Benoit Meunier, Product Manager Toyota Material Handling Europe was closely involved with the development team of the new Toyota Tonero for Europe. Meunier looks at how safer design requires more than going back to the drawing board. Following the Toyota principle of “Genchi Genbutsu” or going to the source to establish the facts, hundreds of truck users were interviewed right across Europe to determine their key priorities when selecting a new truck, ensuring we understood their expectations
It was no surprise that safety emerged as a key consideration across all markets; however customers also told us that they needed a truck that brought them the highest standards of safety without asking them to compromise in other areas.
All manufacturers of trucks for the European market are bound by regulations providing basic standards for deign features to give a “minimum” level of safety on the truck. However in the real world, “minimum” features that perform well in a static test can often be found lacking. A forklift truck is a moving piece of equipment, travelling over a variety of surfaces, capable of being loaded in many different ways and crucially driven by a human being who can be momentarily distracted or affected by fatigue. Add to this the pressure to make pallet movements as productive as possible, and the possibility of accidents increases.
The challenge was very clear for the design team that we had to deliver on safety, but without impacting productivity, reliability, operator comfort and now increasingly, the impact of the truck on the environment.
We examined not only the truck and the driver, but also the operating environment, the pedestrians, the goods and the racking; the real applications where the Tonero would be used and looked at how we could reduce risk.
Still one of the most dangerous accidents is a truck tip-over with the potential for the driver to be trapped by the overhead guard, sadly sometimes with fatal consequences. These tip-overs are caused by the interplay of truck speed, load weight, turning angle and slope causing the centre of gravity of the truck to pitch outside its own area of stability.
Toyota’s unique System of Active Stability (SAS) is at the heart of the design of the new Tonero and a perfect example of how smart design can impact on safety in the real world. SAS is a patented system which acts as extra eyes and ears, constantly monitoring critical factors and taking preventative action to minimise the risk if a potentially dangerous situation is detected.
The rear axle of the truck is free to pivot to cope with uneven floor conditions, creating a triangle of stability, however if instability is detected, a Toyota truck has the ability to temporarily lock the steering axle, transforming the triangle into a rectangle. In practise this design feature dramatically improves the lateral stability of the truck just when it is needed, helping drivers to continue operating productively whilst helping to reduce the risk of an accident.
SAS trucks also have six sensors controlling the function of the mast to help prevent the centre of gravity of the rated load moving too far forwards. The tilt speed and angle of the mast is limited in correspondence with the height of the forks, helping to reduce the risk of forward tip-over that can be associated with drivers handling loads at heights.
The shape of the instrument panel and overhead guard was examined as part of the design process to give the Tonero class leading visibility in all directions, particularly across the forks. Once again smart design has improved safety hand in hand with productivity, allowing operators who pick-up pallet for frequent loading / unloading operation to have an unobstructed view in the direction of travel.
Since every customer is unique, Toyota also develops extra safety features to suit specific customer applications. When handling loads at heights, we allow the forklift to automatically reduce and control the acceleration and maximum speed of the truck to reduce the risk of a dangerous front tip-over which can be triggered by sudden acceleration.
Toyota believes that trucks like the Tonero are a clear sign of the direction of the market – a continuous evolution of improved safety and productivity. Features that were once considered optional will become standard and the innovations developed by the market leaders will eventually be adapted by all. And through continuous research and dialogue with customers, leaders will push forward design standards.
Comments are closed.