Fork precautions

1. Forks are not allowed to be welded.

As an essential forklift component, the fork bears large force, requires a small section and is lightweight. Therefore, it needs to be made of low alloy steel, medium carbon steel and other materials. It is also subject to appropriate heat treatment (such as quenching and tempering) to increase the surface hardness of the horizontal section and improve the wear resistance. During the inspection, it is often found that the fork is welded. Welding the fork will change the mechanical properties of its material, change the grain size of the base metal around the weld, and change the strength and toughness, which will affect the fork’s service safety and service life.

2. Forks shall not be lengthened without authorization.

When the forks leave the factory, corresponding forks shall be equipped according to the rated load capacity of the forklift, and the load curve and centre distance of the forklift will also be calculated. During the use of the fork, the user will change the length of the fork without authorization according to the different goods taken by the fork. But basically, the unit of use does not change the load curve and load center distance while changing the fork length. The fork is lengthened, the load curve changes, and the load center distance moves forward. When forking the goods, the lifting torque of the heavy object will change, and the “picking” goods in the front section of the fork are prone to overturning safety accidents.

3. Fork corrosion, corrosion, deformation, thickness thinning and other defects

According to the technical requirements for safety inspection of motor vehicles (in the factory), the thickness wear of the horizontal and vertical sections of the fork shall not exceed 10% of the original value. The fork is prone to contact fatigue or corrosion fatigue caused by mechanical force, chemical or electrochemical action of the surrounding medium, contact or mutual moving surfaces. The specific manifestations can be divided into working stress exceeding the yield limit due to external force. Excessive deformation occurs—fracture due to material deterioration or pressure exceeding the strength limit. The thickness turns thin due to wear on surfaces in contact or moving with each other.

4. The fork is not allowed to be used with a reverse fork or single fork.

Due to the complex use environment of forklift, the user changes the use structure of the forklift without authorization and uses forks in violation of regulations according to the working conditions. Due to insufficient lifting height, the reverse fork and single fork are often used without authorization. During the reverse fork, because the special reverse fork produced by a regular manufacturer is not used, when lifting the goods, the stress mode of the fork changes, which is very easy to cause the fork to bend and break, resulting in the falling of the goods. When taking goods with a single fork, the gravity of the goods received by the single fork is twice that of the standard double fork, which is easy to cause fatigue damage to the fork. Moreover, using a single fork also has the disadvantage of offsetting cargo center of gravity, which can easily cause dangerous forklift operations and cargo to fall off.

Analysis of control measures

1. Select standardized forks produced by regular manufacturers. The fork thickness and width of the standardized fork are reasonably designed and checked to ensure the strength and stiffness of the fork. Each fork shall be printed on the side of the vertical section to indicate the rated lifting capacity and load center distance of the fork to avoid confusion when replacing the pickup device.

2. Select appropriate accessories to replace the reverse fork and single fork. The forklift adapts to unique shapes, such as bulk materials, drums, logs, annular articles for loading and unloading operations. It is necessary to provide loading and unloading accessories suitable for various specific types of goods, such as a bucket, jib, barrel clamp, etc. Accessories are often non-standard picking devices. The load center distance will change compared with the fork. The selection of accessories should ensure safety and facilitate disassembly and assembly to achieve security and efficiency.

3. Strengthen the inspection of forklift forks in use. Carry out daily maintenance and self-inspection carried out by plant vehicle operators once a month; A comprehensive inspection shall be conducted once a year, organized and implemented by the on-site vehicle safety management personnel or entrusted to other professional institutions. For forklifts and forks with long service life, stormy or particular service environment, high labour intensity and high frequency of use, more emphasis should be placed on inspection.

4. Use forks in strict accordance with relevant standards and specifications. Suppose the fork deformation, dynamic welding, transformation and thickness reduction exceed the specified value, seriously affecting safe use. After safety inspection and appraisal, the fork still fails to meet the safe use requirements. In that case, it shall be scrapped and replaced in time.

The forklift is a widely used operating device in the factory,

As the most critical working device of forklift,

The importance of its safety is self-evident.

Therefore, we must pay attention to forklifts and forks.

Enough attention should be paid to the problems in use and avoid safety accidents caused by fork problems.