The development history and current situation of the international aerial operating vehicle industry

1. The international aerial platform industry started in the late 1950s, when it mainly imitated the former Soviet Union products. From the late 1970s to the mid 1980s, the entire industry organized two joint designs. Each aerial operating vehicle manufacturer introduced advanced foreign technology. For example, the Beijing Aerial Operating Vehicle Plant introduced the technology of Japan’s Mitsubishi 15t internal combustion counterbalanced aerial operating vehicle. Dalian High-altitude Operating Vehicle General Factory introduced the technology of Japan’s Mitsubishi 1040t internal combustion counterbalanced aerial operating vehicle and container aerial operating vehicle technology, Tianjin Aerial Operating Vehicle General Factory introduced the Bulgarian Balkan Vehicle Company 1.256.3t internal combustion aerial operating vehicle technology, and Hangzhou Aerial Operating Vehicle General Factory introduced West German O&K company’s hydrostatic drive aerial work vehicle, off-road aerial work vehicle and electric aerial work technology, Hefei aerial work plant, Baoji aerial work company introduced Japanese TCM Corporation 110t aerial work technology, Hunan aerial work company Introduced the internal combustion explosion-proof device technology of the British Pleban Machinery Company. Beginning in the 1990s, some key enterprises have been accumulating and upgrading their products on the basis of digesting and absorbing imported technologies. Therefore, the current technical level of domestically-made aerial vehicles is uneven. Among them, due to the constraints of backward basic technology, the overall level of electric aerial work vehicles is very different from the world’s advanced level. It is still necessary to import nearly 200 million US dollars worth of aerial work vehicles every year. Whether China’s aerial work vehicles can compete in the international market and remain invincible in the competition with the world’s strongest players will depend on the improvement of the overall technical level of aerial work vehicles, especially the rapid development of electric aerial work vehicles. 

2 Domestic and foreign market analysis

It is predicted that there are about 250 high-altitude operating vehicle manufacturers in the world, with an annual production volume of about 500,000 units. Due to intensified competition, compared with the 1980s, the world’s aerial operating vehicle industry has shown an abnormal phenomenon of increased sales and decreased profits. On the one hand, in order to reduce costs, high-altitude operating vehicle giants have built factories in development. For example, China has built Xiamen Linde, Anhui TCM Beijing Halla, Hunan Destar, Yantai Daewoo Heavy Industry, and Shanghai Hyster. These companies brought the world’s advanced products and technologies in the mid-1990s to the country, which promoted the rapid development of the country’s aerial work vehicle technology, and also caused a great impact on the domestic market. On the other hand, with the development of the market economy, the status and role of logistics technology in economic development has become more and more obvious, and the penetration rate of aerial work vehicles has become higher and higher. It has entered various sectors of the national economy from a single port terminal in the past. industry. The current inventory of aerial work vehicles in my country is about 180,000 units, and the actual annual potential demand is about 100,000 units, while the actual annual sales volume is only about 30,000 units. It can be seen that China’s aerial work vehicle market is huge

With people’s deep understanding of the hazards of environmental pollution, environmental protection has become the focus of common concern in the world. Therefore, environmentally friendly aerial vehicles will become the mainstream of the market; secondly, the establishment of automatic storage systems and large supermarkets has comforted the attention to indoor handling machinery. The growth in demand and the rapid development of high-performance electric aerial platforms, forward-moving aerial platforms, narrow-lane aerial platforms and other storage machinery are another feature of the future aerial platform market; in addition, global economic integration will surely The internationalization of global industries has caused a significant increase in trade between countries and within countries. Some data indicate that the world’s container throughput is increasing at a rate of about 30% every year. The increase in trade will promote the rapid development of modern container handling and stacking equipment.

