What is claimed is:
1. Apparatus for lifting a load having an upright tubular sidewall, comprising:
a plurality of clamps constructed and disposed to grip spaced sidewall portions, each of the clamps having cooperable, relatively movable outer and inner jaws shaped to conform to the shape of the respective sidewall portions, the outer jaws being disposed to engage outer surfaces of the respective sidewall portions and the inner jaws being disposed to engage inner surfaces of the respective sidewall portions; and
a lifting mechanism constructed to close the clamps to grip the respective sidewall portions frictionally and then to raise the lifting apparatus with the load suspended from the clamps.
2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the outer jaws are fixed to a frame, and the inner jaws are supported on the frame for movement relative to the outer jaws.
3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the clamps are constructed and disposed to grip opposite sidewall portions.
4. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lifting mechanism is operatively connected to the inner jaws and is constructed to move the inner jaws into engagement with inner surfaces of the sidewall portions.
5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus has elements that support the apparatus on a top edge of the sidewall when the apparatus is positioned relative to the load for lifting.
6. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lifting mechanism comprises a frame and a lifting member movable vertically relative to the frame, and the clamps are closed in response to upward movement of the lifting member relative to the frame.
7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the lifting mechanism includes linkages that connect the jaws of the clamps to the lifting member and that move to close the clamps when the lifting member is raised.
8. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the lifting mechanism includes a pair of incline surfaces that move followers when the lifting member is raised, and thereby close the clamps.
9. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the incline surfaces are part of wedge members mounted on the lifting member so as to move upwardly when the lifting member is raised, and the followers are mounted on pivot members pivotally supported on the frame, one of the jaws of each clamp being mounted on a respective pivot member and the other jaw of each clamp being fixed to the frame.
10. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the inner jaws are mounted on pivot members that are pivotally supported on the frame, and wherein the lifting member has a pair of wedges mounted thereon adjacent to the respective pivot members, each pivot member having a follower thereon engaging an incline surface of a respective wedge so that when the wedges are moved upwardly by the lifting member, the upward movement of the wedges is converted to pivotal movement of the pivot members and the inner jaws are moved toward the outer jaws to close the clamps on the sidewall portions, and then continued upward movement of the lifting member lifts the load.
11. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the wedges have guide surfaces, spaced from the incline surfaces and engaging guide members mounted on the frame for guiding movement of the wedges relative to the frame, and wherein the lifting member has additional guide surfaces engaging guide members mounted on the frame for guiding movement of the lifting member relative to the frame.
12. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the frame comprises a pair of spaced plates and the lifting member comprises a plate disposed between the plates of the frame.
13. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the inner jaws are mounted on first end portions of respective first links pivotally supported on the frame at intermediate regions of the first links, and wherein the lifting mechanism includes the first links and second links pivotally connected between respective second end portions of the first links and the lifting member.
14. Apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the frame comprises a pair of parallel frame parts, each of the first links comprises a pair of parallel link parts disposed adjacent to respective frame parts, and each of the second links comprises a pair of parallel link parts disposed adjacent to respective first link parts.
15. Apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the apparatus has a releasable latch for holding the links in positions that maintain the clamps open.
16. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the apparatus has a releasable latch for holding the lifting member at a position relative to the frame at which the clamps are open.
17. Apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the releasable latch comprises a pin insertable through corresponding holes in the lifting member and the frame.
18. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein jaws of the clamps have tapered lead-in portions to facilitate placement of the clamps over an upper edge of the sidewall portions.
19. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus includes handles for manually positioning the apparatus relative to a container.
20. A method of lifting a load having spaced sidewall portions, comprising:
disposing a plurality of clamps adjacent to respective sidewall portions, each clamp having cooperable, relatively movable outer and inner jaws shaped to conform to the shape of the respective sidewall portions, the outer jaws being disposed to engage outer surfaces of the respective sidewall portions and the inner jaws being disposed to engage inner surfaces of the respective sidewall portions;
moving the jaws of each clamp to close the clamps to grip respective sidewall portions frictionally; and
lifting the clamps so as to lift the load with the load suspended from the clamps.
21. A method according to claim 20, further comprising increasing clamping pressure between the jaws of each clamp in response to lifting of the load.
22. A method according to claim 21, wherein the increasing of the clamping pressure is due to a levering action that urges one of the jaws of each clamp toward the other jaw of each clamp.
23. A method according to claim 21, wherein the increasing of the clamping pressure is due to a wedging action that urges one of the jaws of each clamp toward the other jaw of each clamp.
24. A method according to claim 21, wherein the clamps are supported on a frame, and prior to closing the clamps on the respective sidewall portions the frame is supported on a top edge of the sidewall.
25. Lifting apparatus comprising a plurality of gripping devices having shaped surfaces for gripping spaced sidewall portions of a container between the surfaces of each gripping device, the surfaces being shaped to conform to the shape of the spaced sidewall portions and being actuated by the weight of the container andor its contents as the container is lifted to create a gripping force on the sidewall portions that allows the container and any contents to be lifted with the container suspended from the shaped surfaces.
26. Lifting apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the gripping devices are actuated by mechanical advantage devices.
27. Lifting apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the gripping devices are constructed to lift containers having straight sidewalls extending to a top edge of the sidewalls, the sidewalls being free of crimping, beading, or other surface formations that would aid in lifting of the containers.
28. Lifting apparatus comprising clamp means including cooperable first and second jaws, a frame, and a lifting member movable relative to the frame, the first jaw being fixed to the frame and the second jaw being mounted on a pivot member pivotally supported on the frame, and incline surface means fixed to the lifting member, the pivot member having a follower that engages the incline surface means to move the second jaw toward the first jaw in response to movement of the lifting member relative to the frame.
