Forklif your way round problems
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NOTHING speeds 1 movement of goods in / around warehouses quickly as the many typet forklift trucks.
This year there is a r company on the British scen( .Fenwick Manutention, whi with an annual turnover • about a billion francs, France's biggest forklift tri manufacturer.
Integrated Handling Ltd member of the Benjamin Pr Group, has created a r division of the Brierly Hill hi office to handle this new (-al of equipment, consisting of lift hand pallet trucks, low platform type trucks and high trucks and stackers. At bottom of the range in hand-operated sector the e tric Transpallet X1 5 is simpli operate, relatively sturdy wit maximum payload of 2,00( (4,4001b) and is supplied wit built-in charger.
To get between narrow aiE several models are offer among them the reach tr with a lifting height up to (23ft) and a capacity up 2,000kg at 610mm (4,4001 24in).
Improvements
The FAER 5.1, from Lans Bagnall, pioneer of the tu truck, now boasts a numbei improvements after a rec redesign. A new mast and tu unit has been incorporated the 1.5-tonne capacity mc which allows the truck to rot 181Y either side of an ai Alternative handling arran ments include the J fork u suspended from an overhi turret unit, and the L fork which traverses a geared ra This truck can be guided in gangway by side rails enabl the racking to be placed cl together and, with its lift hei of 12m (40ft), it aids the t use of warehouse space.
Innovation
Lansing Bagnall, bigg manufacturer of electric trucks in Europe, holds Queen's Award for exp achievement, the Quee Award for the technolog innovation and a Design Cou. award.
The use of LPG on forkl has increased in recent ye d Mitsubishi is just one corn ny which intends to meet the wing demand_ Its FG1_5 is an G-powered truck witlia cap
of 500kg at .. 609mm. 000lb at 2-4in). It uses the tsubishi 4G41 four-cylinder arhead valve engine, an egral assembly with torque werter, transmission and e. The hydraulic brakes are If-adjusting and should iuire no attention for the life the lining.
A Lift Truck Satellite is 3ilable with this model which -I be steered into areas too imped for the full-sized truck enter.
Not all forklifts are powered; Tte, like the Sherpa II, from kinsons of Clitheroe Ltd, niliar as a manufacturer of tters and snowploughs, are erated manually. A long lever ised to pump a hydraulic ram raise the forks to a height of 1 m (3ft 8in) with a load of i8kg (3481b) at 241mm .Sin) centres. Others in this lge can lift as much as 907kg ,0001b) at 610mm (24in) as gh as 3,048mm (1 Oft), but ase are electrically powered. ith for the lifting system and as Tleans of-propulsion.
.ansfer frames
Transfer frames are one of
e extra pieces of equipment ring offered for rental by Fork uck Rentals. The system rabies fully laden 12m (40ft) ,ntainers to be loaded onto or moved from road and railway :hides. The hydraulic lift )mes are free standing, poared by a self-contained diesel
mains electricity but are )pendent on a oneto ree-tonne capacity forklift for eir transportation.
Once in position, a direct fdraulic lift is provided at each trner of the container. Each m can be operated indepenwily to accommodate any ievenness of the surrounding .ound surface. A remote introl is provided to operate all le hydraulic lifts simultaneous. Should the container be ised more than two degrees it of level an audible warning automatically set off. Howrer, unevenly distributed loads -e claimed to present no
roblem to the system.
:onfined areas
Not all forklifts are suitable ir use in confined areas as efined by the 1974 Health and afety at Work Act. Diesel-enined models, in particular, aye had difficulty in meeting the safety requirements on exhaust emission.
Recently, though, Linde obtained approval, from the Health and Safety Executive, for its swirl chamber Deutz diesel-engined models to be used in enclosed areas at the premises of the Norwich Corrugated Board Co Ltd and British Cellophane Ltd. Tests, carried out before final approval was given, showed that most high levels of carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide could be kept below the permitted threshold limit of airborne contamination.
The 1,360kg, 1,814kg, 3,175kg (3,0001b, 4,000lb Ind 7,0001b) models in quesion are available with pneumaic or 'superlastic'' tyres using he same type of rim as well as ieing the same size front and ear. A suspension seat is fitted o provide extra comfort for the Inver and reduce incidence of lack ailments. Two pedals ontrol the hydrostatic transnission providing forward or earward movement without the Id of a clutch, while all four of he basic load handling operaons are achieved by the novement of a single lever.
Applications of the Roll-air ystem are particularly suitable for moving heavy equipment in either production or storage areas where there is a smooth, flat sealed concrete floor on which to operate. The system which runs off an air feed of 550-620kN/sqm (80-90psi) will cope with the movement of loads from one to several thousand tons.
In operation, a thin air film is formed between the inflated compliant diaphragms and the floor surface and uses relatively small quantities of air when floating.
Most firms' handling problems come in much smaller packages and the problem of how to get them into a container with the minimum handling when there isn't a loading dock available has been solved by Brown Line Ltd with a mobile yard ramp.
Two hydraulic rams permit height adjustment from 0.94m (37in) to 1.6m (63in) to match variations in vehicle platform height while the 1.8m (6ft) level of platform allows the forklift to enter the container without a change in attitude once the ramp has been secured to the vehicle by hook and chains. About 20 different types are available ranging in capacity from 5,000kg (1 1,0001b) 9,080kg (20,0001b).
Where a loading dock facil does exist but problems ar from incompatible heigh Brown Line's range of portak ramps may solve them. T scope of the models offered it cope with height differentials I to 304mm (12in) with indi dual ramps having a capacity 5,450kg (I2,0001b).
These should not be conk ed with Econoboards, which a only used to bridge the gi between dock and vehicle.
This method of employir
3ks to position gouus within
vehicle may warrant a manent installation of the e made by Serco Engineering i marketed in Britain by T. ;ker Lifts Ltd.
The biggest unit of Serco dels has a platform measur 2.1m (84in) wide, 2.6m )4in) deep, plus a 0.4m iin) hinged front lip to cope h variation in platform ght, 0.3m (1 2 in) above to 3m (12in) below, plus the gap .ween deck and vehicle. A )ice of a hydraulic or mechaal model is offered, but both.
supplied complete in an tallation frame, which has to recessed and concreted into dock and will provide a gle axle loading capacity of 300kg (20,0001b).
obile conveyor
A piece of equipment, equy useful for loading or 'loading containers, either on a ground or still in position on a vehicle, is supplied by )wland Engineering Co Ltd in e form of a mobile conveyor. A telescopic boom projects e conveyor to the precise point iere it is required. Telescopic id conveyor movements are anipulated by push-button introls positioned at each end the loader. On the biggest odel, the boom has a variable "(reach of 1 3.4m (44ft) or 5m (31ft) in the retracted )sition. A threeor single-phat motor is used to drive the 09mm (24in) wide conveyor at speed of 22m /min 'at/min). Diesel electric dris are also available providing te power to operate the iachine where it is sited away om mains electricity.
The counterbalanced chassis asts on four heavy-duty 03mm (8in) castors or ptionally on solid tyred r heels with steering, which, preferred can be fitted with power unit for propelling le machine into position. On ame models, the boom relaining outside the vehicle can e adjusted in height to 4m 13ft) using a hydraulic system perated by hand, providing a acuity to transport goods retween variable levels. The .verall capacity is given as '12kg (14cwt) split up into venly distributed units of 01.6kg (2cwt) along the angth of the conveyor.