CLIAMS:We claim:

1.A material handling boom based vehicle such as crane comprising
rigid articulation free chassis comprising an integral front and rear section;

driver’s cabin in said front section of the chassis;

material handling boom mounted behind drivers cabin and adapted to rotate 360 degree and to work upto 180 degree with loads;

said rigid chassis providing a load carrying deck at the rear section of the chassis; and

split counterweight to balance the chassis and the material handling boom;

2.A material handling boom based vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein said split counterweight comprises one in the chassis and other along with the boom.

3.A material handling boom based vehicle as claimed in anyone of claims comprising hydraulic lockable suspension.

4.A material handling boom based vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein material handling boom is mounted on slew bearing in chassis.

5.A material handling boom based vehicle as claimed in any one of the claim 1 or 2, wherein the said material handling boom comprises

multiple booms nested telescopically adapted for extending or retracting along longitudinal direction of the boom adapted for reaching nearer to load;

hook assembly with cable reel cooperatively attached with free end of the front most boom section for lifting the load ;

counter weight attached at the rear portion of the said material handling boom for providing stabilizing counterbalance force;

lift cylinders for driving the booms.

6.A material handling boom based vehicle as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the said material handling boom further comprises plurality of hydraulic driving means disposed on either side of the said boom for facilitating angular elevation of the boom sections.

7.A material handling boom based vehicle as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 4, wherein the material handling boom further comprises rotational driving means adapted to rotate the said material handling boom with the telescopically nested boom sections in 360 degree angle around the axis perpendicular to the chassis plane and passing though point where the said material handling boom is mounted on the chassis.

8.A material handling boom based vehicle as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 5, wherein the said rigid articulation free chassis is adapted to place load centre of the vehicles at the inside of support point of the vehicle for stabilizing moment in the vehicles.

9.A material handling boom based vehicle as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 6 wherein the said articulation free chassis is adapted to increase stability of the vehicles by ensuring constant base area of the vehicles.

10.A material handling boom based vehicle as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 7, wherein the said rigid articulation free chassis further comprises hydraulic outriggers disposed on either side with front section of the chassis and integrally attached with the chassis adapted to expand in sideways of the chassis and lock with ground for increasing stability area of the vehicles and providing rigid support during the load lifting operation.

11.A material handling boom based vehicle as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 8, wherein said split counter weight includes weight at the rear section of the chassis for providing counter force to stabilize the vehicle.

12.A material handling boom based vehicle as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 9, wherein the said rigid articulation free chassis comprises individual front suspension and rear suspension for deposing the chassis on driving wheels.

13.A material handling boom based vehicle as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 10, wherein the rear suspension comprises hydraulic cylinder adapted for making the rear suspension rigid for avoiding tilting of the vehicles when the boom slews with the load to one side of the vehicles by locking the said hydraulic cylinder.

14.A material handling boom based vehicle as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 11, wherein the said chassis mounted 360 degree rotatable material handling boom in inoperative condition is positioned behind the driver’s cabin and having the telescopically nested booms pointed towards rear end of the vehicles avoiding projection of the said booms outside of the vehicle body while in transit.

15.A material handling boom based vehicle as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 15, comprises electronic safe load indicator and alarming system comprising:

Safety Controller for providing comprehensive safety to the vehicle by stopping unsafe motion of the vehicle through hydraulic cut-off solenoid in the event of overload or over-hoist of the hook block;

Anti-Two-Block Limit Switch fitted on top of the material handling boom head adapted for provide the over-hoist information;

Rotation Sensor Potentiometer fitted at the slew bearing center adapted for continuously measure slew position of the load;

length and angle sensors fitted on the cable reel for detecting the boom length and boom angle;

hydraulic pressure transducers in the lift cylinders for measuring the lifted load.

16.A material handling boom based vehicle as claimed in claim 16, wherein the said Safety Controller is adapted to receive inputs from the sensors, Switch and transducers and limits rated capacity of the vehicles with respect to the actual vehicle configuration and acknowledge its operator by displaying continuously in LMI display.
,TagSPECI:FIELD OF THE INVENTION:

The present patent proposal relates to a material or load conveying system which can lift and shift material or load. More specifically the present subject advancement is particularly directed to develop a load or material handling vehicle with selectively manoeuvrable load carrying boom selectively disposed on the said vehicles for facilitating load picking and carrying operation in a secured manner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:

Heavy material or load conveying system indicates those vehicles which can lift and shift heavy load and also can carry the load to another site. The pick and carry cranes are particularly useful for such load conveying job.

