26 f+h Intralogistics 2/2013
More than a niche productA 2-way truck built from standard fork lift components rationalises internal logistics
The experts at Vale S.A. were
amazed, when the Rotrac E2
demonstrated its potential.
Convinced by its performance, the
Brazilian mining and transport
company ordered an example of
the 2-way truck, built completely
from standard fork lift
components.
The story of the Rotrac E2 2-way truck is an unusual one - as is the technology
that went into it. At Bauma 2010, Linde Material Handling (Linde MH) from Aschaf-fenburg, Germany, announced that they were making their entire know-how and production skills in the area of electric drives available to other mobile equipment manufacturers. “Our � rst discussions took place directly at the trade fair itself,” says Stephan Zwieho� , whose company G. Zwieho� built the electric trucks.
We signed the contract for the job right after the fair, and the � rst Rotrac E2 proto-type was completed just three and a half months later. In the meantime, Zwieho� marketed the truck, built by Linde subsidi-ary Proplan, world wide.
“� e task of the Rotrac E2 is to pull loco-motives and railcars in unloading docks
and repair workshops. � is requires very high tractive force, and the trucks must also be able to change rails – which is why they’re called 2-way trucks,” explains Maik Manthey, Area Leader New Business & Products for Linde MH.
� e Rotrac E2’s electric four wheel drive delivers so much torque to the rails, and the pressure on the rails is adjustable with mo-bile guide rollers in such a way that the compact truck can pull 250 ton loads with-out di� culty. And when track changes are necessary, the electric four wheel/sti� axle steering gives it a turning radius on asphalt of just 0.9 m.
� is innovative and – in the context of rail technology – unique drive concept was developed using standard components from Linde MH’s fork lift truck catalogue. � e truck has two drive axles (AE 18-05 48 V 2 x 4.5 kW S2-60) with a type AC S10 48V inverter. Its controlled braking also makes it possible to use energy recovery systems. � e fully-synchronised single-wheel drive is controlled by two Linc1 ECU’s, one per axle, operating in a master-slave con� guration.
� e system is rounded out with a sluice board, DC/DC converter and charging circuit, all with components which which have demonstrated their reliability in series production applications. Even the cable harnesses are taken from the standard fork lift truck parts catalogue. � e battery is a 48 V/420 Ah traction unit; the backup battery provides su� cient power for a full
01 The radio controlled 2-way truck is used for railcar pulling by Vale S.A. P
hoto
s: L
inde
MH
INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS
About LindeLinde Material Handling GmbH, from Aschaffenburg, Germany, a Kion Group company, is a world leader in lift trucks and industrial trucks for warehouse applica-tions. The company also provides its decades’ long experience and know-how in the development and manufacture of electrical drive solutions to its customers in numerous applications. As a company with international operations, Linde Material Handling has production and assembly facilities in all important world markets, as well as a global sales and service network with offi ces in more than 100 countries. In 2011, Linde Material Handling, with its workforce of 13,800, booked a turnover of 2.86 billion euro.
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problems as they arise. � anks to a quickly growing reputation, the small truck has
recently been sold to European clients, as well as to Australia, Kazakhstan and Brazil. � ere, the 2-way truck is being used by Brazilian mining and transport company Vale S.A. for pulling railcars (image 01). With their
experience with this technology from Germany, Zwiehoff is sure that the operator will soon be ordering more units.
Expanded load spectrumImmediately after the first
Rotrac E2 was delivered, other companies made inquiries to
Zwieho� about a railcar tractor with similar characteristics, but
higher power. Zwiehoff, Linde subsidiary Proplan and Linde MH thus
developed the Rotrac E4, which can handle loads of up to 500 tons, including the high
speed trains of the new ICE 3 generation. � e new truck’s drive was upgraded with turntable steering. If the truck is not on rails, the rear axle can be raised. In this way, since it is now powered only by the front axle, the tractor is freely manoeuvrable and has a turning radius of less than 2 m.
So far, the two Rotrac models have only been used in loading rail docks repair sheds, but it has many further potential applications: Due to Proplan’s special construction skills, Zwieho� is able to equip their battery-powered railcar tractors for a variety of applications. “Based on our experience with special industrial trucks – including ATEX compliance and food industry applications – we can see numerous other applications for the Rotrac, from railcar pulling in chemical � rms to emergency services in danger zones,” says Proplan CEO Herbert Kunkel.
www.linde-mh.com
INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS
Expanded load
Rotrac E2 was delivered, other companies made inquiries to
Zwieho� about a railcar tractor
shift. � e system is optimised with the company’s own software and the Lindiag diagnostics software, which makes it possible to acquire the drive parameters and thus troubleshoot
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