20 Ton Turntable Rail Transfer Cart with 90 Degree Indexed Rotation and Flush Crossing Deck for Motorized Transfer Trolley Systems

A turntable rail transfer cart exists for the plant layout where two rail lines cross, run parallel or meet at a corner that no straight cart can serve. The 20 ton platform of this motorized turning trolley rides into the turntable pit, the deck rotates in 90 degree steps above the pit ring and the cart drives out on the intersecting track without a transfer pit, a drop section or a second cart. One unit therefore replaces a loop of track, which is often the difference between fitting an internal transport route into an existing building and rebuilding the floor slab to accommodate it.

Rotation is driven by a slewing ring with an external gear, turned by a geared motor through a pinion, and stopped by a hydraulic disc brake plus a shot pin that drops into a hardened bush at each of the four cardinal positions. The deck surface stays within 12 mm of the pit floor, so a pallet or a die skid crosses the joint without a ramp plate. Because the cart itself carries the turntable, only the pit ring and the fixed rail ends have to be installed in the concrete, keeping civil works to a shallow excavation.

• Single Cart, Multiple Routes: one 20 ton trolley serves perpendicular and parallel bays, removing duplicate carts and duplicated track from the investment.
• 90 Degree Indexed Rotation: the slewing drive locks at 0, 90, 180 and 270 degrees with a hardened shot pin, and intermediate angles can be programmed where a diagonal route is needed.
• Flush Crossing Deck: the platform edge is machined to match the pit ring within 12 mm, so pallets, stillages and die skids cross the joint without a ramp.
• Battery or Cable Power: the standard battery version runs a full shift between charges with an automatic charger at the pit, while cable reel power is available for three shift duty.
• Pit Ring Alignment Kit: anchor bolts, shim packs and a levelling template ship with the unit so the civil contractor can set the ring without a surveyor on site.
• Positioning Feedback: an absolute encoder reports deck angle to the PLC, blocking travel until the pin is fully seated and the brake is released.

Interlocks are central to a safe turntable installation. The controller refuses a travel command while the shot pin is retracted, refuses a rotation command while the cart is outside the pit, and stops rotation if the load sensing circuit detects an obstruction at the deck edge. Optional equipment includes a pair of photoelectric curtains across the pit opening, a flashing beacon on each corner, an entrance gate interlock for automated cells and a fleet interface that allows a plant SCADA system to call the cart to a bay and request a rotation. For cold stores, the hydraulic and electrical packages can be rated to minus 25 degrees Celsius.

Turntable carts are specified in press shops where die carts must pass from a die storage hall into a stamping bay that runs perpendicular to the aisle, in foundries where ladles move between melting and pouring bays, in assembly halls where a single shuttle serves several parallel work streams, in rail workshops where bogies or wheelsets must change direction, and in warehousing where a transfer corridor meets a cross aisle. Engine plants and aerospace assembly cells also use them to reposition large fixtures between stations that were never aligned on one axis.

Every turntable cart is assembled on a temporary pit ring at the factory, rotated through 200 full cycles under a rated test load and inspected for pin engagement, brake holding torque and deck level. The unit is then dismantled into deck, chassis and slewing assembly, treated with rust preventive oil, packed in plywood cases and shipped in a 40 foot high cube container.

Installation drawings, an anchor bolt layout plan, the commissioning checklist and a bilingual operation and maintenance manual are supplied. A commissioning engineer can be scheduled for on-site support when the pit is ready.