CA2590243A1 - Layered package handling method & apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A layered package handling device for forklifts, reach tracks, stock pickers or stackers, comprising a head (14) that has a series of closely parked suction devices (52) set out in a planer array which are served by a common vacuum chamber (20), the head able to be carried by forks (10) and the vacuum is supplied by a separate unit mounted on the forklift. In a modification the head is carried on a sub assembly which allows the head to move to one side of the forklift etc.

Description

Layered package handling method & apparatus FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention concerns a method and apparatus for layered packaged handling of goods. It is particularly related to layers of regular cartons but is not limited to such.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Cartoned goods leave the factory on pallets and reside in a warehouse until purchased by a supermarket or distributor. The pallets are taken from a warehouse rack by a robot selector or a person using a forklift and are loaded onto a truck for transport to the retail premises. Thus the goods remain on pallets from the factory, through the warehouse, on the truck and into the supermarket. The pallets are standard size.
1200x1200 mm and a pallet load may consist of several superimposed layers of cartons. Supermarkets commonly order in multiples of pallet layers.
Conventionally a pallet carries only one type of good, for example, a full load of buffer.

If an order from a supermarket is for two pallet layers of margarine, the margarine pallet will leave the warehouse with only two layers. The loader who supervises the composition of the road truck must make best use of the road truck volume, but presently as much as 6tonne of the 35 tonne load represents the timber of the pallets.
This is uneconomic, the consequence of the carton-by-carton assembly of a customers order at the warehouse. Systems designers in the distribution business have, sought savings in records, ordering programs and software, but the physical handling of the cartons, which compose the individual orders, has remained unchanged for a period of years.

International pallets used in airfreight do not correspond to the standard pallet in Australia and all goods must be transferred from one to the other. This is all done manually and the volume of work at airports and warehouses causes a correspondingly large number of injuries, such as repetitive strain injury (RSI).
The industry approach has been to use a stacker crane system, which moves along shelving and extracts whole pallets of goods sometimes using vacuum heads car-ried I

by frames and other structures for guiding the motion of the vacuum head. Such a system is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,782,564 and 5,102,283. These systems are efficient for bulk transfers but not equipped for part pallet loads.

A forklift is versatile but the application of vacuum handling to forklifts is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,186 where onboard vacuum equipment working continuously is used to handle newsprint rolls. WO 97/13718 takes the handling design further by attaching vacuum pads to the front of a pallet-like structure, which can be picked up by a standard forklift. When the forklift reverts to ordinary use, the special handling accessory can be removed and parked until it is needed again.
Such special purpose equipment, sold as an accessory, is useful but not for the layer-by-layer problem, wllich comes up when pallet loads are divided in wholesale grocery.
WO 01/30675 is more pertinent in that the suction devices are able to handle a layer of cartons. However the utilisation of the equipment is not discussed.

However another problem of the industry is the need for deconsolidation in order to achieve order picking.

Deconsolidation can be best described as the act of removing one or more layers of product from a full pallet. Within industry this is a wide spread practice whereby to save transport and shipping costs to fully utilize available shipping space.
It is the industry norm for manufacturers to stack pallets of product to the optimum height to be fully fill a transport container. In many cases includes the hand stacking of additional layers or "Butt pallets" on top of each full pallet so that all available space is utilized. On arrival and unloading at its destination these layers then need to be removed. It is also the industry norm for this to be done manually.

Also falling into this category is the need by manufactures to restack product from one pallet to another through the course of manufacture. As an example of this process, during to course of frozen food manufacture, product after it has been processed must pass through a blast freezer so that the product is brouglit down to a safe storage temperature. Duriiig this process it is the industry nornl to separate each individual layer of product with a plastic separator sheet to ensure efficient freezing.
Once this has been achieved these pallets need to be restacked to remove the sheets prior to on forwarding for sale.

In each of these cases these tasks are undertaken by unskilled staff the repetitive nature of this work is_often subject to high workplace injury rates. It is the current inefficiency associated with deconsolidation tasks that prevent major cost saving to the transport sector and in turn the Retail industry.

Savings are not only restricted to labor and work place injury. Transportation costs can be dramatically decreased using the system as it negates the need for the industry iiorm of separating each product line on it's own pallet as outlined in the following scenario.

