This invention is directed to transferring articles from a pickup position to a discharge position by using a driven pickup arm with a holder. The pickup arm is driven by a driving arm and is raised and lowered and stopped by contact with a cam mechanism attached to the driving arm and stops and guides located near the pickup and discharge positions.
A turntable is provided for use in recharging batteries of the type used in battery powered forklift trucks and the like. The turntable includes a peripheral array of charging stations each including a support platform and a battery charger for connection to and recharging of a battery on the platform. The turntable is rotatably driven in a stepwise manner to index the charging stations in succession to a transfer position. A push-pull ram at the transfer position draws a depleted battery from a forklift truck onto the platform of an empty charging station. The turntable is then indexed to move a recharged battery to the transfer position, and the push-pull ram installs the recharged battery on the forklift truck.
