Transport system for loads

Abstract

The invention relates to a transport system (100) for loads, comprising: a ground-level rail system (10) having at least one rail (12) and at least one carrier profile (14) which is in contact with an underlying surface and has a trough-shaped or channel-shaped recess (16) in which the rail (12) is accommodated; and at least one transport vehicle having at least one wheel (22) which is supported by the rail (12), characterised in that the wheel (22) rests on the rail (12) at at least one contact point (P1, P2) at which the cross-section of the surface of the rail (12) has a convex curvature, the curvature diameter of which is greater than the maximum overall height (H) of the rail (12) and the carrier profile (14).

Description

[0001] TRANSPORT SYSTEM FOR LOADS

[0002] The present invention relates to a transport system for loads according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0003] Transport systems of this type are used in industry for the precise movement of large machines or machine parts, such as cranes, rotary printing press drums, and the like, and especially for transporting large and heavy assembly parts from one finished station to the next. For example, in automotive manufacturing, so-called push-skid systems are used, which are platforms that run on floor rail systems. Another example is the nacelles of wind turbines, which weigh several tons but can be moved relatively easily using such assembly platforms.

[0004] Such floor rail systems are known, for example, from DE 43 18 383 CI and EP 2 890 625 B2. They each comprise support profiles with an open cross-section and a trough-shaped recess, and in most cases, these are embedded in the substrate, such as a hall floor. A rail capable of bearing heavy loads is inserted into the support profile. Clamping profiles, which are located in lateral gaps between the rail and the side walls of the support profile and may partially overlap the rail, are typically used to secure the rail. A running surface for at least one wheel of a transport vehicle, such as the assembly platforms described above, is provided on the upper surface of the rail.

[0005] In the aforementioned publications DE 43 18 383 CI and EP 2 890 625 B2, the rail is a circular rail with a circular cross-section, which is embedded relatively deeply into the support profile and enclosed by the clamping profiles in such a way that only a free angled area remains as the running surface. Here, the convex cross-sectional area on the upper side of the rail forms the running surface. This system can bear heavy loads and offers further advantages, such as easy cleaning and easy lateral traversability perpendicular to the direction of travel of the rail, which thus does not pose an obstacle in the hall floor for other vehicles. However, it has been shown that such circular rail systems are also associated with various disadvantages. For example, a circular rail system, including the support profile, must be embedded relatively deeply into the hall floor, which increases the installation effort and is not readily possible in all installation situations.Circular rail systems embedded in the ground consist of a rail profile, a support or base profile, optionally retaining profiles, and a high-strength grout that forms the positive and load-bearing connection between the base profile and the channel in the concrete floor. Especially under heavy loads, the load transfer into the underlying concrete floor is a challenge, as the stresses occurring under the circular rail system must not exceed the relevant limits for industrial concrete floors. Currently, channels with sufficient depth are being constructed to ensure that these limits are met below the high-strength grout. In many cases, the required channel depths necessitate cutting through the upper steel reinforcement layers of the concrete floor, which significantly weakens the concrete and is often undesirable.

[0006] It is therefore an object of the present invention to create a transport system for loads which largely retains the advantages of the round rail systems described above, overcomes their disadvantages, in particular with regard to the installation depth, and thus improves the known systems.

[0007] This problem is solved according to the invention by a transport system for loads according to claim 1.

[0008] According to the invention, the wheel of the transport vehicle rests on the rail at at least one contact point where the cross-section of the rail surface has a convex curvature whose diameter of curvature is greater than the maximum total height of the rail and support profile.

[0009] The contact between the wheel and the rail thus takes place at one (or more) contact point(s), at which the rail has a comparatively flat, i.e., relatively slightly curved, surface cross-section, as is also the case with familiar round rail systems. At the same time, the overall height of the underfloor rail system, including the rail and the support profile, is relatively low. The vertical space required by the underfloor rail system is therefore significantly less, so that in situations where the underfloor rail system is to be embedded in the ground, the installation depth is comparatively shallow.

[0010] The width of the overall cross-section of the rail can be significantly larger than its height. In a typical embodiment, the width can, for example, be at least 1.8 times the height of the rail cross-section, and possibly even at least 2.5 times.

[0011] In addition to a reduced installation depth, such a flattened rail offers further advantages. For example, the flattened surface allows vehicles crossing the rail's path to easily pass over it laterally, and cleaning the floor rail system remains simple. The rail can bear high loads, reducing rolling resistance and enabling high traction.

[0012] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the rail, for the lateral transfer of a load transmitted by the wheel into the support profile, rests on the lateral edge regions of the recess's base with two lateral contact areas of its cross-section, while an intermediate central surface area of ​​the base is spaced apart from the underside of the rail. This results in the load and the resulting stresses being transferred laterally downwards into the support profile and further into the subsoil. A vertical downward transfer is prevented by the space between the central underside of the rail and the support profile.

