Forklift Starters and Alternators - Today's starter motor is typically a permanent-magnet composition or a series-parallel wound direct current electrical motor with a starter solenoid installed on it. As soon as current from the starting battery is applied to the solenoid, mainly via a key-operated switch, the solenoid engages a lever that pushes out the drive pinion that is situated on the driveshaft and meshes the pinion with the starter ring gear that is seen on the engine flywheel.
The solenoid closes the high-current contacts for the starter motor, which 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 action causes the starter motor to stop. The starter's pinion is clutched to its driveshaft by means of an overrunning clutch. This allows the pinion to transmit drive in just one direction. Drive is transmitted in this particular manner via the pinion to the flywheel ring gear. The pinion continuous to be engaged, for example because the driver did not release the key when the engine starts or if the solenoid remains engaged for the reason that there is a short. This causes the pinion to spin independently of its driveshaft.
The actions mentioned above would prevent the engine from driving the starter. This vital step prevents the starter from spinning very fast that it would fly apart. Unless adjustments were done, the sprag clutch arrangement will preclude making use of the starter as a generator if it was utilized in the hybrid scheme discussed earlier. Normally a standard starter motor is meant for intermittent utilization which would stop it being utilized as a generator.
The electrical components are made so as to work for roughly thirty seconds so as to prevent overheating. Overheating is caused by a slow dissipation of heat is because of ohmic losses. The electrical parts are designed to save cost and weight. This is really the reason nearly all owner's instruction manuals intended for vehicles recommend the driver to stop for a minimum of 10 seconds right after each and every ten or fifteen seconds of cranking the engine, whenever trying to start an engine which does not turn over instantly.
During the early 1960s, this overrunning-clutch pinion arrangement was phased onto the market. Prior to that time, a Bendix drive was used. The Bendix system operates by placing the starter drive pinion on a helically cut driveshaft. When the starter motor begins spinning, the inertia of the drive pinion assembly enables it to ride forward on the helix, hence engaging with the ring gear. As soon as the engine starts, the backdrive caused from the ring gear allows the pinion to go beyond the rotating speed of the starter. At this instant, the drive pinion is forced back down the helical shaft and hence out of mesh with the ring gear.
The development of Bendix drive was developed in the 1930's with the overrunning-clutch design referred to as the Bendix Folo-Thru drive, made and introduced in the 1960s. The Folo-Thru drive has a latching mechanism together with a set of flyweights inside the body of the drive unit. This was much better in view of the fact that the standard Bendix drive utilized so as to disengage from the ring when the engine fired, although it did not stay functioning.
When the starter motor is engaged and starts turning, the drive unit is forced forward on the helical shaft by inertia. It then becomes latched into the engaged position. When the drive unit is spun at a speed higher than what is achieved by the starter motor itself, for instance it is backdriven by the running engine, and next the flyweights pull outward in a radial manner. This releases the latch and enables the overdriven drive unit to become spun out of engagement, hence unwanted starter disengagement can be avoided previous to a successful engine start.
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