EP0716041A1

EP0716041A1 - Panel lifting apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP0716041A1
Application number: EP94118701A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Roland O. Young
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1994-11-28
Filing date: 1994-11-28
Publication date: 1996-06-12

Abstract

The invention comprises a panel lifting apparatus having at least three telescoping sections each connected together in consecutive relation by a chain length for each section whereby raising the first of the three sections causes the other sections to be raised simultaneously through the chain connection. Drive means for driving the first chain length for raising the first of the sections. A slip clutch handle mechanism for the drive means whereby the drive will slip in the event of an overload. A safety mechanism whereby the sections will only lower as much as the handle is rotated.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to panel lifting apparatus.
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel panel lifting apparatus which has at least three telescoping section raised by three separate length of chain connecting the sections together in a consecutive manner wherey raising one sections causes the next section to be raised with drive means for driving the first length of chain
It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel panel lifting apparatus for telescoping a plurality of sections by a chain driven mechanism.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the panel lifting apparatus.
Figure 2 is a fragmentary enlarged side elevational view of the telescoping sections and drive mechanism for telescoping the sections.
Figure 3 is a fragmentary enlarged side elevational view of the panel lifting apparatus illustrating the sections partially telescoped from the opposite si of the mechanism.
Figure 4 is an enlarged end fragmentary end view of the telescoping sections and the handle operated drive mechanims mounted in a box adjacent the sections.
Figure 5 is enlarged fragmentrary side elevational view of the telescoping sections and drive mechanism similar to Figure 1.
Figure 6 is an enlarged side elevational view of the chain slack adjustment member.
Figure 7 is an enlarged top view of telescoping sections and drive box and mechanism.
Figure 8 is a further enlarged end view of the drive box.
Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of the slip clutch drive and overload mechanism for operating the drive sprocket of the gear box.
Figure 9 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the latching mechanism for latching the bracing rod of the support handle with the rod removed from the latch.
Figure 10 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the latching mechanism for latching the bracing rod with the bracing rod shown mounted in the latching mechanism.
Figure 11 is a cutaway view of the clutch mechanism similar to Figure 9, with the mechanism cut away to reveal its interior construction,
Figure 12 is a cross sectional view taken along line 12-12 of Figure 9.
Figure 13 is a view taken along line 13-13 of Figure 11.
Figure 14 is a view taken along line 14=14 of Figure 11.
Figure 15 is a side elevational view of the modified and preferred form of the invention illustrating the power operated chain driven telescoping apparatus for lifting objects such as dry wall panels.
Figure 16 is an enlarged side cutaway view of the housing and telescoping sections of the apparatus and the fluid actuated piston and cylinder mounted in the housing for powering chains to telescope the telescoping sections upward.
Figure 17 is a top view of the preferred form of the invention.
Figure 18 is an enlarged fragmentary top view of the housing and telescoping sections and the hydraulic cylinder of the apparatus.
Figure 19 is a fragmentary side view of the chain and roller drive of the telescoping sections.
Figure 20 is a cross sectional view of one of the rollers of the telescoping sections, taken along line 20-20 of Figure 19.
Figure 21 is a side elevational view of the lifting apparatus, shown after the telescoping sections have telescoped upward a distance.
Figure 22 is an enlarged side fragmentary view of the platform and hose connection to the housing and cylinder in the housing of the apparatus, before the attachment of the platform and hose coupling on the platform to the housing and hose coupling on the housing.
Figure 23 is is an enlarged side fragmentary view of the platform sleeve connection to the rod of the housing and the upper hose coupling on the platform to the hose coupling on the rod of the housing, after the platform sleeve has been mounted to the housing, and the upper hose coupling, mounted in the sleeve, has been attached to the lower hose coupling, mounted in the rod of the housing.
Figure 24 is an enlarged rear view, similar to Figure 8, before the platform sleeve and its upper hose couplign have been attached to the rod of the housing and its lower hose coupling.
Figure 25 is an enlarged rear view, similar to Figure 9, after the platform and housing and the upper and lower hose couplings have coupled together.
Figure 26 is a fragmentary side view of the upper portion of hydraulic cylinder and chain.
Figure 27 is a top cutaway view showing the cylinder and its chain.

