Method for loading four-wheeled vehicles and related transporter

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for loading a four-wheeled vehicle using a transporter (90), the transporter (90) comprising wedge arms (21, 22, 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 34) arranged to be positioned on either side of the tread of the wheels of the vehicle (100) to be loaded, and wheel clamp detection means (46, 47, 48, 49), the method comprising: - moving the transporter (90) until the wedge arms (21, 22, 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 34) contact the tread of the tire; - moving the transporter along a longitudinal axis of the transporter a predetermined distance or until a predetermined force is detected; - stopping the movement of the transporter and generating a signal indicative of the movement status of the vehicle (100), either moving or stationary.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of electric handling vehicles, in particular four-wheel vehicle transporters.

[0002] In the prior art, it is a known practice to use electric transporters to move or transport automobiles, particularly new automobiles, over a parking area.

[0003] However, if the vehicle's parking brake is not activated, the vehicle may unintentionally roll down the slope after being moved through the transporter. In the worst case, the vehicle may collide with and cause damage to other stored vehicles. It is also desirable to provide a solution that allows for tolerances in the positioning of the transporter in three dimensions relative to the vehicle to be transported or moved. Solution provided by the invention

[0004] In its most general sense, the present invention provides a method for loading a four-wheeled vehicle using a transporter, the transporter comprising wedge arms arranged to be positioned on either side of the tread of the wheels of the vehicle to be loaded, and means for detecting the presence or clamping of the wheels, the method comprising: - moving the transporter until the wedge arm contacts the tread of the tire; - moving the transporter along a longitudinal axis of the transporter a predetermined distance or until a predetermined force is detected; - stopping the movement of the transporter and generating a signal representative of the movement status of said vehicle, either moving or stationary.

[0005] Thus, the operation of the parking brake of a vehicle being loaded or moved can be checked simply and quickly, allowing a tolerance of a few degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

[0006] According to a first variant, the step of stopping the transporter movement and generating a signal representative of the aforementioned vehicle movement state is performed according to the time variation of the detected force. The predetermined force is, for example, a force corresponding to an increase of at least 30% of the detected force as the wedge arm contacts the tread. If the detected force disappears after the aforementioned step of stopping the transporter movement, the loading of the vehicle is interrupted.

[0007] According to a second variant, the step of stopping the movement of the transporter and generating a signal representative of the aforementioned vehicle movement state is performed according to the time variation of the detected distance. If, after the aforementioned step of stopping the movement of the transporter, the detected distance increases, the loading of the vehicle is interrupted.

[0008] If loading is interrupted, a message is sent.

[0009] According to a second aspect, the present invention relates to a transporter for loading a four-wheeled vehicle, comprising a telescopic chassis with wedge arms arranged to be positioned on either side of the tread of the wheels of the vehicle to be loaded, comprising means for detecting the presence or clamping of the wheels of the vehicle, comprising at least one sensor and a presence or clamping detection computer for collecting data from the at least one sensor and for generating a signal representative of a movement state of said vehicle according to said data.

[0010] Preferably, the transporter is of the type comprising a longitudinally telescopic chassis, the chassis comprising a main beam and a secondary beam movable relative to the main beam, each beam comprising a side member extending laterally on either side of said beam, each side member having a pair of arms pivotable to said longitudinal member, each arm being connected to one end of said side member. The arms are movable between a position allowing said chassis to move under the vehicle and a position in contact with the tread of said wheel. Each arm is pivotally connected to a pivot shaft to allow movement between a position perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the chassis and a folded position occupying a width less than the distance between the inner walls of the wheels of the vehicle. In the vertical position, also called the unfolded position, the length of the assembly comprising the pair of arms and the side member is at least equal to the track of the vehicle to be loaded or moved.

[0011] The height of the chassis, including the elements supported by the chassis and intended to be deployed under the vehicle being transported, is designed to be lower than the ground clearance of the vehicle.

[0012] According to one alternative embodiment of the transporter chassis, the pair of pivotally connected arms described above are laterally movable.

[0013] According to a first embodiment of the presence or clamping detection means, these means comprise means for detecting the position of the wheels. For example, the means for detecting the position of the wheels are laser, ultrasonic or radar distance sensors. According to an alternative embodiment, the presence or clamping detection means are contact detection means. For example, the contact detection means comprise at least one spring.

[0014] According to a second embodiment of the presence or clamping detection means, these means comprise means for detecting a force, for example a force sensor such as a strain gauge or a pressure probe, or alternatively interpreting an indirect signal, for example an increase in the power consumption of a clamping cylinder motor.

[0015] Preferably the presence detection or clamping means is located on the wedge arm.

[0016] In a complementary manner, or according to an alternative embodiment, the clamp detection means are arranged on the pivot shaft of the wedge arm.

