Patent Publication Number: US-11643310-B2

Title: Cart lift attachment for a fork lift

Description:
This invention relates to fork lift attachments, and in particular, an attachment for lifting and carrying stacks of large two-wheeled carts (trash cans). 
     BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Garage, recycle and green waste carts, commonly referred to as “waste carts” are commonly used for residential garbage collection by municipalities and other associations. Waste carts are available in a variety of sizes, ranging from 32 to 96 gallons. Large waste carts use a standardized configuration to accommodate the “tripper” mechanism on a conventional garbage truck. Waste carts are also configured to stack and nest together for ease of storage and delivery from the manufacturer. While the stacking of waste carts provides certain advantages for storage and delivery, heretofore, lift and transporting has been problematic. 
     The forklift attachment of this invention allows one or more stacked large waste carts to be easily lifted and transported. The attachment detachably affixes to the carriage of conventional forklifts. The attachment includes an upright back, a standoff boot extending forward from the bottom of the back, a neck extending forward from the top of the back, and a lift saddle welded to the distal end of the neck. A pair of mounting J-shaped hooks are welded to the back, which allow the attachment to be mounted to a conventional forklift carriage. The standoff boot includes a tilt plate extending outward from a forward contact surface. The lift saddle is a generally flat, U-shaped plate welded perpendicularly to the distal end of the neck and is configured to seat under the peripheral rim of a large waste cart. The forklift manipulates the attachment so that the lift saddle seats under the peripheral rim of the waste cart with the contact plate and standoff boot abutting against the front of the waste cart. The tilt plate extends into a vertical channel formed in the cart body and the flange generally abuts the bottom wall of the channel. The tilt plate seats within the channel to help prevent the waste carts from tipping side to side as the forklift lifts and transports the waste carts. 
     The above described features and advantages, as well as others, will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention may take form in various system and method components and arrangement of system and method components. The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating exemplary embodiments and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. The drawings illustrate the present invention, in which: 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the forklift attachment of this invention; 
         FIG.  2    is a partial side view of a trash can, forklift and the attachment of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  3    is a partial side view of a trash can, forklift and the attachment of  FIG.  1    showing the trash can being lifted; 
         FIG.  4    is a partial side view of a plurality of trash cans, a forklift and the attachment of  FIG.  1    showing the trash cans being lifted; and 
         FIG.  5    is a partial side view of a plurality of trash cans, a forklift and the attachment of  FIG.  1    showing the trash cans being unloaded from a trailer. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific preferred embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that logical, structural, mechanical, electrical, and chemical changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. To avoid detail not necessary to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, the description may omit certain information known to those skilled in the art. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims. 
     Referring now to the drawings,  FIGS.  1 - 5    illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the forklift attachment of this invention, which is designated generally as reference numeral  100 . Attachment  100  is designed to detachably mount to conventional forklift carriages and follows conventional ISO 2338 standards for forklift attachments. Attachment  100  allows forklifts to lift and transport one or more stacked wheeled waste carts. Wheeled waste carts, such as the ones manufactured by Toter, LLC. of Statesville, N.C., store and transport residential garbage and refuse, which is ultimately collected and disposed by municipal utilities. Garbage trucks have automated mechanisms, (“tippers”) that lift and empty the waste carts into internal bins within the trucks. Conventional waste carts are uniformly configured to accommodate the automated tippers on garbage trucks. Attachment  100  is ideally suited for large waste carts ranging between 40 and 100 gallon capacities. 
     As shown, waste carts  10  have a polymer container body  20  and a hinged lid  30 , which pivots to enclose the open top of the container body. Carts  10  are uniformly configured to nest together and stack atop one another. Container body  20  has a front wall  22  and a down-turned peripheral rim  24  extending around the container&#39;s open top. To facilitate use with automated tipper mechanisms, the front wall of container bodies  20  has a recessed vertical channel  21  defined in part by a recessed inner wall  26 . A pivot rod  28  is seated within channel  21 , which interfaces the tipper mechanism. 
     Referring specifically to  FIG.  1   , attachment  100  is preferably constructed primarily from welded steel members, including sections of square tubing and plates. Attachment  100  includes an upright back  110 , a standoff boot  120 , neck  130 , and a lift saddle  140 . Back  100  is a length of square tubing. Back  110  includes a pair of mounting J-shaped hooks  112  and  114 , which allow attachment  100  to be mounted to the forklift carriage. Hooks  112  and  114  are standardized components welded to back  110  at set distances under the conventions of ISO 2338. In other embodiments, attachments can be modified to mount to forklift carriages using other mounting methods. Standoff boot  120  is a generally trapezoidal structure extending perpendicularly forward from the bottom of upright back  110 . Standoff boot  120  has flat front contact surface  122 . A tilt plate  124  extends outward from the top edge of contact face  122 . Tilt plate  124  terminates in an upturned flange  126 . Contact surface  122  is configured to abut against the front wall of container body  20 . Title plate  124  is configure to seat within channel  21  with flange  126  abutting against the bottom of the channel. Neck  130  is a short rectangular section extending perpendicularly forward from the top of upright back  110  opposite standoff boot  120 . Lift saddle  140  is a generally flat, U-shaped plate welded perpendicularly to the distal end of neck  130 . Lift saddle  140  is configured to seat under the peripheral rim  24  when the attachment engages carts  10 . Lift saddle  140  has a central notch  141  to receive any buttress or other obstructions formed in the inside of the peripheral rim  24  on the front of container body  12 . A polymer or rubber composite contact pad  142  is bolted to lift saddle  140 , which covers the forward face of the saddle. 
       FIGS.  2 - 5    illustrate attachment  100  in operation. Attachment  100  detachably affixes to the carriage  52  of forklift  50 . Carriage  52  is moved along the mast  54  of a forklift  50 , which allows attachment  100  to be manipulated—raised and lowered, laterally shifted and tilted. Hooks  112  and  114  engage about the top and bottom edges of carriage  52 . To lift a waste cart  10 , forklift operator manipulates carriage  52  to tilt attachment  100  slightly down as the forklift approaches the front of cart  10  ( FIG.  2   ). Attachment  100  is pivoted upward so that lift saddle  140  seats under rim  24  with contact plate  142  and standoff boot  120  abutting against the front of container body  20  ( FIG.  3   ). Tilt plate  124  extends into channel  21  of container body  20  and flange  126  generally abuts the bottom wall of the channel. Tilt plate  124  seats within channel  21  to help prevent cart  10  from tipping side to side as the forklift lifts and transports the cart. As shown in  FIGS.  4  and  5   , attachment  100  can be used to lift and move multiple carts  10  stacked and nested together. 
     It should be apparent from the foregoing that an invention having significant advantages has been provided. While the invention is shown in only a few of its forms, it is not just limited but is susceptible to various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof. The embodiment of the present invention herein described and illustrated is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. It is presented to explain the invention so that others skilled in the art might utilize its teachings. The embodiment of the present invention may be modified within the scope of the following claims.