Patent Application
20250066171
For purposes of summary, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features are described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment. Thus, the apparatuses or methods claimed may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
In one aspect, the jaw attachment includes an attachment member for mounting the jaw attachment to the pallet fork of a pallet lift vehicle. The attachment member comprises a vertical portion from which extend upper and lower opposing flanges which form a channel for receiving upper and lower cross bars of the pallet fork. A tine member extends horizontally from the vertical portion of the attachment member. A vertical stanchion is attached to the front of the attachment member vertical portion. A jaw member is pivotally attached at one end to the lower portion of said vertical stanchion and a bi-directional actuator is pivotally attached at one end to a top portion of the stanchion and pivotally attached at a second end to the jaw member such that activation of the actuator pivots the jaw member vertically in relation to the tine member.
The jaw attachment for a pallet lift vehicle is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.
The various embodiments of the jaw attachment and their advantages are best understood by referring to
Furthermore, reference in the specification to “an embodiment,” “one embodiment,” “various embodiments,” or any variant thereof means that a particular feature or aspect described in conjunction with the particular embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearance of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in another embodiment,” or variations thereof in various places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to its respective embodiment.
Actuator 213 is pivotally coupled at an upper end via linkage 217 to upper plate 215 which is attached to top portion 211 of stanchion 207. It will be appreciated that actuator 213 may be hydraulic or pneumatic. Piston 223 extends downward from the lower end of actuator 213 and is pivotally coupled at its lower end to jaw member 225 toward the rear portion thereof. Jaw member 225 includes a rear end that is pivotally attached to base portion 209 of stanchion 207 such that actuation of piston 223 by actuator 213 opens or closes jaw member 225 with respect to tine member 201. Spacer block 227 is interposed between the back of stanchion 207 and vertical attachment plate 203.
As described above and shown in the associated drawings, the present invention comprises a jaw attachment for a pallet lift vehicle. While particular embodiments have been described, it will be understood, however, that any invention appertaining to the apparatus/system/method described is not limited thereto, since modifications may be made by those skilled in the art, particularly in light of the foregoing teachings. It is, therefore, contemplated by the appended claims to cover any such modifications that incorporate those features or those improvements that embody the spirit and scope of the invention.
