US3180512A

US3180512A - Drum handling attachment for lift trucks

Info

Publication number: US3180512A
Application number: US208257A
Authority: US
Inventors: Fred D Moss
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1962-07-09
Filing date: 1962-07-09
Publication date: 1965-04-27
Anticipated expiration: 1982-04-27

Description

April 27, 1965 F. D. Moss DRUM HANDLING ATTACHMENT FOR LIFT TRUCKS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 9, 1962 FIG l INVENTOR FRED D- MOSS FIG-2 ATTORNEY April 27, 1965 13, oss

DRUM HANDLING ATTACHMENT FOR LIFT TRUCKS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 9, 1962 FIG-4 FIG.3

6 m m l Cl 3 m 3 w ww u. w v v A v Mm W \J 2 l 3 3 k7 22 INVENTOR FRED D. MOSS ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,180,512 DRUM HANDLING ATTACHBENT FGR LET TRUCKS Fred 1). Moss, 119 S. Montrose, Fort Valley, Ga. Filed July 9, 1962, Ser. No. 208,257 4 Claims. (Cl. 214-620) The present invention relates to a mechanism affording an economical, eflicient and safe means for handling containers such as barrels and drums and which is adapted to be engaged by the prongs or tines of a fork carried by the vertically moving or tilting mast of conventional mobile fork lift trucks.

A primary object of the invention is to provide an attachment for fork lift trucks which may be readily engaged by the fork lift truck and which upon forward movement of the truck against a drum to be lifted automatically grips the drum upon vertical or tilting move ment of the fork lift mast without necessitating the operator to leave his seat, and further releases the drum when the movement of the mast is reversed.

A further object is to provide an attachment for fork lift trucks which will automatically grip a drum, lift, transport and release the same with a minimum elevation of the fork lift mast, thus allowing the device to be used in low clearance areas.

A further object is to provide an attachment for fork lift trucks adapted to grip automatically a drum at a point above its center of gravity while the attachment and the lifting forks barely clear the supporting floor.

A still further object is to provide a drum lifting attachment with interlocking gripping elements so proportioned and arranged that the entire action and movement of the elements during operation can be observed by the operator thus insuring safety and efiiciency.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a preferred form of the drum handling attachment of the present invention mounted on a fragmentarily shown conventional fork lift truck.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the drum handling attachment looking toward the front corner thereof.

FIG. 3 is a front elevation.

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation.

FIG. 5 is a detail view partly in section of the vertical and horizontal pivots supporting the drum gripping elements.

FIG. 6 is a detail partly in section of a cam follower.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawings it will be noted that there is fragmentarily shown in diagrammatic manner the front end portion of a fork lift truck 1i which has a mast 11 of conventional construction which is tiltable forward and back and which is adapted to raise and lower a pair of forks 12 on which the handling attachment 13 of the present invention is mountable.

The handling attachment 13 in the present embodiment comprises primarily a skeletonlike supporting frame made of metal, preferably steel, adapted to pivotally support a pair of levers having portions acting as drum gripping elements.

The bottom portion of the supporting frame consists of two angle bar members 14 arranged with a depending side wall on the outside and a third angle bar member 15 parallel to and spaced from one of the members 14 a distance slightly greater than the width of a fork of the lift truck. The bottom edges of the

members

14 and 15 are secured together by fiat bars 16, one at each end and the third at approximately the middle point.

The top surfaces of the

members

14 and 15 are firmly secured together by laterally disposed angle bars 17, one

at each end of the longitudinal members 14 and one forward of the center thereof.

The rear portion of the supporting frame is formed by the two vertical posts 18 secured to the rear lateral member 17 at some distance from its ends and which carry at their tops a flat rear top member 19 having a length approximately that of the width of the bottom portion of the supporting frame.

Attached to each end of the rear top member 19 and also to the sides of the adjacent rear vertical parts 18 is a cam member 20 formed of channel bar and which also acts as braces to stiffen the supporting frame. These cam members 261 are formed with a portion 21 disposed at a 45 angle to the rear top member 19 and a smaller portion 22 parallel to said member 19 for purposes which will be described later.

