Bucket position indicator assembly

In a front end loader including an elongated main body having an operator's compartment mounted thereon, a pair of lift arms pivotally connected to said main body and a bucket rotatably mounted between said lift arms, said bucket being rotated by a plural element linkage to various positions during its work cycle including rollback, level, and rollout positions, the improvement comprising:

• a bucket position indicator assembly including a fluid cylinder, a slidable actuator, and an indicator panel, said indicator panel being mounted within said operator's compartment, said fluid cylinder being attached to one of said lift arms, said actuator comprising a piston which is slidably mounted within said fluid cylinder and a rod member connected to said piston and also pivotally attached to one of said linkage elements for reciprocal movement in response to rotational movement by said bucket, said piston being slidably movable within said fluid cylinder in response to rotational movement of said bucket during its work cycle, said rod member including an interior bore which is open at one end for permitting fluid pressure to escape into a sealed fluid chamber formed partially by a recess in said piston surrounded by sealing means carried by said piston and partially by said cylinder, and means for constantly communicating fluid pressure to the other end of said interior bore;
• said fluid cylinder including a plurality of orifices along its length which are connected by conduits to corresponding fluid inputs at said indicator panel, said sealed fluid chamber becoming aligned with one of said orifices when said bucket is in each of the rollback, level, or rollout positions thereby permitting fluid pressure to be applied to only a corresponding one of said indicator panel inputs, indicator members movably mounted within said indicator panel, said indicator members being movable between non-visible and visible positions, each indicator member being in fluid communication with only one of said inputs to said indicator panel, only one of said indicator members becoming visible to an operator when fluid pressure enters a corresponding indicator panel input thereby indicating to the operator that the bucket is in either its rollback, level, or rollout position.