For many long distance deliveries semi trailers or "B-Double" combinations are used.
In the case of B-Double combinations the vehicles are restricted to a maximum legal capacity of 68,500 kgs or a floor area capacity of 34 pallet spaces. In a "worst-case"
scenario the load may include up to 150 individual pallets due to the large number of individual product lines on the load. Savings can be achieved, siniply by loading the vehicle with "34 rainbow pallets" (multiple lines). As a saving of 120 pallets each 52 kgs (approx) would deliver a total weight saving of approximately 6,200 kg. As the average height of a semi trailer etc is equivalent to 15 empty pallets, this same saving increases the available floor space by 8 pallet spaces or 23.5% of the vehicle's capacity. Under this scenario, the result is a cost savings of up to 18% on long haul interstate work through greater vehicle utilization, with further savings from reduced pallet hire. The availability of the savings have been well known but the labour costs associated with breaking down or deconsolidating the load have prevented them being achieved.

It is usual for a typical supermarket to have in excess of 28,000 product lines on display for sale at an one time and all manufacturers and suppliers to the major grocery chains are goveriied by the customer's propensity to order slower moving or date sensitive product lines in full layer quantities but in less than full pallet quantity to minimize stock holding and Use By issues. To date there has been no other economically viable alternative available the supplier other than to rely on a manual picking process. Depending upon the layout and operating enviroiunent the industiy noz7n pick rate for this manual pick process varies between 100 and 170 cartons per man hour with the average being approximately 135 cartons and due to the repetitive iiature of the task is classified as high risk to workplace injury.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved package handling means and system that allows for improved efficiencies in the traiisport and haiidling industries.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The method aspect of the invention provides a method of assembling a warehouse order comprising transfelTing a pallet layer of cartons or part thereof as a group to or from a pallet.

Preferably the pallet size is 1200x1200mm. One layer may correspond to 1-24 cartons. The transfer may be from a warehouse rack to a pallet. A forklift truck equipped with a vacuum generator may power the transfer.

One apparatus aspect of the invention provides a pick up assembly for cartoned goods comprising:-- gang lifting means capable of overlying a layer of cartoned goods; and means to apply a partial vacuum between the gang lifting means and the cartons for the purpose of lifting an entire layer and means capable of mounting the assembly on a forklift.

The lifting means may be a horizontal head of substantially the same area as a pallet with an array of suction devices projecting downwardly from the mount having ends which lie substantially in a common plane so as to contact the upper surface -of the group of cartons on a pallet.

The mount may contain a vacuum chamber common to the array and the chamber may be connectable to a vacuum pump on the forklift truck.

The tubes may terininate in a resilient bellows so as to seal against the carton surface.
The devices may be normally closed until the wliole assembly is lowered by the forks to displace the tubes causing connection to vacuum. The tubes may ride telescopically on projections extending from the mount, the rise and fall being used to open and close a ball valve situated between the individual tube and the common chamber. This is a convenient arrangement of parts, but clearly any arrangement, which will offer lost motion, will be useful.

Preferably its own motor drives the vacuum pump so that the pump and motor may be accommodated as a unit in a box offering soundproofing.

The box may be mountable on the forklift, for exainple on the roof above the driver.
A vacuum hose fed from a reel may connect the pump and the gang lifting means.
The reel may take up the rise and fall motion of the fork. Thus the pick up assembly may be supplied with its own vacuum generator unit as retrofittable equipment for a standard forklift truck. As the forklifts are at a standard spacing, the flat rectangular gang lifting part is preferably provided with a pair of parallel shoes into which the forks may slide.
Also in one embodiment of the invention there can be provided a pick up assembly for carriage by a forklift comprising a horizontal head with an array of suction devices projecting downwardly from the head having ends which lie substantially in a common plane so as to contact a load surface, a part in the head to connect the head to a vacuum source and means capable of mounting the assembly on a forklift., wherein the means capable of mounting the assembly on the forklift includes a sub assembly capable of moving the head transversely of the fork direction in order to reach into racks lining an aisle.

This system is therefore able to undertake order picking of selected layers of various pallets and stack onto its own pallet due to the differing angular movement of the head to the direction of the forks.

