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Apparatus for controllably positioning a lift mast assembly of a work vehicle

  • US 4,869,635 A
  • Filed: 03/31/1988
  • Issued: 09/26/1989
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/31/1988
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for controllably moving a lift mast assembly of a work vehicle to a preselected position relative to an opening in a load, the lift mast assembly having a lift mast and a carriage assembly having a side shiftable load engaging implement, said carriage assembly being mounted on and elevationally moveable along the lift mast, said load engaging implement having first and second end portions, said second end portion extending from the carriage assembly, the apparatus comprising:

  • sensor means for delivering electromagnetic radiation in a direction generally away from the work implement toward the load, detecting reflected electromagnetic radiation, and delivering a signal in response to detecting the reflected electromagnetic radiation, said sensor means being connected to the second end portion of said work implement;

    means for sensing the vertical height of the carriage assembly;

    means for controllably moving the carriage assembly in first and second vertical directions;

    means for storing the vertical height of the carriage assembly as a first vertical variable in response to receiving a first vertical signal from the sensor means and storing the vertical height of the carriage assembly as a second vertical variable in response to receiving a second vertical signal;

    means for sensing the horizontal position of the carriage assembly;

    means for controllably moving the carriage assembly in first and second horizontal directions, said storing means storing a first horizontal position of the carriage assembly as a first horizontal variable in response to receiving a first horizontal signal and storing a second horizontal position of the carriage assembly as a second horizontal variable in response to receiving a second horizontal signal, said calculating means calculating a horizontal target position as a function of the first and second horizontal variables, and said horizontal and vertical carriage moving means moving the carriage assembly to the vertical and horizontal target positions;

    means for calculating one of a vertical and horizontal dimension of the load opening as a function of the respective vertical and horizontal first and second variables, comparing said one calculated dimension to a respective one of preselected vertical and horizontal dimension, and delivering a terminating signal in response to the one preselected dimension being greater than the one calculated dimension; and

    means for moving the load engaging implement into the load opening; and

    means for preventing movement of the load engaging implement into the load opening in response to receiving the terminating signal.

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