US2473659A

US2473659A - Industrial truck

Info

Publication number: US2473659A
Application number: US675745A
Authority: US
Inventors: Herman C Musgrave
Original assignee: Towmotor Corp
Current assignee: Caterpillar Industrial Inc
Priority date: 1946-06-10
Filing date: 1946-06-10
Publication date: 1949-06-21
Anticipated expiration: 1966-06-21

Description

June 1949' H. c. MUSGRAVE INDUSTRIAL TRUCK 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 10, 1946 I l l l 1 1 'IN'VENTORZ HERMAN c. MUSGRAVE, BY M HIS ATTORNEYS H. C. MUSGRAVE INDUSTRIAL TRUCK June 21, 1949.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 10, 1946 r mu INVENTOR:

HERMAN C. MUSGRAVE, BY WW HIS ATTORNEYS FIG. 2

H. C.'MUSGRAVE INDUSTRIAL TRUCK $.Sheebs-Sheet 5 June 21 1949.

Filed June 10, 1946 INVENTOR Patented June 21, 1949 INDUSTRIAL TRUCK H rman Musgtave, s Cl land, Ohio, s: si ner t 'Bewr ot orpo a o Clev land,

a m ta ion of hio Application June 10, 1946, Serial No. 675,7Q

Claims- 1 T s n ention r lates to indu trial li ting trucks. and mo e er .eillarlv to means ea ned b sa d trucks fo rebel-vine loads u on the r car-- riage a emblies for raising and lowerin he s id assemb e alone the masts. of said trucks, and for ch n in the positions of the load-carryin members of said assemblies thereby to facilitate d p sitin the loads carried thereby in any desired positions and locations. It is the general ob ect of the invention to provide simple and efiective power operated mechanism for accomplishing the aforesaid movements of the carriage assemblies and their IOQJirrCfilIYiIlg members. A further objeet of the invention is to enable all of these operations to be readily and effectively controllable by the operator.

A still further and more limited object of the invention is to provide hydraulically operated means whereby a carriage assembly may be raised and lowered along its mast and rotary movement may be imparted to the load-carrying member of said assembly at any point in its elevation by the carriage, thereby to facilitate depositing the load carried thereby in any desired position or location.

In the practice of my invention, the load carrying member of the carriage assembly is rotated by the bight of a cable extending around a sheave which is rigidly secured to the rotating member and the reaches of which cable extend over rollers or pulleys carried by the cross head of the plunger or piston by which the carriage assembly is raised and lowered and the ends are connected to the upper ends of piston rods of jacks whereby, by the depression of either of the latter piston rods, the sheave and the rotatable member of the carriage assembly may be turned in either direction. As thus broadly stated, the cable is operatively connected to the sheave and to the piston rods of the jacks in the manner shown, described and claimed in the application of 1?.aul B, querin and e S ria No. were. the Augu t 3. 19%5. n w Patent No.- 39 l63b ere ed Ma 7. .19 6.

A an m rov ment ove t e, ee s rilc en s o n and e crib d n the aid a p at on I have. o supported the ends of the reaches of the gable as to nable me t obtain. a double moun o lift o h carria a em l and a dou le angular mov ment of the rotatable member t eof for the same len th at ylinde s and pi tons ha are mp d with t e onst u ion hown in h a oresaid applicat on,

e still u her obieet 9 the nven on is to one ride an mpr ed consolat on and a an ement of parts whereby the; lqtateble member o he ca riage asse bly is mo nted fo rotation upon the suppo ting ertism of he a a r a assembly.

I aeeom l sh the. ieree ine ebise s and ot er and m re l mited. b ects Wh te il be e f rth hereina t m a roug the eg le m iion and a ra gem nt b par shown n he ac omp ny n dr wing wh rein Fi 1, re resents a s e le tional view of the front portion oi an industr al l t n tr ck. and t e mast the ef r and sh w th ar g essemb d the hoisting mechan sm h r an .e .for rot t ng the ,e -e -p m==f meter Pi sai a sembl 9 etructed in aeeorda qe wi h my inv tion. th P n of the rri ge l v ted ein indirated by roke line and the t ea ortion of the tru k b ing ep esen ed dia rammatica ly: Fig. -2 -ant eleva o el iew o the oa -ts il ustrated n l an howin the rotatable load-carryin member o said a sembly in its l ad receivi position; Fig. 3 aview, similar to Fig. 2, showing the rotatable load-carrying member slightly elevated and tilted whereby a load thereon may be QOnVcniently discharged at a desired angle therefrom, the lifting forks being omitted; Fig. 4 a detail in section taken on the line 4. -4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 an enlarged central sectional view through the rotatable member of the carriage assembly and the cooperating portion of the supporting member of said assembly; and Fig. 6 a diagrammatic view of the means for controllin and supplying liquid to the auxiliary cylinders of the jacks which constitute part of the means for realizing my invention.

