Recently, we were approached by one customer to find a solution for removing and installing battery packs from their recently acquired Class 717 trains.
Located under the carriages, 15-cell battery packs provide auxiliary power to the vehicles, which periodically must be removed, charged and refitted.
Weighing in at over a tonne, the packs were obviously far too heavy to be removed manually and mechanical assistance would be needed.
The solution to was to design and manufacture a pallet truck mountable trolley on which were set two 17-race, low resistance bearings.
With a 2-tonne capacity, the trolley has removable side and end guards to keep the battery packs in place when they are moved from the charging area to the train.
Following a successful trial our customer was so impressed with the agility of the solution that they will be ordering a second trolley.
