TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to conveyor systems for transporting facade elements. In particular the present invention pertains to a lift for vertically lifting facade elements and an associated locking member to hold the facade elements in place during the operation of the lift.

BACKGROUND

Conveyor systems are commonly used in the movement of objects along a path such that the elements do not contact the ground or floor. Conveyor systems are especially useful in applications involving the transportation of heavy objects.

One type of conveyor system is an overhead conveyor system in which a fixed guide profile is assembled and in which a trolley member is positioned. Objects to be moved can be connected to the trolley member which can move within the profile.

Such overhead conveyor systems can typically be found in factories where parts to be, for example painted, are moved from a painting location to a drying location. In such a system the guide profile is constructed as a relatively permanent feature of the factory and remains constructed for long durations. Furthermore, as conveyor systems can be used to move objects of substantial weight the systems require robust and reliable assembly. Such systems are therefore costly and time consuming to assemble.

There is therefore a need for a conveyor system which is less time consuming and costly to assemble.

Scaffolding or staging is traditionally erected in most construction projects. Scaffolding is a temporary structure generally used to support a work crew and materials to aid in the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings. As scaffolding is temporary it is generally easy to assemble and disassemble. Scaffolding systems can for example be reused in multiple building projects.

Multi -storey buildings often comprise a facade acting as either a load-bearing structure or as a weather protective structure. The facade is generally constructed from individual facade elements which are installed in one of a variety of ways to the building. Facade elements are often transported to the building site on trucks. The elements are off-loaded, stored, and subsequently installed to the building. Due to the heavy weight of the facade elements, there is imminent risk of body damage when the facade elements are lifted off the truck.

As the building site undergoes numerous re-developments depending on which aspect of the building is being installed a conventional conveyor system is not appropriate for the transportation of facade elements. A conveyor system being easy to assemble and disassemble on a building site is required.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, the present invention preferably seeks to mitigate, alleviate or eliminate one or more of the above-identified deficiencies in the art and disadvantages singly or in any combination and solves at least the above mentioned problems.

According to a first aspect a locking member for securing a number of facade elements connected via facade attachment elements to at least one open-ended rail conveyor guide profile of a lift for vertically lifting facade elements is provided. A slot is arranged along the longitudinal extension of each conveyor guide profile on a bottom surface thereof. The conveyor guide profile is arranged to accommodate at least one facade attachment trolley member, wherein each facade attachment trolley member has a part adapted to be slidably arranged within a cavity formed by the conveyor guide profile and extending outwards from the associated conveyor guide profile via the slot. The locking member comprises a body arranged adjacent to an exterior surface of a sidewall of at least one of the at least one conveyor guide profiles and extending at least partly along a longitudinal extension thereof. The body comprises an extension, wherein the body in use is pivotably arranged to the lift to attain a first locked state in which the extension is essentially parallel to the sidewall of the associated conveyor guide profile and a second unlocked state wherein the extension is pivoted out from the first locked state at an angle in relation to the sidewall. The body further comprises a first blocking member arranged at a first longitudinal position of the body. Furthermore, the boy comprises a second blocking member arranged at a second longitudinal position of the body. The first and second blocking members extend transversally from a bottom end of the extension in a direction away from the extension towards the conveyor guide profile in use. The first and second blocking members in the locked state transversally extend over and beyond the slot in the bottom surface of the conveyor guide profile, thereby preventing any facade attachment elements attached to the conveyor guide profile of longitudinally moving past the first longitudinal position and the second longitudinal position. According to another aspect, a lift for vertically lifting facade elements is provided. The lift comprises at least one open-ended conveyor guide profile. Each open- ended conveyor guide profile comprises a slot arranged along the longitudinal extension of the conveyor guide profile on a bottom surface thereof. The conveyor guide profile is arranged to accommodate at least one facade attachment trolley member, wherein each facade attachment trolley member has a part slidably arranged within a cavity formed by the conveyor guide profile and extending outwards from the associated conveyor guide profile via the slot in use. The lift further comprises a locking member comprising a body arranged adjacent to an exterior surface of a sidewall of at least one of the conveyor guide profiles and extending at least partly along a longitudinal axis of said conveyor guide profile. The body is pivotably arranged to the lift to attain a first locked state in which the body has an extension being essentially parallel to the sidewall of the associated conveyor guide profile and a second unlocked state wherein the extension is pivoted out from the first locked state at an angle in relation to the sidewall of the conveyor guide profile. The body comprises a first blocking member arranged at a first longitudinal position of the body. The body further comprises a second blocking member arranged at a second longitudinal position of the body. The first and second blocking members extend transversally from a bottom end of the extension in a direction away from the extension towards the conveyor guide profile in use, wherein the first and second blocking members in the locked state transversally extend over and beyond the slot in the bottom surface of the conveyor guide profile, thereby preventing any facade attachment elements attached to the conveyor guide profile of longitudinally moving past the first longitudinal position and the second longitudinal position.