This pick and carry cranes comprise outwardly projected load carrying cantilever or boom. In particular, in the existing pick and carry cranes the boom is projected out of the body of the cranes by 4m-5m. The operator’s cabin in the existing pick and carry cranes is disposed behind the boom or at the side of boom. The Crane body is articulated over a central pin joint, the steering movement is by lever. It moves with load while the load remains hanging in front. Such disposing of the booms over an articulated crane body creates different safety and visibility related problems. For example, since the boom in such Cranes comes out by 4-5m in front of the crane body and the driver sits behind the boom, it is very difficult to estimate turning radius on road. Also since the Boom is in the front and driver position is behind the boom visibility is obstructed by the boom. Moreover, in the existing articulated body based carne the stability was a critical issue. In particular, in the articulated body based carne, wherein the front body and rear body joined by central pin, the Rear body acts as counterweight. In turning since the centre of gravity (C.G.) of rear body shifts towards load centre, it has reduced stability at steered angle. The more is the steering the less is stability. Also, in the existing pick and carry Cranes, the rigid attachment of the Boom on the front body allows only derrick movement of the boom. Hence, the front body has to articulate on wheels along with the load for positioning load in the side.

Thus there has been always need for the development of a load or heavy material handling vehicles which will resolve the above discussed drawbacks of the existing pick and carry Cranes. In particular the basic need was to develop load or heavy material handling which would be stable and easy to operate and also adapted to perform all the load lifting and carrying operations similar to the existing pick and carry Cranes without articulate on wheels along with the load for positioning load in the side. Also the vehicles should not comprise any components which are projected out of the vehicles body causing its operator’s visual obstruction during transit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

Thus according to the basic aspect in the present invention, there is provided a material handling boom based vehicle such as crane comprising rigid articulation free chassis comprising an integral front and rear section; driver’s cabin in said front section of the chassis; material handling boom mounted behind drivers cabin and adapted to rotate 360 degree and to work upto 180 degree with loads and split counterweight to balance the chassis and material handling boom. The said rigid chassis also comprises a load carrying deck at the rear section of the chassis. In particular, the said split counterweight comprises one in the chassis and other along with the boom. In the present material handling boom based vehicle, the material handling boom is mounted on slew bearing in chassis.
According to another aspect in the present invention, the present material handling boom based vehicle comprising hydraulic lockable suspension.

According to another aspect in the present material handling boom based vehicle, the said material handling boom comprises

multiple booms nested telescopically adapted for extending or retracting along longitudinal direction of the boom adapted for reaching nearer to load;

hook assembly with cable reel cooperatively attached with free end of the front most boom section for lifting the load ;

counter weight attached at the rear portion of the said material handling boom for providing stabilizing counterbalance force;

lift cylinders for driving the booms.

According to yet another aspect in the present material handling boom based vehicle, the said material handling boom further comprises

plurality of hydraulic driving means disposed on either side of the said boom for facilitating angular elevation of the boom sections.

According to a further aspect in the present material handling boom based vehicle, the material handling boom further comprises rotational driving means adapted to rotate the said material handling boom with the telescopically nested boom sections in 360 degree angle around the axis perpendicular to the chassis plane and passing though point where the said material handling boom is mounted on the chassis.

According to another aspect in the present material handling boom based vehicle, the said rigid articulation free chassis is adapted to place load centre of the vehicles at the inside of support point of the vehicle for stabilizing moment in the vehicles. Also the said articulation free chassis increases stability of the vehicles by ensuring constant base area of the vehicles.

In accordance with another aspect in the present material handling boom based vehicle, the said rigid articulation free chassis further comprises hydraulic outriggers disposed on either side with front section of the chassis and integrally attached with the chassis adapted to expand in sideways of the chassis and lock with ground for increasing stability area of the vehicles and providing rigid support during the load lifting operation.