The pick up assembly is capable of lifting cartons made of waxed paperboard, plastic film wrapped articles and cellophane wrapped boxes. The aim is to provide a conversion kit, which will offer the warehouse staff a q.d. accessory for a standard forklift. The suction devices will lift goods such as cartons of slightly differing heights because the 20 min or so of lost motion in the telescoping actioii copes with minor irregularities. While a pallet size of 1200x1200 mm is a convenient size for the head, a larger size is used for airport operations. A still larger size is useful for flat articles such as glass mdf, plywood, plasterboard and other building panels, sheet metal and the like. The suction devices for larger heads are not so densely packed.
When the assembly is used on a forklift, wllich travels up and down the aisles of a warehouse with racks on one or both sides, the assembly may be modified to allow the head to project into a rack and pick up or put down goods.

A further apparatus aspect provides a forklift truck with a pick up assembly carried in the fork position and a vacuunl generator being part of the truck equipment.
This may all be original equipment.

The system of the invention has now been developed into a highly efficient fully integrated order picking system that can deliver a pick productivity approximately 5 times the current industry norms, pick from any location and from any level from within racking and in doing so eliminate most of the manual handling in the process.
This manual labour cost can account for upwards of 75% of the operating costs of warehousing the need to control these costs are critical particularly for providers of contract Logistics services who historically operate on tight margins. More recent changes to OH&S legislative requirements now demand that wherever possible manual handling tasks are to be replaced by engineered alternatives. The system is the only known alternative to these labour intensive tasks that provides both increased productivity and cost efficiency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In order hat the invention is more readily understood certain embodiments of the invention are now described by way of illustration with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: --FIGURE 1 is a side view of the forklift truck with the lifting assembly in position.
FIGURE 2 is a plan of the apparatus of FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 3 is a plan of the pick up assembly.
FIGURE 4 is an end view of the assembly in FIGURE 3.
FIGURE 5 is a side view of the assembly in FIGURE 3.
FIGURE 6 is a side section of two suction devices in the pick up assembly.
FIGURE 7 is a plan of the head mounted on a sub assembly, which pernnits the head to move to one side of the forklift.
FIGURE 8 is a plan of the head of FIGURE 7 extended to the pick up/put down position.
FIGURE 9 shows a second embodiment with the pick up assembly carried by an electric reach truck, such trucks have the ability to move sideways along the 2900 mm wide aisles between warehouse stacks and reach into the stack.
FIGURE 10 is a front view of the head with slewing capability.
FIGURE 11 is a side view of the head shown in FIGURE 9.
FIGURE 12 is a perspective of the pick up assembly shown in FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 13 is a plan of an electric reach truck with a slewing pallet feeder attached to the LHS.
FIGURE 14 is a perspective view of the pallet exchanging part of an electric reach truck.
FIGURES 15-17 are plans of the electric reach truck showing how the pallet feeder cooperates with the pick up assembly.
FIGURES 18 and 19 are both a detail of the pallet assembly showing the rise and fall of the pallet tines.
All views are diagrammatic.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH RESPECT TO THE DRAWINGS
Referring now to FIGURES 1-8 of the drawings, the forklift truck 2 is the type, which has a mast 4, pivoted to the chassis enabling it to turn at 90 to the longitudinal axis of the truck. Bars 6 create a roof platform 8. The mast has conventional rise and fall forks 10. The top of the mast has a vacuum hose reel 12.

The 1273x1273 millimetres pick up assembly 14 is suspended from the forks and is connected by a self-sealing coupling 16 to the hose 18 paid out by the reel.
The opposite end of the hose is coiulected to a vacuum generator 20 housed in a sound proof box 22 mounted on the roof platform. The vacuum pump 24 is proprietary equipnlent and is belt driven by a standard 24 horsepower LPG engine. Vacuum exhaust 26 and engine exhaust 28 both discharge into the warehouse.

Pick Up Assembly Referring now to FIGURES 2-6, an alloy top plate 30 and an alloy bottom plate 32 are bolted together at their perimeters but separated by a gasket 34. The plate 30 has a pair of longitudinal shoes 36 of top hat section. These allow the assembly to be lifted by the forks or parked when not required. The space between the plates 30, 32 is the vacuum chamber. Apertures 38 in the top plate discharge into a pair of plenums alongside the shoes. The plenums 40 are emptied by ducts 42 which join and meet self-sealing coupling 16.