Describing by reference characters the various parts illustrated in the drawings Ill denotes generally the forward end of the body of an industrial truck, H one of the front Wheels of the same, and I: one of a pair oi sjlgirt plates of the frame A e ind hich are l sate the ee respend ne a m no s o n wh t-h enab the mas o be til d from. ver ical position Each o the s de members o the mast has secured t the, lowe no tion t ereof a heels 1 by which the mast s pivot l-y upp rted item a c oss bar 14 which turn may be support d b part o th front d ivi g axl (not shown) the manner illustrated and .described in the patent to Weaver, No. Z.-299A=45, issued Qctober 20, 194:2.

l5 denotes generally the front plate of the supporting member of the carriage assembly from Opl lQ t sides of which guide plates 16 project rearwardly and engage the inner surfaces of the channeled side members B of the mast. These guide plates carry upper and lower rollers l6- (see Fig. 4) which are adapted to engage the front and rear flanges respectively of the channeled side members of the auxiliary mast in the usual manner, as shown, for instance, in the aforesaid application of Paul R. Guerin and myself.

I! denotes the main hoisting cylinder which is located between the sides of the mast and within which the plunger I8 is mounted, said plunger carrying a cross head ill at its upper end. The cross head is provided with a pair of ears 2!! extending upwardly therefrom and adapted to engage the cross tie 2| which connects the tops of the side members 22 of the auxiliary mast. A yoke 23 is shown as connected to the webs of the channeled members of the main mast and as extending across the rear of the same.

The construction thus far described is substantially identical with that which has been employed by Towmotor Corporation in its production of industrial trucks, and hence needs no further description.

The rotatable carriage member comprises generally a framework consisting of an upper spacer bar 24, vertical side bars 25, centrally located vertical reinforcing bars 26, with an upper cross plate '2! and a lower cross plate 28 connected to the

vertical bars

25 and 26.

29 denotes a fork-supporting bar which is .position with respect to said bar by means of U-' .shaped yokes 32, the legs of which are adapted :to be inserted through openings 24 in the top of the spacer bar 24, with their legs embracing opposite sides of the upper ends of the fork arms.

The manner in which the rotatable carriage member is supported for rotation on the supporting member will now be described: 33 denotes a .bearing shaft which is secured, as by welding, to

the front plate I of the supporting member of the carriage assembly and on which there is mounted the inner race 34 of a tapered roller bearing comprising an outer race 35, a cage or cup 36 and rollers 31. The cage or cup is secured,

therefor in a large sheave 38, the front of the bearing being provided with a Washer 39. The

cage or cup 36 is also secured, as by Welding, to

-- the cross plate 21.

Cylindrical anti-friction blocks or plugs 40 are as by welding, to the wall of an opening provided inserted within seats provided therefor in the rear of the body of the sheave 38 and project rearwardly beyond the rear surface thereof and engage with their rear faces an annular bearing plate 4! which is secured to the front of the front which are conveniently located within the lower portion of the mast assembly and the lower ends of which may be pivotally supported in any conplate l5 of the supporting member, These blocks -may be made of material known to the trade as "Powdiron, consisting of fine iron particles unit- 'ed by compression and impregnated with lubri- .each block through the sheave 38, providing venient manner from the base of the mast assembly, as indicated at C, Fig. 3. Each of the cylinders is provided with a piston rod 43 extending through the top thereof, each of the said piston rods being provided at its upper end with a shackle comprising a. pair of links 44 pivotally connected at their lower ends to the top of each piston rod and each pair of links supporting at their upper ends a journal pin 45 on which is mounted a sheave 46.

4'! denotes brackets conveniently secured to a vertically non-reciprocable portion of the truck, as by being welded to the cylinder ll. Eye bolts 48 extend through apertures provided therefor in the ends of the bracket arms 41 and are longitudinally adjustable with respect to said brackets by means of nuts 49 threaded thereon and located above and below the respective bracket arms.

The ends 50 of the cable by which the rotating member of the carriage assembly is operated are connected to the eyes 48 of the eye bolts as by means of eyes on eye bolts 5| with which hooks the said cable ends have a swivel connection 5P. The reaches of the cable extend around the respective sheaves 46 and thence upwardly around the sheaves 52 rotatably mounted on the cross head 19 and thence downwardly along the inner surfaces of guide sheaves 53 mounted upon roller bearings 54 on bearing shafts 55 extending through openings provided therefor in the upper end of the front supporting member 15, the bearing shafts being provided at their rear ends with threads for the reception of nuts 56. The guide sheaves are positioned in proximity to the upper peripheral portion of the main sheave and are spaced equidistantly from a vertical plane extending through the center of the bearing shaft 38. The distance between the bearing shafts 55 is materially less than the diameter of the sheave 38 whereby the cable is caused to exert a strong frictional grip upon the groove of the latter sheave.

