US 12,221,332 B2
Apparatus for operating the fork holder supports of a forklift
Peter Wade Cantrill, Viano (IT)
Assigned to E80 GROUP S.P.A., Viano (IT)
Appl. No. 17/768,406
Filed by E80 Group S.p.A., Viano (IT)
PCT Filed Oct. 15, 2020, PCT No. PCT/IB2020/059696
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 12, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/074839, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 22, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 102019000018926 (IT), filed on Oct. 15, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2024/0124284 A1, Apr. 18, 2024
Int. Cl. B66F 9/16 (2006.01); B66F 9/08 (2006.01); B66F 9/14 (2006.01)
CPC B66F 9/16 (2013.01) [B66F 9/085 (2013.01); B66F 9/143 (2013.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus comprising:
a fork holder support of forks of a manually or automatically driven forklift,
a first frame slidable within a vertical upright of said forklift, said first frame comprising a connector for a second frame, wherein said second frame supports said connector, wherein said connector is configured to allow a rotation of said second frame with respect to said first frame, and a first actuator to rotate said second frame with respect to said first frame around an axis of rotation (B), said connector comprising guiding means and sliding means, and wherein said first actuator comprises at least one linear electric actuator,
wherein said sliding means comprise upper sliding means and lower sliding means, wherein said upper sliding means comprise at least two upper wheels and wherein said lower sliding means comprise at least two lower wheels;
wherein said guiding means comprise upper guiding means and lower guiding means on which said upper sliding means and lower sliding means, respectively, slide,
said upper guiding means comprising at least two upper rails having, in use, a tilt angle (A), with respect to a horizontal plane, between 20° and 60°,
and said lower guiding means comprising at least two lower rails arranged in a lower part of said first frame, and, in use, being substantially vertically arranged,
wherein said guiding means and said sliding means are configured so that a rotation axis (B) of said second frame with respect to said first frame lies beyond a plane of the vertical part of said forks, and, therefore, substantially at a horizontal portion of said forks, and
further comprising a first fastening of the at least one linear electric actuator on the said first frame, and a second fastening of said at least one linear electric actuator on said second frame.