Operator hand control for industrial lift trucks
AssigneeClark Equipment Company
InventorLouis A. Haddock
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A single multi-function operator hand control for stand-up lift trucks located and designed for improved operator comfort and convenience and to reduce operator fatigue in any driving position. The hand control is recessed in a compartment adjacent one side of the truck and below the upper body thereof. It is mounted pivotally from one end and extends longitudinally towards the operator; it includes a rotatable control member at the opposite end so that the operator's forearm when in controlling positions is normally in or adjacent to the vertical plane of the control handle and the hand palm is located generally in a vertical plane and faces the control member which rotates on an axis transverse of the truck.
Claims17
In an industrial truck having an operator's station of the stand-up type formed in a body portion of the truck, an operator's control handle mounted pivotally from its one end portion and extending from its said one end portion longitudinally of the truck, a rotatable operator's control member connected to one side of the end of the control handle which is remote from said pivoted end portion, said control member being rotatable in a plane substantially parallel to the vertical plane of the control handle on an axis substantially transverse of the truck, the operator's forearm being in a plurality of operator control positions in relation to the control handle functionally in or adjacent the vertical plane thereof, and the operator's hand palm being located generally in a vertical plane in facing relation to the control member.
In a control system for an industrial truck having a body portion located rearwardly thereof, a lift assembly mounted forwardly of the body portion and an operator's station formed in said body portion for permitting an operator to stand at the rear of the truck while bodily turned to face either forwardly or rearwardly thereof, an operator's control handle mounted at one side of the operator's station pivotally from one end portion of the control handle and extending therefrom longitudinally of the truck, a rotatable operator's control member connected to one side of the end of the control handle which is remote from said pivoted end portion, said control member being rotatable in a plane substantially parallel to the vertical plane of the control handle on an axis substantially transverse of the truck, the control handle being so disposed that in a plurality of normal control positions wherein the operator may be bodily turned to face either forwardly or rearwardly of the truck the operator's forearm approaches generally a location in or adjacent to the vertical plane of the control handle, and the operator's hand palm is located generally in a vertical plane in facing relation to the control member.
In an industrial truck having an operator's station of the stand-up type formed in a body portion of the truck, a compartment located at one side of the truck recessed below the upper truck body, an operator's control handle mounted in said compartment pivotally from its one end portion and extending from its said one end portion longitudinally and diagonally upwardly of the truck towards the operator's station, and a rotatable operator's control member connected to and spaced from the one side of the end of the control handle which is remote from said pivoted end portion, said control member being rotatable in a plane substantially parallel to the vertical plane of the control handle about an axis substantially transverse of the truck and adapted to be palmed by the hand of an operator during operation of the truck such that the hand palm is located in a generally vertical plane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.