Forklift Starters and Alternators - Today's starter motor is typically a permanent-magnet composition or a series-parallel wound direct current electrical motor along with a starter solenoid mounted on it. When current from the starting battery is applied to the solenoid, mainly through a key-operated switch, the solenoid engages a lever that pushes out the drive pinion which is situated on the driveshaft and meshes the pinion utilizing the starter ring gear which is found on the engine flywheel.
When the starter motor starts to turn, the solenoid closes the high-current contacts. As soon as the engine has started, the solenoid consists of a key operated switch that opens the spring assembly to pull 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 permits 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 remains engaged, like for example since the driver fails to release the key once 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 mentioned above will stop the engine from driving the starter. This significant step stops the starter from spinning very fast that it could fly apart. Unless adjustments were done, the sprag clutch arrangement would stop utilizing the starter as a generator if it was used in the hybrid scheme discussed prior. Typically an average starter motor is meant for intermittent utilization which would stop it being used as a generator.
Therefore, the electrical components are meant to be able to operate for about less than 30 seconds to avoid overheating. The overheating results from very slow dissipation of heat because of ohmic losses. The electrical components are meant to save cost and weight. This is the reason most owner's manuals meant for automobiles recommend the operator to stop for a minimum of 10 seconds right after every ten or fifteen seconds of cranking the engine, if trying to start an engine which does not turn over right away.
In the early part of the 1960s, this overrunning-clutch pinion arrangement was phased onto the market. Prior to that time, a Bendix drive was used. The Bendix system functions by placing the starter drive pinion on a helically cut driveshaft. When the starter motor begins turning, the inertia of the drive pinion assembly allows it to ride forward on the helix, therefore engaging with the ring gear. Once the engine starts, the backdrive caused from the ring gear enables 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.
During the 1930s, an intermediate development between the Bendix drive was made. The overrunning-clutch design which was made and introduced in the 1960s was the Bendix Folo-Thru drive. The Folo-Thru drive consists of a latching mechanism together with a set of flyweights in the body of the drive unit. This was a lot better in view of the fact that the standard Bendix drive used to be able to disengage from the ring once the engine fired, even though it did not stay functioning.
The drive unit if force forward by inertia on the helical shaft once the starter motor is engaged and begins turning. Next the starter motor becomes latched into the engaged position. Once the drive unit is spun at a speed higher than what is achieved by the starter motor itself, like for example it is backdriven by the running engine, and afterward the flyweights pull outward in a radial manner. This releases the latch and enables the overdriven drive unit to become spun out of engagement, thus unwanted starter disengagement can be prevented prior to a successful engine start.
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