Kalmar Industries is proud to announce the launch of a new medium fork lift truck. The Kalmar 9-18 tonne is a totally new design whose development work has been based on investigations into customer requirements for the trucks of the future. The development has been constantly followed by a project group. The result is a modern and efficient truck with many unique features, some of which are so innovative that patents have been applied for to cover them.
Kalmar Industries has long been known for its innovations and for finding new technical solutions, and this new medium truck is, as would be expected, full of new features. The development work has been focused on a number of clearly defined areas, and we have sought solutions that satisfy the requirements of the future in all of these areas.
"The complete development process has been highly targeted and systematic. We have developed only those functions and solutions that we know will be useful for our customers. We have also constantly carried out testing and worked closely with a project group in order to be absolutely sure that the truck we are launching is as good as we want it to be", says Stefan Johansson, product development manager at Industrial Systems.
A Machine for the Driver "Dynamic stability" is the name used by the design team for the fact that the motion of the truck is gentle and stable, even on uneven surfaces. Visibility around the truck is also excellent, exceeding the forthcoming international standard.
We have introduced several new solutions for better visibility. The first thing we have done is to hide anything that can be hidden, the air filter and the sound insulation, for example, are located out of sight. The bonnet and the counterweight follow the line of visibility to the rear, and the exhaust pipe has been placed at the corner post. At the front, all hoses, struts and corner posts, etc., have been optimised to give as few blind-spots as possible in the driver's eye line.
The driving sensation can also be reinforced with optional additional functions. Electronic inching is available for the first time on a medium machine. This function allows the operator to drive with high precision using slip control. "Optidrive" is a function unique to Kalmar Industries, and resembles hydrostatic operation. The driver controls the speed with the accelerator, independently of the engine revolutions required for lifting. Thus it is possible to inch along while using maximum engine revolutions for lifting.
Efficient Lifting
Two completely new solutions from Kalmar Industries help to give more efficient lifting. Patents have been applied for to cover both of these solutions. "Optispeed" describes a system in which an extra variable-speed pump is used in parallel with the normal system. Optispeed uses electronic circuits to optimise the speed of lifting so that it is always as high as the power of the engine allows, relative to the weight of the load. "Optirev" ensures that the engine works at maximum revolutionss (approximately 1,400 rpm) when lifting at top speed, something that contributes to both lower noise levels and fuel consumption.
If either of the above systems fail, the machine will continue to operate as a normal system. Optispeed and Optirev are available as optional extras.
Lower Emissions
Both noise levels and exhaust emissions are minimal. The engines are completely new and satisfy all known emission standards. Work reducing noise levels has been focused on two different goals:
Principally, the truck in its standard design has low noise levels and satisfies by a wide margin the requirements in the current directive 2000/14/EC. It is not necessary to use additional noise insulation, and in this way we have maintained good accessibility everywhere. We have also worked a great deal with noise quality. Certain types of noise are significantly more disturbing than others, and we have reduced these as much as possible. There are absolutely no standards established in this field, and we have had to use people to listen and compare noise.
Easy to Service with High Reliability
High reliability and easy accessibility are two factors that customers place high on their list of requirements and these were naturally given a very high priority during the development. During development, test trucks have been used for day-to-day use out at our customers. Several thousand test hours in real working environments have been documented.
Service and after-sales support are very important parts of the development. The truck belongs to a totally new generation, and all components have been developed for high reliability and long life. For example, we use new hydraulic couplings of ORFS type, double seals in the cylinders and plastic bearings in the side supports of the lifting equipment. These are important points that have contributed in doubling the service interval to 500 hours. Daily servicing is extremely simple. The engine cover can be opened easily and all service points are then accessible, all located on the same side.
The electronic circuits also belong to a completely new generation. The trouble-shooting system has been improved such that the customer or service engineer can easily locate any faults. All electronic circuits used by Kalmar Industries have been developed in house, and this is something that we intend to continue with.
In-house development means that we keep control of the functions. Electronic circuits are becoming more and more central, and by carrying out the development ourselves we can easily adjust and improve them and we can create tailored solutions for particular customers. We have also had the complete truck tested for EMC, something that is important for safety. We can be sure that the functions of the truck cannot be disturbed by mobile phones or other sources of current, etc.
Another major project has been the development of completely new documentation that follows the J2008 standard. This project has been actioned throughout Kalmar Industries, and the documentation has been given a new and simpler structure.
The documentation has been structured according to each function. Everything related to control, for example, has been collected in one place, independently of which system in the truck is involved. This makes it easier for the customers, making it simpler for them to find the answers to their questions.
Flexible Driver Environment
A new cab concept is being launched with the new medium truck. "FlexCab" is a simpler and more robust addition to Kalmar Industries' Spirit Delta, which is still a leader where ergonomics are concerned.
FlexCab is a flexible solution which enables the customer partially or fully to remove elements of the cab right down to an open safety cage. Windows and doors can simply be removed or fitted as required. The new FlexCab is robust and functional with extremely good visibility in all directions. FlexCab has profiled beams for maximum visibility.
For more information, please contact:
Lotta Sundström, Communication Manager, Tel +46 372 261 38, fax +46 372 263 90e-mail: