referring to the drawings in particular , the invention embodied therein , comprises a lifting device , particularly for feeding a processing machine in the food industry . in the embodiment shown , a lifting device , generally designated 50 , serves the purpose of lifting containers , particularly portable containers , and is preferably employed in the meat industry . with the aid of this device , the material to be processed , i . e ., meat or the like , is lifted to the level of a filling funnel of a respective processing machine ( not shown ). the device may be permanently fixed to the processing machine and transported therewith from one location to the other . the lifting device 50 includes a telescopic post 1 , and a support or supporting structure 3 is displaceable along the telescopic post and pivotable about a shaft 2 which forms a horizontal axis for the structure 3 and is intended to support and retain a container ( not shown ) in which the material to be processed is received . the device further comprises a pivoting mechanism , generally designated 4 in fig3 by means of which the container in the upper lifting position or in the zone of the upper lifting position can be tilted . in accordance with another feature of the invention , this pivoting mechanism 4 is controllable by the lifting motion of the post . the lifting motion is produced by a hydraulic or pneumatic power cylinder 5 which , in the present example , advantageously comprises a single - acting cylinder with a piston rod 6 movable in respect to the cylinder 5 . operating fluid is supplied to cylinder 5 through a line 7 , shown in fig1 . in the considered embodiment , telescopic post 1 comprises three telescoping parts , namely , a lower part 8 , a middle part 9 , and an upper part 10 . they all have channel - shaped cross - sections , as may be learned particularly from fig2 . the portion of middle part 9 which , with the post extended , remains within lower part 8 , is equipped with rollers 11 , 12 for lengthwise and crosswise bracing , preferably comprising ball bearings . similarly , and for the same purpose of lengthwise and crosswise bracing , rollers 13 and 14 are provided at the upper and lower ends of upper part 10 which is movable within the middle part . middle part 9 is connected to the piston rod 6 . in addition , middle part 9 is connected to one end of a chain 16 which is passed over a sprocket wheel 15 mounted for rotation on the upper end portion of middle part 9 . the other end of the chain is secured to the lower end of lower part 8 . as already mentioned , support 3 is pivotable about horizontal shaft 2 which is secured to the uppermost part , i . e ., upper part 10 of telescopic post 1 and extends perpendicularly to the lifting motion of the post , i . e ., in the horizontal direction . support 3 has the form of the letter u , the middle portion or web 3a of which embraces shaft 2 conectrically and is designed as a bearing sleeve . two u - leg portions 18 and 19 of the support 3 are equipped , at their free ends , with coupling and locking mechanisms 52 and 54 , respectively , for securely and non - rotatably holding a container ( fig3 ). thus , the container can be tilted about horizontal shaft 2 only along with support 3 . this tilting motion is automatically controlled and takes place during the end phase of the lifting motion . for tilting the legs 18 and 19 , the u - leg 19 adjacent post 1 , which , in the same manner as the other u - leg 18 , in the lowered position of telescopic post 1 , extends horizontally , is provided with a control extension 20 , fig2 and 3 , comprising a guide groove 21 . guide groove 21 cooperates with a guide member 22 which is designed as a pin and mounted , in the present example , in the upper half of middle part 9 of the post . fig3 shows particularly clearly that u - leg 19 and the central longitudinal axis of guide groove 21 form an obtuse angle , preferably of about 120 °. the central longitudinal axis of the groove passes through the pivotal axis 23 of the support 3 . in the lowered position of telescopic post 1 and support 3 , the open or gate end 24 of groove 21 , which is provided with an oblique lead - in face , points upwardly . the arrangement is such that as upper part 10 of the post is lifted , guide groove 21 engages from below over guide member 22 . since the distance between the gate end 24 and shaft 2 of support 3 is greater than the perpendicular distance between guide member 22 and piston rod 6 and the longitudinal axis of guide groove 21 extends obliquely relative to the longitudinal axis of piston rod 6 , with the continuing lifting motion , upper part 10 of the post presses guide member 22 against the inner wall 25 of guide groove 21 . it is to be noted that at that time , considering fig3 u - leg 19 extends horizontally and projects to the righthand side beyond telescopic post 1 . it will be easily understood that after &# 34 ; coupling &# 34 ; guide member 22 to guide groove 21 , a lifting motion of telescopic post 1 results in a pivotal motion of support 3 in the direction of arrow 26 . fig3 shows support 3 in the end position thereof , after a pivoting through about 120 °. as already mentioned , the container ( not shown ) follows this tilting motion so that in the end position , the filling opening of the container is directed obliquely downwardly so that the contents are discharged into the processing machine or the filling funnel thereof ( both not shown ). during this pivotal or tilting motion of support 3 , guide member 22 first moves in the direction of arrow 27 in groove 21 , whereupon , in the second phase of the pivotal motion , the travel of guide member 22 is reversed , so that at the end of the motion , the guide member again occupies its position at the gate end of guide groove 21 , as shown in fig3 . the pivoting back of support 3 and lowering of telescopic post 1 is effected in the reverse order , provided a double - acting lifting cylinder 5 is used and pressurized from the opposite side . in the present example , however , as already mentioned , a single - acting cylinder 5 is provided . this means that a particular return mechanism is needed for pivoting support 3 back , beyond the dead center position . the dead center position once passed , the support and parts 9 and 10 of telescopic post 1 return automatically into their initial positions under their own weight , as soon as hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder 5 is depressurized and the operating fluid can escape . such a mechanism for returning support 3 with the container into their initial positions is shown in fig4 . the necessary return force is produced by a return spring 28 which is tensioned during the pivotal motion for emptying . the design is as follows : on the upper part 10 of telescopic post 1 , an abutting member 30 is mounted for moving upwardly and downwardly in the telescoping directions of arrow 29 . for this purpose , two lugs 31 and 32 spaced from each other are provided . return spring 28 which is designed as a helical compression spring and concentrically surrounds abutting member 30 rests , by its lower end , against the lower lug 32 . the upper end of the spring is applied against a collar 33 of abutting member 30 . an annular disc secured in a manner known per se may also be used instead of the collar . the spring is biased , so that a collar or disc 34 provided at the lower end of abutting member 30 is pressed against the underside of lug 32 . at the upper end of middle part 9 of post 1 , a stop 35 is provided against which the upper end of member 30 abuts before support 3 reaches a 90 ° tilting position . with the continuing lifting motion of upper part 10 of the post , lug 32 is pushed against the lower end of return spring 28 thereby compressing the spring . the force thus accumulated is sufficient even for pivoting the full container from its emptying position back beyond a dead center position . this may be necessary if , for some reason , the material to be processed sticks to the container and the container must be lowered once again . while a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention , it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles .