Thirty years in the business and you can still learn something new every day....And what is it that Biglorryblog has stumbled across that's new to the old duffer? How about narrow-aisle, articulated high-reach lift trucks? Did you ever hear of such a thing?
Well it seems that Narrow Aisle Flexi makes them in the UK---and they've just sold a bunch of them to a Romanian company. However, what interests me is the actual 'articulated' mechanism. Look closely at this picture and in particular at the front bit. What you see (or at least what I ASSUME you see) is a set of front wheels that can rotate 90º either side around a central pivot point in order to pick-up or drop off the pallet which is seen here raised to the top of the mast.
According to the PR blurb it seems that, thanks to its heavy duty mast, the HiMAX will lift palletised loads to 10.8-metres, while a specially-developed tilting and side-shifting fork carriage eliminates mast deflection at the highest lift heights.
Mmmm...turning the pallet when it's that high up (assuming you can turn it when it's raised and not have to do it at ground level) must put quite a strain on the 'artic' pivot mechanism---presumably because it would be multiplied by the torque effect of the turning mast...?
Of course I'm only guessing here but anyone with experience of these things is most welcome to post a comment and explain all...and possibly fill in the gaps in BLB's ignorance too! Anyway click through here to read more on this amazing machine and why it scores in narrow-aisle work!
Top materials handling freaks I can tell you that the HiMAX has a triplex free lift mast with twin side-mounted lift cylinders to ensure that operators have excellent forward visibility at all times.
And when the forks are fully extended to put away or retrieve pallets at 10.8 metres, a high definition LCD CCTV screen gives the operators a clear view of the pallet and enables the most comfortable operating position to be maintained. To further improve operator comfort a fully adjustable high-back seat with arm rests reduces fatigue and, therefore, ensures that the truck is operated at its most productive throughout even the most arduous shift.
Because of its design, the HiMAX articulated truck is perfectly suited to working in narrower aisles alongside order picking staff without creating a health and safety issue, as John Maguire, Narrow Aisle’s sales and marketing director, explains: When traditional guided products such as 'man-up' type combis are operating it can be difficult for low level order picking tasks to be carried out safely in the same aisle at the same time. 'Man-up' type combi trucks, for example, might lift the operator 10 metres in the air and at that height there is always a risk that the Combi operator will not notice the order picker working below with obvious consequences. “
So now you know.
See here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDHSnvxEJD8
Andy
And here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvvMyUJ5JZw
Andy
B&Q has had 'BENDI' fork trucks for years, bless you don't get out that much.