The bottom plate has a 23x23 array of downwardly projecting sleeves 44. Each sleeve consists of two coaxially overlapping threaded parts. The parts unscrew to admit a steel ball 46. The ball diameter is 2 millimetres smaller in diameter than the bore of the sleeve. The ends of the sleeve are partially closed in a hemispherical die in order to create an upper seat 48 and a lower seat 50. The lower end of the sleeve carries a rubber bellows 52 intended to contact the top of the carton 54.

The vacuum motor runs continuously but is connected intermittently to the vacuum chamber by the driver. When the operator lowers the head onto a layer of cartons and compresses the bellows about 20 millimetres to create a seal. When the vacuum is applied, the ball lifts off its lower seat, which by gravity is its rest position. The bellows interior is quickly evacuated and a steady vacuum allows the carton to be lifted. The ball floats as air continues to flow around it into the chamber.
When the motor is switched off, the vacuum collapses, gravity sends the ball down to the lower seat and the cartons are released.

In use the operator starts with an empty pallet. From an Order list the operator visits the rack holding car-tons of required fruit for example and transfers two layers of cartons to the waiting pallet. The operator next visits the racks holding cartons of laundry powder and transfers two layers to the same pallet. The pallet is full and a standard forklift removes the fidl pallet to a waiting road truck. If the pick up assembly is lowered onto a load which is stepped due to previous removal of part of a layer and where only some of the suction devices seal onto the load, in these unsealing devices the ball rises to the top seat and prevents air flow into the vacuum chamber until the motor is switched off.
Sub Assembly Refeiring now to FIGURES 7 and 8, the shoes 36 support a pair of cross slides 56, which have rail extensions 58. The head is moved at 90 to the drive axis of the truck by a central ram 60. The hose pays out from a tubular guide 62, which takes it to the reel as in FIGURE 1. Counterweight 64 balances the head.

In a non-illustrated version, the sub assembly has a radius arm instead of cross slides.
In the second embodiment shown in FIGURE 9 is in the form of a pick up assembly for a reach truck or lift truck. The pick up assembly 14 is shown mounted on the forward facing forks 66. The truck has a second lower pair of forks 68 which underlie the pickup assembly. This arrangement permits a time-saving sequence in operation.
The operator visits stack after stack making up the order on his list and after each pick up he fills the pallet waiting directly beneath. The filling pallet accompanies him until it is full when the driver takes the full pallet to the end of the aisle where a loading forklift collects it and takes it to a waiting truck or a loading point. The normal capacity of a human operator manually filling pallets is 130 cartons/hour. A
reach truck as shown in FIGURE 9 with the pick up assembly of this invention can achieve four times the manual rate.
The stacks of cartons on warehouse or coolstore racks will have been unloaded by perhaps a different forklift or a different operator. The pallet stack, which the reach truck builds, must be orderly, resembling a neat cube. The cubes are usually wrapped vertically with plastic sheet to prevent displacement during freighting. This means that the operator needs to be able to execute trimming movenlents when building a pallet. This version provides a reach facility, which extends the fork advance by 300 millimetres, and a slew facility, which allows the operator to slew the pick up assembly by 15 on both sides of the advance axis.

In FIGURES 10, 11 and 12, there is shown a particularly beneficial embodiment, which can be used for more than deconsolidation but can be used for order picking.
The shoes 36 are welded to top plate 70. Bearing disc 72 is bolted centrally to top plate 70. Bearing 74 is 240 millimetres in diameter and projects 75 millimetres below the top plate where it comlects to rectangular turntable 76. Bracket 78 on the undersurface of the top plate and bracket 80 on the top surface of the turntable support a short stroke hydraulic ram 82. The ram allows the operator to make 15 LEFT
or RIGHT adjustments to the turntable. A pair of linear bearings 84 welded to the 15 undersurface of the rectangular turntable near the edges thereof and to the top face of the vacuum chamber housing 86. The linear bearings are of standard type. For warehouse duty, the capacity need only be 250 kilogram. The reach facility provided by the bearing is 300 millimetres, but this allows useful fore and aft adjustment of the cartons position during pick up and release. Adjustment is possible by hydraulic ram 88, which acts between the underside of the turntable and the top face of the housing 86. The suction devices project below tlie housing. Fold down legs 90 made of L-section steel are hinged to mutually opposite sides of the housing 86 to take the weight of the assembly when it is necessary to park the assembly in the floor for transfer, exchange or maintenance. In use those suction devices, which do not seal against part of the load will not allow air entry to reduce the vacuum. The internal ball in each unsealed device will rise and close off the device. The housing 86 is evacuated through flexible hoses 92. These join to feed flexible hose 94, which terminates in a KAMLOKTM union 96 fixed to the forks carriage of the forklift.

