Patent ID: 8126618

Claim:
A travel control apparatus for an industrial vehicle, the vehicle being provided with a loading device that performs load handling operations by raising and lowering a load and tilting relative to a body of the vehicle, and a drive device which generates a drive force for travel and is capable of generating a braking force, the apparatus comprising: a traveling state detector for detecting whether the vehicle is in a traveling state; an unseated state detector for detecting whether a driver has left the vehicle's driver's seat; a height detector for detecting the height of the loading device; a load weight detector for detecting the weight of a load placed on the loading device; a tilt angle detector for detecting the tilt angle of the loading device; and a control section for controlling the vehicle when traveling, wherein, when the unseated state detector detects that a driver has left the driver's seat in the case where the traveling state detector detects a traveling state, the control section causes the drive device to generate the braking force and changes the braking strength in accordance with the height and the weight of the load, wherein, in the case where the detected tilt angle indicates that the loading device is horizontal, the control section weakens the braking strength in comparison with the case where the tilt angle indicates that the loading device is tilting backward, and wherein the control section shifts the vehicle to a neutral state in the case where the tilt angle indicates that the loading device is tilting forward.