The front portion of the supporting frame comprises two vertical front parts 23 attached to the front ends of the longitudinal members 14 of the bottom portion and have their tops secured together by a front top member 24.

To provide rigidity to the supporting frame a diagonal tubular strut 25 is secured to the middle of the rear top member 19 and the intermediately positioned lateral bar member 17 and diagonal strut 26 are secured to each of the front vertical posts 23 and the bottom longitudinal members 14.

At each end of the front top member 24 (see FIG. 5) is mounted a bracket 27 apertured to receive and firmly hold a stub shaft 28 on which in turn is mounted for rotation a hollow tubular shaft 29 formed with a diametrically disposed bore near each end which receives and firmly holds a pintle 39 which is encircled by a rotatable sleeve 31 held in place by nuts and a Washer.

The pair of levers heretofore mentioned as being carried by the supporting frame are formed of an outer mem ber 32 having its rear end near the rear portion of the supporting frame and extending longitudinally to a point in front of the supporting frame where a portion 33 is bent inwardly at a slight angle and terminates with an outwardly flaring portion 34, and an inner member 35 which extends longitudinally to a point in front of the supporting frame Where a portion 36 is bent outwardly at a slight angle and terminates at the apex of the bend in the outer member 32. The ends of the inner member 35 are firmly secured to the outer member 32 and the point of bend in the outer member is located far enough in front of the supporting frame so that a line connecting the apex of one member 32 with the apex of the opposite member 32 will constitute a diameter of a cylindrical object being handled.

The levers are mounted on the suporting frame by firmly attaching the facing surfaces of the outer member 32 and the inner member 35 to the rotatable sleeve 31 which then acts as a fulcrum for the levers and allows them to move in both a vertical plane using the stub shaft 28 as a pivot and in a horizontal plane using the pintle as a pivot. A connecting rod 36 is pivotally connected at one end to the inner member of one lever at a point to the rear of the fulcrum and pivotally connected at the other end to the inner member 35 of the opposite lever at a point in front of the fulcrum so as to force the pair of levers to act in unison when moving in a horizontal plane.

Firmly attached to the rear of the outer member 32 of each lever is a rearwardly extending cylindrical pin 37 each provided with a shoulder 38. Mounted for rotation at the rear end of each pin 37 is a cylindrical cam follower 39 adapted to fit and engage the channel of cam 20 and is biased for rearward movement by a compression spring 40 positioned between the shoulder 38 and the cam follower 39.

: against the top surface of one of the forks.

, ends of the lever into their closest position.

' ends of the levers.

' 2t) and the forward portions of the levers to move toward each other.

To prevent accidental disengagement of the lifting forks and the handling attachment due to sudden stops or during the releasing of a drum, an apertured and threaded plate 42 is secured to

longitudinal bottom members

14 and 15. manipulation effectively secures the supporting frame to one of the forks.

In the operation of the device, the fork lift truck is moved to face the rear end of the drum lifting attachment with the forks in approximate alignment with the lengthwise members of the attachment.

On further forward movement of the truck, the forks enter the space formed by the horizontal Walls of the

longitudinal members

14 and 15 and the lateral members 16 (see FIG. 4). The vertical walls of one member 14 and of the member 15 co-operate to act as guideways for one fork and thus accurately align the attachrnent with the forks as they are moved forward into complete'engagement In order to prevent accidental or inadvertent disengagement of the forks and the attachment due to sudden stops or the withdrawal ofthe attachment from a drum, the clamp 43 carried by the attachment is screwed down The attachment is now ready to handle drums will be noted that the tension springs tend to separate the rear ends of the levers and force the cam followers 39 on the rear ends of the levers to seek the outer and top por tions of the cam 20 and at the same time to bring the front The opera tor then aligns the levers with a drum to be handled and upon forward movement the flaring portions 34 co-operate with the surface of the drum to pry or cam the forward ends of the lever apart and to force the cam followers to seek the inward reaches and lower reaches of the cam 20. At the same time the front ends of the levers are raised slightly and to prevent an undesirable amount of raising the cam 2t) is formed with a horizontal portion J which allows'the front ends of the levers to open to the fullest extent but limits the upward movement of the front When the drum is properly positioned with respect to the gripping elements of the levers, each lever has a tWo point contact with the cylindrical surface of the drum which makes it unnecessary for the gripping A screw clamp 43 engages the threads and upon a and it 4 V I claim:

