GAS CYLINDER LIFTING SYSTEM

摘要

A gas cylinder lifting system is useful for loading and unloading heavy tanks of gases onto and off of a welding power supply running gear. The gas cylinder lifting system comprises one or more sliders that are constrained for vertical reciprocation on a frame mounted to the running gear. The slider includes a pan for supporting a gas cylinder. A crank lever is pivotally mounted to the frame by a pivot pin, and a linkage is pivotally connected between the crank lever and the slider. The linkage has a crook in it. Pivoting the crank lever to a first angular position lowers a slider and places the linkage crook remote from the pivot pin. Rotating the crank lever to a second angular position raises the slider and places the linkage crook adjacent the pivot pin. The crank lever and linkage cooperate to place the gas cylinder lifting system in an over-center self-locked condition when the crank lever is in its second angular position. A spring-loaded latch may be installed on the frame that positively maintains the crank lever at its second angular position but that is manually operable to enable the crank lever to rotate to its first angular position.