Auxiliary Fork Rollers to Prevent Pallet Shunting Damage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current materials-handling trucks face challenges in efficiently entering and exiting empty or lightly-loaded closed-bottom pallets, often causing damage to the pallets and reducing operational efficiency due to the front load wheel pushing against the bottom board instead of lifting the pallet as intended.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of auxiliary rollers on elongated forks that apply a downward vertical force on the bottom boards of pallets, allowing the forks to enter and exit pallets without shunting, and the design of elongated forks with auxiliary rollers positioned to contact the bottom boards of multiple pallets during lifting operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the front load wheel strikes against the bottom board of an empty or lightly-loaded pallet, then the pallet is pushed along the ground rather than lifted, but this causes damage to the pallet bottom board and the floor surface
Solution Approach 1:
An auxiliary roller is introduced as an intermediary component between the load wheel and the pallet bottom board. The auxiliary roller makes contact with the bottom board first and applies downward pressure to keep the pallet stationary during fork insertion and removal, preventing the load wheel from directly striking and pushing the pallet.
Solution Approach 2:
The auxiliary roller performs a preliminary action by contacting the pallet bottom board before the load wheel does. This preliminary contact establishes downward pressure on the pallet, ensuring it remains stationary during the subsequent fork insertion or removal operation.
2Ease of operation
If the load wheel pushes the pallet along the ground to enter the fork, then the fork can enter the pallet, but the horizontal surface is damaged and the pallet bottom board is damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The auxiliary roller serves as a mediator that prevents direct harmful contact between the load wheel and the pallet bottom board. It transfers the necessary force to control the pallet position without causing the sliding/shunting motion that leads to damage.
3Productivity
If empty pallets are not properly secured during fork insertion, then the forks can enter the pallet, but the pallet moves and becomes trapped on the forks
Solution Approach 1:
The auxiliary roller performs preliminary securing action by applying downward pressure on the pallet bottom board before the fork insertion is complete. This prevents the pallet from moving upward and becoming trapped on the forks during the operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A fork assembly for a forked materials-handling vehicle with a chassis is configured to simultaneously lift at least two inline pallets, each pallet comprising a plurality of bottom boards. The fork assembly comprises a plurality of elongated forks and a plurality of auxiliary rollers. The plurality of elongated forks includes a first fork and a second fork, where each fork has a proximal end and a distal end along a longitudinal axis and the proximal end of each fork is attached to the chassis. Each fork includes a load wheel connected to the fork, and each fork has a length sufficient to lift at least two pallets arranged in an inline configuration. The plurality of auxiliary rollers are rotatably coupled to one or more of the plurality of forks, where the plurality of auxiliary rollers are positioned longitudinally along the length of the fork assembly such that at least one of the auxiliary rollers is on at least one bottom board of a proximal pallet of the at least two pallets when the load wheel has entered the proximal pallet and contacts a bottom board of the at least two pallets.