In FIGURES 13 and 14, the right hand side of the truck has a compartment 110, which houses a 36-volt direct current forklift battery (not shown). This provides cuiTent for an electric blower 112 of 7.5 kilowatt power rating. The blower is coiuiected to the KAMLOKTM union 96 by a 75 millimetre plastic bellows hose 114 of the type used in cleaning pool equipment. This keeps its shape under -0.37 bar which the blower generates. Airflow is 490 metres3/hninute. The blower is switched on and off as required by the driver as layers of cartons are lifted and released.
The cardboard of the cartons is porous and tends to reduce the vacuum but the design of the suction devices provides sufficient lifting force for a 1200x1200 millimetre load.
Exhaust air from the blower is directed upwardly tlirough outlet 116.

Pallet Assembly In FIGURE 14 steel plate skirt 118 is bolted to the side of the truck. Two pairs of double hinge brackets 120 support upright steel swing frame 122. The swing frame has mounts 124 which support a 100 millimetre diameter swing post 126 and a swing ram 128 connected between the truck and the swing frame in order to move the frame in an arc. The swing frame has a suspension point 130 lying directly above pallet bar 132.

Pallet bar 132 is 1600 millimetres long and supports a pair of pallet tines 134. The tines pick up an empty pallet and the purpose of the pallet assembly is to raise the pallet so that it clears the truck wheels 136 and comes to rest directly beneath the pick up assembly. This sequence is shown in FIGURES 15-17.

The pallet bar is L-shaped and has a pair of pivot arms 138, 140 (see FIGURE
19).
These engage the swing post and allow the bar to rise and fall in order to clear the truck wheel while still permitting the bar to swing and so execute the motion shown in FIGURE 13. This requires the action of an extra swing ram 142 connected between the swing frame and the rear of the pallet bar. The rams 128 and 142 are supplied with hydraulic oil through a proportioning valve (not shown), which divides the thrust so that the arc described by the tines 134 is minimised for safe operation in the aisles of the warehouse. By causing ram 128 (FIGURE 19) to move more than ram 142, the working space needed by the truck is reduced.

The pallet bar is raised and lowered by a ram 144 attached between the suspension point 130 and a lifter 146 which passes between the pivot arms 138, 140 and acts on upper arm 138. One end of the lifter 146 is connected to the ram 144 and the opposite end has a bifurcation 148 which rides up and down brass wear strip 150 which projects from the swing fi=aine between top and bottom mounts 124. The lifter is bent around swing post 126. The lifter accordingly executes rectilinear motion while the pallet bar is free to swing within an operation arc shown in FIGURES 15-17. An optional wheel fixed beneath the swing frame can reduce the mechanical load on the double hinge brackets 120.

It can be seen that there are two are two basic models available one to suit either a conventional counter balance forklift or an electric reach truck.

The first model available is a fairly simple system that can be attached to any conventional counterbalance forklift by quick release fittings. This unit is primarily be used for pallet deconsolidation, sheet selection or where the application requires that the target product can be transferred from on area to another and where operating space is not an issue. Depending upon the size of the forklift and operating environment the system can be powered either by hydraulics or an additional DC
power source depending upon the motive power of the fork.

The second model is specifically designed to operate in areas where space is of a premium and can be used for order picking or deconsolidation. This system is designed to be mounted to most electric Reach Trucks and due to its Battery Electric motive power can operate in any environment including freezer/ chiller.

Additional options are available for the lift head depending upon requirements. These are 1. Lift plate mounted on slew ring to enable the hydraulic activation and slewing right or Left 20 to increase operator control.

