The Raymond Corporation

Robert J Lewis

Gregory W Smiley

H Scott Ryan

Kurt R Werner

John A West

Edward J McCormick

Eugene A Helmetsie

Isaac Avitan

Richard M Day

Eric Douglas Springston

Charles H Burbank

A lift truck includes an operator compartment and a pair of forks extending away from said operator compartment in a forward direction. A pair of mast columns are interposed between the operator compartment and the forks. Components mounted on at least one of the mast columns are arranged to fall within a viewing shadow so as not to obstruct the operator's field of view.

Lift truck with mast

A mast includes a base section, an outer telescopic section and an inner telescopic section which are raised and lowered by a pair of main lift cylinders. A fork carriage is slidably mounted to the inner telescopic section and is raised and lowered thereon by a pair of free lift cylinders. The mast elements are arranged to form two mast columns which produce minimum obstruction to the truck operator's field of view when looking forward through the mast.

Mast construction for a lift truck

A material handling vehicle includes an operator compartment having two operator control handles, a deadman switch accessible by an operator using either control handle, and a traction system. The traction system is controlled by the control handles to drive the vehicle in a selected direction, wherein an operator can control the traction system while facing one of the selected directions and the deadman switch is selectively activatable to enable operation from both control handles.

Material handling vehicle with dual control handle system

A material handling vehicle includes first and second control handles positioned at opposing ends of an operator compartment. The first control handle is positioned adjacent the forks for driving the vehicle in a fore or forks first direction, and the second control handle is positioned adjacent the back of the vehicle for driving the vehicle in the aft or forks trailing direction. The aft control handle is provided in a twist grip style, which can be gripped easily by an operator facing the aft of the material handling vehicle. The control handles provide stability for the operator and an intuitive operator interface irrespective of direction of travel.

Material handling vehicle with ergonomic dual control handle system

A reclining seat for use in a material handling vehicle includes a seat back that is pivotally coupled to a wall of the operator compartment and to a seat pad. The seat pad is moveable toward a center of the operator compartment to provide the capability to recline, and is typically maintained in the upright position by a spring.

Reclining seat for a material handling vehicle

A method and apparatus for reinforcing the training received by an operator of a material handling vehicle to maintain the operator's feet and legs in the operator compartment includes a first and second photoelectric beam extending across the entry to the compartment. When a deadman brake is released and the vehicle is commanded to move or is actually moving, the detectors sense the presence of objects extending through the entry. When objects are sensed, a vehicle brake can be applied, a visual or audio sensor can be activated, or the detected fault can be stored in memory. The faults can be used by a supervisor to calculate an operator rating.

Photoelectric operator position detector

A material handling vehicle includes first and second control handles positioned at opposing ends of an operator compartment. The first control handle is positioned adjacent the forks for driving the vehicle in a fore or forks first direction, and the second control handle is positioned adjacent the back of the vehicle for driving the vehicle in the aft or forks trailing direction. The control handles provide stability for the operator and an intuitive operator interface irrespective of direction of travel.

Material handling vehicle with dual control handles

A lift truck 100 has an inertial damper 150 coupled between the base frame 116 and a A-frame holding a suspended wheel. The damper has a slider plate 170 frictionally engaged by friction pads 161, 169 on outer plate 160 and friction pads 181, 189 on the other outer plate 180. The outer plates 160, 180 are spring biased against slider plate 170 by belville washers 162, 182 or a coil spring 210.

Lift truck with inertial damper

Control handle for a material handling vehicle

An auxiliary wheel is mounted on a lift truck caster wheel assembly to normally be carried above the floor, but to engage the floor to prevent overturning, thereby increasing the lateral stability of the truck.

Growing community of inventors

Binghamton, NY, United States of America

Robert J Lewis