Combilift has unveiled the "Omni-Glide" electronic steering system for its C-Series 4-wheel multi-directional forklifts. Handling long loads, such as steel bars or timber packs, in narrow aisles requires the forklift to travel sideways. Traditional multi-directional forklifts use a complex mechanical linkage to turn all four wheels 90 degrees. This mechanical linkage is prone to wear, resulting in "tire scrub" (dragging the tires sideways), which damages warehouse floors and rapidly wears the solid tires.
The Omni-Glide system is a "Steer-by-Wire" architecture. There is no mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the axles. Each of the four wheels is equipped with an independent "Steer Angle Absolute Encoder" and a "Proportional Hydraulic Valve." The engineering innovation is the "Vector Translation Logic." The ECU calculates the required angle for each wheel based on the joystick input and the machine's center of gravity.
The operator can select "Crab Mode" (all wheels pointing in the same direction to move diagonally) or "Spin Mode" (front and rear wheels pointing in opposite directions to turn 360 degrees within the machine's own footprint). Crucially, the system features "Load-Adaptive Ackermann Correction." When carrying a 12-meter long load, the system adjusts the steering angle of the rear wheels to prevent the rear of the load from swinging into the racking. This electronic vectoring eliminates tire scrub entirely, reducing tire replacement costs by 40% and allowing multi-directional movement with millimeter precision.
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