51 denotes a reinforcing plate welded onto the bottom of the cross plate 28 and serving, jointly with the said cross plate, to support U-bolts 58 the upper legs of which extend through apertures provided therefor in the main sheave and in the reinforcing plate and the cross plate 28 while the lower legs extend through the said reinforcing plate and the plate '28, with the cable gripped .to the rotatable member.

The lower portion of the front supporting member I 5 is semi-circular, its periphery lying within the periphery of the sheave 38, while its upper end is approximately semi-hexagonal in shape.

60 denotes the casing for a double valve assembly from which pipe 6| extend to the tops of the cylinders 42, the bottoms of the cylinders being connected by an equalizer pipe 62.

With the parts constructed and arranged as described, the operation will be readily understood. With the piston rods 43 elevated to their full extent, the rotatable member of the carriage assembly will be supported in load-receiving position; that is to say, with the forks 3! extending horizontally from the lower ends of the said member. With the piston rods in this position, the carriage, together with the load upon the cylinder through, the equalizing pipe 62;.

forks, can be raisedby supplying operatin fluid to the main cylinder [1. Assuming, however, that it is desired to discharge the load at any desired point in the elevation of the carriage assembly,

the double valve assembly, indicated at 6!! in 6, will be operated to supply fluid under pressure through either of the pipes 6! to the top of the appropriate cylinder 42,, the fluid displaced from pistons oi the lathe y elievin the pressure on top of the piston in one of said cylinders and, by

applying pressure to the top of the piston in the other of said cylinders.

It will be noted that the cable by which the rotatable carriage member may be tilted can. also serve the function of imparting what is known as 'free lift to the carriage assembly, without opert ating the main plunger 0r piston I8 and without tilting the rotatable member thereof by depressing equally the pistons 43- in the cylinders 42; and it can also exercise the .function of rotating the load carrying mem er of the c rria a sembly at any desired point to which i may be elevated either by the pistons 43 or by the plunger or piston [8. Still further, due to the fact that the ends of the cable, after having been secured to the vertically non-re iprocablepar f the truth are rove around the sheaves 46 before being passed over the sheaves 52 and thence around the main sheave, the lifting movement, as well as the tilting movement, of either or both piston rods 43 will be multiplied twice in respect to the lifting or tilting movement imparted to the cable by the said piston rod or rods.

For convenience of description, the rotatable member and the main sheave therefor have been assumed to occupy the positions shown in Fig. 2,

and the terms top and bottom and upper and lower have been employed in defining the relative positions of these parts but without, any intention thereby to limit the rotary member and the sheave to the particular positions there shown,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In an industrial truck, in combination with the front portion of the frame thereof and a substantially vertical mast supported thereby, a carriage assembly comprising a supporting member slidably mounted upon the mast and a rotatable member mounted for rotary movement upon and with respect to the said supporting member, a sheave secured to the said rotatable member with its axis of rotation coincidental with the axis of rotation of said rotatable member, and means for imparting rotary movement to the said rotatable member, the said means comprising a pair of cylinder and piston rod elements, one of the elements of each pair being movable with respect to the other element of each pair, a guide carried by each of the movable elements of each pair of elements, pulley means supported on said carriage assembly and disposed above said guides and sheave and a flexible operating member having its ends secured to a non-reciprocable portion of the truck above said guides and below said pulley means and extending thence about the respective guides and about the respective pulley means with the bight of the said flexible member extending around nd. having a dri lnev onnec tion with a portion of the aioresa d shea e.

n the industrial truck set forth. in cla m 1, means for raising and lowering th arriage as! sem ly dependently of said cylinder elements and iston rod elements.

3. In the industrial truck set forth n. laim 1., a main ho s ing cylinder elem n and a plunger clement therein, one of said lements be ng re ciprocable with respect to the othe and com nected to said carria e assem y, the. said recip .rocable eleme t supporting the pulley means.

l, In the industrial truck set forth in claim 1, the mast comprising a main mast and an ex tensible mast m untedior sl ding movement upon the ma n mast. a main cylind r and a plunger therein, and a cross head on said plunger said pulley means being mounted on said cross head, the cross head being adapted by the elevation of the plunger to elevate the extensible mast and the carria e assembly.

