초록 ▼

A vertical lift system is constructed for transporting a receptacle, such as a food or supply receptacle from one deck to another deck, particularly in an aircraft. For this purpose, a vertical lift ( 71) is equipped with a number of lifting hooks (10) each mechanically coupled to a respective locki

A vertical lift system is constructed for transporting a receptacle, such as a food or supply receptacle from one deck to another deck, particularly in an aircraft. For this purpose, a vertical lift ( 71) is equipped with a number of lifting hooks (10) each mechanically coupled to a respective locking pawl (11). Each receptacle is equipped with a respective number of latch elements ( 9) such as recesses (92) to be engaged by a respective hook (10). The latching and unlatching is caused by the cooperation of the hooks (10) and pawls (11) with each other, with a stationary activating member (12) engaging a cam track (113) of a pawl (11), with biasing forces and with the latch elements (9). Latching requires a small downward motion of the vertical lift. Unlatching requires a slight further downward motion of the vertical lift. During latching and unlatching the receptacle (3) is supported on a floor (13).

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A vertical lift system for transporting a receptacle ( 3) from one deck to another deck, said vertical lift system comprising a vertically extending stationary lift shaft (5, 6), a vertical lift (71) movable up and down in said stationary lift shaft, at least one stationary

What is claimed is: 1. A vertical lift system for transporting a receptacle ( 3) from one deck to another deck, said vertical lift system comprising a vertically extending stationary lift shaft (5, 6), a vertical lift (71) movable up and down in said stationary lift shaft, at least one stationary activating member ( 12) mounted in a fixed position in said stationary lift shaft, a number of gripper mechanisms (7) secured to said vertical lift ( 71) for gripping said receptacle, a number of latch elements (9 ) secured to said receptacle (3) in positions for engagement with said gripper mechanisms (7), guides (3A, 115) for aligning said gripper mechanisms (7) with said latch elements ( 9) in said positions for engagement, each gripper mechanism (7) comprising a lifting hook (10) for engaging a respective latch element (9) of said latch elements (9), a locking pawl ( 11) for locking said lifting hook in a latch element engaging position, and a mechanical coupling operatively interposed between said lifting hook (10) and said locking pawl (11) for automatically coupling and decoupling said locking pawl (11) and said lifting hook (10) in response to a movement direction and an instantaneous position of said vertical lift (71) relative to said receptacle (3) and relative to said stationary activating member (12) for holding said lifting hook (10) in a latched position against forces tending to unhook said lifting hook (10) when said vertical lift (71) moves said receptacle (3) up or down, wherein said lifting hook (10) holds said receptacle ( 3) against horizontal forces, and wherein said locking pawl (11 ) holds said receptacle (3) against vertical forces. 2. The vertical lift system of claim 1, wherein said latch elements (9) are secured to side walls of said receptacle (3 ) at upper corner or edge areas of said receptacle. 3. The vertical lift system of claim 1, wherein said latch elements (9) are recessed in upper corner or edge areas of side walls of said receptacle (3). 4. The vertical lift system of claim 1, wherein said locking pawl (11) comprises a cam track (113), and wherein said stationary activating member (12) is mounted in said fixed position for engaging said cam track (113) of said locking pawl when said vertical lift is reaching an unlocking position, whereby said cam track (113) engages said stationary activating member ( 12) thereby moving along said stationary activating member (12) , said locking pawl (11) comprising a latching arm (111) engaging an upper edge portion (31A) of said receptacle (3) when said cam track (113) is disengaged from said stationary activating member (12), and wherein said latching arm (111) is disengaged from said upper edge portion (31A) when said cam track (113) engages said stationary activating member (12) for preparing a release of said lifting hook (10). 5. The vertical lift system of claim 1, wherein one of said guides (115) is a stationary guide member (115) mounted in said stationary lift shaft (5, 6) in a position for guiding said locking pawl (11) when said vertical lift is moving, said stationary guide member (115) holding said locking pawl (11) in a locked position when said vertical lift is moving. 