According to a further aspect in the present material handling boom based vehicle, the said split counter weight includes weight at the rear section of the chassis for providing counter force to stabilize the vehicle.

According to a further aspect in the present material handling boom based vehicle, the said rigid articulation free chassis comprises individual front suspension and rear suspension for deposing the chassis on driving wheels. The rear suspension comprises hydraulic cylinder adapted for making the rear suspension rigid for avoiding tilting of the vehicles when the boom slews with the load to one side of the vehicles by locking the said hydraulic cylinder.

In accordance with another aspect in the present material handling boom based vehicle, the said chassis mounted 360 degree rotatable material handling boom in inoperative condition is positioned behind the driver’s cabin and having the telescopically nested booms pointed towards rear end of the vehicles avoiding projection of the said booms outside of the vehicle body while in transit.

According to a further aspect in the present invention, the said material handling boom based vehicle comprises electronic safe load indicator and alarming system comprising:

Safety Controller for providing comprehensive safety to the vehicle by stopping unsafe motion of the vehicle through hydraulic cut-off solenoid in the event of overload or over-hoist of the hook block;

Anti-Two-Block Limit Switch fitted on top of the material handling boom head adapted for provide the over-hoist information;

Rotation Sensor Potentiometer fitted at the slew bearing center adapted for continuously measure slew position of the load;

length and angle sensors fitted on the cable reel for detecting the boom length and boom angle;

hydraulic pressure transducers in the lift cylinders for measuring the lifted load.

The said Safety Controller is adapted to receive inputs from the sensors, Switch and transducers and limits rated capacity of the vehicles with respect to the actual vehicle configuration and acknowledge its operator by displaying continuously in LMI display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURES:

Figure 1(a): shows the side view of material handling boom based vehicle in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 1(b): shows the side view of the said load or material handling boom based vehicle with contracted load carrying boom.

Figure 1(c): shows the side view of the said load or material handling boom based vehicle with contracted load carrying boom disposed at the back of the vehicles.

Figure 2: shows the back perspective view of the said load or material handling boom based vehicle.

Figure 3: shows the front perspective view of the said load or material handling boom based vehicle.

Figure 4: shows the front perspective view of the driver’s cabin associated with the present load or material handling boom based vehicle.

Figure 5(a): is the schematic representation of the base of the conventional articulated crane or load conveying vehicles when the articulation angle zero.

Figure 5(b) and (c) schematically represents the base of the conventional articulated crane or load conveying vehicles when the said crane body is articulated at any particular angle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCOMPANYING FIGURES:

This invention relates to a load lifting and carrying vehicle or load and heavy material handling boom based vehicle such as crane which can be used for a variety of tasks generally concerned with lifting and manipulating heavy loads. The invented material handling boom based vehicle is particularly useful in relation to front controlled articulation free vehicles wherein the driver’s cabin is positioned in front of the load lifting and carrying space. Such vehicles are particularly adapted for providing 180 degree front visibility of the operator or driver of the vehicles.

Reference is first invited from the accompanying figure 1(a) which schematically illustrates the side view of the present material handling boom based vehicle. As shown in the said figure, the vehicle basically comprises a solid rigid chassis structure (1) which is specially designed without involving any articulation. All the vehicle’s parts and sections are mounted over the said articulation free chassis

(1). The said articulation free chassis (1) of the load material handling boom based vehicle basically comprises an integral front (5) and rear (6) section. The driver’s cabin (2) of the present vehicles with all usual vehicle controls is mounted on the front section (5) of the chassis so that the drive’s can sit in front most position of the vehicles which ensures clear, obstruction free front visibility during driving the vehicles.

The front section (5) of the chassis also comprises plurality of hydraulic outriggers (15) systematically disposed on either side and operatively attached with front most section of the chassis below the driver’s cabin (2). The said hydraulic outriggers are adapted to expand in sideways of the chassis and lock with ground for increasing stability area of the vehicles and providing rigid support during the load lifting operation. The accompanying figure 3 shows the schematic of the frontal part of the vehicles with expanded outriggers.
The present vehicle includes a load or material handling boom (3) for facilitating the load lifting operation. The said material handling boom is mounted on the chassis behind the driver’s cabin by involving slew bearing (7) for providing the operator complete visibility in front, top, sides & rear, while lifting the load.