Brief Description of Preferred Embodiment:

Briefly stated, the invention comprises a lifting apparatus having a mobile housing with three telescoping sleeves slidably mounted in one another and in said housing to slide upward in telescoping relation to telescope upward a drywall panel to upper height for installation. The housing has hydraulic piston and cylinder mounted therein, and chain connection between the sleeves and the cylinder, whereby upward movement of the cylinder relative to the piston in the housing acts through the chain connection to telescope the sleeves upward out of the housing, for telescoping the panel upward. A horizontal platform is detachably mounted to the housing carrying a power pack for powering the cylinder. The platform has a reservor thereon for holding hydraulic fluid and a pump for pumping fluid from the reservoir along a hose line from the platform to the cylinder in the housing to telescoping the cylinder hydraulically relative to the piston. The platform also has a battery for powering an electric motor, with the electric motor powering the pump. The platform and hose line have detachable connections between the housing and hose connection to the cylinder for detaching the platform and components from the housing.
In Figures 18 through 27, the preferred form of the invention is illustrated, showing the chain driven hydraulic actuated battery powered lift apparatus 50.
Referring more particularly to the drawings, in Figure 1, the panel lifting invention 20 is illustrated having a triangular elongated main frame channel member 20' with three elongated triangular channel members 21, 22, and 23, with each of the members 21, 22, and 23 slidably mounted in one another for telescoping movement upward from their position shown in Figure 1.
A chain drive box 24 is mounted near the top of the main channel member 20'. The drive box 24 has a main sprocket gear 26 which is rotatably mounted in the drive box 24 and is rotated by rotation of the handle 35 through a slip clutch drive connecting the handle with the sprocket gear 26. A reduction gear 27 has a large sprocket gear 27' fixed to a shaft 28 and a small sprocket gear 28' fixed coaxially to shaft 28 and the shaft and its gears are rotatably mounted in the box 24 above gear 26. An endless chain 28'' drives the large sprocket 27' from gear 26, connecting the two gears together in driving relation. The rotation of the large reduction gear 27' rotates the small gear 28' , which drives the first chain length 29. The chain length 29 has its upper end connected to the upper end 29' of channel member 21 and its lower end 29'' connected to the lower end of the same channel member 21. An idler roller 29''' is rotatably mounted in the box above gear 28' so as to wrap the chain 29 partially about gear 28' to maintain the gear 29 in driving engagement with gear 28' so as to be driven by gear 28'. A second chain length 30 has its lower end 30'' connected to the lower end of channel member 22 with its upper end 30' connected to the upper end of the main channel member 20' with an intermediate portion of the chain 30 wrapped about idler roller 21' , rotatably mounted to channel member 21, so that raising the channel member 21 raises simultaneously channel member 22. A third chain length 31 has its lower end connected to sliding channel member 23 and its upper end connected to the upper end of channel member 21, with an intermediate portion of chain 31 wrapped about an idler roller 22', rotatably mounted to channel member 22, so that raising channel member 22 raises chain length 31 at its locaton about roller 22' thereby raising channel 23 relative to channel 22. The channel 23 has a tube mounting socket 23' fixed to its upper end and a conventional horizontally elongate panel supporting framework 24 has a tube 33' fixed to its center portion and sliidably received in socket 23' to support the framework 24 on channel 23 whereby a panel mounted on frame work 24 is raised upward by the raising of the channels.
The chain drive box 25 has two handles 34 and 35. The handle 34 is pivotally mounted to the box 25 at pivot point 36 to pivot outward to provide stabilizing handle for stabilizing the device 20. The operator will grasp this handle with one hand while rotating handle 35 with his other hand to drive the chain drive to raise sections 21, 22, and 23 for raising dry wall panels and similar objects for installation in the ceiling for example, by placing the panel upon the cross framework 24 mounted to the top section 23.
