Remote viewing apparatus for fork lift trucks
First Claim
1. A fork lift truck includinga mast assembly,a carriage assembly mounted for vertical movement in said mast assembly,a pair of forks extending from said carriage assembly for supporting a load,means for raising and lowering said carriage assembly,a camera mounted near the plane of said forks, said camera viewing the scene immediately in front of the forks,means for positioning said camera at a first predetermined location below said forks when the forks are in a raised position and for raising the camera to a protected position when said forks are in their lowermost position, anda display terminal for presenting to an operator the image of the scene viewed by the camera.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A fork lift truck includes a fork level sensor located in the forks, away from the vertical mast of a lift truck for detecting the true level of the forks, and a vision system including a camera which may take several forms. In one form, a single camera is mounted in a housing which may be moved to a protected location vertically either by sliding in the carriage assembly, or by use of a parallelogram device. In another form, multiple cameras are employed where a second camera may either mounted above the first camera in the same housing or mounted between the forks. Alternatively, the first camera may perform multiple roles by being moved vertically from a first predetermined location below the bottom of the forks to a higher elevation a second predetermined location relative to the forks. A video display terminal, which shows the view observed by the camera, may also include a fork level indicator, a reticle for assisting in adjusting the vertical position of the forks, and an indicator showing the specific truck function selected by the operator.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A fork lift truck including
a mast assembly, a carriage assembly mounted for vertical movement in said mast assembly, a pair of forks extending from said carriage assembly for supporting a load, means for raising and lowering said carriage assembly, a camera mounted near the plane of said forks, said camera viewing the scene immediately in front of the forks, means for positioning said camera at a first predetermined location below said forks when the forks are in a raised position and for raising the camera to a protected position when said forks are in their lowermost position, and a display terminal for presenting to an operator the image of the scene viewed by the camera.
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8. A fork lift truck including
a mast assembly, a carriage assembly mounted for vertical movement in said mast assembly, a fork carriage mounted on said carriage assembly and including a pair of forks for supporting a load, means for raising and lowering said carriage assembly, camera means mounted near the plane of said forks for viewing the scene immediately in front of the forks at first and second predetermined locations relative to said forks, and a display terminal for presenting to an operator the image of the scene viewed by said camera means.
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16. In a fork lift truck including
a mast assembly, a carriage assembly mounted for vertical movement in said mast assembly, a pair of forks extending from said carriage assembly for supporting a load, means for raising and lowering said carriage assembly, and means for extending said forks in a horizontal direction away from said carriage assembly, the improvement comprising a camera mounted near the plane of said forks, said camera viewing the scene immediately in front of the forks, a display terminal for presenting to an operator the image of the scene viewed by the camera, first means for placing said camera at a first predetermined location below said forks when the forks are in a raised position and for raising the camera to a protected position when said forks are in their lowermost position, and second means for placing said camera at a second predetermined location relative to said forks when said forks are extended horizontally.
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19. A fork lift truck including
a mast assembly, a carriage assembly mounted for vertical movement in said mast assembly, a pair of forks extending from said carriage assembly for supporting a load, means for raising and lowering said carriage assembly, camera means mounted on said carriage assembly for viewing a scene immediately in front of said camera means, said camera means being aligned to define a horizontal plane through its center of view, means for locating said horizontal plane of said camera means a first predetermined distance below said forks when the forks are in a raised position, a video display for presenting to an operator the image of the scene viewed by the camera means along with said horizontal plane, and means for generating a reticle, including a visual representation of said horizontal plane, on said video display to assist the operator in vertically positioning said carriage assembly.
Specification