29. Lifting apparatus comprising a pair of spaced clamps, a frame, and a lifting member movable relative to the frame, each clamp having a first jaw fixed to the frame and a second jaw mounted on a pivot member pivotally supported on the frame, and a pair of incline surface members fixed to the lifting member, the pivot members having followers cooperable with the incline surface members, respectively, for moving the second jaws toward the first jaws when the lifting member is moved relative to the frame.
30. Lifting apparatus comprising a frame, a pair of spaced clamps, each clamp having cooperable first and second jaws, a pair of linkages, and a lifting member movable relative to the frame, the first jaws being fixed to the frame, and the second jaws being fixed to first links of the linkages, respectively, the first links being pivotally mounted on the frame and being pivotally connected to second links of the linkages, respectively, that are pivotally connected to the lifting member, the linkages being constructed to move the second jaws toward the first jaws in response to movement of the lifting member relative to the frame.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A software system encoded on one or more non-transitory computer readable mediums, the system comprising:
a module database comprising a plurality of module types expressed as at least web code; and
a formatting interface comprising:
a selection menu presenting the plurality of module types for selection,
a layout field into which one or more modules may be placed, each module being a copy of one of the plurality of module types, and
a save control,
wherein, upon activation of the save control, a web code on at least one web page of a website is altered such that an appearance of the at least web page reflects a placement of the one or more modules in the layout field.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the web code for at least module type of the plurality of module types contains dynamic code.
3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a layout database the layout database comprising a plurality of layouts expressed as at least web code, parameters for an executable program, or executable code.
4. The system of claim 1,
wherein at least one of the plurality of module types is further expressed as configuration data,
wherein, when a module that is a copy of the at least one of the plurality of module types is placed within the layout field, a configuration data of the module may be adjusted, and
wherein, upon activation of the save control, a web code on at least one web page of a website is further altered such that an appearance of the at least web page reflects an adjustment of the configuration data of the at least one module.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the at least one of the plurality of module types is further expressed as configuration data for a height and width.
6. The system of claim 4,
wherein all of the plurality of module types are further expressed as configuration data for a height and width, the height and width defining borders of a module,
wherein the layout field is divided into a plurality of placement regions, each of the plurality of placement regions having a height andor width, the height and width defining borders of the placement region, and
wherein borders of each of the one or more modules in the layout field must be aligned with borders of one or more of the plurality of placement regions.
7. The system of claim 6,
wherein, in each of the plurality of module types, the configuration data for a height and width are limited to heights and widths that are multiples of a base unit size, and
each of the plurality of placement regions has a height andor width that are multiples of the base unit size.
8. The system of claim 4, wherein at least one of the plurality of module types is further expressed as configuration data for a font, a border style, or a background color.
9. The system of claim 4, wherein at least one of the plurality of module types is further expressed as fixed configuration data.
10. The system of claim 1,
wherein the website comprises a hierarchy of web pages which are organized by branches,
wherein each of the branches in the hierarchy comprises a template which may be displayed in the layout field, the template comprising one or more modules, and
wherein, upon activation of the save control, if a template for a specific branch of the hierarchy is displayed in the layout field, web code on all web pages of the specific branch are altered such that appearances of all web pages of the specific branch reflects a placement of the one or more modules in the template displayed in the layout field, but web code on all web pages not of the specific branch are not altered.
11. The system of claim 1,
wherein the website comprises an online forum, the forum comprising a hierarchy of subforums which are organized by branches,
wherein each of the branches in the hierarchy comprises a template which may be displayed in the layout field, the template comprising one or more modules,
wherein, upon activation of the save control, if a template for a specific branch of the hierarchy is displayed in the layout field, web code on all pages of all subforums of the specific branch are altered such that appearances of all pages of all subforums of the specific branch reflects a placement of the one or more modules in the template displayed in the layout field, but web code on all pages of all subforums not of the specific branch are not altered.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of module types comprises a masthead module type, the masthead module type comprising configuration data for a logo and navigation links.
13. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of module types comprises a post list module type, the post list module type comprising default sort configuration data.
14. The system of claim 1,
wherein the plurality of module types comprises an arbitrary content module type, the configuration data of the arbitrary content module type comprising inputted web code, and
wherein, if a module that is a copy of the arbitrary content module has been placed in the layout field, then, upon activation of the save control, the inputted web code is rendered at a location reflective of the place of the arbitrary content module in the layout field.
15. The system of claim 1,
wherein the formatting interface further comprises a style selector which receives style parameters, and
wherein, upon activation of the save control, style parameters on at least one web page of a website are altered to reflect the style parameters received by the style selector.
16. The system of claim 1,
wherein the formatting interface further comprises a user categorizer which receives at least one user category, each of the user categories comprising a title and a series of user privilege toggles, and
wherein, upon activation of the save control, a user category on at least one web page of a website is altered to reflect the at least one user category of the user categorizer.
17. The system of claim 1, further comprising a developer interface which receives at least a web code for a new module type, and stores the web code for a new module type to the module database.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the developer interface further receives a code for a new layout, and stores the code for a new layout to the layout database.
19. A method of altering a web code on at least one web page of a website, using a formatting interface, the method comprising:
selecting at least one module from a plurality of module types expressed as at least web code;
placing the at least one module in a layout field of the formatting interface; and
activating a save control.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein the web code for at least module type of the plurality of module types contains dynamic code.