[0017] In relation to the above embodiment, the means for detecting a force comprises a torque sensor and / or a sensor for measuring the strength of one or more electric actuators actuating one or more wedge arms. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0018] The invention will be better understood on reading the following description, with reference to non-limiting exemplary embodiments illustrated by the attached drawings, in which:

[0019] [Figure 1] 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a transporter according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, said transporter comprising two pairs of front wedge arms and one pair of rear wedge arms; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 shows a schematic perspective view of the transporter according to FIG. 1 in the approach phase in front of the vehicle. [Diagram 3] 1 shows a schematic perspective view of the transporter in the approach phase with the transporter chassis partially located under the vehicle and the rear wedge arms in a folded position. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 shows a view of the transporter according to FIG. 3 with the rear wedge arm in the deployed position. [Diagram 5] 1 shows a schematic perspective view of the transporter in the approach phase with the transporter chassis positioned under the automobile and the front wedge arms in contact with the automobile's front wheel treads. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 shows a view of the transporter according to FIG. 5, in which the rear wedge arm is in contact with the rear wheel tread of the vehicle. [Figure 7]7 shows a view of the transporter according to FIG. 6, with a car loaded onto the transporter. [Figure 8] 1 shows a schematic top view of a transporter according to a second embodiment of the present invention, said transporter comprising two pairs of front wedge arms and two pairs of rear wedge arms. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 shows a schematic top view of the transporter according to FIG. 8 in the approach phase in front of the vehicle, only its wheels being shown. [Figure 10] FIG. 9 shows a schematic top view of the transporter according to FIG. 8 with the rear wedge arm in contact with the tread of the rear wheel of the vehicle and the distal wedge arm in the folded position. [Figure 11] FIG. 9 shows a schematic top view of the transporter according to FIG. 8, with all of the wedge arms in contact with the wheels of the vehicle to be loaded. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of the transporter. The transporter comprises a chassis including a main beam 2 and a secondary beam 3 slidably mounted inside the main beam 2. A cylinder or linear actuator (not shown), e.g. a worm gear actuator, allows the secondary beam 3 to be actuated relative to the main beam 2 in order to obtain a telescopic chassis.

[0021] The main beam 2 of the chassis is fixed and comprises a front lateral side member 25 carrying two fixed arms 21, 22, and two deployable front arms 23, 24 pivotally movable relative to the front side member. The deployable front arms 23, 24 are a neutral position, in which the deployable front arms extend parallel to the main beam to allow the transporter to travel under a loaded vehicle without contacting the wheels of said vehicle; -operated by an electric motor or cylinder to move between a deployed and locked position to allow contact with the wheel tread of the vehicle;

[0022] In the deployed position, the spacing between each pair of fixed and opposing deployable arms 21, 23 and 22, 24 is determined to contact and grip the front and rear walls of a vehicle tire to allow the vehicle to be lifted. To facilitate lifting, the fixed arms 21, 22 have inclined ramps 28, 29.

[0023] When the deployable forearms 24, 23 are in the deployed locked position, they stop the vehicle from moving relative to the transporter.

[0024] The secondary beam 3 of the chassis likewise comprises a rear lateral side member 35 carrying two deployable rear arms 31, 32 pivotally movable relative to the rear side member. a neutral position, in which the deployable rear arms extend parallel to the secondary beams to allow the transporter to travel under a loaded vehicle without contacting the wheels of said vehicle; -operated by an electric motor or cylinder to move between a deployed and locked position to allow contact with the wheel tread of the vehicle;

[0025] The length L of the side members 25, 35 measured between the pivot shafts of the deployable front arms 23, 24 and the pivot shafts of the deployable rear arms 31, 32 is less than Vmin - Lmin.

[0026] Vmin indicates the typical and minimum trajectory of the vehicle and is typically 1600 millimeters.

[0027] Lmin indicates the typical width of a car tyre, typically 220 millimetres.

[0028] Thus, the length l of the side member is typically less than 1400 millimeters, and preferably is about 1200 millimeters.

[0029] The length of the fixed arms 21, 22, the deployable front arms 23, 24 and the deployable rear arms 31, 32 is determined to correspond to half the width lmax, which corresponds to the width between the outer walls of the wheels of a large vehicle, minus the length of the side members 25, 35, which is typically 500 millimeters for each of the arms.

[0030] Thus, the transporter can be positioned along the axis of the vehicle such that the chassis of the transporter is permitted to pass under the vehicle with the wedge arms 23, 24, 31, 32 in a substantially longitudinally oriented folded position until the ramps 28, 29 of the fixed arms 21, 22 abut the front wheels of the vehicle.

[0031] The deployable wedge arms 31, 32 are then moved to a lateral position. The chassis side beams can be actuated forward to match the wheelbase of the loaded vehicle and to bring the deployable wedge arms 31, 32 into contact with the rear treads of the vehicle wheels.

