Pivot Forklift Design

Hello, I'm Marwan Rahal a student at Apex Friendship High School.

With this design of my forklift, I assessed 2 areas of questions

1. Human Machine Interface: How can controls and the flow of information be improved?
2. Mobile Workstation: What amenities, improved comfort, and storage enhancements are possible?

In my design, I aimed to improve the operation and the accessibility of a forklift. With my design, warehouses will be able to see an increase in the amount of product per square foot. With the rotation and extension design of my forklift, tighter space between rafters will be possible allowing for an increase of product per square foot.

Supplies

Fusion 360 was used for CAD designing and rendering as well. Also, a notebook was used for concept sketches.

Step 1: Concept

A problem that may occur when operating a forklift may be accessibility. As shown in my notes I made a concept of a forklift having the ability to rotate on its base. When operating a forklift it may be quite tedious to learn, especially since the steering is not native to what most people are used to. Most are used to front steering in automobiles such as a car, not rear-wheel steering. The rear-wheel steering may become a problem in tight spaces between rafters when you have to adjust a full 90 degrees to grab your product. This design is to make the accessibility and operation of a forklift easier to use.

Now to answer the questions of :

• Human Machine Interface: How can controls and the flow of information be improved?
  1. The forward-turning wheels will allow for easier use of forklifts as well as more tools to operate the forklift, such as an extending mast and a rotating base to pick product(s) up at angles that may be in hard-to-reach areas.

• Mobile Workstation: What amenities, improved comfort, and storage enhancements are possible?
  1. This design will mostly advance storage space and product per square foot of a warehouse. My design will allow the forklift to not only move forwards and backward but also rotate 360 degrees. This will allow for more product(s) to be stored, meaning less of a need for expansion of a warehouse and more money made per square foot of a warehouse.

Step 2: Rotation of the Forklift

Now, on to how the forklift will rotate. In the base, there will be a planetary gear built inside the base of the forklift.

The planetary gear will rotate the top of the forklift around the base allowing the forklift to come up to a rafter or a delivery truck. Then, it will be able to rotate freely around a 360-degree axis.

On top of the middle gear, a platform (shown in blue and preferably bigger, shown smaller to show the interworkings of the gear better) will be welded to the middle gear. This will then be attached to the base of the top part of the forklift allowing for no collisions while in rotations.

Also, on the topic of collisions, the whole top of the forklift sits above the bottom so rotation won't be infringed in any way. The forks will be able to extend to the ground but will need to be moved above the base before rotation.

Step 3: Extension of the Forks

The mast will extend out as well, increasing accessibility.

The mast of the forklift will be extended as well (minorly only about 2-3 feet), this will increase accessibility in tight spaces.

Regarding the forklift's center of gravity, the forks, mast, as well as its extension will be made out of lightweight strong material, such as titanium. The black blocks shown on the back of the forklift will be made out of a heavier material, such as a steel reservoir able to be filled with water, just in case of transportation needs. This will cost less, due to only needing to empty the reservoirs. Titanium is 45% lighter than steel but just as strong, ensuring no tilting of the forklift.

Step 4: Controls

The controls of the forklift will be as followed:

1. Red and green displays to alert if a problem has occurred with forklift balance, allowing less of a risk for possible tilt and falling of the forklift
2. Steering wheel to steer
3. 1st lever to the right of the forklifts steering wheel allows for lifting and decent of forks
4. 2nd lever to the right will be used for extending the forklift mast
5. 3rd lever to the right allows rotation of the forklift around its base
6. Gas and brake pedal for acceleration and deceleration
7. Gauges, such as gas and oil level

Step 5: Thank You

Thank you for looking at my forklift design. I'm Marwan Rahal a Sophomore at Apex Friendship High School.

This is my Pivot Forklift Design :)