6. The vertical lift system of claim 1, wherein said mechanical coupling comprises an entraining element (101) on said lifting hook (10) and a contact arm (114) on said locking pawl (11) for engaging said entraining element (101) when said locking pawl (11) is moved by said stationary activating member (12) into a position for automatically disengaging said lifting hook (10) from its latch element (9) of said latch elements. 7. The vertical lift system of claim 6, wherein said entraining element (101) is part of said lifting hook (10) and wherein said contact arm (114) is part of said locking pawl (11), and wherein said stationary activating member (12) is positioned for activating said locking pawl (11) to engage said contact arm (114) of said locking pawl (11) with said entraining element (101) of said lifting hook (10) thereby disengaging said lifting hook (10) from said respective latch ( 9). 8. The vertical lift system of claim 1, further comprising a first biasing reset (141) operatively connected to said locking pawl (11) and a second biasing reset (142) operatively connected to said lifting hook (10), said first and second biasing resets (141, 142) normally biasing said locking pawl ( 11) and said lifting hook (10) with a biasing force into a receptacle engaging position, and wherein said locking pawl (11) comprises a cam track (113) with a cam configuration for enabling said stationary activating member (12) to disengage said locking pawl (11) from said lifting hook (10) when said receptacle is to be released from said gripper mechanisms (7) against said biasing force. 9. The vertical lift system of claim 8, wherein said first and second biasing resets (141, 142) comprise springs for exerting said biasing force. 10. The vertical lift system of claim 1, wherein each latch element of said latch elements (9) comprises a hook engagement guide ramp (93) and a latch recess (92) below said hook engagement guide ramp (93), and wherein each lifting hook ( 10) has a claw (103) at its free hook end, said claw ( 103) having a claw tip for engaging said latch recess (22), whereby a downward motion of said vertical lift (71) causes said claw (103) to ride down along said hook engagement guide ramp ( 93), said system further comprising a biasing member (142) effective on said lifting hook (10) for keeping said claw ( 103) engaged with said hook engagement guide ramp (93) when said claw is riding along said hook engagement guide ramp (93) and for biasing said claw (103) of said lifting hook (10) into engagement with said latch recess (92) of said latch element ( 9) when said claw (103) slides off said hook engagement guide ramp (93). 11. The vertical lift system of claim 1, wherein each of said latch elements (9) comprises a latch recess (92) and a hook disengagement guide ramp (91) below said latch recess (92), wherein each lifting hook (10) has a claw (103) at its free hook end, said claw (103) riding along said hook disengagement guide ramp (91) in response to a further downward motion of said vertical lift (71) following a hook and latch engagement, for disengaging said lifting hook (10) from its latch element (9 ), and wherein said stationary activating member (12) is positioned for rotating said lifting hook (10) with its claw ( 103) out of said latch engagement against a biasing force (141) . 12. The vertical lift system of claim 1, further comprising an indicator (I, P) for showing vertical positions of at least one of said gripper mechanisms relative to a fixed scale (I). 13. The vertical lift system of claim 1, wherein said receptacle (3) comprises an upwardly facing edge portion (31 A), wherein said locking pawl (11) comprises a downwardly facing arm (111) having a free end (11A) for engaging said upwardly facing edge portion (31A) when said receptacle is latched to said gripper mechanism (7), wherein each latch element (9 ) has a recess (92) with a downwardly facing surface, and wherein said lifting hook (10) has a claw (103) with an upwardly facing surface for engaging said downwardly facing surface of said recess (92) when said receptacle (3) is latched to said gripper mechanism, whereby a receptacle edge is clamped between said free end ( 11A) and said claw (103). 14. The vertical lift system of claim 13, wherein said upwardly facing edge portion (31A) is attached to one side of a corner of said receptacle (3) and wherein said latch element ( 9) is attached to the other side of the same corner of said receptacle (3).