Device for gripping and handling beams for manufacturing airships

Abstract

A device (1) for transferring beams, comprising a base (2) equipped with a movement member (3), a lifting member (4), mounted on the base, having a body and a movable part, and a gripping member (5) mounted on the lifting member, the gripping member comprising a clamp (51) having a clamp body (5c) and at least one jaw (5m) which is movable relative to the clamp body, said clamp being actuatable between a first so-called locked configuration corresponding to a clamping of the clamp on a beam to be transferred and a second so-called unlocked configuration, the gripping member being mounted on the lifting module by means of a ball-joint connection which is lockable in position.

Description

Device for gripping and handling beams for the manufacture of airships Field of invention

[0001] The field of the invention is that of handling long elements called beams for the manufacture of airships. Prior art

[0002] We know of arms for lifting and moving the load.

[0003] There is no beam gripping and handling device that would allow beams to be picked up from a conveyor cart and then presented to an assembly station and subsequently positioned so that they can be attached to an airship under construction.

[0004] The invention aims to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art and in particular to reduce the synchronization time in the event of a problem occurring in the synchronization.

[0005] To this end, according to a first aspect of the invention, a beam transfer device is proposed, comprising a base equipped with a displacement member, a lifting member mounted on the base having a body and a movable part, and a gripping member mounted on the lifting member.

[0006] The gripping member comprises a clamp having a clamp body and at least one jaw movable relative to the clamp body, said clamp being operable between a first configuration called locked corresponding to a clamping of the clamp on a beam to be transferred and a second configuration called unlocked.

[0007] Advantageously, the gripping member is in particular provided for gripping a beam in a conveyor carriage when said device is in a starting position.

[0008] The gripping member is mounted on the lifting module by means of a ball joint that can be locked into position.

[0009] Preferably, the moving member comprises a plurality of omnidirectional wheels.

[0010] Preferably, the lifting device is a telescopic mast.

[0011] Preferably, the gripping member comprises two plates parallel to each other and an actuator operatively arranged between the two plates to adjust a distance separating them.

[0012] According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a system comprising a beam arranged in a conveyor carriage and a beam transfer device according to the first aspect of the invention, or one or more of its improvements. Brief description of the figures

[0013] Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear during the reading of the detailed description which follows for the understanding of which one will refer to the appended drawings in which:

[0014] is a schematic illustration in front view of a beam transfer device according to the invention,

[0015] is a schematic side view illustration of the device shown in, and

[0016] is a schematic illustration of a detail of the gripper illustrated on. Detailed description of the invention

[0017] The embodiments described below being in no way limiting, it will be possible in particular to consider variants of the invention comprising only a selection of the characteristics described, subsequently isolated from the other characteristics described, if this selection of characteristics is sufficient to confer a technical advantage or to differentiate the invention compared to the state of the prior art. This selection comprises at least one characteristic, preferably functional without structural details, or with only a part of the structural details if this part alone is sufficient to confer a technical advantage or to differentiate the invention compared to the state of the prior art.

[0018] There is shown, on, a beam transfer device 1, comprising a base 2 equipped with a displacement member 3, a lifting member 4 mounted on the base, and a gripping member mounted on the lifting member.

[0019] The base is for example formed from a parallelepiped structure made up of plates.

[0020] The movement member 3 may for example comprise a plurality of omnidirectional wheels, for example mounted on a lower part of the base.

[0021] The lifting member 4 has a body fixed to the base, preferably an upper part of the base, and a movable part. The lifting member 4 may for example be a telescopic mast.

[0022] The combination of the moving member and the lifting member makes it possible to move a beam along the three axes of space.

[0023] The gripping member 5 comprises a clamp 51 having a clamp body 5c and at least one jaw 5m movable relative to the clamp body along a gripping axis.

[0024] The clamp 51 can be actuated between a first configuration called locked corresponding to a clamping of the clamp on a beam 6 to be transferred and a second configuration called unlocked,

[0025] The gripping member is in particular provided for gripping a beam 6 in a conveyor carriage when the beam transfer device is positioned in a starting position.

[0026] The gripping member 5 is mounted on the lifting module 4 by means of a ball joint which can be locked in position.

[0027] Thus, the device according to the invention allows the beam to move along the three axes, as well as the beam to rotate around the three axes.

[0028] Locking in position allows operators to directly manipulate the beam by hand without effort and without load.

[0029] As illustrated by the, the gripping member 5 may comprise two plates pm, pc parallel to each other and an actuator 5a functionally arranged between said two plates to adjust a distance separating them.

[0030] The present invention further relates to a system (not shown) comprising a beam arranged in a conveyor carriage and the beam transfer device 1.

[0031] Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples just described and many adjustments can be made to these examples without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, the various features, forms, variants and embodiments of the invention can be combined with each other in various combinations to the extent that they are not incompatible or mutually exclusive.

Claims

Device (1) for transferring beams, comprising a base (2) equipped with a displacement member (3), a lifting member (4) mounted on the base having a body and a movable part, and a gripping member (5) mounted on the lifting member, the gripping member comprising a clamp (51) having a clamp body (5c) and at least one jaw (5m) movable relative to the clamp body, said clamp being actuable between a first configuration called locked corresponding to a clamping of the clamp on a beam to be transferred and a second configuration called unlocked, the gripping member being mounted on the lifting module by means of a ball joint lockable in position. A beam transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the moving member (3) comprises a plurality of omnidirectional wheels. Beam transfer device according to one of the two preceding claims, in which the lifting member (4) is a telescopic mast. A beam transfer device according to any preceding claim, wherein the gripping member comprises two parallel plates (pm, pc) between them and an actuator operatively arranged between said two plates to adjust a distance separating them. A system comprising a beam arranged in a conveyor carriage and a beam transfer device according to any one of the preceding claims.

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