A reel solution for safer handling
February 1st 2008

Adding to its selection of overhead hoist mounted reel handling systems, the new range of reel turner attachments for both pedestrian stacker and counterbalanced fork trucks from the Reel and Shaft Handling Company allows the reel to be lifted in the core, preventing damage to the outer layers of the material

Following an injury caused by a reel dropping when an operator tried to turn it manually, a leading UK packaging extrusion and printing company commissioned The Reel and Shaft Handling Company, (RSHC), to design and manufacture five reel turners, capable of handling up to 300kg reels by gripping in the core.

The RSHC first made a prototype by taking its existing hoist based Reel Turner Mk2 system, originally designed for handling reels up to 125kg, and fitted it to a prototype fork pocket support. They trialled this with great success at the customers factory proving the system would work. They then went about designing two different versions of the new Reel Lifter Mk3, four of which were to be mounted on the fork carriages of Armanni Speedylight Pedestrian Stacker trucks, the fifth was to be mounted onto fork pockets, so that it could be used by any one of the fork trucks operating in the warehouse.

The design process required several key features to be integrated into both models, which produced some innovative solutions.

"There are two key features that should be built into any good reel turner," explains md Stephen Weston.

"The first is that it has to grip the reel securely, absolutely 100% of the times it lifts. In our case we were designing the Reel Turner Mk3 to pick up in the core of the reel. This meant that we had to use a fail-safe method of gripping the reel with a spring engaged chuck, which self engaged as soon as the operator let go of the release mechanism. The second key feature that had to be incorporated, was powered rotation, as it would be pointless to put in a piece of handling equipment to lift heavy reels and then ask the operator to struggle to manually rotate the reels." The problem of powering the rotation on the Armanni Pedestrian Stacker truck mounted models was relatively simple. The stacker had an integral hydraulic pump powered by the 24V battery system.

Two versions of the carriage mounted Reel Turner Mk3 were developed, one using a powerful hydraulic Rotary actuator to turn the reels. The other version, (which, although more expensive, was eventually chosen by the customer), used a compact 24Vdc electric motor and gearbox to power the rotation. Both systems required only minor work to tap into the stacker trucks electrical or hydraulic supply and when the Reel Turner Mk3 is supplied complete with an Armanni Pedestrian stacker, the stacker comes with plug-in attachments for both services.

However, the problem of powering rotation on the Fork Pocket mounted Reel Turner Mk3 was more difficult to overcome. The fork trucks in the customers' factory had different voltage systems and only a few were fitted with extra hydraulics and it was recognised that future sales could also have this problem.

The RSHC's designers then developed five stand alone models, each with a different means of powering the rotation: electric powered from the stacker truck, electric powered from its own on-board battery, hydraulic powered from the stacker truck, hydraulically powered from an onboard hydraulic pump and manually rotated via a handwheel and gearbox.

Stephen Weston comments, "A key aspect of all the designs, after safety and ease of use, resulted from a rapidly growing number of export enquiries. We therefore decided to make all versions of the Reel Turner Mk3 into compact self contained units that would be easy to ship and retrofit onto a customer's own stacker, anywhere in the world. In this way, a stacker truck can be locally sourced, or an existing stacker truck used, saving on shipping costs. We now offer factories having to turn reels, the opportunity to safely lift and turn heavy reels by the core, at minimal cost." The end result was a highly flexible range of Reel Turner designs, all essentially doing the same job, but with the options of being fixed or temporarily mounted and being electrically, hydraulically, manually, or even pneumatically powered.

For further information, call the number seen below.

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