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CN-122003342-A - Seat system for a vehicle for lifting and moving cargo

CN122003342ACN 122003342 ACN122003342 ACN 122003342ACN-122003342-A

Abstract

A seat system for a vehicle for lifting and moving cargo includes a seat rotation mechanism operable to rotate an operator seat relative to a vehicle chassis in response to control signals received from a control system. The control system receives input from a directional controller used by an operator to steer all wheels of the vehicle together in a common direction such that the vehicle is traveling in a particular direction on the ground without rotation of the chassis relative to the ground. By rotating the seat in the traveling direction, the operator's field of view can be improved.

Inventors

  • MARTIN MCVICAR
  • ROBERT MOFFETT
  • MARK WHITE

Assignees

  • 爱尔兰康姆比叉车(COMBILIFT)公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260508
Application Date
20240410
Priority Date
20230424

Claims (20)

  1. 1. A seating system for a vehicle for lifting and moving cargo, the vehicle comprising: a chassis supported on a ground contacting unit, wherein the ground contacting unit is selected from a wheel or a continuous track unit, all of the ground contacting units being steerable relative to the chassis; A steering controller for selectively steering a portion of the ground contacting unit to the left or right relative to a direction of travel such that the direction of the chassis relative to the ground changes in response to an input from the steering controller, and A direction controller for turning all the ground contact units together to the left or right with respect to the chassis so that the traveling direction can be changed without changing the direction of the chassis with respect to the ground; The seating system includes: an operator seat; a seat rotation mechanism for operating in response to a control signal to rotate the operator seat relative to the chassis, and And a control system for receiving an input of an operator in response to the input of the direction controller and outputting a control signal to the seat rotating mechanism to rotate the operator seat in a traveling direction.
  2. 2. The seating system of claim 1 wherein the seat rotation mechanism is rotatable the operator seat between a counterclockwise limit position and a clockwise limit position.
  3. 3. The seating system of claim 2, wherein the counter-clockwise limit position and/or the clockwise limit position is offset from the neutral seating orientation by between 10 degrees and 60 degrees.
  4. 4. A seating system according to claim 3 wherein the neutral seat orientation is selected from any of the following directions: a. A direction toward the vehicle windshield; b. A direction parallel or perpendicular to one or more fork axes on the vehicle for lifting cargo; c. a direction toward the operator pedal; d. In the direction of the steering wheel, and E. the direction of use of the left or right hand of the operator relative to the steering wheel is adapted such that the left or right hand of the operator can easily reach the steering wheel when the operator seat is in the neutral seat orientation.
  5. 5. The seating system of claim 2 wherein said seat rotation mechanism is operable to rotate said operator seat to a plurality of fixed positions, including said counterclockwise limit position and said clockwise limit position, said control system selecting one of said plurality of fixed positions based on received input.
  6. 6. The seating system of claim 5 wherein the fixed position comprises a neutral position between the counterclockwise limit position and the clockwise limit position.
  7. 7. The seating system of claim 6 wherein said neutral position is intermediate said counterclockwise limit position and said clockwise limit position.
  8. 8. A seating system as in claim 2 wherein the seat rotation mechanism is for rotating the operator seat to any position between the counterclockwise limit position and the clockwise limit position, the control system selecting the rotational position as far as possible to orient the operator in the direction of travel.
  9. 9. The seating system of claim 8 wherein said control system selects said counterclockwise limit position or said clockwise limit position as a rotational position when the direction of travel exceeds a predetermined angular limit.
  10. 10. The seating system of claim 8 wherein the control system defines a neutral drive direction and a neutral seat angle, wherein for drive directions in which the included angle a relative to the neutral drive direction is less than a predetermined drive angle a (max), the control system selects a seat rotation angle B that is less than the counterclockwise or clockwise limit position angle B (max), wherein the included angle a, the predetermined drive angle a (max), the seat rotation angle B, and the limit position angle B (max) are each measured in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction based on the neutral drive direction, wherein the ratio a: a (max) is equal to the ratio B: B (max).
  11. 11. A seating system according to claim 10, wherein the predetermined drive angle a (max) is between 45 degrees and 135 degrees, preferably between 70 degrees and 110 degrees, more preferably between 80 degrees and 100 degrees, most preferably about 90 degrees.
  12. 12. The seating system of claim 2 wherein the chassis defines a forward-reverse axis, wherein the control system selects the counterclockwise limit position or the clockwise limit position when the vehicle is traveling in a direction that is 90 degrees or more from the forward axis in a counterclockwise or clockwise direction.
  13. 13. The seating system of claim 12 wherein said control system selects said clockwise limit position when said vehicle is traveling in a direction between 90 degrees and 180 degrees from the forward axis in a clockwise direction.
  14. 14. The seating system of claim 12 wherein the control system selects the counterclockwise limit position when the vehicle is traveling in a direction between 90 degrees and 135 degrees from the forward axis in a counterclockwise direction.
  15. 15. The seating system of claim 12 wherein for a predetermined range of angles between 135 degrees and 180 degrees from the forward axis, the control system selects the clockwise limit position if the operator seat has rotated in a clockwise direction and selects the counterclockwise limit position if the operator seat has rotated in a counterclockwise direction.
  16. 16. The seating system of claim 15 wherein the predetermined angular range has a lower limit of greater than or equal to 135 degrees and less than 180 degrees and an upper limit of 180 degrees.
  17. 17. The seating system of any one of claims 1-16 further comprising a manual rotation controller for sending control signals to the seat rotation mechanism to rotate the operator seat in accordance with operator input.
  18. 18. The seating system of any one of claims 1-16 wherein the control system is not responsive to the steering controller.
  19. 19. The seating system of any one of claims 1-16 wherein the seat rotation mechanism does not rotate all operator controls with the operator seat.
  20. 20. The seating system of claim 19 wherein the steering controller of the vehicle does not rotate with rotation of the operator seat.

