1-20. (canceled)
21. A method for avoiding collisions between a scissor lift and surrounding objects, the scissor lift comprising a passenger basket, the method comprising:
providing padded bumpers coupled to the passenger basket, wherein impact sensor elements are embedded within the padded bumpers;
detecting an impact condition of the passenger basket with respect to the surrounding objects by receiving impact information from the impact sensor elements;
determining a collision status based on the impact condition; and
activating a warning indicator when the collision status is within a predetermined warning threshold.
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising displaying at least one of the impact information, the impact condition, and the collision status.
23. The method of claim 21, further comprising over-riding operator control of the scissor lift when the collision status is within a predetermined over-ride threshold.
24. A controller apparatus for a scissor lift, the scissor lift comprising a passenger basket, the controller apparatus comprising:
a sensing module comprising a basket contact sub-module that detects an impact condition of the passenger basket with the surrounding objects by receiving impact information from impact sensor elements embedded within padded bumpers coupled to the passenger basket;
a collision module that determines a collision status based on the impact condition; and
a warning module that activates a warning indicator when the collision status is within a predetermined warning threshold.
25. The controller apparatus of claim 24, wherein the passenger basket comprises an extendable platform, and wherein impact sensor elements are disposed on the extendable platform.
26. The controller apparatus of claim 24, wherein the impact sensor elements comprise omni-directional sensors, and wherein the impact condition comprises directional force of the impact.
27. The controller apparatus of claim 24, further comprising an over-ride module that over-rides control of the scissor lift when the collision status is within a predetermined over-ride threshold.
28. The controller apparatus of claim 27, further comprising a display module that displays one or more of the impact condition, the collision status, the warning indicator, the warning threshold, and the over-ride threshold.
29. The controller apparatus of claim 27, wherein the warning module comprises multiple warning thresholds that correspond with multiple warning indicators.
30. A collision avoidance system for a scissor lift, the scissor lift comprising a passenger basket, the collision avoidance system comprising a basket contact sensor sub-system comprising impact sensor elements embedded within padded bumpers coupled to the passenger basket.
31. The collision avoidance system of claim 30, wherein the padded bumpers are coupled to the passenger basket along edges of the passenger basket.
32. The collision avoidance system of claim 30, wherein the padded bumpers are coupled to faces of the passenger basket.
33. The collision avoidance system of claim 30, wherein the impact sensor elements comprise omni-directional sensors.
34. The collision avoidance system of claim 33, wherein the impact sensor elements detect a direction of the impact.
35. The collision avoidance system of claim 31, wherein the passenger basket comprises an extendable platform, and wherein impact sensor elements are disposed on the extendable platform.
36. The collision avoidance system of claim 35, wherein the extendable platform comprises padded bumpers and the impact sensor elements are embedded within the padded bumpers of the extendable platform.
37. The collision avoidance system of claim 31, wherein:
the scissor lift further comprises a scissor extension mechanism and a base with wheels; and
the collision avoidance system further comprises a through-beam sensor sub-system mounted to the scissor extension mechanism, the scissor extension mechanism comprising a basket-end portion and a base-end portion, the through-beam sensor sub-system comprising at least one corresponding set of an emitter and a receiver, wherein the emitter of each corresponding set is mounted to one of the basket-end portion and the base-end portion and the receiver of each corresponding set is mounted to the other of the basket-end portion and the base-end portion.
38. The collision avoidance system of claim 37, wherein the at least one corresponding set of the emitter and the receiver of the through-beam sensor sub-system utilizes infrared light.
39. The collision avoidance system of claim 37, wherein the scissor extension mechanism comprises exterior nodes, the at least one corresponding set of the emitter and the receiver being moveable with the exterior nodes along with the basket-end portion and the base-end portion of the scissor extension mechanism.
40. The collision avoidance system of claim 37, wherein the through-beam sensor sub-system comprises three corresponding sets of the emitter and the receiver, and wherein the three corresponding sets of the emitter and the receiver substantially form a sensor curtain.
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. In a rotary cutter assembly having an upright, rotatable spindle, the improvement comprising:
a stationary bearing housing having an upright bore;
a bearing assembly disposed within said bore and journaling said spindle for rotation about an upright axis; and
a cutter mounting member secured to said spindle above the housing for rotation with the spindle relative to said housing,
said cutter mounting member having a radially outwardly disposed lower peripheral edge,
said housing having an annular rib surrounding said lower peripheral edge of the cutter mounting member and projecting upwardly beyond said lower peripheral edge of the cutter mounting member to inhibit the migration of foreign materials into the bearing assembly from the exterior of the cutter assembly.
2. In a rotary cutter assembly as claimed in claim 1,
said rib being circumferentially continuous.
3. In a rotary cutter assembly as claimed in claim 1,
said mounting member having a radially outer face that slopes upwardly and inwardly from said lower peripheral edge.
4. In a rotary cutter assembly as claimed in claim 3,
said rib having an upwardly and inwardly sloping radially outer face.
5. In a rotary cutter assembly as claimed in claim 4,
said outer face of the rib sloping upwardly toward said outer face of the mounting member.
6. In a rotary cutter assembly as claimed in claim 3,
said mounting member having a radially outwardly and downwardly projecting, annular skirt,
said outer face and said lower peripheral edge of the mounting member being on said skirt.
7. In a rotary cutter assembly as claimed in claim 6,
said housing including a central hub having an upper end,
said hub and said rib cooperating to define an annular recess below said upper end of the hub and within which said lower peripheral edge of the skirt rotates.
8. In a rotary cutter assembly as claimed in claim 7,
said rib being circumferentially continuous.