2. Lift plate mounted on hydraulic activated linear bearing system to allow additional forward projection of 600 mm.

3. Hydraulic activated Empty pallet clamp.

The system is designed to enable the selection of product from any area including racked locations and can operate in aisles with a minimum widtli of 2,900 mm.

The additional pallet carriage and slew system mounted on the left hand side of the fork is an optional extra and primarily used for multiple order selection when the unit is used as an order picker.
It can be seen that the systein of the invention has been purpose built to allow the handling of a wide range of materials, product types and materials handling functions.
Designed to suit most makes and models of forklift trucks and has been developed into two basic models to either a counter-balance forklifts or electric reach truck.
Available as a quick release "slip on" system for counterbalance forlcs the system is ideal for a range of product deconsolidation tasks. For large volume dedicated order picking functions the system has been developed into a "Bolt on" attachment to provide a fully integrated and multifunctional order picking system.

A key component and common to both models is the unique lift head that incorporates a multiple suction valving system that has been carefully mapped to ensure both a minimal loss of vacuum and the ability to suit any stack configuration. To put it simply no matter what size or in what footprint the product is layered it can be easily and efficiently lifted.

Manufactured with a SWL of 250 and designed to suit the standard pallet the lift plate height is restricted to 280mm and suitable for order picking functions from all areas within a warehouse including racked locations. Additional functionality options have been incorporated into the lift head and these include.

= Hydraulic activated 20 slew capability = Additional 600mm forward projection.
= Hydraulic activated empty pallet clamp For the fully integrated order-picking model to allow multiple order selection a secondary pallet lift and slew assembly has been developed for electric reach truck models. This assembly allows the operator to lift and carry a pallet from ground level and when required slew the pallet 90 to the load transfer position under the lift plate witliout encroaching on the available aisle width.

What makes the system unique is that it = Can operate in all enviroiuilents especially both freezers and chillers.
= Can lift full layers of most packaged product quickly and efficiently.

= Is suitable for sheet materials such as glass, plastics, metals and building materials. .
= Can deliver a productivity rate in excess of 5 times the cuiTent manual rate.

= Eliminates most manual handling from wliat is historically a high risk process.
= Has no other comparable competition.
The advantages of the, above embodiment appear to include:--1. Human handling of cartons is unnecessary with consequent savings in injury claims.
2. The proportion of partially filled pallets on road trucks can be reduced.
It should be understood that the above description is of preferred embodiments and included as illustration only. It is not limiting of the invention. Clearly variations of the layered packaged handling method and apparatus would be understood by a person skilled in the art without any inventiveness and such variations are included within the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims (29)

1. A pick up assembly for carriage by a forklift or reach truck the assembly comprising a horizontal head with an array of suction devices projecting downwardly from the head having ends which lie substantially in a common plane so as to contact a load surface, a part in the head to connect the head to a vacuum source and means capable of mounting the assembly on a forklift or reach truck.

2. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the head has a vacuum chamber common to the array and the chamber is connectable to a vacuum source on the forklift or reach truck.

3. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the devices each terminate in a resilient bellows so as to seal against the goods.

4. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein the suction devices each comprise a bellows in flow connection with the head, a passage intermediate the bellows and the head, an upper valve seat in the passage, a lower valve seat in the passage and a valve member in the passage capable of moving from one seat to the other.

5. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein the passage cross-section is somewhat greater than the valve member cross-section allowing the valve member to float between seats when the bellows seal to the goods and vacuum is being applied and to rise to close against the upper valve seat when the bellows are not working thereby preventing air flow into the head.

6. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the head has legs, which are capable of supporting the suction devices clear of the ground when the head is out of service.

7. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the head has means, which is engageable and disengageable by the forks of the forklift.

8. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein the means is a pair of shoes into which the forks are slidable.

9. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means mounting the assembly is one or more connectors capable of fixing the assembly to the mast of the forklift.

10. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein the head is substantially the same area as a forklift pallet.

11. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means capable of mounting the assembly on the forklift includes a sub assembly capable of moving the head transversely of the fork direction in order to reach into racks lining an aisle.

12. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 11, wherein extendable support means allow the head to move parallel to the ground between a retracted carrying position and an extended pick up/put down position and a ram moves the head between the two positions.

