Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
227 words
In an apparatus for raising and lowering heavy loads, elongated upright guide wall means formed with openings situated at different elevations along said guide wall means, fluidpressure raising-and-lowering means guided for up-and-down movement by said guide wall means and having opposed upper and lower end regions, said fluid-pressure means including a cylinder and piston means for carrying out contracting and expanding movements respectively decreasing and increasing the distance between said end regions, a pair of fluid-pressure holding means respectively situated at said end regions and including parts of said end regions which are formed with hollow chambers respectively having horizontal axes and a pair of retractable piston means respectively movable in said chambers and having outer holding ends movable beyond said end regions into and out of said openings of said guide wall means, said pair of fluidpressure holding means and said fluid-pressure raising-andlowering means cooperating with each other for alternately displacing said piston means of said pair of fluid-pressure holding means into and out of openings of said guide wall means in timed relation with said contracting and expanding movements of said fluid-pressure raising-and-lowering means during stepwise movement of the latter along said guide wall means, and support means for carrying a load, said support means being operatively connected with the upper end region of said fluid-pressure raising-and-lowering means for movement with said upper end region.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
227 words
In an apparatus for raising and lowering heavy loads, elongated upright guide wall means formed with openings situated at different elevations along said guide wall means, fluidpressure raising-and-lowering means guided for up-and-down movement by said guide wall means and having opposed upper and lower end regions, said fluid-pressure means including a cylinder and piston means for carrying out contracting and expanding movements respectively decreasing and increasing the distance between said end regions, a pair of fluid-pressure holding means respectively situated at said end regions and including parts of said end regions which are formed with hollow chambers respectively having horizontal axes and a pair of retractable piston means respectively movable in said chambers and having outer holding ends movable beyond said end regions into and out of said openings of said guide wall means, said pair of fluidpressure holding means and said fluid-pressure raising-andlowering means cooperating with each other for alternately displacing said piston means of said pair of fluid-pressure holding means into and out of openings of said guide wall means in timed relation with said contracting and expanding movements of said fluid-pressure raising-and-lowering means during stepwise movement of the latter along said guide wall means, and support means for carrying a load, said support means being operatively connected with the upper end region of said fluid-pressure raising-and-lowering means for movement with said upper end region.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
40 words
The combination of claim 1 and wherein the retractable piston means of said pair of fluid-pressure holding means respectively move along said horizontal axes perpendicularly to a common axis of the cylinder and piston means of said fluid-pressure raising-and-lowering means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
69 words
The combination of claim 1 and wherein said guide wall means is in the form of an elongated channel of substantially U-shaped cross section having opposed walls respectively formed with said openings, and said retractable piston means of said fluid-pressure holding means each including a pair of opposed pistons for moving simultaneously into and out of a pair of openings of said opposed walls of said guide wall means.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
39 words
The combination of claim 1 and wherein said openings of said guide wall means carry sleeves which line said openings, respectively, and said holding ends of said retractable piston means have ends which facilitate their entry into said sleeves.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
63 words
The combination of claim 1 and wherein said guide wall means is in the form of an elongated channel of substantially U-shaped cross section having a pair of opposed walls between which said fluid-pressure raising-and-lowering means is located, and the latter means having a width which is only slightly less than the distance between said opposed walls to be guided by the latter.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
92 words
The combination of claim 1 and wherein a pair of said elongated upright guide wall means extend parallel to each other and a pair of said fluid-pressure raising-and-lowering means are respectively guided by said pair of guide wall means with each raising-and-lowering means having said pair of fluid-pressure holding means, and a single elongated support means extending between and operatively connected to said upper end regions of the pair of fluid-pressure raising-and-lowering means, so that a pair of the latter means act on a support means to raise and lower the same.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
43 words
The combination of claim 1 and wherein a means is operatively connected with an upper end of said elongated guide wall means for carrying said guide wall means in a manner according to which the latter is suspended at said upper end thereof.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
68 words
The combination of claim 1 and wherein said cylinder and piston means of said fluid-pressure raising-and-lowering means includes a cylinder housing and a piston movable therein and having a piston rod extending beyond said housing and terminating outside of said housing in an enlarged portion which is formed with one of said chambers which receives one of said pair of retractable piston means of said fluid-pressure holding means.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
51 words
The combination of claim 8 and wherein said cylinder housing has distant from the chamber carried by said piston of said fluid-pressure raising-and-lowering means beyond said cylinder housing a wall portion forming one of said end regions and formed with a chamber which receives the other of said retractable piston means.