According to yet another aspect a method for off-loading a number of facade elements from an object, such as a vehicle, positioned below a lift for lifting facade elements is provided. The method comprises providing an open-ended conveyor guide profile of a moveable lift assembly with at least one facade attachment trolley member, wherein each open-ended conveyor guide profile comprises a slot arranged along the longitudinal extension of the conveyor guide profile and through a bottom surface of the conveyor guide profile. Each facade attachment trolley member has a first part slidably arranged within a cavity formed by the corresponding conveyor guide profile and extending outwards from said conveyor guide profile via the slot.

The method further comprises activating a first locked state of a locking member of a moveable lift assembly. The locking member comprises a body arranged adjacent to an exterior surface of a sidewall of at least one conveyor guide profile of the moveably lift assembly and extending at least partly along a longitudinal extension of said conveyor guide profile. The body is pivotably arranged to the lift to attain the first locked state in which the body has an extension being essentially parallel to the sidewall of the associated conveyor guide profile and a second unlocked state wherein the extension is pivoted out from the first locked state at an angle in relation to the sidewall. The body comprises a first blocking member arranged at a first longitudinal position of the body and a second blocking member arranged at a second longitudinal position of the body. The first and second blocking members extend transversally from a bottom end of the extension in a direction away from the extension towards the conveyor guide profile in use. The first and second blocking members in the locked state transversally extend over and beyond the slot in the bottom surface of the conveyor guide profile, thereby preventing any facade attachment elements attached to the conveyor guide profile of longitudinally moving past the first longitudinal position and the second longitudinal position.

The method further comprises lowering the moveable lift assembly of the lift towards the facade elements to be off-loaded from the object.

Furthermore, the method comprises connecting the at least one facade attachment trolley member to at least one facade element to be off-loaded from the object.

The method further comprises lifting the at least one connected facade element to a level at which the at least one guide profile is aligned with a further guide profile provided onto a rigid frame structure of the lift. Moreover, the method comprises activating the second unlocked state of the locking member thereby allowing each facade attachment trolley member, at least one of which being connected to a facade element, to move past the first and second longitudinal positions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects, features and advantages of which the invention is capable of will be apparent and elucidated from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a part of a lift provided with a locking member;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a lift provided locking member;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a locking member;

Fig. 4a shows a bottom surface of a conveyor guide profile where the locking member is in its unlocked state; Fig. 4b shows a bottom surface of a conveyor guide profile where the locking member is in its locked state;

Fig. 5 schematically shows a facade attachment member;

Figs 6a to 6f show the lifting process of the lift;

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a method;

Figs 8a and 8b show the moveably lift assembly when lifting facade elements when the locking member is in its locked state;

Figs 9a and 9b show the moveably lift assembly when aligned with further conveyor guide profiles and when the locking member is in its locked state; and

Figs 10a and 10b show the moveably lift assembly when the locking member is in its unlocked state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Figs 1 to 3 describe a locking member 11 for securing a number of facade elements connected to at least one open-ended rail conveyor guide profile 12 of a lift 10 for facade elements. Each open-ended conveyor guide profile 12 comprises a slot 121 arranged along the longitudinal extension of the conveyor guide profile 12 and through a bottom surface 122 of the conveyor guide profile. Each facade element is connected to at least one of the conveyor guide profiles 12 via at least one facade attachment trolley member 13a, 13b, see Fig. 3 and 4a to 4b. Each facade attachment trolley member 13a, 13b has a first part slidably arranged within a cavity formed by the corresponding conveyor guide profile 12 and extending outwards, e.g. vertically downwards in use, from said conveyor guide profile 12 via the slot 121 of the conveyor guide profile in use.

The locking member 11 member comprises a body 111 arranged adjacent to one side of at least one of the at least two conveyor guide profiles 12 and extending at least partly along a longitudinal axis L of said conveyor guide profile 12. Thus, the body 111 has an extension 112 which extends partly along the longitudinal axis of the conveyor guide profile 12. The extension 112 is thereby a portion of the body 111. For example, the extension 112 may be an integral part of the body 111 such as shown in figure 1 where the extension 112 is an elongate portion of the body. The extension 112 my thereby extend longitudinally in opposite directions from the centre of the body 111. The extension 112 may also be a separate part which is joined to the body 111. For example as shown in figure 1 in which the extension 112 is an elongate element, i.e. a rod which is attached to the body 111, by welding for instance. In figure 1, the extension 112, and the body 111, is flat and elongate and has a first and a second end. The body 111 is pivotably arranged to the lift 10 to attain a first locked state in which the extension 112 of the body 111 is essentially parallel to an exterior surface of a sidewall 123 of the associated conveyor guide profile 12, see Fig. 1, and a second unlocked state wherein said extension 112 of the body 111 is pivoted out from the first locked state at an angle in relation to the sidewall 123 of the conveyor guide profile 12, as shown in Fig. 2.

