My team has been struggling with deploying our forklift. We are able to flip it down fine, but we need a locking mechanism to keep it from folding back up. Here are the main parts:
Folding mechanism:
Pivot gussets (2)
1x5 steel bar (4) (2 connect to make a 1x6 bar)
nylock nut (4) (loose enough to pivot)
fork scoop:
aluminum angle bar (5 segments)
C-channel (4) (5 segments)
any ideas would be helpful!
Pictures?
If you want specific help with your forklift, a picture would be helpful. There are a few threads worth checking out on this issue. Here are some of them:
https://vexforum.com/index.php/attachment/577b663adee36_gifboom.gif
https://vexforum.com/t/flip-out-intake/36044/1
https://vexforum.com/t/locking-mechanism/36019/1
A rubber band assisted bolt or shaft into a hole is a great lock. You may need a small bit of polycarb so the bolt can slide on the plastic and then pop in the hole for the locking place. but this is open up and lock in place for the match. Unlock gets trickier.
Others have done the opposite of holding the folding mechanism precariously in place at the start of the match using the green rubber links and then the momentum of the robot frees it into the down position. Sometimes you can use rubber bands to help the folding mechanism on its way. Small bits of polycarb can also act as the gate keeping the folding mechanism in the locked upright position. (like an airline seat tray )
Why is a lock needed? Why not just have a few bands stopping the intake going back up?
Locking into position isn’t always required, but some people don’t like having the intake flop about when they raise/lower the arm quickly. Having rubber bands hold it in the down/open position generally is good enough.
Is it ever required? Our catapult is very powerful and we have no problems with just a few bands. Locks just add unnecessary weight which can make a big difference to the robots performance.
Because a flip-out intake with a lock has become the norm and the base standard that people are getting into their head while doing research. A lot of people would rather conform to the standard than go beyond it (Nothing personal against @TerminatorTech, but this is based off of observation). As for the question, the links provided above should give you a really good idea of what you are doing. You get respect for actually using the pivot gusset. However, have you thought about not locking it. It came i\up in a previous thread, but the fact that your intake isn’t locked could help you score more stars into the far zone by acting as a wrist.
We just slapped some single action pistons on ours lol. Works really reliably and flips super fast.
For a locking mechanism, you can try to replicate the locks that are used to keep the legs of folding tables from collapsing.
