Self-leveling system for material handling implement

Claim 2

In a vehicle having a boom pivoted thereon; a boom ram for raising and lowering said boom on said vehicle; a material handling unit pivoted on said boom; a unit ram for pivoting said unit on said boom; and a hydraulic circuit for supplying fluid to said rams, said hydraulic circuit including a reservoir; pump means supplying fluid under pressure from said reservoir; boom valve means between said boom ram, reservoir and pump means; unit valve means between said unit ram, reservoir and pump means; boom and unit conduit means respectively connecting said boom valve means to said boom ram and said unit valve means to said unit ram; and leveling valve means in said conduit means metering return flow from said boom ram to said unit ram for automatic leveling of said unit in response to movement of said boom, said leveling valve means including pilot valve means actuated in response to actuation of said unit valve means to prevent flow from said boom ram to said unit ram said leveling valve means further including a valve housing having a valve bore therein, and spool means in said valve bore, further including first and second conduits connecting said boom valve means to opposite ends of said bore with said pilot valve means interrupting flow through said first and second conduits when said unit valve means is actuated.

Claim 3

A vehicle as defined in claim 1, in which said spool means includes first and second spool sections respectively slidable in said bore with biasing means between said sections normally maintaining said sections in a first position wherein all fluid from said boom valve means is delivered to said boom ram, said spool sections respectively having second positions for directing return flow from said boom ram to said unit ram in respective directions of movement of said boom ram.

Claim 4

A vehicle as defined in claim 2, further including pressure responsive check valve means in said unit conduit means preventing flow when the pressure of fluid to said unit ram is below a certain level.

Claim 5

A vehicle as defined in claim 2, in which said leveling valve means has first and second flow dividers respectively between said spool sections and said unit ram for diverting a portion of the return fluid from said boom ram to said reservoir.

Claim 6

In a vehicle having a boom pivoted thereon; a boom ram for raising and lowering said boom on said vehicle; a material handling unit pivoted on a free end of said boom; a unit ram between said boom and unit for pivoting said unit on said boom; and a hydraulic circuit including a reservoir and pump means supplying fluid under pressure from said reservoir, said hydraulic circuit including boom valve means; boom conduit means connecting said reservoir and pump means to said boom ram; unit valve means; unit conduit means connecting said reservoir and pump means to said unit ram; leveling valve means in said unit and boom conduit means, said leveling valve means including a housing having a bore therein with spool means slidable in said bore; conduits connecting said boom valve means to opposite ends of said bore for moving said spool means in response to fluid flow through said boom valve means and conditioning said leveling valve means to direct return flow of fluid from said boom ram to said unit ram thereby changing the angular position of said unit relative to said boom during raising and lowering of said boom; and manual pilot valve means in said conduits for interrupting the flow of fluid through said conduits and conditioning said leveling valve means to direct all return flow from said boom ram to said reservoir.

Claim 7

In a vehicle having a boom pivoted thereon; a boom ram for raising and lowering said boom on said vehicle; a material handling unit pivoted on a free end of said boom; a unit ram between said boom and unit for pivoting said unit on said boom; and a hydraulic circuit including a reservoir and pump means supplying fluid under pressure from said reservoir, said hydraulic circuit including boom valve means; boom conduit means connecting said reservoir and pump means to said boom ram; unit valve means; unit conduit means connecting said reservoir and pump means to said unit ram; leveling valve means in said unit and boom conduit means, said leveling valve means including a housing having a bore therein with spool means slidable in said bore; conduits connecting said boom valve means to opposite ends of said bore for moving said spool means in response to fluid flow through said boom valve means and conditioning said leveling valve means to direct return flow of fluid from said boom ram to said unit ram thereby changing the angular position of said unit relative to said boom during raising and lowering of said boom; and manual pilot valve means in said conduits for interrupting the flow of fluid through said conduits and conditioning said leveling valve means to direct all return flow from said boom ram to said reservoir.

Claim 8

A vehicle as defined in claim 5, in which said leveling valve means includes flow divider means for dividing said return flow between said unit ram and said reservoir.

Claim 9

A vehicle as defined in claim 5, further including pressure responsive check valve means in said unit conduit means preventing flow of fluid through one conduit of said unit conduit means when the pressure of fluid in another conduit of said unit conduit means drops below a certain level.

Claim 10

A vehicle as defined in claim 5, in which said spool means includes first and second spool sections with biasing means between said sections biasing said sections to a first position directing all return flow from said boom ram to said reservoir, said first section being moved to a second position during raising of said boom and said second section being moved to a second position during lowering of said boom to direct return flow from said boom ram to said unit ram.

Claim 11

A vehicle as defined in claim 8, in which said pilot valve means is actuated in response to manual actuation of said unit valve means, and connects opposite ends of said bore to said reservoir.

Claim 12

A vehicle as defined in claim 8, further including flow divider means between each spool section and said unit ram for dividing return flow from said boom ram between said reservoir and said unit ram.