Boom prop

Claim 1

In a material handling vehicle having a pair of boom arms pivotally mounted at one of their ends to the vehicle, a bucket pivotally mounted on the other end of said arms, a cross tube extending between and connected to the boom arms at a location intermediate the ends of the boom arms, means for pivoting said boom arms to define a path of movement for said cross tube; an improved support for selectively holding the boom arms in an elevated position while permitting normal manipulation of the bucket comprising: a base member having a stop surface affixed to the vehicle; a prop including a tubular link member with a clevis affixed to one end and a saddle affixed to the other end; said clevis straddling said base member and pivotally attached thereto to permit said prop to be pivoted between a stored position adjacent said vehicle and a support position; said saddle having an outwardly-opening arcuate surface complementary to and engageable with said cross tube, and an inclined surface merging with said arcuate surface to function as a cam follower; a cross-member having a threaded opening attached to and spanning said clevis; a threaded stop member engaging said threaded opening and, by contact with said stop surface, limiting movement of said prop toward its support position to permit positioning of said saddle precisely in said path; a tab on each of said link member and said vehicle having alignable openings when said prop is moved to its stored position; a retaining pin insertable in said alignable openings to releasably secure said prop in its stored position; said clevis having pin-receiving openings substantially the same as said alignable openings on said tabs; said base member having an enlarged opening to permit insertion of said retaining pin through said pin-receiving openings and said enlarged opening, after adjustment of said threaded stop member, to releasably secure said prop in its support position; and said prop, when in its support position, having a center of gravity located so that travel of said cross tube, as said boom arms are raised from their lowered position, will engage said cam surface to move said prop toward its stored position, but will maintain the center of gravity of said prop forward of the vertical plane passing through the pivotal connection of said prop to said base member, whereby said prop will return to its support position.