Material or article handling – Self-loading or unloading vehicles – Loading or unloading by other carrier or mover means – and...
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-14
2004-10-05
Lillis, Eileen D. (Department: 3652)
Material or article handling
Self-loading or unloading vehicles
Loading or unloading by other carrier or mover means, and...
C414S467000, C414S468000, C414S469000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06799935
ABSTRACT:
RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS
Not applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not applicable.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to lifting devices as used in pickup trucks. More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatus whereby heavy loads can be moved from a location outside of the bed of a pickup truck into the interior of the pickup truck bed and, in particular, in a desired location within the bed of the pickup truck.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For many years, the advantages of providing a cargo carrying vehicle such as a truck with a lift gate have been recognized. As is well known, lift gates are gates which not only close the rear of the bed of the vehicle, but which, when in the housing position, may be moved between a first position wherein they are an extension of the truck bed and a second position resting on the underlying terrain. Cargo may be loaded on or removed from the gate while in the latter position or loaded into or unloaded from the vehicle when in the former position. Conventionally, some sort of motor is utilized to drive the lift gate between the two positions. There is some sort of linkage which maintains the upper surface of the gate in a generally horizontal plane during such movement to prevent cargo on the gate from falling off.
Lift gates are generally not suited for small or medium sized cargo-carrying vehicles because the linkage and the drive system for moving the gate between upper and lowered positions was adapted to be located wholly below the plane of the truck bed. This, in turn, requires that the bed of the truck be located relatively high above the underlying terrain to provide the requisite ground clearance. As a result, this is limited to relatively large cargo-carrying vehicles with high road clearances.
Another problem with lift gates is that the cargo is only brought to the very end of the bed of the truck. As a result, it is still necessary to move the heavy load from the lift gate into the bed of the truck. Such movement of heavy loads can be inconvenient and difficult to accomplish. In other circumstances, the heavy load must be lifted a small distance so as to bring the load into proximity onto the lift gate. Once again, workers must be prepared to lift the load, at least a small distance, so as to place the load in its desired position on the lift gate. In many circumstances, the heavy load is only delivered to the very back of the bed of the pickup truck. As a result, the pickup truck will have an unbalanced load heavily oriented toward the rear of the truck. Such unbalanced loads can create driving hazards. Additionally, and furthermore, the lift gates only allow the load to be delivered toward the rear of the bed of the pickup truck. When additional heavy loads must be introduced into the bed, there is often a lack of space for such loads since the initial loads have not been moved toward the forward end of the bed.
In other circumstances, cranes have been proposed for use on such pickup truck beds. Unfortunately, these cranes are often unwieldy devices which prevent the load from being adequately delivered into the interior of the vehicle. In certain circumstances, the cranes will present a structure which extends outwardly above the top of the truck body. As a result, damage can often occur during the movement of the truck with these outwardly extending projections. Additionally, and furthermore, these cranes also fail to deliver the load where it is best desired, i.e. toward the forward end of the bed. These rear-mounted cranes often lift the load to a position whereby the worker can push the load into the rear portion of the pickup truck bed. Once again, limited loads and unevenly distributed loads will result.
In the past, various patents have issued in the past for the loading of the bed of pickup trucks. U.S. Pat. No. 3,637,097, issued on Jan. 25, 1972 to R. R. Horowitz, describes a power-operated tailgate. This power-operated tailgate mechanism has pairs of bell-crank lever arms pivotally mounted on the bed surface and outer ends pivotally connected to a support arm which is attached to the tailgate. The relationship of the pivotal connections is such as to provide a parallelogram linkage for the purpose of maintaining the tailgate surface in a load-carrying attitude during the elevating and lowering movement of the tailgate.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,700,123, issued on Oct. 24, 1972 to Q. D. Corley, Jr., describes a lift frame for attachment to the truck bed. This lift frame includes a tubular horizontal base having integral transverse brackets for attachment to the truck frame and having upright end posts securely welded to the tubular member. A hinged lift platform is provided which is swingably supported by parallelogram arms on the frame end posts. A torque bar connects the lift arms. A hydraulic power cylinder connects one lift arm and one corner post to swing the lift platform between the upper position in the plane of the truck bed and a lower ground position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,585, issued on May 5, 1981 to W. H. Hawkins, teaches a loading device for vehicle beds wherein a transversely aligned boom members have an extensible inverted U-shaped member adjustably carried on free ends thereof. The U-shaped member is pivotally secured on a supporting frame and operated by fluid-operated cylinder assemblies which are pivotally connected on one end to a respective boom and on the other end to an upright frame member carried forwardly in the vehicle. The cylinder assemblies ascend above the top of the bed of the pickup truck so that the U-shaped member will rest in a stowed position above the truck bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,961, issued on Jun. 9, 1992 to L. E. Runn, describes a removable, truck-mounted crane with both an inclined boom for high lift and a horizontal telescoping boom for extended reach beyond the truck. The crane has two winches which can be routed to either boom. A rolling storage stand with winches is used to support the truck tailgate while enabling one person to install or remove the crane from the truck.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,262, issued on Jun. 24, 1997 to Dunlop et al., describes a hydraulic lift apparatus whereby the tailgate of the pickup truck can be moved from a lowered position to an upper position.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,567, issued on Feb. 1, 2000 to Lutkas et al. describes a slidable load lifting system which can be retracted into the pickup truck. This load lifting apparatus includes a base frame member attached to the truck bed. This base frame member supports a substantially planar roller platform member slidably therein. A pair of elongate rail members extends in parallel and is adapted to engage a set of roller wheels provided on the bottom of the roller platform member. A substantially planar lift platform member is operatively connected to the other roller platform member through a set of parallelogram linkages which allow the lift platform to be moved between a raised position coplanar with the roller platform and a lowered position out of the plane of the roller member for convenient loading of the lift platform at ground level.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,741, issued on May 22, 2001 to S. P. McDaniel, describes a forklift for pickup truck. This forklift device is adapted to be installed within the bed of a conventional pickup truck. The horizontal movement of the fork is provided by movement of the truck. When the device is not in use, it is disposed above the forward portion of the truck bed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a lifting apparatus for use in a pickup truck which allows loads to be delivered into the bed of the pickup truck.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a lifting apparatus which allows heavy loads to be placed in any desired position within the bed of the pickup truck.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a lifting apparatus which avoids the use of power-operated tailgates.
It is another object of the presen
Harrison & Egbert
Lillis Eileen D.
Lowe Michael
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