[0013] The compressive stress distribution beneath the rail is significantly more favorable compared to conventional round rail profiles. High stresses occur only in the upper floor area and do not extend deep into the subsoil. This offers the advantage that even a thin layer of the high-load-bearing grout is sufficient to reduce stress to below the permissible limits of the hall floor. The total channel depth can therefore remain at 30-35 mm, within the screed layer, for single wheel loads of up to five tons. Preferably, the wheel rests on the rail at two spaced-apart contact points. In this case, the radii or diameters of curvature of the contact points can form an angle with each other. The load of the wheel is thus distributed across the contact points on both sides of the rail onto the floor rail system and transferred into the rail.

[0014] Preferably, the cross-section of the rail has identical curvatures at the two contact points.

[0015] The curves at the contact points can preferably continue to follow circular arcs.

[0016] Furthermore, preferably the centers of the circular arcs do not coincide.

[0017] According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, at least the lateral edge regions of the base of the recess in the support profile are concavely curved. Their curvature can optionally correspond to the lateral contact areas of the rail resting on it, thus enabling a flat bearing surface and a relatively uniform load distribution. However, embodiments are also conceivable in which the lateral contact areas of the rail's cross-section have different curvatures than the lateral edge regions of the base.

[0018] Preferably, the cross-section of the rail has at least one approximately lenticular or oval cross-sectional area portion, or is essentially lenticular or oval overall. The terms "approximately lenticular" and "approximately oval" are used here to describe a shape that largely follows a perfectly symmetrical lenticular or oval shape, but includes deviations from this in certain cross-sectional areas without substantially altering the overall shape. The same applies to the terms "essentially lenticular" and "essentially oval."

[0019] According to a preferred embodiment, a central flattened surface portion is provided on the upper side of the rail between two spaced-apart contact points. This flattened surface portion deviates from a geometrically exact lens or oval shape. It contributes to further reducing the rail's overall height.

[0020] Preferably, a lower flattened cross-sectional part is provided on the underside of the rail between the lateral contact areas for support on the lateral edge areas of the floor.

[0021] Preferred embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawing.

[0022] Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-section of an embodiment of the transport system according to the invention; and

[0023] Fig. 2 shows the embodiment of the invention.

[0024] Transport system in cross-section in an installation position.

[0025] Fig. 1 shows a schematic cross-section through a floor rail system 10 of a transport system 100 for loads. This floor rail system 10 comprises a rail 12, which is made of solid metal and extends longitudinally perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. It rests in a support profile 14, which has a recess 16 on its upper side for receiving the rail 12. The cross-section of the recess 16 is essentially trough- or channel-shaped. Fastening profiles 18A and 18B, which are arranged opposite each other on the rail and partially overlap the rail 12 laterally, serve to fix the position of the rail 12 in the support profile 14.

[0026] The rail 12 is positioned in the recess 16 of the support profile 14 such that a running surface 20 for at least one wheel 22 of a transport vehicle (not shown in detail here) is provided on its upper surface. The cross-section of the rail 12 is lens-shaped overall, with a concave upper surface and a concave lower surface, which have identical curvatures. With respect to a horizontal median plane (not shown in the drawing), the cross-section of the rail 12 is thus mirror-symmetrical. The wheel 22 rests on the running surface 20 of the rail 12 with its concave running surface 24 only at two laterally spaced contact points Pi and P2. In the areas outside these contact points Pi and P2, the running surfaces 20, 24 of the rail 12 and the wheel 22 are spaced so slightly apart that this distance is not visible in the illustration in Fig. 1.At these contact points Pi and P2, the cross-section of the surface of the rail 12 has a convex curvature, the diameter of which is greater than the maximum total height H of rail 12 and support profile 14.

[0027] In the floor rail system 10 in Fig. 1, the overall height H is measured from the highest point of curvature of the rail 12 on its upper surface to the lower surface 15 of the support profile 14. The radii of curvature at the contact points Pi and P2 are shown as dashed lines within the cross-section of the rail 12, which intersect at a point P M The contact points Pi and P2 converge below the center point of the cross-section of the rail 12. In the present embodiment, the cross-section of the rail 12 has identical curvatures at the two contact points Pi and P2, which follow circular arcs. Specifically, the contact points Pi and P2 lie on a common circular arc whose center point is P. M designated.

[0028] To clarify the geometry of this circular arc, it is completed by another dashed line KB to form a full circle below rail 12. The diameters of curvature of the two contact points Pi and P2 correspond to the distances between these contact points Pi and P2 at the circle's center P. M mirrored points P'i and P'2, i.e., the points that lie opposite the contact points Pi and P2 on the full circle. The mirrored lower points P'i and P'2 lie significantly below the bottom surface 15 of the support profile 14.

[0029] The full circle described above, resulting from the upper arc-shaped curvature of the rail 12 and completed by the lower arc KB, corresponds to the position of the cross-section of a round rail known in the prior art in an arrangement that has the same free upper running surface area as shown in the present embodiment of the invention. Accordingly, this known round rail would project into the support profile or the substrate according to the lower arc KB, and the maximum overall height of the rail and support profile would be significantly greater in the prior art arrangement. The installation depth of the floor rail system would also be significantly greater. This clearly demonstrates the advantage of the invention: the rail 12 can be designed to be significantly flatter, so that it also lies more shallowly in the recess 16 of the support profile 14, and the support profile 14 can be installed relatively shallowly in the substrate.

