Patent ID: 7950893

Claim:
A lifting apparatus for lifting manufacturing rings, the apparatus comprising: an attachment part; a plurality of elongated legs extending from said attachment part, each of said elongated legs having a slit disposed therein; a plurality of support rods, each support rod associated with one of said legs and movably disposed in the associated slit, said support rods being pivotable between a lowered position in which each support rod extends from the associated slit and a raised position in which each support rod is upwardly disposed; an actuating part operably associated with said support rods, said actuating part for moving said support rods between the raised position and the lowered position; a plurality of upper support plates disposed below said attachment part and supporting said elongated legs; a center shaft extending from said upper support plates between said elongated legs; and a width adjusting part carried by said center shaft to adjust spacing between said elongated legs, wherein said width adjusting part comprises a base adjustable along said center shaft and a plurality of leg spacing plates extending from said base and fixed to corresponding elongated legs, and wherein the spacing between said elongated legs is adjusted based on the position of said base along said center shaft.