Patent Publication Number: US-2007116547-A1

Title: Protective tip for the tines of a forklift truck

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention relates to a protective tip for the tines of a forklift truck.  
      The primary purpose of forklift trucks is to lift and move pallets stacked with a load of materials and/or goods. Typically, this requires the tines to scrape against the floor as the tines engage the pallet and/or goods. The resulting wear on the bottom face of the tines has two significant consequences. Firstly, the wearing down of the heel of the tines requires that the tines be replaced at regular intervals, which is an expensive and time-consuming exercise. Secondly, the wearing down of the tines causes the edges, and in particular the front ends, of the tines to become razor-sharp, as well as to reduce the overall length of the tines themselves. Not only is this extremely dangerous and hazardous, but it can also cause tremendous damage to the structure and integrity of the pallets and/or goods. In addition, the risk of damage to equipment, machinery, people and products within the vicinity of the truck is also significantly increased.  
      It would therefore be desirable to provide a solution to the problems mentioned above.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      According to the invention there is provided a tip for a tine of a forklift truck, the tine comprising bottom and top faces and end and side edges, the tip comprising:  
      a body that defines a front contact face terminating in a bottom edge; and securing means for securing the body to the end of the tine so as to define a clearance between the bottom face of the tine and the bottom edge of the front contact face.  
      Preferably, a contact shoe extends from the bottom edge of the body so as to accommodate the end of the tine, with the contact shoe also being arranged to define a clearance between the bottom face of the tine and the bottom edge of the front contact face.  
      Conveniently, the width of the shoe and/or the body is at least the same as the width of the tine.  
      Advantageously, the contact shoe is either integrally formed with the body or removably fittable to the body.  
      Typically, the securing means includes a pair of arms that extend from the contact shoe. Alternatively, or in addition, the securing means includes a pair of arms that extend from the front contact face of the body.  
      Preferably, the securing means comprises mechanical fastening means and/or an adhesive.  
      Conveniently, the front contact face of the body carries a resilient, shock absorbing material.  
      In one version of the invention, the resilient, shock absorbing material is fitted to an intermediate connecting clip, with this clip being arranged to be releasably fitted to the front contact face of the body.  
      In yet a further version of the invention, a plurality of rollers is rotatably fitted to a shaft mounted to the front contact face of the body.  
      Typically, the front contact face is substantially planar. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a protective tip for a tine of a forklift truck according to a first embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  shows a side view of the tip shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  shows a top view of the tip shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 4  shows a perspective view of a protective tip for a tine of a forklift truck according to a second embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 5  shows a top view of a protective tip for a tine of a forklift truck according to a third embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 6  shows a perspective view of a protective tip for a tine of a forklift truck according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 7  shows a side view of the tip shown in  FIG. 6 ; and  
       FIG. 8  shows a top view of the tip shown in  FIG. 6 .  
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Referring first to FIGS.  1  to  3 , a protective tip  10  for a tine  12  of a forklift truck according to a first embodiment of the present invention comprises a body  14  that defines a recess  16  for accommodating the end of the tine  12 . The body  14  is substantially U-shaped and comprises a bight portion  18  defining a substantially planar front face  20  and a rear, curved contact face  22 , and a pair of arms  24  and  26  that snugly receive the end of the tine  12 .  
      Alternatively, the end of the tine can be cut straight so that the front edge of the tine is substantially perpendicular to the length of the tine, with the rear contact face of the body accordingly also extending perpendicularly to the arms of the body. Thus, with this arrangement, the front face of the tine will sit flush against the rear contact face of the body.  
      Significantly, the ends  28  and  30  of the arms  24  and  26 , respectively, project upwardly so as to define a clearance between the bottom  32  of the tine  12  and the bottom  34  of the tip  10 . This height difference ensures that it is the protective tip  10  that wears down, and not the tine  12  itself.  
      Another important feature of the present invention, shown particularly well in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , is the substantially planar, or flat, front face  20 . This feature ensures that, in the event of the tine  12  fitted with the tip  10  striking an object, the resulting damage will be minimal.  
      To reduce wear on the tip  10 , a contact plate or shoe  36  can be fitted to the bottom of the tip  10 . The shoe  36  follows the bottom profile of the tip  10  by also extending upwardly at the ends  28  and  30  of the arms  24  and  26 . The shoe  36  may be either integrally formed with the body  14  or it may be removably fitted to the body  14 .  
      The tip  10  and shoe  36  are typically manufactured from mild steel, which provides an extremely hard and abrasive-resistant structure. Alternatively, the tip  10  and shoe  36  can be manufactured from a polyurethane plastics material.  