[0030] This advantage according to the invention can also arise with other rail cross-sections 12, deviating from lenticular cross-sections, such as oval cross-sections or cross-sections that have flattened surfaces on the upper and lower surfaces of the rail 12. Such an upper flattened surface can be located between the contact points Pi and P2 between the running surfaces 20, 24 of the rail 12 and the wheel 22. A further lower flattened surface, corresponding to the upper flattened surface, can be arranged symmetrically with respect to the center point of the rail 12.

[0031] The recess 16 for receiving the rail 12 has a base 218 with a concave cross-section, the lateral edge regions 220, 222 of which are shaped for surface contact with the rail 12 resting on it, while the central surface region 224 of the base 218 located between them is spaced from the underside of the rail 12. Thus, only outer contact regions 34, 36 of the cross-section of the underside of the rail 12 rest on the base 218, while there is no surface contact in the center of the rail 12. The central surface region 224 of the base 218 is concavely curved, so that a crescent-shaped gap in cross-section is formed between the rail 12 and the central surface region 224.

[0032] Due to the position of the lateral contact areas 34, 36 of the rail 12 and the lateral edge areas 220, 222 of the base 218 of the recess 16 for receiving the rail 12, and in particular due to the distance of the central surface area 224 from the underside of the rail 12, the load introduced into the rail 12 via the contact points Pi and P2 is transferred laterally downwards into the support profile 14 and further into the substrate 226. This is illustrated in Fig. 2. The transport system 100 from Fig. 1, including the base rail system 10, is embedded in a substrate 226, in particular a hall floor. Specifically, the substrate 226 comprises a surrounding area 226A made of hall concrete and a channel-shaped bed of high-load-bearing grout 226B embedded therein, with a higher load-bearing capacity than the hall floor concrete. The floor rail system 10 from Fig. lies in the bed of grouted concrete 226B.1 including the support profile 14 and the rail 12. A description of the structural details of this floor rail system 10 is omitted here to avoid repetition.

[0033] Fig. 2 schematically shows the introduction of stresses into the support profile 14 and the substrate 226 by the load on the rail 12 via the contact points Pi and P2 from Fig. 1, using stress cones SKi and SK2. The stresses are thus distributed downwards and laterally in the bed of grout 226B and, to a decreasing extent, further into the surrounding area 226A made of hall concrete. Due to the lateral components of the stress distribution, it is possible to install the floor rail system 10 only to a shallow depth in the substrate 226. The depth of the bed of grout 226B remains small compared to the prior art, in which the load is introduced vertically downwards far into the hall floor concrete.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS 1. Transport system (100) for loads, comprising a floor rail system (10) with at least one rail (12) and at least one support profile (14) in connection with a substrate, having a trough- or channel-shaped recess (16) in which the rail (12) is received, and at least one transport vehicle with at least one wheel (22) which is supported by the rail (12), characterized in that the wheel (22) is connected at at least one contact point (P) b P2) rests on the rail (12) at which the cross-section of the surface of the rail (12) has a convex curvature whose diameter of curvature is greater than the maximum total height (H) of rail (12) and support profile (14).

2. Transport system (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the rail (12) for laterally introducing a load transmitted by the wheel (22) into the support profile (14) rests on lateral edge areas (220, 222) of the bottom (218) of the recess (16) with two lateral contact areas (34, 36) of its cross-section, while an intermediate central surface area (224) of the bottom (218) has a distance to the underside of the rail (12).

3. Tran sportsy stem (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the wheel (22) is connected at two spaced-apart contact points (P) b P2) rests on the rail (12).

4. Tran sportsy stem (100) according to claim 3, characterized in that the cross-section of the rail (12) at the two contact points (P b P2) has identical curvatures.

5. Tran sportsy stem (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the curvatures at the contact points (P b P2) Follow circular arcs.

6. Tran sportsy stem (100) according to claim 5, characterized in that the centers of the circular arcs do not coincide.

7. Tran sportsy stem (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least the lateral edge areas (220, 222) of the bottom (218) of the recess (16) of the support profile (14) are concavely curved.

8. Tran sportsy stem (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cross-section of the rail (12) comprises at least one approximately lenticular or oval cross-sectional area portion or is overall substantially lenticular or oval.

9. Tran sportsy stem (100) according to claim 8, characterized in that on the upper side of the rail (12) between two spaced-apart contact points (P) b P2) a central flattened surface part is provided which forms a flattening on the top of the rail (12) which deviates from a geometrically exact lens shape or oval shape.

10. Tran sportsy stem (100) according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that a lower flattened cross-sectional part is provided on the underside of the rail (12) in the lateral contact areas (34, 36) for support on the lateral edge areas (220, 222) of the floor (218).

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