Vehicular lift mechanism for transporting large structural members

摘要

A transport vehicle particularly for moving large structural members such as prefabricated concrete enclosures is provided with a lifting device which may be moved in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and which consists of a support arm pivotal about a first axis extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The support arm is arranged to be inserted into an enclosure or other load to be transported by an end thereof opposite said first axis which has a support device thereon pivotally mounted for rotation about a second axis parallel to said first axis. In order to ensure that the load is always maintained at a constant angular position relative to the plane of the vehicle when the support arm is pivoted about the first axis, a first cylinder-piston unit is connected between the support arm and the vehicle and a second cylinder-piston unit is connected between the support arm and the support device, each of the cylinder-piston units having the same displacement and being arranged with a certain leverage with the corresponding fluid volumes defined by the cylinders of each of the cylinder-piston units being connected to each other in fluid communication.