The handle 34 has two positions, its operative stabilizing position shown in solid lines in Figure 1 for stabilizing the device and its storage position shown in dashed lines in Figure 1. The handle 34 when in its storage position serves to lock the sections 21, 22, and 23 in their retracted stored position shown in Figure 1 by the pivotally mounted rod 34' of the handle being pivoted over the projecting lug 21'' fixed to the top of section 21. Once the rod 34' has been positioned over the lug it locks the telescoping sections against telescoping for purposes of storage, and the pivotal angle of the handle and rod 34 and 34', when in the locked positiion, prevents the sections from telescoping upward even under the rotational drive of handle 35. When the handle 34 is pivoted outward to its operative position shown in solid lines in Figure 1, the end 34'' of the rod 34 will be pushed against the front face 39 of lever 42 to pivot the lever 42 clockwise rearward to its position shown in solid lines in Figure 11 and the end 34'' of the rod will be inserted in the notches 43 in the plate 43' fixed to the box beneath the lever and the lever may be pivoted counterclockwise over the top of the rod to lock the rod in the notches for locking the handle 34 in its operative position shown in solid lines in Figure 1, for using the handle for steady the device while raising objects,
A spring operated chain length slack adjustment member 37 is connected between the upper end 29' of the first chain length and the upper end 38 of the channel or section 21 and serves to take up any slack in the chain to keep it taut after it has been driven past the drive gear 28 by the rotation of gear 28. The upper end 29' of the chain is pivotally mounted to the case 37' of the adjustment member 37. The case has an elongated hollow interior 37'' and a pin or screw 40 has its head 40' abutting a flange 38' fixed to the top of the channel member 21, and the screw is threaded in a bore in the flange 38' and passes freely through a bore in the case and extends down into the interior of the case. A spring 41 is mounted coaxially about the screw and a washer is fixed to the bottom of the screw and slidable within the interior of the case. The washer holds the spring in place on the screw with the spring in abutting relation against the top of the case urging the screw downward toward the gear 28 and urging the case upward to its position shown to keep the chain attached to the case taut.the pin or screw has a turnable head so that the screw, though it passes freely through the bore in the case by its threaded engagement with the flange 38' can be turned to thread the screw upward or downward to raise or lower the case and thereby the chain relative to section 21 to adjust the chain length end position relative to section 21 and gear 28.
The chain drive box 24 has two side panels 24' and 24'' with the shaft 27' of the reduction gear 27 and gear 28 fixed to these gears and rotatably mounted in the side panels 24' and 24'' of the box.
The main sprocket gear 25 has a shaft 25' which is rotatably mounted in panel 24' at its one end and the gear 25 is fixed to the shaft . A shaft portion 41 is fixed to the gear 25 at its other end and has an annular wall portion 41'. A sleeve 42 is fixed to the wall 24'. A friction washer 44 is freely fitted over the shaft to abut the wall portion 41'. A spool 43 is fitted over the shaft with one face of the spool 43' abutting the friction washer 41'. A coil spring 46 surrounds the spool, with one end 46' locked in a notch in the sleeve 42. A friction washer 44' is fitted against the other wall 43'' of the spool 43. A cylinder 47 has an end wall 47' fixed thereto with a centre bore for the shaft 41 to extend therethrough and with the end wall abutting the washer 43'' at its one face. The shaft 41 is threaded along its one end portion 41'and a tube 49 having an inner threaded inner portion is threaded onto the shaft 41. The threaded tube 49 has an annular end wall portion 50 fixed thereto and the end wall portion 50 has annular radial ridges 50' along its outer face portion to engage complementary annular radial ridges 47'' in the end wall 47' of the cylinder, so that when the threaded tube 49 is rotated or screwed along the shaft 41 toward and against the end wall 47' of cylinder 47, the threading of the tube or sleeve against the end wall causes the sleeve's end wall to engage the cylinder end wall to lock together in non rotatable relation to one another. A coil spring 51 is fitted over the threaded sleeve with one end 51' engaged in a notch 53 in the end wall 47 to lock one end of the spring 51 to the end wall 47'. A washer 53 is fitted over shaft 41 in slightly spaced relation to the screw. An end wall 54 is fitted over the shaft and has a center bore to receive the shaft and the end wall 54 is fixed to the cylinder 55. A nut 56 is threaded onto the shaft 41 at its outer end to hold the end wall 54 on the shaft against the cylinder. The cylinder 55 has a slot 55' along its one edge and a pair of lugs 57 and 57' are fixed on edges of the cylinder 55 on opposite sides of the slot 55'. A threaded rod 58 is threaded into one lug with coil spring 59 mounted axially on the rod and engaging the head of the rod at one end and the lug 57 at the other end to urge the lug 57' toward lug 57 so as to frictionally engage cylinder 55 with cylinder 47, the handle 35 is fixed to sleeve or cylinder 55.
The spring 46, which surrounds the spool 43, cannot turn significantly either clockwise or counterclockwise, except to wind or unwind about the spool and is in constant frictional contact with the spool so that clockwise rotaion of the spool can occur when turning the handle clockwise by the spool turning inside the spring and enlarging the spring by unwinding it. However, when the handle is turned counter clockwise, any frictional contact attempting to turn the spool by rotation of the handle only causes the spring to wind and tighten about the spool preventing any counterclock rotation of the spool, and thus the rotation of the handle only rotates the the threaded tube away from the spool and allows slippage to occur of the gear to cause the retraction.
