A lifting vehicle with a lifting fork at the front and a counterweight at the rear is called a forklift for short.
Forklifts are suitable for internal loading, unloading, stacking and transporting items in ports, stations and enterprises. Forklifts under 3 tons can also operate in ship cabins, train carriages and containers.
After replacing the fork with various attachments, the forklift can transport a variety of goods. For example, the bucket can be replaced with a bucket to transport bulk materials. Self-propelled forklifts appeared in 1917. Forklifts were developed during World War II. China has been manufacturing forklifts since the early 1950s.
Working device
The mechanism for lifting goods, also called a gantry. It consists of inner mast, outer mast, fork frame, forks, sprockets, chains, lifting cylinders and tilting cylinders. The lower end of the outer mast is hinged to the frame, and the middle part is hinged to the tilt cylinder. Due to the expansion and contraction of the tilt cylinder, the mast can tilt forward and backward (the inclination is generally 6° to 12°) to stabilize the goods during forklift and transportation.
The inner mast is equipped with rollers, which are embedded in the outer mast. When the inner mast is raised, it can partially extend out of the outer mast. The fork frame has rollers, which are embedded in the inner mast and can move up and down. The bottom of the lifting cylinder is fixed at the lower part of the outer mast, and the piston rod of the cylinder moves up and down along the lead rod on the inner mast.
Reference for the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-Counterbalanced Forklift