Forklift Starters - Today's starter motor is typically a permanent-magnet composition or a series-parallel wound direct current electrical motor along with a starter solenoid installed on it. Once current from the starting battery is applied to the solenoid, basically via a key-operated switch, the solenoid engages a lever that pushes out the drive pinion which is located on the driveshaft and meshes the pinion using the starter ring gear which is found on the flywheel of the engine.
The solenoid closes the high-current contacts for the starter motor, that starts to turn. After the engine starts, the key operated switch is opened and a spring inside the solenoid assembly pulls the pinion gear away from the ring gear. This particular action causes the starter motor to stop. The starter's pinion is clutched to its driveshaft by an overrunning clutch. This permits the pinion to transmit drive in only one direction. Drive is transmitted in this particular method through the pinion to the flywheel ring gear. The pinion remains engaged, for instance as the driver fails to release the key as soon as the engine starts or if there is a short and the solenoid remains engaged. This actually causes the pinion to spin separately of its driveshaft.
The actions discussed above would stop the engine from driving the starter. This important step prevents the starter from spinning so fast that it will fly apart. Unless modifications were done, the sprag clutch arrangement would stop using the starter as a generator if it was used in the hybrid scheme mentioned earlier. Usually a regular starter motor is designed for intermittent utilization which will preclude it being utilized as a generator.
Thus, the electrical components are meant to function for more or less less than 30 seconds so as to prevent overheating. The overheating results from too slow dissipation of heat because of ohmic losses. The electrical components are intended to save weight and cost. This is truly the reason the majority of owner's guidebooks intended for automobiles suggest the driver to stop for at least ten seconds right after each and every 10 or 15 seconds of cranking the engine, if trying to start an engine that does not turn over immediately.
In the early part of the 1960s, this overrunning-clutch pinion arrangement was phased onto the market. Previous to that time, a Bendix drive was utilized. The Bendix system works by placing the starter drive pinion on a helically cut driveshaft. As soon as the starter motor begins spinning, the inertia of the drive pinion assembly allows it to ride forward on the helix, therefore engaging with the ring gear. As soon as the engine starts, the backdrive caused from the ring gear allows the pinion to exceed the rotating speed of the starter. At this instant, the drive pinion is forced back down the helical shaft and therefore out of mesh with the ring gear.
In the 1930s, an intermediate development between the Bendix drive was made. The overrunning-clutch design that was developed and introduced during the 1960s was the Bendix Folo-Thru drive. The Folo-Thru drive consists of a latching mechanism along with a set of flyweights within the body of the drive unit. This was better because the average Bendix drive utilized to disengage from the ring as soon as the engine fired, even though it did not stay running.
When the starter motor is engaged and begins turning, the drive unit is forced forward on the helical shaft by inertia. It then becomes latched into the engaged position. Once the drive unit is spun at a speed higher than what is attained by the starter motor itself, like for instance it is backdriven by the running engine, and after that the flyweights pull outward in a radial manner. This releases the latch and permits the overdriven drive unit to become spun out of engagement, therefore unwanted starter disengagement could be prevented previous to a successful engine start.
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