      The tip  10  is secured to the tine  12  by means of at least one pair of grub screws, such as screws  38  and  40 , which extend through apertures  42  and  44  defined in the arms  24  and  26  of the tip  10 . In addition, the front edge  46  of the tine can optionally be tacked to the rear contact face  22  of the bight portion  18  by means of a fillet weld, which is indicated generally by reference numeral  48 .  
      Alternatively, it is envisaged that the tip  10  can simply be bonded to the tine  12 .  
      Turning now to  FIG. 4 , an alternative tip  50  of the present invention is similar in structure to the tip  10  described above, save that it has a plurality of horizontally extending rollers  52 ,  54  and  56  that are rotatably fitted to a shaft  58  mounted to the front face of the tip  50 . The purpose of these rollers  52 ,  54  and  56  is to urge the tip  50 , and thus the tine  12 , upwardly or downwardly in the event of the tip  50  striking a substantially flat face of the pallet and/or goods due to misalignment.  
      Alternatively and/or in addition, the tip  50  can be fitted with a plurality of vertically extending rollers to urge the tip  50 , and thus the tine  12 , sidewardly in the event of the tip  50  striking a side edge of the pallet and/or goods  
      Preferably, the rollers are manufactured from rubber, which advantageously absorbs shock. Clearly, the rollers can be constructed from any other suitable material, such as stainless steel. In addition, this aspect of the present invention is not limited to rollers as described and shown, with any rolling-type arrangement, such as a ball and socket arrangement, also being capable of being used by the invention to achieve the same objective.  
      Although the tip is shown as a body having bottom, front and side portions, it can also take the form of a sock or glove that totally encloses the front end of the tine. In this version, the two primary distinguishing features of the invention are also present, namely a substantially planar front face for reducing damage to pallets and products on the pallets, as well as means for spacing the bottom of the tine, in use, from the floor, thereby reducing wear on the tine  12  itself.  
      In addition, the contact face  18  need not be curved as shown in the figures, but may define a straight face that is parallel to the front face  20 , for accommodating a corresponding straight front edge  46  of the tine  12 .  
      Turning now to  FIG. 5 , a preferred version of the protective tip of the invention has a curved front edge  60 , which, advantageously, allows sideways movement. In addition, a strip of resilient, shock absorbing material, typically in the form of a rubber pad  62 , can be bonded to the curved front edge  60 , thereby further reducing damage to pallets and products on the pallets in the event of an accidental collision. Alternatively, although not shown, the rubber pad  62  can be fitted to an intermediate connecting clip, with this clip being arranged to be releasably fitted to the curved front edge  60 . Advantageously, the rubber pad  62  can be bonded to the front edge  60  by a coloured bonding agent, so that when the colour of the bonding agent becomes visible, an indication is provided that the rubber pad  62  needs replacing.  
      FIGS.  6  to  8  show a further protective tip  64  for a tine  12  of a forklift truck. The tip  64  includes an upstanding front portion  66  defining a front contact face  68 . As mentioned above, this feature ensures that, in the event of the tine  12  fitted with the tip  64  striking an object, the resulting damage will be minimal.  
      The tip  64  further includes a contact plate or shoe  70  that is connected to the bottom of the front portion  66 . The shoe  70  extends a certain distance along the length of the tine  12 , once fitted, and is arranged to define a clearance between the bottom  32  of the tine  12  and the bottom  72  of the shoe  70  of the tip  64 . Again, this clearance ensures that it is the protective tip  64  that wears down, and not the tine  12  itself.  
      Advantageously, in this version, the top  74  of the shoe  70  will be bonded to the tine  12 . In addition, although not shown in FIGS.  6  to  8 , the widths of the shoe  70  and the tine  12  will generally be similar.  
      Significantly, this tip  64  possesses the two primary distinguishing features of the invention, namely a front contact face for reducing damage to pallets and products on the pallets, as well as for spacing the bottom of the tine, in use, from the floor, thereby reducing wear on the tine  12  itself.  
      The present invention has a number of advantages. First, it is the protective tip that wears down, and not the tine itself, which greatly reduces the regularity with which the tines need to be replaced as well as damage caused by sharpened edges. Second, the tips themselves can be easily replaced, and can furthermore be conveniently retrofitted to existing tines.  
      Finally, although the protective tip is shown mounted to the front tip of the tine, it can also be fitted to the rear end of the tine, also known as the elbow of the tine, so as to further protect the tine.