Abstract:
The present invention is a device to move large auto parts, being an adaptor for a forklift. The adaptor has a frame having a horizontal section for mounting on the forklift prongs and a vertical raised section having upper and lower portions for attachment and loading at upper and lower parts of the large auto part. The adaptor attaches to the forklift by way of a safety chain that is adjustable and secures the adaptor to the forklift at an upper portion. Two prongs are mounted on the lower part of the vertical section in the same plane as the horizontal section. The adaptor prongs are adjustable in position and have different size or shape.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates generally to devices to move large auto parts and more specifically to a device that attaches to an ordinary fork lift and which allows for lifting and movement of large auto parts that have shapes and sizes not suited to the prongs of an ordinary fork lift.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    Forklifts are well known to allow individual personnel to load large objects onto a truck. Some large objects are shaped and sized so that they are inconvenient or impossible for the conventional forklift to load. Various prior art devices, arrangements, adaptors and attachments have been devised to allow individual personnel using a conventional forklift to load, lift and move large objects having unusual shapes and sizes. Large auto parts or clips have a variety of shapes and sizes that are also not suited for the conventional forklift. Many devices have been proposed to solve the problem of loading, lifting and moving unusual objects on to a truck, but these devices have many disadvantages with respect to large auto parts.  
           [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 2,362,991, issued on Nov. 21, 1944 to Dhal, discloses an adaptor for a forklift for lifting and moving the tail wheel or skid of an airplane. This adaptor mounts on the forks of a forklift in manner similar to the instant invention, but it has its members specifically shaped to accommodate and adequately hold the wheel or skid for lifting and moving, but is not adapted for large car parts.  
           [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 2,699,878, issued on Jan. 18, 1955 to Avery, discloses an adaptor for a forklift for lifting and moving dies. This adaptor mounts on the forks of a forklift in a manner similar to the instant invention, but it has its members specifically shaped to accommodate and adequately hold and unload the dies.  
           [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,328, issued on Jan. 19, 1971 to Miles et al., discloses an adaptor for a forklift for lifting and moving of ordinary palettes that a forklift usually loads, while working in narrow aisles. This adaptor mounts on the prongs of a forklift in a manner similar to the instant invention, but it has its members specifically shaped to accommodate and adequately hold the ordinary palettes that a forklift usually lifts, and provides more freedom of movement of those ordinary objects through narrow spaces.  
           [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,015, issued on Dec. 27, 1977 to Radakovich, discloses a frame assembly for a forklift for lifting and moving tote boxes, wherein the members of the frame form a continuous U shape without separate prongs.  
           [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,434, issued on Oct. 9, 1979 to Kress et al., discloses a vehicle for lifting and transporting steel slabs, which is in no way similar to the conventional forklift.  
           [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,395,188, issued on Jul. 26, 1983 to Kaup, discloses a forklift having a pair of fork prongs which have a load engaging portion and a mount portion, which can be mounted at different positions on the lift frame. The fork prongs mount on the forklift in a manner different than the adaptor of the instant invention.  
           [0011]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,981, issued on Aug. 25, 1987 to Ravnsborg et al., discloses an adaptor for a forklift for lifting and moving ordinary forklift loads with more freedom of movement. This adaptor mounts on the forks of a forklift in a manner similar to the instant invention, but it has its members specifically shaped to accommodate and adequately hold objects that an ordinary forklift loads with greater downward vertical movement, such as down a pit.  
           [0012]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,576, issued on Nov. 24, 1987 to Avery, discloses an adaptor for a forklift for lifting and moving of ordinary forklift loads that are wider in size than the conventional fork prongs are expected to hold. This adaptor mounts on the forks of a forklift in a manner not quite the same as the instant invention, and it has its members arranged to accommodate and adequately hold wider vertical loads, rather than large car parts that do not fit on rectangular fork prongs.  
           [0013]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,973, issued on Jan. 2, 1990 to Frison et al., discloses an adaptor for a forklift for lifting and moving of slip sheets. This adaptor mounts on the forks of a forklift in a manner similar to the present invention, but it has members shaped to accommodate and adequately hold large flat sheets horizontally, including a complicated push-pull mechanisms.  
           [0014]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,145, issued on May 29, 1990 to Thompson, discloses an adaptor for a forklift for lifting and moving bundles of vertical objects, such as pipes, into vertical storage racks. This adaptor mounts on the forks of a forklift in a manner similar to the present invention, but it has its members shaped in a circular tube arrangement to accommodate and adequately hold and load bundles of vertical objects into vertical storage racks.  
