Flexible leaf springs for kickers and clamps for log stackers

Claim 1

In combination with a vehicle main frame; a mounting beam secured to the frame, a boom pivoted at its inner end to the upper end of the beam for vertical swing movement about a transverse horizontal axis, a load handling head pivoted at its lower end to the outer end of the boom for vertical tilting movements, an upright walking beam fulcrumed to the boom intermediate the ends thereof for rocker movement about an axis parallel to the axis of swing of the boom, a fixed length link pivotally secured at one end to the lower end of the walking beam and at its opposite end pivotally secured to a point upon the mounting beam, an extendible link pivotally secured to the upper end of the walking beam and to the upper end of the load handling head, means for raising and lowering said boom, said load handling head comprising forwardly extending load handling forks terminating in a rigid vertical member at the rearwardmost end of said forks and powered forwardly extending load clamping means and means pivotally securing the latter to and forwardly of the upper portion of the vertical member, said load clamping means comprising generally downwardly extending rearwardly curved flexible load contacting laterally spaced arms each fabricated of a plurality of leaf spring elements of different lengths such that the arms are increasingly more flexible as the distance from the pivot means becomes greater whereby the free ends of the spring elements extend substantially to the forks in clamping position so as to clamp the load between the spring elements and the vertical member, said spring elements independently flexing to accommodate irregular objects.