Industrial truck with a liquefied petroleum gas bottle holder
An industrial truck with a liquefied petroleum gas bottle holder includes a linear guide, a pivot bearing, and a bottle support. The linear guide is mounted so that it can pivot together with the bottle support around a stationary horizontal axis.
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This application claims priority to German Application No. 10 2004 032 169.8 filed Jul. 2, 2004, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an industrial truck with a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) bottle holder that has a linear guide, a pivot bearing, and a bottle holder.
2. Technical Considerations
An industrial truck is described in JP 2000086183 A. In this industrial truck, the bottle receptacle is fastened to an extensible slide of a linear guide that is in the form of a telescoping extension. By means of an additional linking guide in which the pivot bearing can move, when the linear guide reaches the terminal stop, a combined longitudinal and pivoting movement of the bottle holder is generated to move the bottle holder into a position in which the bottles can be replaced.
It is an object of this invention to provide an industrial truck of the general type described above but in which the bottle of liquefied petroleum (LP) gas can be changed in an ergonomically advantageous manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn a first embodiment of the invention, a linear guide is mounted so that it can pivot with the bottle holder around a stationary horizontal axis.
The linear guide plus the bottle holder that is movably mounted in it can pivot as a whole around a stationary horizontal axis from the operating position into an ergonomically advantageous position and back again.
In one advantageous configuration of the invention, it is beneficial if means are provided to assist the pivoting motion from the replacement position into the operating position. These means can be in the form of pneumatic springs or torsion springs.
In a second realization, the linear guide can be rigidly fastened to the vehicle and the bottle holder can be mounted on the extensible end of the linear guide so that it can pivot around a stationary horizontal axis when the linear guide is in the fully extended position.
Here again, extremely simple means can be used to replace a LP gas bottle in an ergonomically advantageous position.
In one non-limiting configuration of this realization, the bottle holder is mounted in its center of gravity so that it can pivot by 360 degrees. Therefore, it requires only a minimum effort to move the bottle holder into the replacement position and back again.
It is particularly advantageous if two LP gas bottles can be fastened in the bottle holder.
In one embodiment, the linear guide advantageously has one stationary slide and two extensible slides, which results in a compact construction and still makes a large range possible.
The LP gas bottle holder can be appropriately located on the counterweight in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSAdditional advantages and details of the invention are explained in greater detail below with reference to the two exemplary embodiments of the invention that are illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers identify like parts throughout.
As used herein, the term “LP” means liquefied petroleum. The term LPG means “liquefied petroleum gas”.
The exemplary industrial truck illustrated in the figures is in the form of a front-seat fork-lift truck provided with a rear counterweight 1 on which there is a LP gas bottle holder 2 that is oriented in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. In this exemplary embodiment, the LP gas bottle holder 2 is configured to hold one LP gas bottle 3 in a forward (front-end) position in the direction of travel, and one LP gas bottle 4 in the rear (rear-end) position in the direction of travel.
FIGS. 1 to 4c show a first exemplary embodiment of the invention, and FIGS. 5 to 8 show a second exemplary embodiment of the invention.
The structure of the LP gas bottle holder 2 illustrated in
The exemplary LP gas bottle holder 2 shown in
After the LP gas bottles 3 and 4 have been changed, to facilitate the pivoting movement upwardly from the changing position, in this exemplary embodiment a pneumatic spring 8 (
FIGS. 5 to 8 show a second exemplary embodiment of the invention. Functionally-equivalent parts are identified by the same numbers as in FIGS. 1 to 4c. In this second exemplary embodiment, the LP gas bottle holder 2, analogous to the first exemplary embodiment of the invention, has a surface-mounted linear guide that is rigidly connected with the counterweight 1 and includes one stationary slide 5a and two extensible slides 5b and 5c. The bottle support 6 is thereby also connected with the farthest extended slide 5c of the linear guide 5 but in the form of a pivoting mounting of the bottle support 6 in its center of gravity. The bottle support 6, when the linear guide is in its fully extended position, can therefore pivot around a horizontal axis H, which is stationary (in this position), while the linear guide remains in its position.
For this purpose, a pivot bearing S is provided between an extension 9, which is fastened to the slide 5c of the linear guide, that can be extended the farthest and the bottle support 6.
After the unlocking of the pivot bearing S, the bottle support 6, beginning from the position illustrated in
It will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the concepts disclosed in the foregoing description. Accordingly, the particular embodiments described in detail herein are illustrative only and are not limiting to the scope of the invention, which is to be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any and all equivalents thereof.
Claims
1. An industrial truck with a liquefied petroleum gas bottle holder, comprising:
- a linear guide;
- a pivot bearing; and
- a bottle support,
- wherein the linear guide is mounted so that it can pivot together with the bottle support around a stationary horizontal axis.
2. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 1, further including pivoting means to assist a pivoting motion from a bottle-replacement position into an operating position.
3. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 2, wherein the pivoting means is selected from a pneumatic spring or a torsion spring.
4. An industrial truck with a liquefied petroleum gas bottle holder, comprising:
- a linear guide;
- a pivot bearing; and
- a bottle support,
- wherein the linear guide is rigidly fastened to the industrial truck and the bottle support is mounted so that it can pivot around a stationary horizontal axis in a fully extended position of the linear guide.
5. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 4, wherein the bottle support is mounted in its center of gravity so that it can pivot by 360 degrees.
6. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 1, wherein two liquefied petroleum gas bottles can be fastened in the bottle support.
7. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 4, wherein two liquefied petroleum gas bottles can be fastened in the bottle support.
8. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 1, wherein the linear guide has one stationary slide and two extensible slides.
9. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 4, wherein the linear guide has one stationary slide and two extensible slides.
10. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 1, wherein the liquefied petroleum gas bottle holder is located on a counterweight in a longitudinal direction of the truck.
11. The industrial truck as claimed in claim 4, wherein the liquefied petroleum gas bottle holder is located on a counterweight in a longitudinal direction of the truck.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 30, 2005
Publication Date: Jan 12, 2006
Applicant: Linde Aktiengesellschaft (Wiesbaden)
Inventors: Peter Bernhard (Johannesberg), Joachim Kunkel (Habichtsthal)
Application Number: 11/172,417
International Classification: A47K 1/08 (20060101);