VDL Containersystemen Gets Hooked On Heavy-Duty Penny & Giles Joystick Controller from Curtiss-Wright

VDL Containersystemen''s ‘Classic'' control system for the hooklifts uses cabin-based air controls to operate the hydraulic main valve that drives the hydraulic cylinders. This allows the driver to operate multiple (but not simultaneous) functions, including the hooklift''s sliding arm or sliding/tilting arm.

With useable space within truck cabins becoming smaller, recent installations have been mounted to the other side of the driver''s seat, away from the door, which then required rear view windows to be specified to enable the operator to monitor what was happening during the lifting procedure.

Fortunately the change in layout did have advantages as VDL''s Ruud Paridaans explains: “VDL''s hooklifts feature either a sliding arm or sliding/tilting arm and, particularly for sliding/tilting arm applications, a higher level of functionality is usually demanded with operators wanting to control two or three functions proportionally and simultaneously.”

The solution was found in VDL''s new ControllerPlus hooklift control system and the multifunction electronic joystick. ControllerPlus is VDL''s optional dedicated hooklift control system, which has evolved from a mechanical air-controlled system to a future-proofed, electronically-controlled version with a graphical user interface (GUI) on the cabin control system.

As VDL Containersystemen continued to develop ControllerPlus, the system''s parameters changed and a robust joystick was required and, following consultation between both companies, the heavy-duty Penny + Giles JC8000 multi-axis joystick controller was specified.

Engineered with a number of high-strength features, the JC8000 joystick controller is ideal for applications in physically demanding working conditions, such as the VDL application, where operators are used to using hydraulic joysticks. Added strength is achieved by increasing body material around the JC8000''s operating lever support; increasing the lever''s diameter; and changing its pivot geometry, which have enabled the joystick to handle increased torque and improved the lever''s bending and applied loads (up to 380Nm overload on the X and Y axes and 2000Nm on the vertical).