3 Development trend of modern aerial work vehicle technology

3.1 Serialization and diversification of products

According to the classification method of the American Industrial Vehicle Association, aerial operating vehicles are divided into 123456 and 77 categories, which are electric ride-on aerial vehicles, electric narrow-lane aerial operating vehicles, electric pallet trucks, and internal combustion counterbalanced solid tire aerial operating vehicles. , Internal combustion counterbalanced pneumatic tire aerial operating vehicles, electric and internal combustion riding trailers and off-road aerial operating vehicles. In July 1999, the American “Modern Material Handling” magazine named the world’s top 20 aerial operating vehicle companies, among which the top 10 company product categories Lind12, 3, 4, 5 and 6Toyota12, 3, 4, 5 and 6Nacco/ MHG12, 3, 4 and 5Jungheinrich12, 3, 4 and 5BTIndustri12, 3, 4 and 5Mitsubshi/Caterpillar12, 3, 4 and 5Crown12, 3Komatsu12, 3, 4 and 5Nissan12, 3, 4 and 5TCM14 and 5 other product varieties and series are also very good Complete, such as the German Linde company has diesel, liquefied petroleum gas, electric counterbalanced aerial work vehicles, front-moving aerial work vehicles, stacking trucks, picking vehicles, frontal aerial work vehicles, electric tractors, etc. nearly 110 types; while in China *Anhui Aerial Operating Vehicle Group, a large aerial operating vehicle manufacturing company, produces 116t, 15 grades, 80 models of more than 400 varieties of aerial operating vehicles. All aerial operating vehicle companies use the diversification of product types and series to fully adapt to the needs of different users, different working objects and different working environments, and launch new structures and new models from time to time to meet the individual requirements of users with multiple varieties and small batches .

3.2 Greening promotes the development of high-altitude operating vehicle power technology

Aerial operating vehicles are divided into internal combustion aerial operating vehicles and electric aerial operating vehicles. The internal combustion aerial work vehicle is powered by an engine, with strong power and a wide range of applications. The disadvantage is that exhaust gas and noise pollute the environment and are harmful to human health. Environmental protection requirements promote the update of power technology: TCM updated the 3.58t diesel aerial work vehicle in the 1970s, changing the preheating combustion chamber to direct injection, saving 17% to 20% of fuel; Perkins engine launched flat lip in the early 1980s In the mid-1980s, the German Deute company developed the F913G special diesel engine for high-altitude operating vehicles, which saves fuel by 60% and reduces noise by 6dB. Sweden launched a diesel-battery hybrid high-altitude operating vehicle; in the 1990s, LPG Low-pollution high-altitude operation vehicles such as LPG aerial work vehicles, compressed natural gas CNG aerial work vehicles, and propane aerial work vehicles are on the market, and their development momentum is strong.

Electric aerial work vehicles have outstanding advantages such as high energy conversion efficiency, no exhaust emissions, and low noise. They are the preferred tool for indoor material handling, but they are limited by battery capacity, low power and short operating time. At present, both at home and abroad are improving lead-acid battery technology from time to time, and by improving the purity of materials, it has greatly improved the number of recharges, capacity and electrical efficiency. Due to technological advancement, electric aerial work vehicles have now broken through the limitation that they can only be used for small tonnage operations. At present, the output of electric aerial work vehicles in the world has accounted for 40% of the total amount of aerial work vehicles, domestic 10% 15%, Germany, Italy and some Western European* electric aerial work vehicles account for as high as 65%.

In the future, high-altitude operating vehicles will widely use electronic combustion injection and common rail technology. The development of engine exhaust catalysis and purification technology will effectively reduce harmful gas and particulate emissions. Fuel aerial operating vehicles such as LPGCNG and hybrid aerial operating vehicles will be further developed. With the joint efforts of major companies, the new battery fuel cell will overcome price disadvantages and enter the market in batches. At present, the global automobile giants are jointly working on the research of electric vehicles. The application of electric vehicle power, transmission, control, safety and other technologies to aerial work vehicles will make a qualitative change in the performance of the electric aerial work vehicles.

3.3 Application of energy saving and high-tech integration of mechatronics and hydraulics

The development and application of microelectronics technology, sensor technology, and information processing technology will play a more significant role in improving the overall level of the aerial vehicle industry, realizing compound functions, and ensuring the safety, control, and automation of the whole machine and system. Make the integration of electronics and machinery, electronics and hydraulics closer. The future development of aerial work vehicles lies in the application level of its electronic technology.