As the handle 35 is rotated counterclockwise, it moves the threaded tube away from the wall of cylinder 47 allowing slippage of the sprocket gear 28 to occur which allows the sections to retract under their own weight. As the sections retract, through the chain drive connection, and causes the sprocket gear to rotate , it rotates the shaft 41, which draws the threaded tube toward the wall of cylinder 47, and the screw or tube 49 being engaged against the end wall 47' pushes cylinder 47 against washer 44', which is against the other wall 43'' of the spool, and thereby pushes the spool against the frictional washer 41' on the other side and the frictional washer against the wall of the sprocket gear 8, thereby locking the sprocket gear preventing further retraction of the sections 21, 22, and 23. In fact, the more the weight of the load attempts to lower the sections further, the more the threaded tube is drawn toward the wall further tightening the frictional lock against counter clockwise movement of the gear, under the weight of the sections.
Thus, the spring 46 provides a constant brake upon the spool against its counterclockwise rotation, so that the spool and gear cannot rotate in this direction and as result the sections cannot retract unless the handle 35 is itself separately being rotated counterclockwise. The weight of the sections and any load thereon cannot itself cause the handle to rotate counterclockwise or cause the sections to retract down significantly more than the separate handle 35 rotation would allow by its loosening the connection by rotation of the tube away from the wall, as the the lowering of the sections causes the sprocket gear 28 to rotate counterclockwise which turns shaft 41, drawing the threaded tube 49 toward the wall of cylinder 47, and relocks the sprocket gear to the spool which spool cannot rotate counterclockwise, thereby stopping the counterclockwise rotation of the gear 28. Spring 46, by its engagement with the spool prevents counterclockwise rotation of the spool thereby stops any further retraction unless the handle is rotated again which again allows slippage to occur of the gear counterclockwise relative to the spool.
The spring 58 serves as an overload release by engaging the handle 35 outer sleeve 55 to the inner sleeve or wall 47, so that the handle will turn the inner sleeve or wall 47 unless there is too much of a load on the telescoping sections, such as by their being blocked from going any higher when the operator has been turning the handle to raise them, in which case, the spring 58 will allow the outer sleeve 55 to spread apart slightly and the handle will then slip on cylinder 47 and not rotate the inner sleeve or wall 47.
When rotating the handle counterclockwise to lower the sections, the handle rotates the sleeve 55, rotating the cylinder 47 and cylinder wall 47', the wall 47' rotates the the spring 49 , and also through the serrated connection between the cylinder wall 47' and the end flange of the threaded tube 49, the end wall causes the rotation initially of the thread tube on the shaft 41 away from the wall 47' sufficiently to loosen the frictional connection. The depth axially of the overlapping interconnections of the notch in the wall 47' and flange of the threaded tube must be sufficient to form a positive drive connection initially between the cylinder wall and the flange of the tube that is long enough to cause the rotation of the tube with the wall long enough to sufficiently unfreeze the tightness of the connection caused by the threaded tube flange against the wall 47', so that, thereafter, the frictional connection between the spring 51 and the threaded tube will provide sufficient friction thereafter to cause the tube to rotate with the rotating of the spring when rotating the handle, so that further rotation of the handle 35 counterclockwise will thread the threaded tube on the shaft further away from the spool and the frictional washers. The notches having sufficient overlapping depth to them thus assures that the counterclockwise rotation of the handle and wall 47' will not simply rotate the spring on the threaded tube by the wall rotation without rotating the threaded tube, since without rotating the threaded tube there would be no loosening of the connection.
The length of the rod 35'', with respect to the center axis of the shaft 41, can be adjusted or varied. The handle 35 has a mounting post 35' which is fixed to the sleeve 55, and a slidably adjustable rectangular rod 35'' is slidably mounted in a square slot in the post 35'. A coil spring 60 is mounted coaxially over a pin 61. The pin 61 is slidably mounted in a bore in the post and the spring has one end engaging the ledge 63 of the post and the other end engaging the annular projecting lip 61' of the pin to urge to the pin downward in the bore in the post to engage against the rod 35''. The square rod 35'' has a plurality of spaced bores of a size to receive the pin and to lock the pin in engagement with the rod and thereby lock the rod in an adjusted position with respect to the center axis of the shaft 41.
