Granted Patent B2

US 8,740,540 · App. 12/435,764 · Granted Jun 3, 2014

Abstract

Claims (15)

1. A fork apparatus comprising:

a body comprising a pair of ribs adapted to releasably mate with a quick-coupler of an associated loader machine for operably connecting the body to the associated loader machine;

first and second forks including respective first and second fork mounting portions connected to the body and respective first and second fork working portions that project outwardly away from the body, wherein both said first and second forks are selectively movable laterally inward and outward relative to said body and relative to each other;

said body comprising a first set of upper and lower fork rods that are arranged parallel to each other, wherein said first fork mounting portion is slidably connected to the first set of upper and lower fork rods;

said body further comprising a second set of upper and lower fork rods that are arranged parallel to each other, wherein said second fork mounting portion is slidably connected to the second set of upper and lower fork rods;

first and second hydraulic fork actuators respectively operably connected between the body and the first and second forks and adapted for selectively moving said first and second forks laterally relative to said body and relative to each other on said first and second sets of upper and lower parallel fork rods, respectively;

a first powered roller device connected to said first fork and including a first roller that rotates about a first working portion axis;

a first roller actuator that selectively rotates the first roller about the first working portion axis;

a second powered roller device connected to said second fork and including a second roller that rotates about a second working portion axis that is parallel to the first working portion axis;

a second roller actuator that selectively rotates the second roller about the second working portion axis;

an emergency stop switch connected to said body and operably connected to said first powered roller device to selectively disable said first powered roller device;

wherein said first and second powered roller devices each comprise a plurality of studs connected respectively to said first and second rollers and that are selectively movable between an extended position where said studs project outwardly from an outer roller surface and a retracted position where said studs are retracted relative to said outer roller surface;

said first powered roller device comprising a first sleeve releasably mounted on the first fork, wherein said first roller and said first roller actuator are connected to the first sleeve and are selectively separable from said first fork by separation of said first sleeve from said first fork;

said second powered roller device comprising a second sleeve releasably mounted on the second fork, wherein said second roller and said second roller actuator are connected to the second sleeve and are selectively separable from said second fork by separation of said second sleeve from said second fork.

2. The fork apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising an RFID reader connected to said body and adapted to receive RFID data from an associated RFID tag connected to a load being carried on said first and second forks.

Assignments (12)