In the first locked state, as shown in figure 1, the extension 112 extends along at least a portion of the outer surface of the sidewall 123 and parallel thereto.

The locking member body 111 comprises a first blocking member 113 arranged at a first longitudinal position of the body 111 and a second blocking member 114 arranged at a second longitudinal position of the body 111. The first blocking member 113 and the second blocking member 114 are thereby arranged in the extensions 112 of the body. The first and the second longitudinal positions are spaced apart by a predetermined distance which is selected to accommodate a predetermined number of facade element trolleys, for example 6 trolleys. The first and second blocking members 113, 114 extend transversally from the body 111 from a bottom end 112a of the extension 112 towards the conveyor guide profile 12. The blocking members 113, 114 thereby form an angle with the bottom end 112a of the extension, for example the angle may be 90 degrees or more. The bottom end 112a of the extension 112 in the locked state extends beyond the bottom surface 122 of the corresponding conveyor guide profile 12, as shown Fig. 4b. In the locked state the first and second blocking members 113, 114 transversally extends beyond the slot 121 in the bottom surface 122 of the conveyor guide profile. In this way the facade attachment elements 13a, 13b, provided in the conveyor guide profile between the blocking members 113 and 114 are prevented from longitudinally moving past the first longitudinal position of the first blocking member 113 and the second longitudinal position of the second blocking member 114. By "extending transversally" is meant that the blocking members 113, 114 extend parallel with the bottom surface 112 of the conveyor guide profile 12, when the locking member is in the first locked state. The blocking members 113, 114 may be arranged in any position on the extension 112, in figure 2 the blocking members 112, 113 are arranged in a central portion of the extension 112, i.e. distal from the ends of the extension 112. However, the blocking members 112, 113 may also be arranged at the ends of the extension 112, as indicated with dashed lines in figure 2. Fig. 4b schematically shows a bottom view of a conveyor guide profile 12, where the blocking members 113, 114 of the locking member 11 in its locked state extends transversally beyond the slot 121 such as to prevent any facade attachment member 13a, 13b slidably arranged in the conveyor guide profile 12 and between the longitudinal positions of the blocking members to move past these positions. Fig. 4a schematically depicts another bottom view showing the unlocked state of the locking member 11 where the blocking members have been tilted or pivoted out from the conveyor guide profile 12, thereby allowing the facade attachment member 13a, 13b to slide past the longitudinal positions of the two blocking members 113, 114 along the longitudinal extension of the conveyor guide profile 12.

The locking member 11 ensures that the heavy facade elements cannot slide out from the conveyor guide profiles when the lift is operating thereby minimizing the risk of body crush damage during the operation of the lift.

In the unlocked state, as shown in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4a the body 111 is pivoted out at an angle in relation to the sidewall 123 of the conveyor guide profile 12 such that the first and second blocking members 113, 114 are moved free of the slot 121 of the bottom surface 122 of the conveyor guide profile 12. In this way the facade attachment trolley members are allowed to move longitudinally past the first and second longitudinal positions.

The body 111 is pivotably arranged to the lift 10 via at least one pivot connection 115, 101.

The body 111 may be slidably arranged to the pivot connection 115, 101 along the longitudinal axis of the conveyor guide profile 12 between two end points as seen in Fig. 1, where member 115 is slidable along the rod-shaped member 101. This functionality for improved attachment between the facade element usually arriving at a truck and the attachment trolley members 13a, 13b connected to the at least one guide profile 12 of the lift 10, as it allows for moving the attachment trolley members being locked between the first and second blocking members 113, 114 along the longitudinal axis of the guide profiles to be perfectly aligned with the facade elements to be offloaded from the truck below. Moreover, in real life the trucks are usually able to park below the lift within +-5cm from the ideal parking position. Hence, even if the truck parks at an angle in relation to the guide profiles of the lift, by means of the slidability function of the locking member 11 it is possible to quickly and securely attach the facade element from the truck without requiring the truck to be repositioned. This saves a lot of time when off-loading the truck. It should be appreciated that a further locking member could also be provided on another conveyor guide profile 12 of the lift. When this further locking member is connected to the same facade element being simultaneously connected to the first conveyor guide profile 12, the angle of rotation (tiltability in the horizontal plane) of the facade element is even further increased, when the two locking members are slidably arranged along the longitudinal axis of their respective conveyor guide profiles.

