Liquid-Cooled Integrative Power System for Electric Forklift
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing electric forklift drive and hydraulic power systems have a distributed arrangement that leads to long connecting cables, increased costs, inefficient power usage, and poor heat dissipation, resulting in a complex and costly structure.
Innovation Solution
A liquid-cooled integrative power system with an integrated transmission gearbox, drive motor, oil pump motor, motor controller, and vehicle controller, where the components are compactly arranged and connected through splines and bearings, eliminating external cables and utilizing a series of heat-dissipation water channels for forced liquid cooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a distributed arrangement is adopted for drive and hydraulic power units, then each unit can be independently arranged, but the connecting cables become too long, increasing costs and energy consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the drive motor and hydraulic motor into a single integrated power unit, eliminating the need for long connecting cables between separate power units and controllers. This merging reduces electrical resistance and energy loss while maintaining the functional independence of each motor through separate control circuits within the integrated unit.
2Ease of operation
If a distributed arrangement is adopted, then each power unit can be separately arranged, but the cable length increases, affecting power efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated power unit merges the drive motor, hydraulic motor, and controller into a single compact assembly. This eliminates long external cables and reduces power loss while simplifying assembly to a single unit installation rather than multiple separate components requiring extensive cable routing.
3Reliability
If separate cooling systems are used for each power unit, then each unit can be cooled independently, but the structure becomes complex and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated power unit employs a unified cooling system that serves both the drive motor and hydraulic motor through shared cooling channels and fluid circulation. This merged cooling approach reduces the number of separate cooling components and connections while maintaining effective heat dissipation for both motors through the integrated thermal management design.
4Device complexity
If natural conduction or forced wind-cooling is used, then the cooling system is simple, but the heat-dissipation effect is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The integrated power unit utilizes a liquid cooling system with pumped coolant circulation to achieve forced convection cooling. This hydraulic cooling approach provides superior heat dissipation effectiveness compared to natural conduction or air cooling, while the integrated design keeps the system compact and efficiently connected to both motors through shared cooling pathways.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution results in a highly integrated, compact power system that simplifies assembly, reduces energy consumption, enhances insulation safety, and effectively manages heat dissipation, improving the reliability and service life of the electric forklift.
Implementation Method 1
a liquid cooling system, with forced liquid cooling channels arranged inside housing of the drive motor and housing of the oil pump motor
Implementation Method 2
an output shaft of the drive motor is connected, through a spline, to a first spline on an input gear shaft of the first-stage on the drive motor transmission mechanism
Implementation Method 3
each gear shaft of the drive motor transmission mechanism is arranged on a housing of the integrated transmission gearbox through a bearing
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid-cooled integrative power system for electric forklift includes an integrated transmission gearbox, an integrated motor controller, a drive motor, an oil pump motor, an oil pump and a vehicle controller. The integrated transmission gearbox includes a drive motor transmission mechanism and an oil pump motor transmission mechanism. The integrated motor controller includes a drive motor control unit and an oil pump motor control unit. The integrated transmission gearbox, the integrated motor controller, the drive motor, the oil pump motor, the oil pump and the vehicle controller are completely integrated and mounted to form the liquid-cooled integrative power system for electric forklift.