A rotational driving means can be provided in the said material handling boom for rotating it in any requisite direction around an axis (8) perpendicular to the chassis plane and passing though point where the said material handling boom is mounted on the chassis.

The disposing of the material handling boom on the chassis by involving the slew bearing is further illustrated in the accompanying
figure 2.

The said material handling boom further comprises plurality of boom sections (9) which are nested telescopically in the material handling boom. These telescopically nested boom sections (9) cooperatively or individually can be moved in to and fro direction by driving means associated with the present material handling boom. Thus the telescopically nested multiple booms (9) are adapted to extend or retract along longitudinal direction of the boom. The accompanying figure 1(a) shows the schematic of the present vehicles with expanded boom while the figure 1(b) shows the schematic of the same vehicles with constricted boom.

A load carrying hook assembly (10) with cable reel is cooperatively attached with free end of the front most boom section. The said load carrying hook assembly (10) with cable reel can be moved in up and down direction by using lift cylinders associated with the present material handling boom. Thus concurrent motion of the boom sections and the hook assembly facilitates load lifting and disposing operation. A counter weight (11) is also attached at the back portion of the said material handling boom for providing stabilizing counterbalance force.

In a preferred embodiment of the present load lifting and carrying vehicle, the material handling boom mounted on the chassis behind the driver’s cabin can rotate with the telescopically nested boom sections in 360 degree angle around the axis perpendicular to the chassis plane and passing though point where the said material handling boom is mounted on the chassis. Such rotational ability of the boom facilitates the placement of the material handling boom with the telescopically nested boom sections at the back side of the driver’s cabin of the vehicles [as shown in the accompanying figure 1(c)] for avoiding the projection of the boom outside of the vehicle body while in transit. In a preferred embodiment of the vehicles, the material handling boom can rotate in 180 degree angle with the load in the boom.

The said material handling boom also comprises plurality of hydraulic driving means (12) disposed on either side of the said boom for facilitating angular elevation (13) of the boom. The angular elevation of the material handling boom with extended boom sections for lifting the load at a particular height is shown in the accompanying figure 3.
On rear section (6) of the chassis i.e. the chassis behind the material handling boom a carrying platform or deck (4) is provided for carrying the boom lifted load. Therefore carrying the load at the backside of the vehicles instead of carrying it by hanging at the front ensures the clear, obstruction free front visibility during driving the vehicles. The load carrying deck is adapted to carry loads up to 4 ton and the present vehicle is adapted to travel with a speed 10 kmph having the load on its deck. Another counter weight (14) is also attached at the behind of the rear section of the chassis for providing counter force which stabilize the vehicles.

In the present load lifting and carrying vehicles the said articulation free chassis also comprises individual front suspension and rear suspension for deposing the chassis on driving wheels. The rear suspension of the vehicles further comprises hydraulic cylinder for making the rear suspension rigid which avoids tilting of the vehicles when the boom slews with the load to one side of the vehicles by locking the said hydraulic cylinder.

The present vehicle may also comprise an electronic Safe Load indicator or Load Moment Indicator and alarming system. The electronic safe load indicator and alarming system involves a Safety Controller for providing comprehensive safety to the vehicle by stopping unsafe motion of the vehicle through hydraulic cut-off solenoid in the event of overload or over-hoist of the hook block, Anti-Two-Block Limit Switch fitted on top of the material handling boom head adapted for provide the over-hoist information, Rotation Sensor Potentiometer fitted at the slew bearing center adapted for continuously measure slew position of the load, length and angle sensors fitted on the cable reel for detecting the boom length and boom angle and hydraulic pressure transducers in the lift cylinders for measuring the lifted load. The said Safety Controller associated with the present electronic Safe Load indicator is adapted to receive inputs from the sensors, Switch and transducers and limits rated capacity of the vehicles with respect to the actual vehicle configuration and acknowledge its operator by displaying continuously in LMI display.