           [0015]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,811, issued on Jan. 11, 1991 to Wallman, discloses an adaptor for a forklift for lifting and moving and loading of heavy objects onto the forks of the fork lift using a sliding plane and other grooves. This adaptor mounts on the forks of a forklift in a manner similar to the present invention, but its members include the sliding planes and other grooves.  
           [0016]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,300, issued on Dec. 19, 1995 to Dodge, discloses an adaptor for a crane with a hook for lifting and moving of odd circular shaped objects. This adaptor does not mount on the forks of a forklift in a manner similar to the instant invention.  
           [0017]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,083, issued on Jan. 23, 1996 to Thompson, discloses an adaptor for a forklift for lifting and moving of rectangular frames. This adaptor mounts on the forks of a forklift in a manner similar to the present invention, but it has its members shaped to accommodate and adequately hold and unload rectangular frames using powered levers.  
           [0018]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,583, issued on Dec. 2, 1997 to Reed et al., discloses an adaptor for a forklift for lifting and moving of railway wheel assemblies. The adaptor mounts on the forks of a forklift in a manner similar to the present invention, but it has its members shaped to accommodate and adequately hold and unload the wheel assemblies via fork prongs that are essentially longer.  
           [0019]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,529, issued on Feb. 15, 2000 to Kristensen, discloses an adaptor for a forklift for lifting and moving of large cylindrical objects. This adaptor mounts on the forks of a fork lift in a manner similar to the present invention, but it has its members shaped to accommodate and adequately hold and unload the large cylindrical object using vacuum-based suction cups.  
           [0020]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,701, issued on Oct. 24, 2000 to Galloway, Sr., discloses an adaptor for a forklift for lifting and moving of trailers. This adaptor mounts on the prongs of a forklift in a manner similar to the present invention, but it has its members shaped to accommodate and adequately hold and unload the towing ball adaptor.  
           [0021]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,083, issued on Mar. 13, 2001 to Hein, discloses an adaptor for a forklift for lifting and moving of a bucket shove. This adaptor mounts on the forks of a forklift in a manner similar to the present invention, but it has its members shaped to accommodate and adequately to provide a bucket shovel.  
           [0022]    Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a forklift adaptor that mounts on the fork prongs of a forklift, but which fits and adjusts to the shapes and sizes of large auto parts. The large auto parts are sections or halves of the whole auto body, etc. The basic problem with the ordinary forklift in loading and carrying large auto parts is that the prongs do not have enough width or length. The present invention solves this problem by prongs on the adaptor, which are adjustable and wide enough to fit the bottom rocker panel area, but are much shorter than the auto part. Chains are fastened between an upper portion of the auto part and a tensioner on a vertical upper portion of the adaptor above the prongs on the adaptor.  
           [0023]    It would also be desirable to provide an adaptor that has adjustable forks to fit into the bottom rocker panel areas of the large auto part and which has chains that hook to the top parts of the large auto part using a tightener device, and which also has a safety chain that secures the adaptor to the forklift at a top portion of the adaptor.  
           [0024]    None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, an adaptor for a forklift shaped and adjustable to large auto parts solving the aforementioned problems is desired.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0025]    The present invention is an adaptor for a forklift, which is shaped, sized and adjusted for carrying and holding large auto parts. The adaptor has a frame having a horizontal section for mounting on the forklift prongs and a vertical raised section having upper and lower portions for attachment and loading at upper and lower parts of the large auto part.  
           [0026]    The adaptor&#39;s horizontal section will mount onto any forklift having fixed or adjustable fork prongs. The horizontal section can have as many as two pairs of receiving tubes to accommodate different sizes of forklift trucks, which have different spacing between the fork prongs. The upper portion of the adaptor attaches to the forklift by way of a safety chain that is adjustable, stored in a box and provides coupling to the forklift at an upper portion thereof.  
           [0027]    Two adjustable adaptor prongs are mounted on the lower part of the vertical section in the same plane as the horizontal section. The prongs are shaped and sized to slide in the bottom rocker panel areas of the large auto part. The length of the prongs is not necessarily as long as the large auto part. The prongs are adjustable in position or distance between each other and are removable to be replaced by prongs of different size or shape.  
           [0028]    Two tensioners are mounted on the top portion of the vertical section. The tensioners can be positioned with different distance between them and usually are positioned directly above the prongs on the lower portion. These tensioners allow one to easily tighten and untighten chains hooked between the tensioner and upper parts of the large auto part. Various types, styles and shapes of hooks on the end of the chain maybe used to clamp on to the upper part of the auto part. The tensioners are also removable, so that the tensioners can be replaced by tensioners of different size or shape in the same manner as prongs.  
