Patent ID: 9688328
Date: 2017-06-27
CPC Classifications: B62D,B66C

Claim:
1. An overhead traveling hoist system for supplying product elements to an assembly line work station, said hoist system comprising: a rail trolley movably engaged with an elongated elevated rail system for controlled bi-directional longitudinal and lateral displacement; a hoisting device carried with said rail trolley, said hoisting device including a base member, an object grappler carried with said base member, said object grappler operable to engage and release a product element at an assembly line work station, a linearly expandable structure coupling said rail trolley and said base member, and a hoist drive operative for raising and lowering said base member with respect to said rail trolley; a bearing assembly interconnecting said base member and said object grappler for enabling limited relative rotation there between, said bearing assembly including a rotation limiting device operative to limit bi-directional freedom of rotation between said base member and said object grappler, wherein said rotation limiting device is adjustable to vary said bi-directional freedom of rotation between said base member and said object grappler, and a resilient member operative to continuously urge said base member and said object grappler into rotational alignment; and a controller, said controller including at least one operator input control device disposed on said base member and/or said object grappler, said at least one operator input control device operable to effect said controlled bi-directional longitudinal and lateral displacement of said rail trolley, operation of said hoist drive and operation of said object grappler.