Handling apparatus for collapsible lightweight cargo carrying sleeves

摘要

A handling apparatus pulls a group of lightweight cargo carrying sleeves out of a container in which they have been transported onto a storage bed. The collapsed sleeves are individually supported in an upright orientation on the bed by fingers which can be selectively withdrawn from a sleeve when it is to be removed. An overhead crane has a carriage that translates across the sleeves on the storage bed and a sleeve loading and unloading apparatus that is positioned beside the bed. The carriage can also be raised and lowered. The carriage carries hooks which engage the sidewalls of the sleeves and can be moved toward and away from one another. After the hooks engage the sidewalls of a sleeve the carriage is raised to lift the sleeve out of the group. The carriage is then moved above the loading apparatus and the hooks are moved apart from one another to expand the sleeve. Finally, the carriage is lowered to place the expanded sleeve on the loading apparatus and the hooks are disengaged from its sidewalls. The apparatus includes a sled that traverses the storage bed and is used to pull a group of sleeves out of the cargo container in which the group has been transported. The apparatus is used to remove sleeves from the loading apparatus by reversing the above-described procedure.