Forklift is a small industrial vehicle, having a power-driven forked module connected at the front that can be raised and brought down for landing beneath a cargo to lift or relocate. Forklifts provide for the requirements of numerous industries including storehouses and various other large storage space facilities.
Despite a critical part of any warehouse or storage facility, most managers rarely ever take time to understand their inner workings.
To help bridge the gap in knowledge and as a forklift Singapore rental company, we would like to take this chance to go through their primary mechanisms and give you a good idea of how these vehicles can carry out their tasks.
How does a Forklift Function?
Forklifts derive their energy from two entwining systems:
- A pair of hydraulic cylinders
- A set of roller chain pulleys
Lifting System: Hydraulic Cylinders
The lift handle is connected to an electrical air pump at the base of the forklift. Once the handle is pushed, it sets off the air pump that sucks in the external air via a filter and pushes it into a tube reaching to the hydraulic tubes.
A hydraulic cylinder include a hollow tube closed at one end with a flexible lubricated piston connecting into the other. Air obtains allured via the base of the tube that enables gasses to get in without dripping them out.
The quantity of gas in the cylinder inflates the pressure inside it. The pressure applied to the area of the piston head produces an upward force. This pressure causes the piston to go up, raising the quantity of the gas and lessening the pressure. It produces physical balance at the forklift elevation and an equivalent pressure from the Gas and the Forklift’s Load
To Lift the Weight
The Operator presses the handle in a forward direction, signalling the forklift to push extra air to the cylinders.
To Lower the weight
The driver pulls the handle in rearward direction that triggers a special valve to discharge gas from tubes.
Raising Mechanism: Roller Chain Pulley
The hydraulic pistons are attached to both main upright structures known as “masts”. Forks that are built to carry the load are connected to the main frame of the forklift by a set of roller chain pulleys whose fulcrum develops a gear on top of the mast.
Hence, when the hydraulic pistons push the masts in upward direction, the gears on the masts is pushed against the roller chains. It happens since the one side of the chain is attached to the immovable body of the forklift, and the only means whereby masts can move upward is when gears turn in clockwise course and draw the forks overhead.
The relevance of this mechanism is that it allowed the forks go far away from the reach of the tubes. Then forklifts would need much taller tubes to raise up the load to an equivalent elevation, if it is not meant for roller chain pulleys.