When it is desired to lengthen the rod, with respect to the center axis of the shaft 41, the operator will pivot the lever 62 upward from its position shown in solid lines, with respect to the post 35'. Since the lever 62 has a bore large enough to slidably receive the stem of the pin 61, but smaller than the head of the pin, the raising of the lever 62 will cause the lever to engage the head of the pin 61 and raise the pin out of one of the bores 35'''' in the rod, so that the rod can slid along the square opening in the post to the left from its position shown in Figure 1, to thereby lengthen the effective length of the rod as a handle with respect to the shaft 41. The rod will be slid to place a selected another one of the bores 35'''' in alignment with the pin 61, whereupon the operator can release the lever 62 allowing it to drop back down so that the pin under the urging of the spring can drop down into the selected one of the bores to lock the rod in its adjusted position.

Operation:

The panel lifting device 20 operates as follows:
The operator will, with the panel support member 36 removed from the socket 21' at the top of channel member 21, detach the rod 34' from the projecting lug 21'' by pivoting it counterclockwise over the lug and then pivot the handle 34 counterclockwise from its position shown in phantom lines mounted over lug 21' to its position shown in solid lines in Figure 1 and will engage the end 34'' of the rod against the front face 39 of plate 42 and pivot the plate 42 clockwise from its position shown in Figure 10 without the end of the rod 34' mounted therein to its position shown in Figure 10 in phantom, pivoting the plate 42 clockwise backward and enabling the rod 34' to engage the end 34'' of the rod in the notches 43, whereupon the plate 42 will under spring urging be clear of the rod 34' and pivot back to its position as shown in Fig. 11 with the end 34'' of the rod in the notches as shown and being locked in the notches by the backward counterclockwise pivoting action of the plate 43. This locks the rod 34' in its position shown in solid lines in Figure 1 so that the handle 34 is also locked in its position shown in solid in Figure 1, so that the operator may use the handle 34 to hold the device still while operating the handle 35 with his other hand.
The operator will place a conventional dry wall panel upon the conventional panel support member 36 mounted to the innermost channel section 23 when it is desired to raise the dry wall panel to a ceiling for example to install the panel in the celing. The panel lifting device will be rolled on the floor to its desired position beneath the portion of the ceiling the operator wishes to install the dry wall panel.
To raise the panel support member 24, with the dry wall panel thereon; the operator will rotate the handle 35 clockwise, when viewed from Figure 1, and the sleeve 55, to which handle 35 is fixed, will rotate clockwise. Sleeve 55 coaxially surrounds the cylinder 47. Sleeve 55 is separated at slot 55' and spring 58 urges the sleeve portions of sleeve 55 on opposite sides of the slot 55' to flex toward one another and frictionally engage with its inner surfaces the outer surfaces of cylinder 47 to rotate cylinder 47 clockwise with the cylinder as it rotates. The rotation of cylinder 47 clockwise winds and contracts the spring 51 about the screw or threaded tube 49, spring 51 having one end engaged in notch 47' of cylinder 47 so as to rotate with the cylinder while its other end 51'' is free. Spring 51 is in constant though slipping frictional contact with the tube, which frictional contact is sufficient to cause the spring to drag and contract about the screw or tube until the spring freezes with the tube and the tube rotates with the spring, the cylinder 47, sleeve 55 and handle. The rotation of screw or tube 49, through its threaded engagement with the shaft 41, causes the tube to thread along the shaft toward end wall 47' of cylinder 47 and until the complementary ridges 50' and 47'' of the tube and cylinder engage and lock the cylinder and screw or tube together, so that they move together axially along the shaft toward the gear 28 as well as rotate together. The tube, in moving along the shaft, will move the cylinder 47 toward the frictional washer 44' and cause the end of wall 47 to engage against washer 44'. This causes washer 44', in turn, to engage against one wall of the spool, moving the spool against the other washer 44 along the other side of the spool. The frictonal washer 44, in turn, is moved against the wall 41', fixed to shaft 41, and frictionally locks the wall, shaft and its sprocket gear 28, fixed thereto, together with the frictional washers, spool, screw, spring 51, cylinder47 and its wall, sleeve 55, and handle 35, so that rotation of the handle 35, by its clockwise rotation, rotates the sprocket gear 28 to drive the endless chain 28'', which drives the reduction gear 27 with the small gear 27' of the reduction gear driving the length of chain 29, which raises the section 21.