Reference is next invited from the accompanying figure 5(a) and 5(b) which is the schematic representation of the base of the conventional articulated crane or load conveying vehicles body with zero and any particular articulation respectively. When the vehicle is articulated as shown in the accompanying figure 5(b), the rear triangle is moved by articulation angle, the base transforms in to a trapezoid as two wheels moves nearer and with the increase of articulation angle the area of the trapezium decreases resulting in reduction of base area. This reduces the stability of the vehicles in articulation.
As shown in the referred figures the centre point of diagonals represents the point of articulation of the existing articulated pick and carries Crane or load conveying vehicles body. In the present figures, it is assumed that, the vehicle width is equal to ‘a’ and the wheel base is ‘b’. For simplicity it also considered as b=2a.

Therefore, the stability base area is = a*b=a*2a=2a².
Now, if rear triangle OBC shifts through an angle a (=angle B0 ) in anti-clockwise direction as shown in figure 6(b), the rectangle ABCD becomes a trapezium .

Now, if OD=OA=OB=OC=r and angle AOB=?, then
Length of the side of the trapezium will be equal to

2r*sin
where, r= OA= O = O = OD.
Length of the side of the trapezium will be

2r*sin
Height of the trapezium EF will be
r*{cos +cos }.
=2r*cos(?/2)*cos(a/2).
Now, as area of the trapezium is
1/2*(sum of the parallel sides)* height
= 1/2*( + )*EF
= 1/2*{2rsin +2r*sin }*2r*cos(?/2)*cos(a/2).

= 4r2*sin(?/2)*cos(a/2)*cos(?/2)*cos(a/2).

= 2r2sin?{cos(a/2)}2.

Now, from figure 5(a),
r= .
For length=2a and width=a of the rectangle ABCD,

tan(?/2)= a/(a/2).

or, ?= 126.87°

Hence, area of the trapezium= 2*(5/4)*a2 *sin(126.87°){cos(a/2)}2.

=2a2 *{cos(a/2)}2.

Since, Cos a/2 is always less 1 for any value of a>0, Hence 2a2 *{cos(a/2)}2< 2a².

For any typical articulation angle of 45° the area reduces by 17%.

Thus it is evident that for any articulation angle the stability area of a load conveying vehicle is decreased.

Apart from the fact that there is a reduction in base area, the centre of Gravity or the load center of articulated vehicles shifts towards the centre of articulation circle. With this shift the counterbalance force available for stability of machine reduces.
The shifting of the centre of Gravity or the load center of articulated vehicles is further illustrated with help of accompanying figure 5(c). The base of the articulated vehicles, as shown in the present figure it is assumed that, the vehicle width AD=BC is equal to ‘a’ and the wheel base AB=DC is ‘2a’.
When the articulation angle a=0, the centre of Gravity is at midpoint of diagonals BD & AC. It is at O.
Considering a case of just tipping in zero articulation angle, the load centre is at half the distance R/2.
When the vehicle is articulated at an angle a, the CG of the body shifts to O’.
C’D is parallel to AB’ in Trapezium AB’C’D.
Angle OO’E is 90 °, so KO’O is more than 90°.
As per Trigonometric theorem longest side of a triangle is opposite to biggest angle of the triangle. Since in the triangle OKO’ the biggest angle is KO’O. So the opposite side OK is greater than O’K. Since the O’J is more than OK, it will be outside the triangle OC’B’. For any angle a, OJ is >OK, hence it will be outside triangle.
Since the load centre is outside support point of the vehicle it will cause de-stabilizing moment.
Hence, in the back drop of the above analysis, it is evident that the involvement of the articulation free design in the chassis of the present load lifting and carrying vehicles eliminates two main stability related problems associated with the conventional load conveying vehicles. Due to the articulation free construction of the chassis of the present load lifting and carrying vehicles, the tendency of shifting of the centre of Gravity or the load center towards the centre of articulation circle is eliminated. Therefore in the present load lifting and carrying vehicle the load centre of the vehicle always stay at the inside of support point of the vehicle which eliminate the generation of any de-stabilizing moment in the vehicles due to shifting of the load center. Further the articulation free chassis increase stability of the vehicles by ensuring constant base area of the vehicles during its operation.