Least-index Anticycling Rules.

A control system for an industrial lift truck includes a housing, a cam plate rotatably mounted within said housing, and a plurality of switches urged against and riding on a surface of the cam plate. The cam plate is provided with grooves in its surface along a part of the paths defined by each switch traversing the plate. Accordingly, the movement of the plate actuates switches that are forced into or out of the corresponding groove. The closing and opening of switches produces signals which are used to select the speed and the drive direction of the lift truck. The cam plate can include detents which accommodate a ball as the cam is rotated to a position where the detent corresponds to the ball. The ball is urged into the detent by a spring. Consequently, the operator is able to select discrete speeds of the lift truck and the rotation of the cam plate is restricted. The control system can also include additional controllers for controlling other functions of the lift truck. All controllers are preferably close enough to the grip bars of the handle to permit the operator to actuate any of them without removing either hand from the grip bars.