Industrial Truck Load Wheel Control for Lifting Frame Vibration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial trucks, particularly narrow aisle forklifts, face challenges with vibrations of the lifting frame during load changes, which are exacerbated by geometric conditions, leading to reduced turnover rates and the need for precise ground flatness, resulting in high maintenance costs.
Innovation Solution
The industrial truck incorporates a vehicle body with a lifting frame, load wheels, a steered drive wheel, an actuator, a detection unit, and a control unit that adjusts the load wheel's position relative to the vehicle body based on detected operating parameters to minimize vibrations, using sensors to detect inclination, acceleration, and surface conditions, enabling high-speed operation on poor surfaces without compromising performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the industrial truck operates at high speed on poor driving surfaces, then productivity is improved, but lifting frame vibrations increase and task precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The load wheel is made dynamically adjustable through an actuator system that changes its position relative to the vehicle body in real-time. The control unit processes sensor data about surface conditions and truck state, then dynamically repositions the load wheel to optimize performance for current operating conditions, allowing high speed operation while maintaining task precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The industrial truck autonomously adjusts its own configuration by using sensors to detect operating parameters and surface conditions, then the control unit automatically repositions the load wheel without external intervention. This self-adjusting capability enables the truck to maintain optimal performance across varying surface conditions and speeds.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the ground surface is made perfectly flat, then lifting frame vibrations are reduced, but maintenance costs and inspection requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of trying to eliminate poor surface conditions through expensive ground preparation, the invention converts the harmful effect of uneven surfaces into useful information. Sensors detect surface irregularities and induce vibrations, then the control system uses this information to dynamically adjust the load wheel position to counteract the harmful effects, transforming the problem into an opportunity for active compensation.
Solution Approach 2:
A feedback loop is established where sensors continuously monitor operating parameters including surface conditions and lifting frame vibrations. The control unit processes this feedback and automatically adjusts the load wheel position through the actuator system, creating a closed-loop control that actively compensates for vibrations caused by poor surface conditions without requiring expensive ground maintenance.
3Device complexity
If the load wheel position is fixed, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability to different operating conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The load wheel positioning system transitions from a fixed static configuration to a dynamic adjustable system. An actuator mechanism enables the load wheel to change its position relative to the vehicle body based on real-time operating conditions detected by sensors and processed by the control unit, providing adaptability while maintaining manageable complexity through automated control.
Data Source
AI summary
An industrial truck comprises a vehicle body, a lifting frame, at least one load wheel, at least one further wheel, at least one actuator, at least one detection unit configured to detect a current operating parameter of the industrial truck, and a control unit. The control unit is configured to define a target state of the industrial truck, to receive data from the detection unit to determine an actual state of the industrial truck based on the detected operating parameters of the industrial truck, to calculate the effects of possible adjustments of the relative position of the load wheel with respect to the vehicle body on the actual state of the industrial truck, and to instruct the at least one actuator to adjust the relative position of the load wheel with respect to the vehicle body to approximate the actual state of the industrial truck to the target state.