Rotating Cargo Platform for Dockless Trailer Unloading
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cargo delivery systems for semi-trailers and box trucks face challenges in loading and unloading cargo at sites without loading docks, requiring manual labor and navigating obstacles, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming.
Innovation Solution
An onboard platform with a rotatable turntable and beams secured together, allowing the platform to move between stowed and extended positions, enabling cargo loading and unloading at different angles and overcoming obstacles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual cargo handling is used at sites without loading docks, then workers can deliver cargo to street level, but the process becomes labor-intensive and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary platform that extends from the trailer to street level, serving as a mediator between the elevated trailer bed and the ground. This platform with turntable mechanism facilitates cargo transfer without requiring manual carrying, thus improving ease of operation while maintaining productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service cargo handling by allowing the trailer itself to provide the loading/unloading mechanism through the deployable platform. The trailer serves its own loading dock needs without external infrastructure, improving both ease of operation and productivity simultaneously.
2Length of moving object
If the trailer is positioned close to the delivery site, then delivery distance is reduced, but access is blocked by vehicles or obstacles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the platform deployable and adjustable. The platform can be extended or retracted, and the turntable can rotate to different angles, allowing the system to adapt to various obstacle configurations and delivery site conditions, thus maintaining flexibility while reducing delivery distance.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution adds another dimension by utilizing the vertical deployment of the platform and rotational capability of the turntable. This allows cargo delivery to proceed even when horizontal access is blocked, as the platform can be positioned at different angles and heights to overcome obstacles.
3Productivity
If loading docks are available, then cargo loading and unloading is efficient, but many delivery sites do not have such infrastructure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal solution that provides loading dock functionality regardless of site infrastructure. The deployable platform with turntable can be used at any location - whether loading docks are available or not - making the system universally applicable to all delivery sites and improving adaptability while maintaining productivity.
4Device complexity
If fixed-angle loading platforms are used, then structural simplicity is maintained, but the ability to compensate for obstacles is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves this contradiction by implementing a dynamic turntable mechanism that allows the platform to rotate to different angles. This adds adaptability for obstacle compensation while maintaining relatively simple structural implementation through the use of a rotational joint rather than multiple fixed structures.
Data Source
AI summary
An onboard platform for loading cargo into and unloading cargo from a trailer includes a first portion comprising a plurality of beams secured together. The first portion is configured to provide stability and rigidity to the platform. The onboard platform also includes a second portion comprising a turntable rotatably attached to the first portion proximate a center point of the turntable, the turntable configured to move about the rotational attachment in a selected range of degrees relative to the first portion. The onboard platform is configured to move between in a first position where the platform is stowed below a bed of the trailer and a second position where the platform extends from an edge of the bed of the trailer and is secured into the second position to aid in loading cargo into and unloading cargo from the trailer.