[0032] The wedge arms 23,24 are deployed to move the vehicle onto the fixed arms 21,22.

[0033] The transporter is equipped with four ultrasonic distance measuring sensors 41-44 that transmit signals according to the distance from the vehicle's bumper.

[0034] The transporter comprises means for detecting the presence or clamping of wheels of the vehicle, comprising at least one sensor and a clamp detection computer that collects data from the at least one sensor and generates a signal representative of a moving state of said vehicle according to said data.

[0035] According to one embodiment and with reference to figure 1, the clamp detection means comprises two force sensors 46, 47 intended to detect and verify that the vehicle is loaded, and two short range laser distance sensors 26, 27 for wheel and obstacle detection. The four sensors are located on the front side member 25.

[0036] Additionally, the wheel presence detection means includes two short-range laser distance measuring sensors 48, 49 for detecting wheels and obstacles. The two laser distance measuring sensors 48, 49 are disposed on the rear side member 35.

[0037] According to some alternative embodiments, - Force sensors may be arranged on the two side members, a sensor for detecting the position of the wheels may be arranged on one of the two side members; One or more of the aforementioned sensors may be arranged on the wedge arm.

[0038] The chassis formed by the beams 2, 3 and the side members 25, 35 has wheels or rollers allowing it to move over the ground.

[0039] 2 to 7 show schematic diagrams of the vehicle and the transporter in successive loading steps.

[0040] Initially, the transporter is positioned in front of a car parked in a storage space, so that the transporter is substantially aligned with said vehicle, as shown in Figure 2. The movable wedge arms 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 34 are in a folded or neutral position.

[0041] Short range laser range finders 48, 49 detect the first set of wheels of the vehicle to position the transporter chassis relative to the loaded vehicle.

[0042] The transporter then moves to position the secondary beam and then the primary beam under the vehicle until the front wheels of the vehicle are detected by the short range laser range finders 26, 27. See FIG.

[0043] In the next step (Figure 4) the rear wedge arms 31, 32 are deployed to a lateral position. In conjunction with a test to check that the vehicle's parking brake is properly locked, the wedge arms are able to hold the vehicle if the parking brake is not locked.

[0044] The transporter then moves forward until the front fixed arms 21, 22 make contact with the front wheels (see FIG. 5). The force sensors 46, 47 and short range laser range finders 26, 27 indicate that the wheels are in contact. In addition, the secondary beams are deployed until the rear wheels of the vehicle are detected by the short range laser range finders 48, 49.

[0045] To detect that the wheels are properly clamped and therefore the parking brakes are properly locked, the transporter moves along the longitudinal axis of the transporter so as to detect an increase in force relative to the force detected when the force sensors 46, 47 detect contact with the wheels. As soon as this force is detected, the transporter stops moving.

[0046] If the force sensors 46, 47 detect substantially the same increased force and / or the position sensors 26, 27 continue to detect contact with the wheels, the clamp detection computer indicates that the parking brakes are indeed locked and the loading procedure continues.

[0047] If the force sensors 46, 47 detect a decrease in force and / or the position sensors 26, 27 detect a clearance from the wheels, particularly an increasing clearance, the clamp detection computer indicates that the parking brake is not locked and the loading procedure is aborted.

[0048] If the parking brake is indeed locked, the transporter adjusts the length of the secondary beam so that the rear wedge arms 31, 32 contact the rear wheels (Figure 6). When the deployable front arms 23, 24 clamp the front wheels, the vehicle is lifted.

[0049] Force sensors 48, 49 verify that the vehicle is attached to the fixed wedge arms 21, 22 and the transporter automatically moves to bring the vehicle to the target location, see Figure 7.

[0050] With reference to Figures 8, 9, 10 and 11, a second embodiment of the transporter will now be described with respect to its differences relative to the first embodiment.

[0051] The secondary beam 3 of the chassis further comprises two deployable distal arms 33, 34 which are pivotable relative to the rear side member. The deployable distal arms 33, 34 are - with reference to FIG. 9, a neutral position in which the deployable distal arms 33, 34 extend parallel to the secondary beam 3 to allow the transporter to run under the vehicle to be loaded without contacting the wheels of said vehicle (in FIG. 9 the deployable rear arms are in a folded position and are not visible); -operated by an electric motor or cylinder to move between a deployed and locked position to allow contact with the wheel tread of the vehicle;

[0052] In the deployed position, the spacing between each clamp pair of rear and opposing distal arms 31, 33 and 32, 34 is determined to contact and grip the front and rear walls of a vehicle tire to allow the vehicle to be lifted. When the deployable distal arms 34, 33 are in the deployed lock position, they stop the vehicle from moving relative to the transporter.

