Patent ID: 6672823
Filing Date: 2004-01-06
Classification: B66F

Abstract:
A fork positioner for mounting upon a fork lift truck to selectively move respective forwardly-protruding load-lifting forks transversely along a fork-supporting member and enable said forks to be selectively detached from said member by lifting each fork upwardly off of said member, said fork positioner comprising:(a) multiple fork-engaging yokes, each having a base from which a pair of transversely-spaced legs depend to detachably engage a respective fork such that the base of the yoke is positioned above an upper portion of the respective fork and the legs of the yoke depend downwardly along transversely-opposite sides of the respective fork; (b) a power actuator assembly operable to selectively move said yokes transversely, and thereby move said forks transversely along said fork-supporting member to adjust their transverse spacing; (c) each of said yokes having a fork-engaging position preventing said respective fork from being lifted upwardly off of said fork-supporting member, and a fork-disengaging position permitting said respective fork to be lifted upwardly off of said fork-supporting member, each of said yokes being selectively movable on said fork positioner between said fork-engaging position and said fork-disengaging position; and (d) each of said yokes being movable pivotally forwardly and upwardly from said fork-engaging position toward said fork-disengaging position.