support member shaped to fit within a fork lift envelope of a standard shipping skid, the support member being rigidly attached at its proximal end to the second portion of the frame adjacent its lower end and means for locking the support member to the shipping skid comprising at least one pin for engaging matching holes in the support member and in the fork lift envelope of the shipping skid.
A pallet transport system comprising:
- a standard shipping skid having at least two opposed, generally parallel, fork lift envelopes extending substantially through the skid from one end to the other and being located respectively adjacent opposite sides of the skid;
- and
- four adaptable wheel dollies for attachment to the skid by insertion of respective support members into opposite ends of the respective fork lift envelopes for lifting and transporting the skid, each of the wheel dollies comprising:
- a frame;
- a wheel and axle;
- a strut member coupled to the axle and pivotably mounting the wheel to a first portion of the frame positioned over the wheel;
- means coupled to the strut member and the frame for elevating the frame relative to the strut member and wheel between a lowered position suitable for engaging the shipping skid and a selected elevated position for lifting said skid;
- a second portion of the frame angled downwardly from the first portion and extending to a level adjacent the bottom
- an elongated cantilevered support member shaped to fit within a fork lift envelope of the skid, the support member being rigidly attached at its proximal end to the second portion of the frame adjacent its lower end and means for locking the support member to the shipping skid comprising at least one pin for engaging matching holes in the support member and in the fork lift envelope of the shipping skid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.