Counterbalance
Forklift
Counterbalance forklift trucks are
widely used in the materials manipulation industry and in factories/warehouses
around the world. Top forklift manufacturers like Linde, Toyota and Mitsubishi
all make counterbalance forklifts, plus you can get one in a fuel choice to
suit your needs (diesel, gas or electric). A typical counterbalanced forklift
truck contains the following components:
The Truck Frame – is the base of the
machine to which all the other parts – mast, axles, wheels, counterweight, and
power source are attached. The frame may have fuel and hydraulic fluid tanks
constructed as part of the forklift truck frame assembly.
The Counterweight – is a heavy cast
iron mass attached to the rear of the forklift truck frame. The purpose of the
counterweight is to counterbalance the load being lifted, obviously up to a
certain load weight. In an electric forklift the large lead-acid battery itself
may serve as part/all of the counterweight.
The Cab – is the area that contains
a seat for the operator on with the control pedals, steering wheel, levers,
switches and a dashboard containing operator readouts.
The Mast – is the vertical assembly
that does the majority of the work of raising and lowering the load.
The Power Source – may consist of an
internal combustion engine that can be powered by LP gas, CNG gas, gasoline or
diesel fuel. Electric forklifts are powered by either a battery or fuel cells
that provide power to electric motors. The motors may be either DC or AC types.
Fork Attachments – a variety of
types of material handling forklift attachments are available. These include
sideshifters, slipsheet attachments, carton clamps, multipurpose clamps,
rotators, fork positioners, rug poles, pole handlers, container handlers, roll
clamps and many others, many companies will specially design bespoke
attachments if required
A counterbalanced forklift offers
some benefits over fork-over design and straddle-leg styles but with some other
drawbacks. A counterbalanced forklift can lift pallets directly off the floor
since there ar no stabilisation legs to get in the way. The disadvantages of
this type of counterbalanced forklift ar that the weight capacity and lift
height will typically be less than the other styles. The counterbalanced
forklift is the easiest electric forklift to use for parking pallets closely
together. Source of Images: http://images.google.com