Description

Seat system for a vehicle for lifting and moving cargo Technical Field The present invention relates to a seat system for a vehicle for lifting and moving a cargo, and a vehicle for lifting and moving a cargo having such a seat system. Background Vehicles for lifting and moving cargo, such as forklifts, are often operated in confined, busy or dangerous environments. In recent years, manufacturers have introduced vehicles with greater mobility, particularly vehicles with multi-directional drive systems. An early example of such a vehicle is disclosed in WO 03/059799. The vehicle in this patent is a three-wheeled forklift having two front wheels and a rear wheel. The wheels may be steered so that the truck is operated in three modes, forward-reverse (three wheels are steered in neutral in a direction of the main axis parallel to the forks), sideways (three wheels are steered in neutral in a direction perpendicular to the main axis) or in a rotating mode (three wheels are moved along a tangent line of the same circle so that the truck may be rotated in situ clockwise or anticlockwise). In such trucks, a directional mode (e.g., forward-reverse mode or sideways mode) determines the axis of forward or reverse drive of the truck (in sideways mode, side-to-side drive may be achieved by selecting forward or reverse). This directional pattern is achieved by rotating all three wheels to point in a common direction (assuming neutral steering), while when the truck is in motion and steered by the operator, the direction of the chassis relative to the ground is changed by steering a set of wheels in different directions. For example, in this particular vehicle, the front wheels are not turned, but are turned by the rear wheels to change the direction of travel when in the forward-reverse mode, and the two front wheels are turned in opposite directions to each other when in the sideways mode, the rear wheels then remaining in a fixed direction along the fork truck forward-reverse axis. The most modern fork lift truck breaks through the two-way or three-way mode of operation, but allows the operator to use a directional control device such as a joystick to steer the fork lift truck in any direction selected by the operator in the case of neutral steering. For example, when the operator rotates the joystick 45 degrees clockwise from a zero degree forward direction (e.g., defined as the direction in which the forks are pointing), all of the wheels are caused to rotate 45 degrees clockwise together, so if the steering input is neutral, the vehicle will travel at an angle offset 45 degrees from the chassis direction. Likewise, rotating the joystick 135 degrees counter-clockwise will cause the truck to move backward and to the left. Thus, from the operator's perspective, the driving direction is toward the 7:30 position of the clock face. When the vehicle traveling direction deviates from the chassis orientation, the driver's line of sight may be affected. Typically, the driver will use the rear view mirror in combination with the twist head to see behind so that there is a clear view in the driving direction. However, if the driver twists his head for a long time, it may be unsafe and unfavorable for the health of the driver. Disclosure of Invention Embodiments of the present invention provide a seating system for a vehicle for lifting and moving cargo, the vehicle comprising: a chassis supported on a ground contacting unit, wherein the ground contacting unit is selected from a wheel or a continuous track unit, all of the ground contacting units being steerable relative to the chassis; A steering controller for selectively steering a portion of the ground contacting unit to the left or right relative to a direction of travel such that the direction of the chassis relative to the ground changes in response to an input from the steering controller, and A direction controller for turning all the ground contact units together to the left or right with respect to the chassis so that the traveling direction can be changed without changing the direction of the chassis with respect to the ground; The seating system includes: an operator seat; a seat rotation mechanism for operating in response to a control signal to rotate the operator seat relative to the chassis, and And a control system for receiving an input of an operator in response to the input of the direction controller and outputting a control signal to the seat rotating mechanism to rotate the operator seat in a traveling direction. The present invention provides a seat system with a seat rotating mechanism controlled by a control signal generated in response to a direction control input that changes a traveling direction without changing a direction of a chassis with respect to the ground, thereby rotating an operator's body in the traveling direction, thereby eliminating the need to use a rear view mirror or turn a head, or reducing an angle of head rotation, avoiding unn