Container handling apparatus
US5370435A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 19, 1993 |
| Grant date | Dec 6, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 19, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB66F9/186
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A container handling apparatus for lifting a container by first and second apertures in opposite sides thereof, comprising: a frame having first and second sides; first and second reciprocating beams mounted to the frame for inward and outward movement with respect thereto, respectively from the first and second sides thereof; first and second inwardly directed pins, respectively attached to clamp heads at the ends of the reciprocating beams, for registered insertion into the container's side apertures; hydraulic cylinders or motor driven screws for reciprocating the beams with respect to the frame between a released condition and a gripping condition; and either a lock wedge operating against a striker plate and aperture or compression washers for causing the reciprocating beams to move inwardly while in the gripping condition so as to track decreases in the width of the container due to bowing as the container is lifted. Proximity switches on the clamp heads sense engagement of the pins with the container's side apertures, and downwardly extending guides locate the frame on the container.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.