Realizing the integration of mechatronics and hydraulics with the microprocessor as the core is the main direction for the development of the control system of the aerial work vehicle in the future, that is, with the microprocessor as the core, the control will develop from local control to networked, so that the whole vehicle can maintain the best working condition , To realize the intelligent operation of aerial work trucks. For electric vehicles, the conservative resistance speed controller has been eliminated, and the new MOSFET transistor has been widely used because of its low gate* drive current, good parallel control characteristics, and software and hardware automatic maintenance and hardware self-diagnosis functions. Series excitation and separate excitation controllers are still the leading products in the market, and AC control technology is in its infancy. With the reduction of the cost of the AC speed control system and the naiveness of closed AC motor technology, the AC motor aerial platform will replace the DC motor aerial platform due to its high power and good maintenance performance. The use of electronic steering system and power steering ratio can save energy by 25%. According to the working conditions of aerial operating vehicles, the motor speed can be controlled in a timely manner, an effective measure for energy saving and noise reduction of aerial operating vehicles. In addition, MOSFET transistors can save energy by 20% compared with resistive speed regulation. Released regenerative braking can save energy by 5% to 8%. Using hydraulic motor controller and load potential energy recovery technology can save energy by 20% and 5% respectively.

3.4 Use the principles of anthropology to pursue control comfort

Each aerial operating vehicle company optimizes and improves the human-machine interface of the aerial operating vehicle from time to time to make the control simple, labor-saving, fast and accurate, and give full play to the human-machine efficiency. For example, it is equipped with eye-catching digital instruments and alarm devices to realize the line monitoring of working conditions; the floating cab can be moved and raised so that the governor can obtain a full range of vision; centralized handle control replaces multiple handle control, and electronic control replaces manual control; And gradually use electronic monitors and height displays as the standard configuration of high-lift aerial work vehicles.

3.5 Industrial modeling design

In recent years, major companies have introduced new models with eye-catching appearances, reflecting the development trend of aerial work trucks as cars. Streamlined, large arc transition and bright and coordinated color matching. With the development of computer technology, virtual prototype design, three-dimensional solid modeling, rapid prototyping and other advanced design methods and the application of advanced manufacturing technology, the modeling of aerial work vehicles will become more and more innovative and characteristic.

3.6 Pay attention to the safety, reliability and maintainability of aerial operating vehicles

Ensuring the safety of the driver has always been a key consideration for the designers of aerial work vehicles. In addition to basic safety measures such as parking, driving braking, forward tilting self-locking, and lowering speed limit, it is equipped with a fully functional monitoring system, dynamic braking system, anti-rollover system, and the use of three independent sets of electronic control, hydraulic and mechanical The braking system greatly improves the safety and reliability of the vehicle. At the same time, the development and application of electronic technology has enabled the research on the safety of aerial operating vehicles to develop in the direction of intelligence. In terms of improving maintainability, emphasis is placed on simplification of disassembly and assembly, assembly of components, centralized refueling, inspection and monitoring, improved accessibility of components, and minimized maintenance items.

3.7 Development of container aerial work vehicles and container reach stackers

At present, the main manufacturers of container handling and stacking equipment are concentrated in Europe, such as KalmarSMV in Sweden, BelottiCVSFantuzzi in Italy, PPM in France, SISUValmet in Finland, and Linde in Germany. There is only one domestic manufacturer of container aerial work vehicles, and only two manufacturers of reach stacker spreaders, mainly relying on imports. Container aerial work vehicles are still indispensable equipment for handling and stacking empty containers in all container ports, terminals, and transfer stations, and the number of stacking layers is increasing. The container reach stacker used for handling and stacking 20 and 40 feet heavy containers, because of its good visibility, can be lifted across the container trains, has the function of stacking the second and third rows of containers, and runs smoothly, and will gradually replace heavy container containers Aerial work truck.