JPH078719B2 - Lift chain lubricator for forklift - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a forklift, and more particularly to a device for supplying a lubricating oil to a lift chain of a large forklift for the purpose of lubrication or rust prevention.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, in the case of a large forklift having a lift of 6 to 10 m, for example, it is common for an operator to get on a workbench of an aerial work vehicle to refuel the lift chain. However, refueling work using such an aerial work vehicle is not only disadvantageous in terms of time loss or work cost, but it is often troublesome to refuel regularly, so refueling is often done. If you neglect to operate, the life of the lift chain will be shortened significantly. Further, immediately after refueling, there is a problem that too much oil is attached to the lift chain, and the oil is scattered during the lifting operation to contaminate the luggage and the window glass of the cabin.

Therefore, as a means for solving such a problem, a forklift equipped with an automatic oil supply device for a lift chain has been proposed, and a typical example thereof is Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-24195. As shown in FIG. 7, the top of the inner mast 31 is provided with an oil tank 34 for storing lubricating oil, which is provided with a refueling nozzle 33 at a portion facing the lift chain 32, and a refueling pipe 35 is provided along the inner mast 31. Arranged, and at the time of refueling, in the state where the mast is lowered, the pump side pipe 38 is connected to the refueling pipe 35 via the connector 36, and the electric pump 37 is driven to pump the lubricating oil to the oil tank 34, The lift chain 32 is supplied with oil by dropping from the oil supply nozzle 33.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the above-described conventional automatic lubrication device is basically a simple automation of manual lubrication, and therefore refueling requires a considerable amount of time. However, during that time, there is no choice but to stop the cargo handling work, which causes a time loss, and immediately after refueling, there is still an inherent problem of contamination of luggage or the window glass of the cabin due to oil. Since it is necessary to attach and detach the connector and operate the pump for each refueling, the refueling work is considerably troublesome.

Therefore, in view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lift chain oil supply device for a forklift that can automatically supply an appropriate amount of oil to a lift chain during cargo handling work.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention is configured as follows to solve the above problems.

That is, the lift chain refueling device of the present invention, while installing an oil tank for lubricating oil storage on the inner mast side,
A hydraulic pump for pumping the lubricating oil of the oil tank through the suction pipe and supplying the pumped lubricating oil to the lift chain is provided at the upper part of the inner mast, and the hydraulic pump is provided with a chain for guiding the lift chain. It is configured to be driven by a rotating member that rotates integrally with the wheel.

(Operation) In the lift chain oil supply device of the present invention configured as described above, when the inner mast is raised or lowered,
The chain wheel for guiding the lift chain rotates, and the hydraulic pump is operated by the rotating member that rotates integrally with the chain wheel. That is, it is possible to continuously supply an appropriate amount of lubricating oil to the lift chain while the lift chain is moving.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to Figs. FIG. 4 shows an outline of a large forklift with a high lift. Reference numeral 1 is a machine base provided with a cabin 2. A front side of the machine base 1 is a pair of left and right outer masts 3 tilted back and forth by a tilt cylinder 5. Is installed. Further, an inner mast 4 is attached to the outer mast 3 so as to be movable up and down, and a lift bracket 6 is attached to the inner mast 4 so as to be movable upward, and various attachments such as a fork 7 are attached to the lift bracket 6.
Is installed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, one lift cylinder 8 is arranged on the rear side of each of the left and right masts (not shown in FIG. 4), and its piston rod 9 is connected to the inner mast 4. Has been done. A pair of left and right chain wheels 10 are rotatably attached to the upper portion of the inner mast 4 via wheel brackets 11. One end of a lift chain 12 mounted on this is connected to the outer mast 3 or the lift cylinder 8. , The other end is a lift bracket 6
Are linked to.

Next, an oil supply device for the lift chain 12 applied to the forklift having the above-described structure will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. Of the tie beams 4a connecting the left and right inner masts 4, the lower tie beam 4a is preferably the lowermost one.
An oil tank 13 for storing lubricating oil is provided in the substantially central portion of the. On the other hand, on the lower surface side of the upper tie beam 4a, two left and right hydraulic pumps for pumping lubricating oil, in this embodiment, a plunger type (reciprocating type) hydraulic pump 14 are attached via a pump bracket 15. . In this case, it is desirable that the hydraulic pump 14 be configured to be vertically adjustable with respect to the pump bracket 15 or the upper tie beam 4a.

The left and right hydraulic pumps 14 are each driven by a cam 16 as pump driving means provided so as to rotate integrally with the chain wheel 10 for guiding the lift chain. The left and right cams 16 are formed in a substantially trilobal shape in this embodiment, and contact the plunger 14a of the hydraulic pump 14 whose outer peripheral edge is arranged immediately above to operate the hydraulic pump 14 three times in one rotation. It is designed to let you.

