Patent ID: 7390159

Claim:
A refuse receptacle lifter assembly adapted for attachment to the front end of front load refuse collection vehicles having a pair of spaced-apart lift forks that are adapted to carry a collection container having a front face, a rear face, opposed sides, and an upper edge defining a generally open top forward of the vehicle for the accumulation of a quantity of refuse before dumping into a collection cavity in the vehicle, the lifter assembly comprising: (a) a receptacle lifter for engaging, lifting and inverting refuse receptacles; and (b) a transporter adapted to be mounted at the front of the vehicle, the transporter including a carrier comprising a base member fixedly mounted to the front of a cab of the vehicle at a location behind the rear face of the collection container and below the upper edge thereof, and an elongated structure movably carried by the base member and having a first end portion with a lifter support mounted thereto to which the receptacle lifter is secured, the structure being movable substantially laterally between an extended pickup position in which the first end portion of the structure extends substantially beyond a side of the vehicle to said extended pick-up position to allow the lifter to engage curbside refuse receptacles and a retracted dumping position in which the lifter is located in proximity to one side of the collection container for dumping refuse from the refuse receptacle thereinto, said lifter support being movably attached to said structure so that said lifter support and said receptacle lifter are movable between a stored position generally adjacent to the front end of the vehicle substantially between the lift forks and an operating position spaced forwardly of the vehicle and laterally of the collection container, said lifter support being positioned generally adjacent to said structure when said receptacle lifter is in the stored position and extending generally forwardly from said carrier when said receptacle lifter is in the operating position.