The raising of section 21 simultanteously raises section 22, through the chain connection 30, which simultaneously raises section 23 through chain length connection 31, and the raising of section 23 raises the panel support 24 mounted thereon and the panel thereon. The handle will continue to be rotated clockwise raising and telescoping the sections until the dry wall panel thereon reaches the ceiling, assuming the height of the ceiling is less than the telescoping height of the sections 21,22, and 23. The sections 21, 22, and 23 will telescope relative to one another until approximately 85-90 percent of the length of each section has been telescoped out of its outer adjacent section, although this percentage may vary. The section 21 can telescope upward out of section 20' for approximately the 85-90 percent of the section 21, section 22 can telescope out of section 21 for a similar percent of its length, and the same for section 23. A suitable stop, not shown, is provided at the bottom of section 21 which can engage a cooperating stop at the bottom of the box 25 or nearby, to stop the upward movement of section 21, relative to the stationary section 21' at the approximate 85-90 percent telescoping extension. The stopping of section 21, stops sections 22 and 23 in a similar telescoped position, which is the upper limit of the telescoping action of sections 21,22, and 23 for raising a panel.
To lower the panel and/or support structure 24, the handle 35 will be rotated in the opposite direction.
In figures 18 through 27, the hydraulic cylinder drive chain driver lifting apparatus 50 is illustrated having a main housing 50'. Three telescoping sleeves 28,29, and 30 in the forward sleeve portion 51 of the housing 50'. Another sleeve or compartment portion 52 is fixed to the rear of the portion of the housing 50' to form the fixed housing; and the housing extends vertically upward and is supported on horizontal legs . A hydraulic cylinder drive 53 is mounted in the rear compartmen sleeve 52 of the housing and has a hydraulic cylinder 54 and a piston 55 with the cylinder slidably mounted on the piston 55.
The piston 55 of the cylinder is fixed to the bottom of the rear compartment 33 of the housing. The piston 55 has a hollow piston rod 56 with a port 57 at the bottom of the piston rod to receive hydraulic fluid into the hollow passageway 56' upward through the rod and through a passageway 56' in the piston 55 into th hollow interior space 58 between the top 55' of the piston and the bottom 54' of the cylinder 54. The cylinder 54 is slidably mounted in the rear of the housing to upward and downward in the housing relative to the piston and housing.
The hydraulic fluid is pumped into the upper cylinder interior space forces the cylinder 54 upward in the housing. A roller 59 is rotatably mounted on the top of the upward and downward moving cylinder. A link chain 60 has one end 60' fixed to one edge of the rear sleeve the housing below the roller 59. The chain 60 extends over the top of of the roller 59, then downward on the other side of the roller, with its other lower end 60'' attached to the bottom of the outermost telesleeve 29 of the three telescoping sleeves 29, 30, and 31.
The chain 60, by extending upward over the top of the roller 59 and then downward to its connection with the sleeve 29 at the bottom of the sleeve, rolls with the roller as the cylinder moves upward. This chain arrangment enables the upward movement of the cylinder 54 to move the lower end 60'' of the chain 60 upward, twice the distance of the cylinder travel to move the sleeve 29 twice the cylinder travel length.
The hydraulic fluid, in traveling upward through the center of the hollow piston rod, through the piston to the hollow interior space between the top of the piston and the bottom wall of the cylinder adds fluid to this interior space and forces the movable cylinder 5 upward relative to the piston to increase the space to accomodate the added fluid being pumped into the interior space.
A detachable platform 64 is detachably mounted in a horizontal position to the vertical fixed rear sleeve or compartment 33 of the housing. A battery 65 is mounted to the platform, mounted in a U shaped metal plate 65', which houses the battery and is mounted to the platform.
A pump 66, an electric motor 67, and a reservior 68 for holding the hydraulic fluid are also mounted on the platform 64. A hose line coupling member 70 has an upper coupling member 71 and a lower coupling member 72 which couple together in detachable relation. The upper coupling member 70 is permanently attached ot the front 64' of the platform on a bracket 74 fixed to the platform. The bracket 74 has a pair of side legs 73 and 73' fixed together at their upper end with a sleeve 75 fixed to the lower ends of the legs, just below the upper coupling member.
A hose line 76 is attached at its one end 76' to the upper coupling member 71, and is held to the spaced arms 77 and 77' of the platform by a pair of horizontal braces fixed to the arms by a pair of screws threading the two braces together, through bores in the spaced arms tightening against the hose line 76 from opposite sides and tighten the arms to hold the hose line to the arms of the platform. The hose line 76 at its other end 76'' is attached to the output port of the pump 66.
