A heavy-duty lift truck designed as a mast-based apparatus comprising a mast, a load accepting means is mounted on the mast in such a way that it can be raised and lowered, and the heavy-duty lift truck is designed at least for a load capacity of 8 tons, with the heavy-duty lift truck comprising a powertrain with a travel drive that comprises an electric drive unit whereby the heavy-duty lift truck has greater energy efficiency.

An object-sensing bumper extension comprises a durable and flexible material. The bumper extension is connected to the bumper of a vehicle such as a lift truck to detect encroachment and/or impact between the vehicle and an operator or other object. A non-contact sensor detects encroachment of an object within an impact danger zone arranged immediately in front of and near the sides of the vehicle. An impact sensor detects impact between the vehicle and an object. A control system receives sensor signals and initiates a reaction operation of the vehicle in response to sensor activity. The reaction operation can include slowing the vehicle down, stopping the vehicle, and/or reversing the vehicle. The bumper extension can include a plurality of outwardly angled, substantially parallel ridges that deform outwardly and downwardly to push an impacted object away from danger and to fill a gap between the vehicle and the ground.

A control module capable of operating on one of first and second vehicles can include a) a module output table comprising a superset of module output elements comprising a first subset of module output elements related to a first set of hardware devices provided on the first vehicle and a second subset of module output elements related to a second set of hardware devices provided on the second vehicle; b) vehicle function output elements related to vehicle function outputs utilized on the first and second vehicles; and c) a configuration table comprising configuration elements corresponding to the module output elements. The module can also include computer-based structure for determining a value of a vehicle function output element corresponding to a module output element of the module output table, transforming the value to the transformed value, and storing the transformed value based on the corresponding module output element.

Based on a steering control input, a measured value of the steering control attribute and a measured value of the traction control attribute received by a steering application, determining: a first setpoint value of the steering control attribute; a target steering angle of the steered wheel of the vehicle. Based on receiving, by a traction application executing on the vehicle control module of the vehicle: a traction speed control input to control the traction wheel of the vehicle, and the target steering angle, from the steering application, determining, by the traction application: a second setpoint value of the traction control attribute.

A travel control device includes: a risk level calculation unit configured to acquire a speed in a traveling direction of a vehicle, a speed of the vehicle in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the traveling direction, and an azimuth angular velocity of the vehicle and calculate a rollover risk level based on a lateral load transfer ratio (LTR) of the vehicle; a deceleration calculation unit configured to calculate deceleration indicating an extent to which to lower the speed in the traveling direction when an absolute value of the rollover risk level exceeds a threshold value; and a control unit configured to control a driving system of the vehicle using a value obtained by lowering a target speed of the vehicle on the basis of the deceleration as a new target speed.

Calculating a current target position value for controlling a traction speed of a materials handling vehicle, that includes receiving steering command signals; generating an output value proportional to a rate of change of the steering command signals; determining whether the output value is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold; determining a raw target position value for controlling the traction speed of the materials handling vehicle; and calculating the current target position value based on: whether the output value is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold, and whether the raw target position value is less than or equal to a previously calculated target position value for controlling the traction speed.

A vehicle equipped with an operator presence detector comprises an optional first detector located and configured to detect an object positioned over a threshold to the operator compartment; a second detector located and configured to detect an operator's left lower extremity when the left lower extremity is located in the operator compartment; and a third detector located and configured to detect an operator's right lower extremity when the right lower extremity is located in the operator compartment. The second detector and the third detector are positioned such that (i) an operator cannot use the left lower extremity to trigger both the second detector and the third detector and (ii) an operator cannot use the right lower extremity to trigger both the second detector and the third detector.

An industrial vehicle includes a body, an axle pivotally supported by the body, a lateral acceleration sensor determining lateral acceleration applied to the body when the industrial vehicle is turned, an actuator temporally restricting pivoting of the axle while the industrial vehicle is being turned, a vehicle speed limiter limiting traveling speed of the industrial vehicle when the industrial vehicle is turned, and a controller driving the actuator based on the lateral acceleration determined by the lateral acceleration sensor to temporally restrict pivoting of the axle and to limit traveling speed of the industrial vehicle based on the lateral acceleration. In the controller a first lateral acceleration threshold value which is used in judging whether traveling speed of the industrial vehicle should be limited is set larger than a second lateral acceleration threshold value which is used in judging whether pivoting of the axle should be temporally restricted.

An electric vehicle comprises an electrical system and a hydraulic system. The electrical system comprises an electric power supply and an electric motor-generator connected to the drive train of the vehicle. The hydraulic system includes a pump, and a hydraulic actuator. At least one of the electrical system and the hydraulic system includes energy recovery means arranged to convert kinetic energy from the drive train to electrical energy or to convert kinetic energy from the hydraulic actuator into hydraulic pressure respectively. The electrical and hydraulic systems are connected such that the recovered energy may be converted from electrical to hydraulic energy and/or vice versa. The hydraulic system may further include a hydraulic accumulator.

A vehicle control device including a motion condition detector detecting motion conditions including a rotational motion and a longitudinal acceleration of a vehicle on which a load is to be loaded, a wheel load acquisition unit acquiring wheel loads of wheels, a loading state acquisition unit acquiring a loading state of the load loaded on the vehicle, an inertia value calculator calculating an inertia value including principal axes of inertia about a center of gravity of the vehicle with the load included, based on the acquired loading state, and a controller performing overturning prevention control that suppresses an increase in difference between the wheel loads of front and rear wheels of the vehicle, using the acquired wheel loads of the wheels, the inertia value, and detection values of the motion conditions.