Different exemplary control systems for a hydraulically powered load-handling clamp, of the type usually mountable on industrial lift trucks or automatically guided vehicles, are disclosed. The disclosed systems variably limit a hydraulic force, by which load-clamping arms move a load substantially transversely, automatically depending on the weight of the load being moved, so as to avoid excessive transverse force applied to fragile loads.

There is provided a transporter apparatus comprising a chassis (2) mounted upon at least two drive units (4). The drive units are arranged in parallel and define a space therebetween. The apparatus further comprises a motor (6) providing drive to at least one drive unit (4), and a lifting mechanism adapted to receive a load and move the load between the ground and a lifted position. The lifting mechanism comprises first and second guide bars (28), each guide bar having a first end attached to a drive unit (4) and a second end attached to the chassis (2). First and second lifting carriages (30) are slidingly mounted on a respective guide bar (28) and adapted to receive a portion of the load. First and second hydraulic rams (38) each have a first end attached to the chassis (2) and a second end attached to a respective lifting carriage (30).

A device for handling stacked barrels attaches to the end of a forklift truck. The opposing ends of the device deploys a pair of grip members to grasp opposing upper and lower edges of the barrel over at least about half of the circumference at the head or chime hoop. The grip members have an arcuate shape and pivot about a coupling holding them in rotary and parallel engagement with an upper and a lower support armature. The upper and lower support armatures are coupled at opposing ends to a common bracket. The common bracket is titled by a second actuator to rotate the grasped barrel from a vertical to horizontal orientation, such as for placement in or removal from barrel racks used for holding filled barrels during fermentation and/or aging. A support beam for the common bracket may be a horizontal frame that accepts forklift tines. The actuators of the device are connected to a common controller installed in the operator cabin of the forklift truck.

There is provided a device for handling tires having an anchor for attaching to a prime mover and a clamping device rotatably mounted to the anchor that rotates relative to the anchor about a rotation axis. The clamping device has a plurality of engagement members connected by a mechanical linkage and a carrying body with a plurality of guides. The weight distribution of the clamping device is balanced about the rotation axis. Each guide carries one of the engagement members and is oriented to allow the engagement members to move perpendicular to the rotation axis between clamping and release positions. The mechanical linkage includes a rotating actuator and controls movement of the engagement members along the guides. The movement of each engagement member is rotationally symmetric about the rotation axis relative to the movement of the other engagement members. The device has an actuator that actuates the mechanical linkage.

An loader is provided that has a body which is pivotable in a mid-section, a primary linkage pivotally mounted to the body, a secondary linkage pivotally mounted to the primary linkage, and a grapple pivotally mounted to the secondary linkage to carry a load positioned forward of the body. The improvement includes means for determining the positions of the primary and secondary linkages, and means for measuring the weight of a load being carried by the grapple. The control system has the capability of receiving from the means the positions of the primary and secondary linkages and the weight of the load and calculating whether the load is in an unstable position. If the load is unstable, the operator is prevented from moving the load to a more unstable position, but is not prevented from moving the load to a more stable position.

A water bottle lifting and rotating device includes a base supporting a pair of rolling wheels and forwardly extending supports. The base further supports a vertically extending mast upon which a bottle clasp is lifted and lowered by a cable arrangement. A drive motor also supported on the base is operative in combination with the pulley and cable arrangement to raise and lower the bottle clasp and thereby raise and lower a captive water bottle. The bottle clasp supporting a water bottle is automatically rotated to an inverted position by a gear and gear rack arrangement operative between the mast and the bottle clasp.

An innovative anti-scratch and anti-slip device for lifting loads with the fork of a lift, for example with a forklift, includes three different, overlapping layers. In particular, a first magnetic layer is adapted to be removably applied to the fork; a second, external layer covers the first layer and is made of a rubber material that comes in direct contact with the load, the rubber material providing a seal and not scratching the load; and a third layer that is interposed in an intermediate position between the first and the second layers to stiffen the device.

Methods and devices for picking up containers using a lifting-container device are disclosed. The container-lifting device may include a lifting fork, a friction contact surface, and a passive lifting mechanism. The passive lifting mechanism is coupled to the lifting fork and the friction contact surface on the two ends. The friction contact surface is configured to lift a target container. The lifting fork is configured to slide underneath the target container when the container is lifted. The passive lifting mechanism may transfer a fraction of a forward momentum of the container-lifting device into an upward momentum, and the friction contact surface may lift the target container by applying an upward friction force to one or more sides of the target container as a result of the upward momentum.

Hydraulic valve circuitry adapted for automatic weight-responsive control of load-clamping members of a load-lifting system having a free lift mast. The load-lifting system generally includes one or more fluid power actuator for applying a gripping force to a load, at least one elongate, longitudinally-extensible fluid power lifting device having a free lift range of motion and at least one main lift range of motion, and manually operated load-clamping and load-lifting selector valves. The hydraulic valve circuitry provides, independently, weight-responsive control of the load-clamping members when lifting a load, full-time automatic weight-responsive force control of the load-clamping members without concurrent manual actuation of load-clamping or load-lifting selector valves, and equalization of sensed load weight so that the sensed load weight is substantially independent of the longitudinally-extensible position of the lifting device.

Methods and systems for wirelessly transmitting power and/or data.