Pallet stringer puller

Claim 2

A pallet disassembling apparatus comprising a frame having a pair of adjacent angularly disposed sides each including an open portion, a plurality of generally coplanar and parallel tines on the frame and adapted to enter a pallet and support a portion of the pallet, one set of corresponding ends of said tines being supported by the frame and with the other set of corresponding ends of said tines being free of continuous support from said frame, one of said tines extending along one of said open portions, power means supported from the frame and movable transversely of the plane in which said tines are disposed to engage unsupported portions of the pallet and separate the same from the portions of said pallet supported by said tines, one of said tines being stationarily supported from said frame and the remaining tines each being supported from said frame for lateral shifting in said plane relative to said one tine.

Claim 3

The combination of claim 1 wherein said plane is generally horizontally dIsposed and said power means are disposed above said plane.

Claim 4

The combination of claim 1 wherein said plane is generally horizontally disposed and said power means is disposed below said plane.

Claim 5

The combination of claim 1 wherein all of the arms in addition to said one arm are disposed inwardly of said one arm in relation to said one open side of said frame, said one arm being stationarily supported from said frame and the remaining arms each being supported from said frame for lateral shifting in said plane relative to said one arm.

Claim 6

The combination of claim 1 wherein said plane is generally horizontally disposed and said power means is disposed below said plane, an abutment portion supported from said frame and shiftable between an operative position abutting an upper surface portion of the free end of said one arm and a retracted out-of-the-way position.

Claim 7

The combination of claim 5 wherein said power means is disposed adjacent said one tine.

Claim 8

The combination of claim 5 wherein said power means is supported from said frame for horizontal shifting transversely of said arms above the latter between an operative position between upstanding planes containing the remote sides of the remote arms and a retracted out-of-the-way position displaced to the side of the upstanding plane furtherest from said one tine.

Claim 9

The combination of claim 7 wherein said plane is generally horizontally disposed and said power means is disposed below said plane.

Claim 10

The combination of claim 8 wherein said power means is disposed adjacent said one open side of said frame.

Claim 11

A pallet disassembling apparatus comprising a frame having a pair of adjacent angularly disposed sides each including an open portion, a plurality of generally coplanar and parallel tines on the frame and adapted to enter a pallet and support a portion of the pallet, one set of corresponding ends of said tines being supported by the frame and with the other set of corresponding ends of said tines being free of continuous support from said frame, one of said tines extending along one of said open portions, power means supported from the frame and movable transversely of the plane in which said tines are disposed to engage unsupported portions of the pallet and separate the same from the portions of said pallet supported by said tines, said power means comprising a pair of fluid motors spaced along a path generally paralleling said tines, valved fluid inlet means for said motors, controlled means for supplying fluid under pressure to said valved inlet means, and control means for said valved inlet means operative to automatically open and close the latter to control and in response to activation of said motor means at varying rates.

Claim 12

A pallet disassembling apparatus comprising a frame having a pair of adjacent angularly disposed sides each including an open portion, a plurality of generally coplanar and parallel tines on the frame and adapted to enter a pallet and support a portion of the pallet, one set of corresponding ends of said tines being supported by the frame and with the other set of corresponding ends of said tines being free of continuous support from said frame, one of said tines extending along one of said open portions, power means supported from the frame and movable transversely of the plane in which said tines are disposed to engage unsupported portions of the pallet and separate the same from the portions of said pallet supported by said tines, said power means comprising a pair of fluid motors spaced along a path generally paralleling said tines, valved fluid inlet means for said motors, controlled means for supplying fluid under pressure to said valved inlet means, and control means for said valved inlet means operative to automatically open and close the latter to control and in response to activation of said motor means at varying rates.

Claim 13

The combination of claim 10 wherein said fluid motors are elongated and extendable, said motors being disposed upright with their upper portions supported from an upper portion of said frame above a horizontal plane containing said arms, the lower extendable ends of said motors being pivotally attached to opposite end portions of a beam extending therebetween with the axes of the pivotal connections of said motors with said beam being horizontally disposed and extending transversely of said arms, said beam including longitudinally spaced depending portions receivable between adjacent deck boards of said pallet for engaging a stringer of said pallet, said control means for said valved inlet means including tilt switch means carried by said beam and electrically connected to said valved inlet means for controlling the actuation thereof.

Claim 14

The combination of claim 11 wherein said fluid motors are supported from said frame for simultaneous shifting in a horizontal path extending transversely of said arms.