Electric forklift technology development and research direction

Since the emergence of the world's first machine that can both lift and transport goods in short distances in 1987, electric forklifts have developed into a fairly complete material handling tool. Of course, the technology and performance of today's most advanced electric forklifts were beyond the dreams of designers in the 19th century. Modern electric forklifts have greatly improved productivity, running performance, operating sensitivity and comfort. These developments mainly depend on the progress and application of the following technologies:

①The application of power transistors and microprocessors improves the operation and running performance of forklifts.

②Improvement of the performance of lead-acid batteries.

③The safety, reliability and comfort of the cab or workbench are improved.

④ Use computer terminals and scanning devices in the cab for effective inventory management.

⑤ Application of automatic control system to improve the maximum storage efficiency.

1. New technology of control system

In terms of driving and loading and unloading control of electric forklifts, the earlier technological innovation was the electronic silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) introduced in the late 1960s. The silicon controlled rectifier is like a "switch", it can transmit all the power to the drive motor in a short pulse time. The two early advantages of silicon controlled rectifiers are the effective use of battery power and the smooth and stepless realization of power acceleration. In the past 20 years, SCR technology has developed rapidly. Today's most advanced controllable system enables electric forklifts to have better performance:

①Slope start, the electric forklift can not only stop on the slope steadily, but also will not roll down when starting on the slope.

② Thermal protection, a good thermal protection control system can effectively prevent the working temperature from exceeding the design limit.

③Automatic fault detection, the sensitive monitor automatically monitors the pulse frequency and action accuracy of the working system to prevent stalls caused by system faults.

④Safety self-locking protection, no matter what position the shift lever is in, as long as the driver leaves the electric forklift, the engine will automatically be in idling state.

The latest technology in the 1980s was the introduction of power transistors. As an alternative to SCR-based control systems, transistor control systems have some advantages. Compared with thyristors, transistors are relatively simple electronic components. Therefore, the number of parts of the control system and console is greatly reduced. In this way, not only the reliability of the control system is increased, but also the maintenance is convenient. This kind of control system combined with a microprocessor makes the control function of the electric forklift increase a lot while not increasing the cost much.

2. Sensitive operating device

The latest operating technology is to use a microprocessor to control and monitor the operation of electric forklifts. Various working mechanisms, such as forklift lifting mechanism, hydraulic system, acceleration control system, power supply, etc., transmit various information to the microprocessor. The microprocessor analyzes and calculates and tells the driver what to do through signals. For example, in the peak power output, the microprocessor provides the driver with the best shifting time by monitoring the power consumption.

The most advanced electric forklift has the ability to self-diagnose timing failures. Equipped with a timing diagnosis device, the microprocessor can continuously control and monitor the operating conditions of the electric forklift, reminding the driver of any problems that arise. The self-diagnostic device in the machine can check all electrical signals of various operation logics within one minute, which saves expensive external test equipment.

Third, the improvement of battery performance

An important development of modern electric forklifts is the improvement of battery performance. In order to meet the high-speed and high-load requirements for a long working cycle, each forklift manufacturer is committed to improving lead-acid battery technology. These improvements are mainly: increasing the voltage (above 80V), increasing the capacity (above 690Ah), and increasing the utilization rate of battery materials And battery efficiency.

Since the most advanced electric forklift can accurately monitor the forklift's working cycle, the control device can automatically charge the battery during off-peak hours, thereby reducing downtime and improving work efficiency.