APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLABLY POSITIONING FORKS OF A MATERIAL HANDLING VEHICLE

摘要

An apparatus (180) controllably moves the forks (30, 32) of a material handling vehicle (2) in traverse directions relative to a carriage assembly (12). The carriage assembly (12) includes fork position sensors (81, 83) which detects the transverse location of each fork (30, 32). A controller (178) receives signals from the position sensors (81, 83) and moves the forks (30, 32) to locations a preselected or calculated distance apart. Forktip sensors (102, 104) detect the opening (188) in a load (186) during movement of the forks (30, 32). The controller (178) receives signals from the forktip sensors (102, 104) and positions the forks (30, 32) such that they are disposable within the load opening (188). The apparatus (180) is especially suitable for use on an Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV) (4).