1. A drum handling attachment for a fork lift truck comprising a supporting frame having bottom, rear and front portions, longitudinal members in said bottom portion acting as guide-ways adapted to receive and guide a tine of the fork lift, a shaft mounted for rotation on the front portion of said supporting frame, radially projecting pintles one fixed to each end of said rotary shaft, cam members one mounted on each side of said rear portion of the supporting frame, a pair of levers mounted for. rotation one on each of said pintles and each having a forwardlyprojecting portion formed to act as drum gripping elements and a rearwardlyprojecting portion, cam followers one mounted on each rearwardlyprojecting portion of said levers adapted to engage said cams, and a connecting rod pivotally connected at one end to the rear portion of one of said levers and pivotally connected at the opposite-end to the forward portion of the other of said levers;

2. A'drum handling attachment for a fork lift truck comprising a supporting frame adapted to be engaged by and supported by the forks of a lift truck, a pair of levers by said cam' followers to control the vertical and horizontal movement of said levers, and a connecting rod pivotally connected at one end to the rear portion of one of said levers and pivotally connected at the opposite end to the forward portion of the other of said levers.

3. A drum handling attachment for a fork lift truck 7 consisting of a supporting frame having a bottom portion, a rear portion'and a front portion, said bottom portion comprising parallel longitudinal members adapted to receive and guide a fork of the lift truck, a pair of levers one pivotally mounted for vertical and horizontal movement on each side of said front portion, a cam follower carried by the rear end of each said levers, cams carried by said rear portion adaptedeach to engage one of said camfollowers, a connecting rod pivotally connected to one of'said levers at a point to the rear of the pivotal mounting and pivotally connected to the other lever at a 7 point forward of its pivotal mounting.

elements to fit closely to the drum and enables the device to handle expeditiously drums of various diameters and deformed drums.

The tension springs then tend to force the gripping ele ments of the levers together and make 'firm contact with the drum.

The operator then raises or tilts the forks and the grip- 4. In a drum lifting attachment for a fork lift truck, a supporting frame adapted to be engaged by the forks of a lift truck, apair of levers each pivotally mounted on the front of said supporting frame for both vertical and horizontal movement and each having forwardly extending portions formed .to act as drum lifting elements, a cam follower mounted on the rear end of each lever, a pair of cams carried by the rear portion of said supporting levers and the cams 20 force the front ends of the levers" trated what I now consider to be a preferred form of the invention, the invention is not limited to such specific design but includes all modifications thereof which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

stand each adapted to be engaged by one of said cam followers, a tension spring connecting the rear end of each of said levers with said supporting'frame acting to force said drum grippingelements toward each other and a connecting rod'pivotally connected to one of said levers forward of its pivot point and to'the other of said levers rearwardly of itspivot point.

7 References Cited by the Examiner HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner. MORRIS TEMIN, Examiner.

Claims

2. A DRUM HANDLING ATTACHMENT FOR A FORK LIFT TRUCK COMPRISING A SUPPORTING FRAME ADAPTED TO BE ENGAGED BY AND SUPPORTED BY THE FORKS OF AS LIFT TRUCK, A PAIR OF LEVERS ONE PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON EACH SIDE OF SAID SUPPORTING FRAME AT THE FRONT PORTION THEREOF FOR MOVEMENT BOTH IN A HORIZONTAL AND IN A VERTICAL PLANE, A DRUM GRIPPING ELEMENT FORMED IN THE PORTION OF EACH SAID LEVERS EXTENDING FORWARDLY OF SAID PIVOTAL SUPPORT, CAM FOLLOWERS ONE CARRIED BY THE REAR PORTION OF EACH SAID LEVERS AND CAMS CARRIED BY SAID SUPPORTING FRAME ADAPTED TO BE ENGAGED