Patent ID: 7695237

Claim:
A refuse collection vehicle comprising a vehicle body including a hoist, a lifting apparatus on the vehicle body for lifting a refuse storage container onto and off the body, said lifting apparatus having a longitudinal centerline and being operably connected to the hoist so that upon elevating the hoist the lifting apparatus is moved from a substantially horizontal position to a tilted position where an inner end of the lifting apparatus is raised and an outer end of the lifting apparatus is lowered, said lifting apparatus having a frame including a pair of substantially parallel rails that supports a refuse storage container on the body, each rail being equidistant from the longitudinal centerline, a first pulley carrier fixedly mounted to the frame near the inner end of the lifting apparatus, said first pulley carrier having a housing in which is mounted a first pulley disposed in a substantially horizontal orientation when the lifting apparatus is in the substantially horizontal position, said first pulley having an axle along the longitudinal centerline that is substantially vertically oriented when the lifting apparatus is in the substantially horizontal position, and a second pulley mounted on an exterior of the first pulley carrier housing in an orientation at or near vertical when the lifting apparatus is in the substantially horizontal position, said second pulley having an axle lying in a plane that is substantially at a right angle with respect to the longitudinal centerline, a single fluid actuated cylinder mechanism fixedly mounted between the rails including a rod substantially disposed lengthwise along the longitudinal centerline and substantially equidistant from each rail, said rod adapted to move upon actuation of the cylinder mechanism in a path substantially parallel to the rails, a second pulley carrier attached to an outer end of the rod and positioned between the rails and moveable along the rails as the rod moves, said second pulley carrier having a housing in which are mounted third and fourth pulleys axially aligned along the longitudinal centerline and substantially equidistant from each rail, said third pulley being on top of the fourth pulley and said third and fourth pulleys being in a substantially horizontal orientation when the lifting apparatus is in the substantially horizontal position, and a pulley cable having one end fixedly attached at or near the inner end of the lifting apparatus that extends from said inner end first around the third pulley, then around the first pulley, next around the fourth pulley, and finally around the second pulley to terminate in a free end that is adapted to be detachably connected to the refuse storage container.