Then, the left and right hydraulic pumps 14 pump up the lubricating oil from the lower oil tank 13 individually via the suction pipes 17, and through the oil supply pipes 18 to the nozzles 19 provided at the tip of the oil supply pipes 18. Fill the lift chain 12 with oil. For more information,
The refueling nozzle 19 is disposed above the chain wheel 10 and refuels the lift chain 12 via a wheel brush 20 disposed between the refueling nozzle 19 and the chain wheel 10. That is, the wheel brush 20 is rotatably attached to the upper tie beam 4a of the inner mast 4 through the brush bracket 21, and the lubricating oil is applied to the lift chain 12 by contact rolling with the lift chain 12. To do. The suction pipe 17 is arranged along the left and right inner masts 4 and is held at appropriate positions by locking fittings 17a as required.

The lift chain lubrication system of the present embodiment is configured as described above. Therefore, when the inner mast 4 is lifted or lowered by the expansion / contraction operation of the lift cylinder 8, the lift chain guide chain wheel 10 moves up the inner mast 4. Or, the chain wheel 10 is rotated as it descends.
The cam 16 integrated with the valve also rotates to operate the hydraulic pump 14.
That is, the hydraulic pump 14 is pushed when the plunger 14a corresponds to the crest portion of the cam 16, and is returned by the built-in spring when it corresponds to the trough portion, and by repeating such reciprocating operation, the oil tank 13 Suction pipe for lubricating oil
It is pumped through 17 and is dripped from the nozzle 19 through the oil supply pipe 18 onto the left and right wheel brushes 20. Then, the wheel brush 20 rolls along with the movement of the lift chain 12 and applies the lubricating oil to the lift chain 12.

As described above, the oil supply device of the present embodiment supplies the lubricating oil to the moving lift chain 12 while moving up and down together with the inner mast 4, and the continuous oil supply is always performed during the ascending / descending operation. The quantity can be easily managed.

The discharge amount of the hydraulic pump 14, that is, the lubricating oil supply amount, can be appropriately set by adjusting the operating stroke of the plunger 14a by adjusting the mounting position in the vertical direction of the hydraulic pump 14, When oil is constantly replenished while the inner mast 4 is being raised and lowered as in the present embodiment, it is desirable to adjust the amount so that it becomes a minute amount in consideration of excessive refueling. However, in general, the amount of oil will be increased in summer because the oil dries faster than in winter.

(Other Examples) Next, other examples of the present invention will be described. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the drive means of the hydraulic pump 14 described in the above embodiment is changed from a cam to a gear. That is, the gear 22 for driving the pump is provided on the chain wheel 10 side.
On the other hand, the gear 23 of the hydraulic pump 14 is meshed with the gear 22. In this case, the direction of rotation of the chain wheel 10 changes between when the inner mast 4 is raised and when it is lowered. It is possible to use a general rotary pump with a structure that includes a clutch.For pumps with a rotary drive such as a swash plate type piston pump, both forward and reverse rotation of the gears can be used. It is possible to It should be noted that other configurations are similar to those of the above-described embodiment.

Therefore, in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 as well, oil is supplied to the lift chain 12 in the same manner as the above-mentioned embodiment.
It can be done continuously during 12 moves.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 uses the lift chain 12 to drive the plunger type hydraulic pump 14. That is, the plunger 1 is formed by utilizing the unevenness of each link plate 12a having a substantially gourd-shaped contour which is a constituent member of the chain.
4a is operated, and other configurations are the same as those in the above-described embodiment. Therefore, the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is advantageous in that the cam can be omitted.

The wheel brush 20 described in the illustrated embodiment is effective in that the lubricating oil can be evenly applied to the lift chain 12, but this can be omitted if necessary. Further, such a lift chain oil supply device is not limited to a large forklift with a high lift, but can be applied to an ordinary forklift.

(Effects of the Invention) As described in detail above, according to the present invention, since it is possible to refuel the lift chain by utilizing the lifting movement of the inner mast, an electric or hydraulic power unit is unnecessary, and There is no need to split a special time for refueling, and effective refueling becomes possible. Also,
Since it is possible to refuel little by little during cargo handling work,
It is possible to obtain an ideal refueling state, and unlike the conventional regular and intensive refueling method, the problem of fouling of luggage or the window of the cabin due to excess oil is solved.
Moreover, since the oil supply device of the present invention is completely independent as an oil supply circuit, desired lubricating oil can be utilized, and by adopting a configuration in which a hydraulic pump and its drive means are provided especially on the inner mast side, The hydraulic pump can be stably operated without being affected by the mast vibration.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a rear view of the oil supply system of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same, FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing still another embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a rear view showing a conventional lift chain oil supply device. 1 ... Machine stand, 4 ... Inner mast 10 ... Chain wheel, 12 ... Lift chain 13 ... Oil tank, 14 ... Hydraulic pump 14a ... Plunger, 16 ... Cam 17 ... Suction pipe, 18 ... Refueling pipe 20 …… Wheel brush, 22,23 …… Gear

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An oil tank for storing lubricating oil is installed on the inner mast side, while lubricating oil in the oil tank is pumped up through an intake pipe and the pumped lubricating oil is passed through an oil supply pipe at the upper part of the inner mast. A lift chain oil supply device for a forklift configured such that a hydraulic pump for supplying oil to a lift chain is provided, and the hydraulic pump is driven by a rotating member that rotates integrally with the chain wheel for guiding the lift chain.