13. A pick up assembly as claimed in any claim 11, wherein the head has a connector for a radius arm mounted on the forklift to enable the assembly to swing through a vertical axis.

14. A forklift with an assembly as claimed in claim 11, wherein the head is connected by a hose to a self-rewinding hose reel for carriage on the forklift.

15. A forklift bearing a pick up assembly as claimed in claim 11, wherein the head is connected by a hose to a vacuum source via a self-rewinding hose reel.

16. A pick up assembly for a forklift comprising a head with an array of downwardly directed suction devices, having ends which lie substantially in a common plane so as to contact an upper surface of the goods, means connectable to the head for generating a partial vacuum, and means for mounting the head on a forklift mast whereby the head is able to rise and fall.

17. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 16, wherein the means for generating a partial vacuum is supported adjacent the forklift mast and is connected to the head by a flexible hose.

18. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 17, wherein the means is a battery operated blower.

19. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 18, wherein the means for mounting the head on the forklift mast has a fluid operated adjuster acting between the mounting means and the head for executing minor fore and aft register movements in relation to the goods to be picked up.

20. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 19, wherein means for mounting the head on the forklift mast has a connector located between the mounting means and the head for allowing rotation of the head about an upright axis and a fluid operated adjuster for acting between the mounting means and the head for executing minor turning movements in relation to the goods to be picked up.

21. A pick up assembly as claimed in claim 20, wherein the means for mounting the head is a cradle, which also supports the battery, operated blower in order to permit the head and blower to be mutually adjacent.

22. A forklift or reach truck having the combination of a pick up assembly as claimed in claim 16 and a pallet fork assembly on a mount hinged to the forklift adjacent the mast, said assembly being capable of tilting on an upright hinge axis between a loading position beneath the pick up assembly and in register therewith and a start/finish position lying substantially at 90° to the loading position.

23. A forklift or reach truck as claimed in claim 22, wherein the pallet fork assembly has a ram connected between the forks and the mount in order to move the assembly between the start/finish position in an arc of travel.

24. A forklift or reach truck as claimed in claim 22, wherein the pallet fork assembly is connected to the forklift by a radial arm capable of supporting the pallet fork assembly in an arc of travel.

25. A forklift or reach truck as claimed in claim 22 wherein the pallet fork assembly comprises a swing mount with a first hinge formation capable of connecting the mount to a side of the forklift and a second hinge formation capable of supporting the pallet forks of the assembly, a first ram connected between the swing mount and the side of the forklift and a second ram connected between the swing frame and the pallet fork

26. A forklift or reach truck as claimed in claim 25 wherein the second hinge formation includes an upright swing post, the pallet forks slidingly engage the swing post and a lift ram connected between the swing mount and the pallet forks raises and lowers the pallet forks.

27. A forklift or reach truck as claimed in claim 26 wherein a lifter is interposed between the pallet forks and ram and the lifter has an end connected to the lift ram and an opposite end which engages a slide fixed to the swing mount whereby the lifter performs rectilinear motion while allowing the pallet to describe an arc.

28. A four direction forklift having a pick up assembly comprising a head with an array of downwardly directed suction devices, having ends which lie substantially in a common plane so as to contact an upper surface of the goods, means connectable to the head for generating a partial vacuum, and means for mounting the head on a forklift mast whereby the head is able to rise and fall, and wherein the means for generating a partial vacuum is supported adjacent the forklift mast and is connected to the head by a flexible hose.

29. A four direction forklift or reach truck having a pick up assembly comprising a head with an array of downwardly directed suction devices, having ends which lie substantially in a common plane so as to contact an upper surface of the goods, means connectable to the head for generating a partial vacuum, and means for mounting the head on a mast whereby the head is able to rise and fall, and a pallet fork assembly on a mount hinged to the forklift or reach truck adjacent the mast, said assembly being capable of tilting on an upright hinge axis between a loading position beneath the pick up assembly and in register therewith and a start/finish position lying substantially at 90° to the loading position, wherein the pallet fork assembly comprises a swing mount with a first hinge formation capable of connecting the mount to a side of the forklift and a second hinge formation capable of supporting the pallet forks of the assembly, a first ram connected between the swing mount and the side of the forklift or reach truck and a second ram connected between the swing frame and the pallet forks.