Fork

General

The fork of an AGV is normally made from a profile welded to the fork carriage. The fork may be open on the underside or closed depending on AGV type and load capacity. For some applications may also massive forged forks be used.

In the tip of each fork arm is normally a bumper mounted. It is used for protection and will stop all movement of the vehicle if an object obstructs it. This may happen if the load is out off position at pickup or during manual operation.

On the fork back is a load detection sensor mounted close to the fork back. Other load sensors may be located in the fork.

Sensors

The following are some explanations of standard sensors on the picture of a fork to the right.

Fork bumpers

The fork has bumpers mounted in each tip for protection.

Load detector

A limit switch or proximity sensor is located behind a metal flap in fork back center. The metal flap is pressed back when hit by the load and activates the sensor. The sensor is use to detect when a load is present on the fork.