5., In an industrial truck, in combination. with the front portion of the frame thereof and a sub stantiall-y vertical mast supported by the said portion of the frame, a carri ge as emb y m prising a supporting mem er slida ly moun d upon said mast, a journal secured to the Said supporting member and pro ecting forwardly therefr m, an antieiricti n b ar ng rotatably mounted u on the i rwa d y p ojecting p rtion of said j urnal an compris ng inner and outer race members, a sheave having a central opening for the reception of the outer race member of said bearing and secured thereto, a load carrying member located forwardly of the sheave and also secured to the said sheave, a main cylinder and a p unger movable in said cylinder having a. cr ss head provided. with a pair of rotatable supporting members, a flexible member having its bight ex.- tending about the lower portion of said sheave and. round a d about the uppe port ns of said circular supporting members, and rec procable means engaging portions of the said flexible member whereby r ary movemen may b im p riod to the said sheave and he tatable carriage member.

6. In an. industrial, truck, in-combinat-ion with the front portion of the f ame thereof and a substantially vertical ma supported by the said portion of the frame, a carriage assembly comprising a supporting member slidably mounted upon said mast, a rotatable load carrying member mounted for rotary movement upon and with respect to the supporting member, a sheave secured to the rotatable member with its axis of rotation coincidental with the axis of rotation of the said rotatable member, an annular bearing plate on the front of the said supporting member concentric with the center of said sheave, antifriction blocks on the rear of said sheave and engaging the front surface of the said annular plate, a flexible operating member having its bight extending around a peripheral portion of the said sheave, and a pair of reciprocable members carried by the truck and means carried by the said reciprocable members for engaging portions of the flexible member.

'7. In the industrial truck set forth in claim 6, means for anchoring the ends of the flexible member to a, non-reciprocable portion of the truck, guides carried by the said reciprocable members and in engagement with which the reaches of the flexible member extend, and rotatable guiding and supporting members interposed between the 7 guides and the sheave and about which the reaches of said flexible member extend.

8. In an industrial truck, in combination with the front portion of the frame thereof and a substantially vertical mast supported by the said portion of the frame, a carriage assembly comprising a supporting member slidably mounted upon said mast, a rotatable member mounted for rotary movement upon and with respect to the supporting member, a sheave secured to the said rotatable member with its axis of rotation coincidental with the axis of rotation of said rotatable member, a flexible operating member having its bight extending about the lower portion of the said sheave and operating means engaging portions of the said flexible members for imparting rotary movement to the sheave and to the rotatable supporting member, a reinforcing plate secured to the rear surface of the rotatable member with its upper portion intersecting the lower rear portion of the sheave and extending below the said sheave, and a pair of U-bolts each receiving within the bend thereof a portion of the cable extending about the lower portion of the sheave, the upper branch of each of said bolts extending outwardly through the lower portion of the sheave, the reinforcing plate, and the lower portion of the rotatable carriage member and the lower branch of each bolt extending through the reinforcing plate and the lower portion of the rotatable carriage member, and nuts mounted upon the outer ends of said bolts.

9. In an industrial truck, in combination with the front portion of the frame thereof and a substantially vertical mast supported by the said portion of the frame, a carriage assembly comprising a supporting member slidably mounted upon said mast, a rotatable member mounted for rotary movement upon and with respect to the supporting member, a main sheave secured to the said rotatable member with its axis of rotation coincidental with the axis of rotation of said rotatable member, journals carried by the supporting member adjacent to the top of said sheave, the distance between the said journals being materially less than the diameter of the said sheave, a guide sheave mounted upon each of the said journals with its guide groove in alignment with the groove of the main sheave, a flexible member having its bight extending about the lower portion of the main sheave and about the inner portions of the guide sheaves, and reciprocable members carried by the said truck for engaging portions of the said flexible member whereby rotary movement may be imparted to the said main sheave and to the rotatable carriage member.

10. In an industrial truck, in combination with the front portion of the frame thereof and a substantially vertical mast supported by the said portion of the frame, a carriage assembly comprising a supporting member slidably mounted upon said mast, a rotatable member mounted for rotary movement upon and with respect to the supporting member, a main sheave secured to the said rotatable member with its axis of rotation 00-- incidental with the axis of rotation of said rotatable member, journals carried by the supporting member adjacent to the top of said sheave, the distance between the said journals being materially less than the diameter of the said sheave, a guide sheave mounted upon each of the said journals with its guide groove in alignment with the groove of the main sheave, a main cylinder and a plunger movable in said cylinder having a cross head provided with a pair of rotatable supporting members, a flexible member having its bight extending about the lower portion of said sheave and about the inner portions of the guide sheaves and thence about the upper portions of said circular supporting members, and reciprocable means engaging portions of the said flexible mem-- ber whereby rotary movement may be imparted to the said main sheave.

HERMAN C. MUSGRAVE.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,377,978 Weber May 10, 1921 1,878,994 Abbe Sept. 27, 1932 2,106,878 Sinclair Feb. 1, 1938 2,281,004 Lehmann et a1 Apr. 28, 1942 2,335,572 Schroeder Nov. 30, 1943 2,399,632 Guerin May 7, 1946 2,411,263 Guerin et a1 Nov. 19, 1946