A second hose line 78 has its one end 78' attached to the lower coupling member 72 and extends through a hollow rod 79 fixed to the rear sleeve of the housing 50' with its other end 79'' attached to the inlet port57 into the piston. The rod 79, fixed to the sleeve of the housing, slidably receives the larger sleeve 75 in telescoping relation The larger sleeve 75, being fixed to the platform thereby mounts the platform to the housing. The sleeve 75 also has a pair of side flanges 75' and 75'' which extend down on each side of the mounting lug 80'' which is directly fixed to the rear sleeve 33 of the housing at one and fixed to the rod 79 at its other end. The flanges prevent the platform from pivoting about the rod on the sleeve 75 by engaging sides of the mounting lug 80'. The mounting lug also serves to space the rod slightly rearward from the housing.
The electric motor 67 has its output shaft connected to the pump 66 so that activation of the motor powers the pump 66. The motor 67 is powered by the storage battery 65 also on the detachable platform
A control handle 80 is mounted on the pump and has three position The handle is spring loaded to its neutral position, in which position the electric motor is turned off. Pivoting the handle upward turns the electric motor on which begins to pump fluid into the cylinder causes the cylinder to telescope upward. Turning the handle downward opens the line with the motor off allowing fluid to drain out of the cylinder at a rate depending upon how far the handle is pivoted down.
The upper coupling member 71 has an axially slidable ring which is spring loaded downward, but then manually slid axially upward unlatches the upper coupling member from the lower coupling member. This action also unlatches the platform from the housing, as the coupling connections also serves as a platform latch. When the ring 81 is slid downward onto the lower coupling member, the ring automatically slides over the annular ridge 81' on the lower coupling member and locks in the ridge. The upper coupling member has a plurality of balls in a circle under spring spressure radially inward and which lock in the ridge once the coupling has been attached.
The upward sliding of the ring member 81 unlatches upper coupling member from the lower coupling member, thereby unlatching the fluid communication between the upper hose line 76 and the lower hose line 78.
The platform and housing, in addition to their sleeve and rod connection, are also connected by a hook or downward pin 82 fixed on an upper brace 83 fixed to the platform. The brace 83 slides over the plate 84 fixed to the housing and the pin slides into a bore in the plate to lock the upper portion of the platform to the housing.
Since the upward movment of ring member uncouples the coupling member and also frees the platform from the locked connection with the housing; the platform may also slid upward by sliding its sleeve 75 upward off the rod 79 of the housing. Simultaneously, the hook 82 will be slideout of the notch of the plate 84 of the housing and off the plate 84 thereby compleletly, freeing and detaching the platform and its components from the housing. The coupling members upper and lower are of a conventional type coupling well known in the hydraulic art, wherein the coupling members when brought together co-axially will automatically latch together in watertight relation so that fluid may pass through the upper and lower coupling members.
While the telescoping sleeve 29 is slid upward by the chain 60 being drawn up at one end, sleeve 29 has a roller 62 rotatably mounted at its top and a chain 61 has one end attached to the housing and extends over this roller and its other end 61'' is attached to the lower end of sleeve 30, and sleeve 30 has a roller 62' rotatably mounted to its top and a chain 63 its attached to sleeve 30 at its one end and extends over the roller 62' with its other end 63'' attached to the lower end of sleeve 31. Consequently, when sleeve 29 is telescoped upward by the upward movement of the cylinder, the roller 62 on sleeve 29 moves upward drawing the other end of chain 61 upward twice the length of travel of sleeve 29, thereby telesooping the sleeve 30 upward, and the upward movement of sleeve 30 moves its roller 62' upward, engaging against the chain 63 and drawing the other end of chain upward thereby drawing the sleeve 31 upward twice the length of travel of sleeve 30 thereby telescoping sleeve 31 upward relative to sleeves 29 and 30.
The rollers 59, 62, and 62' all have opposing annular reduced shoulders 94 about their opposite faces to recieve the pivoting edges of the side plates 85 of the chains 60, 61 and 63, so that the edge plates 85 will rest and ride in the reduced shoulder while the lateral pins 85' extending across from one edge plate to the other edge plate will rest on the outer circumference of the rollers. The chains roll around with the rollers as their other ends are brought up by the upward movement of the rollers against the chains, as the chains raise the three telescoping sections 29,30, and 31 by the action of cylinder 54. The shoulders act to keep the chains aligned on the roller

Operation:

The panel lifting apparatus 50 will operate as follows:
The three horizontal legs 90,91, and 92 extend horizontally outward from the housing at even intervals about the housing and will have rollers mounted at their outer ends for rolling the apparatus to different locations for raising panels on the apparatus.