           [0029]    Therefore, the car part is securely loaded on to the adaptor. After the car part is positioned under the prongs, the chains are hooked to the upper parts, the chains are tensioned by the tensioner and the car part and adaptor combination are lifted by the forklift.  
           [0030]    The adjustability and variety of the tensioners and prongs mentioned above means that the same basic frame of the adaptor and attachment to the forklift could be used with all kinds and shapes and sizes of large auto parts, even as automobiles are manufactured with different sizes and shapes.  
           [0031]    In operation, the adaptor is mounted on to the forklift by lowering the fork prongs and positioning and moving them into the adaptor receivers. Then, the safety chain is pulled out of its chain box and one end is hooked on a hook bolted on the upper portion of the forklift lift assembly while a link on the other end at the chain box is hooked in to a slot on the top of the chain box.  
           [0032]    Then the forklift is brought up close to the large auto part with the adaptor fork prongs lowered and positioned and moved in to the lower rocker panel of the auto part. Then, the two chains from the top portion of the adaptor or tensioners can be attached to the top portion of the auto part using specialized hooks or couplers. The other ends of the chain have one of their links hooked in to the hook on the tensioner screw. The crank handle is then turned to pull the hook and chain away from the car part in order to tighten the chain.  
           [0033]    Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an adaptor for a forklift which allows the forklift to hold and move large auto parts having large variety of shapes and sizes.  
           [0034]    It is another object of the invention to provide an adaptor for a forklift that does not require more than one man to setup or to load a large auto part onto a forklift truck.  
           [0035]    It is a further object of the invention to provide an adaptor for a forklift, which is changeable and adaptable to future changes in size and shape of large auto parts.  
           [0036]    Still another object of the invention is to provide an adaptor for a forklift which holds and moves large auto parts, and that decreases labor and saves time.  
           [0037]    It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.  
           [0038]    These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0039]    [0039]FIG. 1 is an environmental side view of the device to move large auto parts according to the present invention.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 2 is an environmental, perspective view of the device to move large auto parts according to the present invention.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the device to move large auto parts according to the present invention.  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 4 is a fragmented, perspective view of the top portion tensioners of the device to move large auto parts according to the present invention.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 5 is a fragmented, perspective, view of the top and middle portion of the device to move large auto parts according to the present invention.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 6 is a fragmented, perspective view of a tensioner of the device to move large auto parts according to the present invention. 
     
    
       [0045]    Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0046]    The present invention is a device to move large auto parts. FIG. 1 shows an exemplary environmental side view of the large auto part  12 , an adaptor  14 , and a forklift truck  10 . The adaptor  14  has a pair of adaptor prongs  22  which slide into the lower portion or rocker panels of the large auto part  12 . This keeps the large auto part  12  from slipping off the adaptor prongs  22 . The large auto part  12  has its upper portion supported by the top chains  17  that are tensioned by the tensioners  24 . Specially made hooks  60  at one of the ends of chains  17  connect to the door hinge pins of the auto part  12 . Close up detail of the hook  60  is shown in FIG. 4. On the other end of the chains  17 , one of the links locks into hooks  42  on the tensioner screw of the tensioner  24 . Details of the link and the hook  42  and tensioner  24  are shown in greater detail in FIGS. 4 and 6 and described below.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIGS. 1 and 2 show the details of the attachment and mounting of the adaptor  14  onto the forklift  10  at four points. The first point is at one end of the chain  16  coupled to a hook  58  bolted on to a lift assembly of the forklift  10 . At the second point the other end of chain  16  is hooked at the chain box  26  in slot  52  on the top plate. The details of hooking the chain  16  in the slot  52  at the chain box  26  are shown in FIG. 5 and described below. The third and fourth points are the tubular steel receivers  18  or  28  of the adaptor  14 , which slide into the fork prongs  20  of the forklift  10 .  
         [0048]    In operation with regard to FIGS. 1, 2 and  5 , the adaptor  14  is mounted on to the forklift  10  by lowering the fork prongs  20  and positioning and sliding them into the adaptor receivers  18 . Then, the safety chain  16  is pulled out of its chain box  26  and one further away link in the chain  16  is hooked on a hook  58  bolted on the upper portion of the forklift  10  lift assembly while a link on the other end at the chain box  26  is hooked in to a slot  52  on the top of the chain box  26 .  