An reciprocal piston 115, optionally being pneumatically controlled, is arranged to engage a surface 1111, see Fig.1, of the body 111 to move the body 111 to the unlocked state, and when the pneumatically controlled piston is disengaged from said surface the body 111 moves back to the locked state.

Alternatively, a second pneumatically controlled piston may be provided on the opposite side of the surface 1111 to securely lock the locking member 11 in its first locked state when second piston engages the opposite side of the surface 1111.

Although pneumatic controlled pistons are presented here, it is equally possible to use other means of pivoting the locking member 11 between the first locked state and the second locked state. For example, an electric motor connected to the locking member could be used for this purpose.

As shown in Fig. 5 each trolley attachment member 13a, 13b may comprise at its bottom end a hook shaped attachment unit 131 which is arranged to be connected to a corresponding hook shaped attachment unit arranged on each facade element. In this way the hook portions of the attachment units securely hooks into each other securely locks the two units together. The security of this hook connection is further facilitated by gravity acting on the heavy facade elements F. The hook shaped attachment unit 131 may be made from an aluminum profile having an extension in the transversal direction in relation to the conveyor guide profiles 12.

Above details of the locking member 11 of the lift 10 have been described. The lift per se will now be described further in detail.

Figs 6a to 6f show a lift 10 for vertically off-loading facade elements, denoted F in these drawings, from a truck parked below is schematically shown. The lift comprises a rigid frame structure 102. The rigid frame structure 102 may comprise U- shaped structure forming an open-ended cavity between its legs or sidewalls allowing a truck loaded with facade elements to drive into and through the cavity formed by the rigid frame structure 102. The truck is then put to rest at a position where the facade elements loaded on the truck are positioned directly below the lift, as shown in Fig. 6a. The lift 10 further comprises a moveable lift assembly 103 onto which the at least one conveyor guide profiles 12 and the locking member 11 (not shown in Figs 6a to 6f) as explained above are arranged. Moreover, a lift unit 104, e.g. pneumatically controlled, is arranged to move the lift assembly 103 between a top end level and a bottom end level.

In Fig. 6b, the moveable lift assembly 103 is lowered towards the facade elements F loaded on the truck and the lifting process is initiated. In Fig. 6c, the facade elements F has been lifted to a level at which the conveyor guide profiles 12 are aligned further conveyor guide profiles 1021 of the rigid frame structure 102. Although not shown in Figs. 6a to 6c the locking member 11 will be in its locked state at these lifting stages. In Fig. 6d, the locking member is changed to its unlocked state, whereby the off- loaded facade elements F are allowed to be conveyed from the conveyor guide profiles 12to the further conveyor guide profiles 1021 as indicated by the white arrow, until they have completely left the conveyor guide profiles 12 as shown in Fig. 6e. At this stage the off-loading process may be restarted by providing facade attachment trolley members (not shown) in the conveyor guide profiles 113, 114 and arranging the locking member 11 in its locked state, thereby safely securing the attachment trolley members in place between the first and second longitudinal positions of the conveyor guide profiles 12. Once a new set of facade elements F has been aligned below the lift 10, e.g. by repositioning the truck, the off-loading process may be resumed, as shown in Fig. 6f.

The rigid frame structure 102 may further comprise a number of further conveyor guide profiles 1021, as shown in Fig. 2 and Figs 6b to 6e, corresponding to the number of conveyor guide profiles 12 of the moveably lift assembly 103. The further conveyor guide profiles 1021 are transversally aligned with conveyor guide profiles 12of the moveably lift assembly 103.

The number of further conveyor guide profiles 1021 may be aligned to an external conveyor guide profile system for allowing transport of the off-loaded facade elements to the facade of the building.

When the moveable lift assembly 103 is at the top level the conveyor guide profiles 12 thereof are located at a level above the further conveyor guide profiles 1021 of the rigid frame structure 102.

When the moveable lift assembly 103 is at the bottom level the conveyor guide profiles 12thereof are located at a level below the further conveyor guide profiles 1021 of the rigid frame structure 102, as shown in Fig. 6b.

