What is a corkscrew doing in a forklift?
Christian Strauch | 12. August 2019
Any kind of corkscrew is not exactly welcome in the forklift:
Either the cable corkscrew (effect): Then the maintenance engineer is not exactly happy,
… or else one finds the classic corkscrew in the driver’s cabin: In that case the boss is not amused, but he may still assume that the forklift driver is a wine lover (during working hours).
Let’s just talk about the corkscrew effect that cables often display when they are heavily stressed:
The dynamic applications in forklifts and industrial vehicles in particular pose an enormous challenge for electrical cables. Not only do they have to be accurately guided, but they are also subject to high tensile loads and, moreover, are roughly routed via guide rollers on the mast.
That’s just too much for most cables:
Conclusion: Quick corkscrew up to breakage of jacket and core.
But luckily there is a solution: chainflex from igus.
chainflex cables were developed especially for dynamic applications in energy chains. The secret lies in the special braid – cores wound in bundles with short pitch lengths. There is also a gusset-filling extruded inner jacket and once again additionally a gusset-filling extruded outer jacket which stabilises the stranding . So far so good for use in e-chains!
But how about applications in and on the forklift? Cables are sometimes used without energy chains and guided with guide rollers. Is that also possible with chainflex?
Yes, of course! Tests have shown that chainflex cables perform very well here as well and meet the requirements such as high tensile strength and corkscrew resistance far better than many other competitors’ cables.
Banish the corkscrew from your forklift and try out the chainflex!