         [0049]    After the adaptor  14  is mounted onto the forklift  10 , the forklift  10  with the adaptor  14  is brought up close to the large auto part  10  with the adaptor prongs  22  lowered, positioned and slid in to the lower rocker panel of the auto part  12 . Then, the left and right hand chains  17  from the tensioner  24  of the adaptor  14  can be attached to the top portion of the auto part  12  using specialized hooks or couplers. See FIGS. 4 and 6. The other ends of the left and right hand chains  17  have one of their links hooked in to the hook  42  of the tensioner  24 . The left and right hand crank handles  40  are then turned to pull the hooks  42  and chains  17  away from the car part  12  in order to tighten the chains  17 .  
         [0050]    [0050]FIG. 3 shows the close up view of the exemplary adaptor frame  14  with all its structures. Receiver tubes  18  and  28  are made of heavy gauge steel. Receiver tubes  18  and  28  provide slide on connection and slide off disconnection to the fork prongs  20  of the forklift  10  in two different widths. The receiver tubes  18  and  28  are coupled with a lower frame member  32 , which is made of the same heavy gauge steel. The adaptor  14  is further built up vertically via steel support tubes  34 . Tubes  34  are made of the same heavy gauge steel. The tubes  34  are positioned on the right and left hand sides and are coupled between the lower frame member  32  and upper frame member  30 . The upper frame member  30  is made of the same heavy gauge steel. Support bars  36  on the right and left hand sides provide additional support between the vertical section  30  and  34  and horizontal section  18 ,  28  and  32 . The support bars  36  are made of the same heavy gauge steel. The support bars  36  are positioned at a 45-degree angle to the vertical and horizontal sections and coupled between upper frame member  30  and receiver tubes  18 .  
         [0051]    A steel chain box  26  is provided in the center of the width of the adaptor  14  and is coupled between the lower frame member  32  and the upper frame member  30 . The chain box  26  is placed in the middle as shown and provides extra support between the upper and lower frame members  30  and  32  of the adaptor  14 .  
         [0052]    In FIG. 3, right and left hand prongs  22  are mounted on the lower frame member  32  by brackets  48 , which wrap around the frame member  32 . The brackets  48  allow the prongs  22  to be positioned and/or fixed securely at different widths between each other. The brackets  48  also allow the prongs  22  to be removed and replaced by other styles or designs or sizes of prongs  22  when the end plates  50  are removed and replaced.  
         [0053]    With regard to FIGS. 3 and 5, the bottom of the chain box  26  is closed off at the bottom so as to store the chain  16  when not in use. The top of the chain box  26  is half way open in order to unload the chain  16 . The half closed top of the chain box  26  has small slot like  52  opening just large enough to capture and securely hold a link in the chain  16  when the other end of the chain  16  is hooked to the forklift  10  at hook  58  as shown in FIG. 2. Therefore, no special hook need be mounted on the top of the chain box  26 , although this is another alternative.  
         [0054]    In FIGS. 3 and 4, right and left hand tensioners  24  are mounted on the upper frame member  30  by brackets  46 , which wrap around the frame member  30 . The brackets  46  allow the tensioners  24  to be positioned and/or fixed securely at different widths between each other and above the prongs  22 . The brackets  46  also allow the tensioners  24  to be removed and replaced by other styles or designs of tensioners or chain holders when the end plates  50  are removed and replaced. This is also shown in greater detail in FIGS. 4 and 6.  
         [0055]    [0055]FIGS. 4 and 6 show a close up view of the tensioners  24 . The tensioners  24  contain a hook  42  mounted a screw (not well shown) turned by handle  40  all mounted in a box structure. The chain  17 , which tightly secures the top portion of the large auto part  12  through the tension hook  42  is secured on the last end of the chain  17  by a pin and bracket  44 . The pin and bracket  44  provide extra safety. The rest of the chain  17  is then loosely wrapped around the upper frame  30  to the top of the tensioner  24  to engage the hook  42  of the tensioner  24  at one of the links. FIG. 4 shows a detailed example of the special hook  60  that would hook to the door hinge of the large auto part  12 . Therefore, when the crank handle  40  is turned the hook  42  will move away from or to the large auto part  12  causing tension on the chain  17  to be increased or decreased.  
         [0056]    A feature of the present invention is to provide auto salvage dealer, body shop or car rebuilder, with the ability to pick up and move front and rear automotive clips (large car parts) via the forklifts that they already have. The adaptor has the ability as shown in the exemplary embodiment above to adapt to several forklifts and auto part shapes and sizes. To this end, labor, personnel and time and insurance needed to move and place parts is saved.  
         [0057]    It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the sole embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.