[0053] 9, the transporter is positioned substantially parallel underneath a car, which is represented by four squares illustrating the tires of said car, and the movable wedge arms 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 34 are in a folded or neutral position.

[0054] A short range laser range finder positioned on the secondary beam 3 detects the front wheels of the vehicle before the short range laser range finder is positioned on the main beam 2 to position the transporter chassis relative to the loading vehicle, and then detects the front wheels of the vehicle until the front fixed arms 21, 22 contact the front wheels (see FIG. 9). A force sensor and short range laser range finder positioned on the main beam 2 indicate that the wheels are in contact.

[0055] 10, the secondary beam 3 is deployed until the rear wheels of the vehicle are detected by the short range laser range finder carried by said beam 3. The rear wedge arms 31, 32 are deployed into a lateral position.

[0056] To detect that the wheels are properly clamped and therefore the parking brakes are properly locked, the transporter moves along the longitudinal axis of the transporter in such a way that the force sensor detects an increase in force relative to the force detected when it detects contact with the wheels. As soon as this force is detected, the transporter stops moving.

[0057] If the force sensor detects substantially the same increased force and / or the position sensor continues to detect contact with the wheels, the clamp detection computer indicates that the parking brakes are indeed locked and the loading procedure continues.

[0058] If the force sensor detects a decrease in force and / or the position sensor detects a clearance from the wheels, particularly an increasing clearance, the clamp detection computer indicates that the parking brake is not locked and the loading procedure is aborted.

[0059] If the parking brake is actually locked, the transporter adjusts the length of the secondary beam.

[0060] 11, the forward wedge arms 23, 24 and distal wedge arms 33, 34 are then deployed to clamp the vehicle wheels prior to lifting said vehicle. Force sensors verify that the vehicle is attached to the wedge arms.

Claims

1. A method for loading a four-wheeled vehicle using a transporter (90), the transporter (90) comprising wedge arms (21, 22, 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 34) arranged to be positioned on either side of the tread of the wheels of the vehicle (100) to be loaded, and means (46, 47, 48, 49) for detecting the presence of wheels or clamps, - moving said transporter (90) until a fixed arm (21, 22) of the wedge arms (21, 22, 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 34) comes into contact with said tread of the tire; - moving the transporter along a longitudinal axis of the transporter from contact between the tread and the fixed arm over a predetermined distance or until a predetermined force is detected; - stopping the movement of the transporter and determining whether the parking brake of the vehicle (100) is locked or not based on the detection result of the means for detecting the presence of wheels or clamps detected when the transporter is moved along the longitudinal axis of the transporter, and generating a signal indicating whether the parking brake is locked or not as a signal representing the movement state of the vehicle (100).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the steps of stopping the movement of the transporter and generating a signal representative of the movement state of the vehicle are performed according to a time variation of the detected force.

3. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein if the detected force disappears after the step of stopping the movement of the transporter, it is determined that the parking brake of the vehicle is not locked and the loading of the vehicle onto the transporter is discontinued.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the steps of stopping the movement of the transporter and generating a signal representative of the movement state of the vehicle are performed according to a change in the detected distance over time.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein if the detected distance increases after the step of stopping the movement of the transporter, it is determined that the parking brake of the vehicle is not locked and the loading of the vehicle onto the transporter is interrupted.

6. The method according to claim 3 or 5, wherein a message is sent if the loading is interrupted.

7. An electric transporter (90) for carrying a four-wheeled vehicle, comprising a telescopic chassis (2, 3) having wedge arms (21, 22, 23, 24, 31, 32, 33, 34) arranged to be positioned on both sides of the tread of the wheels of the vehicle (100) to be carried; means for detecting the presence or clamping of wheels of a vehicle, the means comprising at least one sensor (46, 47, 48, 49) and a clamp detection computer for collecting said data from said at least one sensor and generating a signal indicative of a movement state of said vehicle, in accordance with said data, of whether the parking brake is locked or not, The means for detecting the presence or clamping of the wheel includes moving the transporter along a longitudinal axis of the transporter from contact between the tread and the wedge arm a predetermined distance or until a predetermined force is detected; The electric transporter (90) is characterized in that it determines whether the parking brake of the vehicle (100) is locked based on the detection result of a means for detecting the presence of a wheel or a clamp detected when the movement of the transporter is stopped and the transporter is moved along the longitudinal axis of the transporter.

8. 8. The transporter of claim 7, wherein the means for detecting the presence of a wheel or a clamp comprises means for detecting a position of a wheel.

9. 8. The transporter of claim 7, wherein the means for detecting a wheel presence or clamping comprises means for detecting a force.

10. The transporter according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein means for detecting the presence of the wheel or the clamp are arranged on the wedge arm.

Images