A dry wall panel, not shown, or other object to be raised will be placed on the horizontal frame 94' mounted to the top of the inermost sleeve 31. The operator will raise the handle 80 to activate the electric motor which starts the pump which pumps hydraulic fluid from the reservoir 68 through the pump along hose line 76 through the upper and lower coupling members, while coupled together to the inlet port 57 of the piston upward through the piston into the space 58 causing the cylinder 54 to telescope upward thereby telescopic sleeves 29,30, and 31 upward. The sections will telescope upward to their limit unless the handle 80 is turned down to neutral stopping the flow of fluid into the cylinder.
When the sections or sleeves 29,30, and 31 have been telescoped to their desired height the drywall panel was to be raised, the handle will be pivoted down to its neutral position which turns the electric motor off. Since this keeps the valve closed to return flow of the fluid, the fluid cannot flow back into the reservior and the telescoped sections remain held in their telescoped position while the drywall panel is installed.
When the drywall panel has been installed and it is desired to retract the sleeves or sections 29,30, and 30 back down into the housung the handle will be pivoted down below neutral which gradually opens the drain valve allowing fluid to drain back from the cylinder back into the reservior. The drain valve has graduated construction so that the amount of draining of the fluid back into the reservoir may be relatively small if desired and its rate of flow back gradually increased if desired. The weight of the telescoping sections wil act to force the cylinder downward to thereby cause the return flow of fluid back into the reservoir.
Thus, it will be seen that a novel battery operated, hydraulic cylinder powered, chain driven telescoping panel lifting apparatus has been provided which can quickly telescope the lifting sections of the device to telescope a drywall panel and theelike quickly upward for installation. Further, it will be seen that the sections may be quickly lowered under gravity by the release of the hdyraulic holding action of the cylinder upon the telescoping sections, so that they may quickly, under gravity, retract back down to their retracted positions
It will be obvious that various changes and departures may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited to that specifically described in the specification or as illustrated in the drawings, but only as set forth in the appended claims wherein.

Claims

A panel lifting apparatus comprising a housing, at least three elongated telescoping sections mounted upward in length in telescoping relation to one another; a fluid actuated elongated piston and cylinder mounted in said housing and extending in upward telescoing relation to one another and parallel to said telescoping sections; a first elongated chain having a length at least equal the intended travel of one of said telescoping sections; said first chain having its one end mounted to said housing at a location below said cylinder at its upper end; said first chain being adapted to extend upward over the top of said cylinder and downward along said one telescoping section with its other end attached to the lower end of said one telescoping section, whereby actuation of said cylinder acts to telescope and raise said cylinder relative to said piston in said housing with the upper end of the cylinder raising the first chain at a location intermedate the ends of the first chain, whereby the lower end of the first chain rises twice the distance the cylinder rises, thereby raising the one telescoping section twice the distance the cylinder rises; a second roller rotatably mounted at the top of said one telescoping section, a third roller rotatably mounted at the top of a second of said at least three telescoping sections; a second elongated chain having one end mounted to the top of said one telescoping section below said second roller thereon and extending upward and over said roller with its other end attached to the lower end of said second telescoping section, whereby the raising of said one telescoping section raises said second roller thereby raising said second chain intermediate its length to thereby raise said second telescoping section; a third elonated chain having one end mounted to the top of said second telescoping section below said third roller and its other end extending over said third roller and downward to the attachment with a third of said at least three telescoping sections, whereby the raising of said second telescoping section raises said third roller thereby raising said third chain
A lifting apparatus comprising a housing, at least three elongated telescoping sections mounted upward in length in telescoping relation to one another within said housing, fluid actuated piston and cylinder means extending upward and mounted in telesoping relation to one another within said housing, a first elongated chain having a length at least equal to the intended travel of one of said telescopic sections, and having its intermediate portion extending over the top of said piston and cylinder means; a roller means rotatably mounted at the top of said one telescoping section; a second roller mounted at the top of said second of said at least three telescoping sections; a second chain mounted to the top of said first telescoping section at its one end and mounted to the lower end of said second of said three telescoping sections and extending over the top of said roller means, a third chain mounted to the top of said second telescopic section at its one end and attached to the lower end of said third of said at least three telescoping sections at its other end; whereby actuation of said piston and cylinder means said piston and cylinder means to telescope upward in said housing with said upper portion of said piston and cylinder means in rising engaging the first chain at its intermediate portion to raise the first chain along its intermediate portion to thereby raise said first telescoping section with said roller means engaging said second chain at an intermediate portion to thereby raise said second telescoping section, and with said second roller on said second telescoping section in rising with said second section engaging an intermediate portion of said third chain to raise said third of said at least three telescoping sections.