GB1231773A - - Google Patents

Abstract

1,231,773. Masted lift truck attachments. J. F. ARCHER. 27 March, 1969 [29 March, 1968; 10 April, 1968; 5 March, 1969], No. 16070/69. Heading B8H. An attachment 5 enabling a lift truck 1 with front-mounted fork arms 2 to move lengthy loads extending either parallel to or perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the truck, comprises a beam 6 supporting sliding fork arms 7 and hollow fork arms 8, which are spaced apart by a distance equal to the spacing of the fork arms 2 so that the latter can be slid into the arms 8 and which are interconnected by a bar which acts as a pivot for a pair of arms 11 formed with apertures for the reception of one of the fork arms 2. Arms 17, supporting castor wheels 18a, 18b are pivotally connected to the fork arms 7. In operation, the attachment is positioned in front of a storage rack for elongated articles and the truck is disengaged from the attachment. The truck is then manoeuvred to insert the fork arms 2 into the hollow fork arms 8 and the lifting carriage 3 is raised, allowing the arms 17 to pivot downwardly, Figs. 6, 7 (not shown), thereby permitting the truck to be driven forwardly to engage and extract the load. The attachment is then lowered to the ground and the fork arms 2 are disengaged from the fork arms 8 and reinserted into the apertures in the arms 11 for transportation of the load. In a modification, Fig. 9 (not shown), the arms 17 are adapted to be pivoted to, and held in, a position in which the wheels extend upwardly, thereby allowing the fork arms 8 to be lowered to a position adjacent the ground. In a further modification, Fig. 13 (not shown), the attachment is supported by hooks on the lifting carriage 3. In the modification illustrated in Figs. 14-16 (not shown), the arms 17 are pivoted about inclined axes. Each end of a particularly long and flexible load may be supported by an auxiliary carriage, Fig. 18, comprising a frame 47-49 mounted on castors 52 and supporting removable load. engaging fillets 58. The frame is so constructed that an aperture 63 is provided whereby the carriage may be engaged and raised by a fork arm of a lift truck similarly to the engagement of a fork arm with the attachment 5, Fig. 1.