The lift 10 may further comprise a horizontally reciprocal locking piston 105 rigidly provided above the further conveyor guide profiles 1021 for engaging a corresponding socket of the moveably lift assembly 103 when the moveably lift assembly is at its top level. When the moveably lift assembly is moved towards the bottom level again, the socket engages with the horizontally extended locking piston whereby the moveable lift assembly rests on the locking piston at a level between the top level and bottom level where its conveyor guide profiles 12 are aligned, as shown in Figs 2 and 6c to 6e, with the further conveyor guide profiles 1021 and thereby preventing the moveable lift assembly to proceed further towards the bottom level.

The rigid frame structure 102 may be made of stainless steel or any other suitable heavy duty material.

The conveyor guide profiles 12 may be made of stainless steel or any other suitable heavy duty material.

The locking member 11 may be made of stainless steel or any other suitable heavy duty material. For example the body 111 and the extension 112 are a steel plate.

In Fig. 7 a flow chart of a method 70 for off-loading a number of facade elements from an object, e.g. a vehicle parked under a lift 10 for lifting facade elements is provided. The method comprises providing 71 a open-ended conveyor guide profile 12 of a moveable lift assembly 103 with at least one facade attachment trolley member 13a, 13b, wherein each open-ended conveyor guide profile 12 comprises a slot 121 arranged along the longitudinal extension of the conveyor guide profile 12 and through a bottom surface 122 of the conveyor guide profile, wherein each facade attachment trolley member has a first part slidably arranged within a cavity formed by the corresponding conveyor guide profile 12 and extending outwards (vertically downwards in use) from said conveyor guide profile 12 via the slot 121 of the conveyor guide profile 12. The method further comprises activating 72 a first locked state of a locking member 11 of a moveable lift assembly 103, the locking member comprising a body 111 arranged adjacent to one side of at least one conveyor guide profile 12 of the moveably lift assembly 103 and extending at least partly along a longitudinal axis of said conveyor guide profile 12, wherein the body 111 is pivotably arranged to the lift 10 to attain the first locked state in which the body 111 has an extension being essentially parallel to an exterior surface of a sidewall 123 of the corresponding conveyor guide profile 12 and a second unlocked state wherein said extension 112 of the body pivoted out from the first locked state at an angle in relation to the sidewall 123 of the conveyor guide profile 12, the body 111 comprising a first blocking member 113 arranged at a first longitudinal position of the body 111 and a second blocking member 114 arranged at a second longitudinal position of the body 111, wherein the first and second blocking members 113, 114 extend transversally from the body 111 from a bottom end 112a of the extension 112 towards the conveyor guide profile 12, wherein the bottom end 112a of the extension 112 in the locked state extends beyond the bottom surface 122 of the corresponding conveyor guide profile 12, and wherein the first and second blocking members 113, 114 in the locked state transversally extends beyond the slot 121 in the bottom surface 122 of the conveyor guide profile, thereby preventing the at least one facade attachment trolley member 13 a, 13b of longitudinally moving past the first longitudinal position of the first blocking member 113 and the second longitudinal position of the second blocking member 114. Moreover, the method 70 comprises lowering 73 the moveable lift assembly 103 of the lift 10 towards the facade elements to be off-loaded from the vehicle. Furthermore, the method 70 comprises connecting 74 the at least one facade attachment trolley member 13a, 13b to at least one facade element to be off-loaded from the vehicle. Moreover, the method 70 further comprises lifting 75 the at least one connected facade element to a level at which the at least one guide profile 12 is aligned with a further guide profile 1021 provided onto a rigid frame structure 102 of the lift 10. Moreover, the method comprises activating 76 the second unlocked state of the locking member 11 thereby allowing the off-loaded facade elements to move past the first and second longitudinal positions.

Figs 8a and 8b show two views of the moveably lift assembly 103 of the lift 10 when lifted upwards from its bottom level and carrying a number of facade elements F. In this lifting position the locking member 11 is in its locked state.

Figs 9a and 9b show two views of the moveably lift assembly 103 of the lift 10. Here, the conveyor guide profile(s) 12 of the moveable lift assembly 103 are aligned with the corresponding further conveyor guide profiles 1021 of the rigid frame structure 102. In this position the locking member 11 is still in its locked state.

Figs 10a and 10b show two views of the moveably lift assembly 103 of the lift

10. Here, the conveyor guide profile(s) 12 of the moveable lift assembly 103 are aligned with the corresponding further conveyor guide profiles 1021 of the rigid frame structure 102. In this position the locking member 11 is still in its unlocked locked pivoted state, whereby the facade elements F may be conveyed past the longitudinal positions of the blocking members 113, 114 of the locking member 11.

It is appreciated that in figures 8 - 10 the locking member 11 is shown with the blocking members 113, 114 arranged at the ends of the extension 112 in order to be fully visible. However, the blocking members 113, 114 may of course be arranged in a central portion of the extension as shown in figure 2.