Forklift Starters and Alternators - A starter motors today is usually a permanent-magnet composition or a series-parallel wound direct current electrical motor together with a starter solenoid installed on it. As soon as current from the starting battery is applied to the solenoid, basically through a key-operated switch, the solenoid engages a lever which pushes out the drive pinion that is located on the driveshaft and meshes the pinion using the starter ring gear that is seen on the flywheel of the engine.
When the starter motor begins to turn, the solenoid closes the high-current contacts. When the engine has started, the solenoid has a key operated switch that opens the spring assembly to be able 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 an overrunning clutch. This permits the pinion to transmit drive in only a single direction. Drive is transmitted in this way via the pinion to the flywheel ring gear. The pinion remains engaged, for example as the operator did not release the key as soon as the engine starts or if there is a short and the solenoid remains engaged. This causes the pinion to spin separately of its driveshaft.
The actions mentioned above would prevent the engine from driving the starter. This significant step prevents the starter from spinning very fast that it would fly apart. Unless adjustments were made, the sprag clutch arrangement will prevent using the starter as a generator if it was used in the hybrid scheme mentioned earlier. Typically a regular starter motor is designed for intermittent use that will prevent it being used as a generator.
The electrical components are made so as to work for approximately 30 seconds to be able to stop overheating. Overheating is caused by a slow dissipation of heat is because of ohmic losses. The electrical components are meant to save cost and weight. This is truly the reason most owner's handbooks meant for automobiles recommend the operator to pause for at least ten seconds after each 10 or 15 seconds of cranking the engine, if trying to start an engine that does not turn over right away.
During the early 1960s, this overrunning-clutch pinion arrangement was phased onto the market. Prior to that time, a Bendix drive was utilized. The Bendix system works by placing the starter drive pinion on a helically cut driveshaft. Once the starter motor starts turning, the inertia of the drive pinion assembly enables it to ride forward on the helix, thus engaging with the ring gear. When 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.
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 along with a set of flyweights within the body of the drive unit. This was a lot better since the standard Bendix drive used to disengage from the ring when the engine fired, although it did not stay running.
Once 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 example it is backdriven by the running engine, and afterward the flyweights pull outward in a radial manner. This releases the latch and permits the overdriven drive unit to become spun out of engagement, hence unwanted starter disengagement could be prevented before a successful engine start.
Click to Download the pdf