Patent ID: 8851825

Claim:
A materials handling vehicle comprising: a vehicle power unit; a monomast coupled to said vehicle power unit; and a fork carriage apparatus supported on said monomast; said fork carriage apparatus comprising: a mast carriage assembly directly coupled to said monomast for vertical movement relative to said monomast; a fork carriage mechanism to which forks are mounted, said fork carriage mechanism including at least one laterally extending fork frame member; and a reach mechanism including a scissors structure comprising first and second inner arms coupled to first and second outer arms, said scissors structure coupled to said mast carriage assembly and said fork carriage mechanism for effecting movement of said fork carriage mechanism between an extended position and a retracted position, said inner arms defining forward edges facing forwardly toward said fork carriage mechanism; said reach mechanism including a cross member structure comprising at least one cross member extending between said first and second inner arms, and attached at said forward edges of said inner arms to define an open pocket surrounded by said inner arms and said at least one cross member; and when said fork carriage mechanism is in said retracted position, said mast carriage assembly is located within said open pocket and said fork frame member is located in vertically spaced relation to said cross member, and said fork frame member and said cross member intersect a common vertical plane extending in front of and generally parallel to said monomast.