Smooth flow of material provision and waste disposal

DICTATOR oil dampers provide accident prevention and save space

In many production lines tugger trains have replaced forklift trucks because they can be used much more effectively and thus reduce the traffic load.

Adding the required trailers to a tugger train has to be possible with just a few movements. Potential injury risks through dropping tow bars must be avoided. When the trailers are not used, it should be possible to park them without needing much space.

The company John Lohrmann Stahlhandwerk GmbH in Offenbach (Germany) was looking for a solution for this problematic. DICTATOR developed a new oil damper with integrated stop. When calculating the required model and the corresponding fixing points it was also taken into consideration how to position the damper so it could not be damaged when the trailer is loaded up.

DICTATOR could fulfill all these requirements with one single oil damper:

• The oil damper makes sure that the tow bar, when released, doesn’t drop without control and possibly causes damages or injuries. The oil damper slows down the complete movement. The lowermost position of the tow bar is defined by a mechanical limit stop, which ensures a very long operational life of the damper.
• The oil damper locks the tow bar in the raised position, completely on its own, without any additional movement. When the trailer is used again in the tugger train, one just pulls the tow bar into the desired position, without having to release the locking. Thanks to the tow bars locked in the raised position, the unused trailers don’t need much space when being parked. And there is no tripping hazard from a tow bar lying on the floor.

The final customer of the company Lohrmann was so happy with this solution that more trailers will be refitted with the DICTATOR oil damper.

The oil damper in action.

The oil damper slows down the complete downward movement of the tow bar.

The oil damper not only cushions the downward movement of the tow bar, it also locks it in the raised position!