Mast light
What is a mast-mounted light pattern?
A mast-mounted light pattern is a beam pattern specially developed for industrial trucks. In contrast to off-road or near-field lighting, which is predominantly horizontally oriented, the light pattern is significantly elongated vertically.
This enables a work light mounted on the vehicle to cover a large vertical working area. This is particularly advantageous when working with a raised load.
Why is vertical light distribution on the lift mast beneficial?
When storing and retrieving goods, the working height changes considerably. Whilst the forks and load are initially close to the floor, they can be raised several metres during storage.
Conventional lighting, which is predominantly horizontal in orientation, is not necessarily designed for this wide range of heights. Lift-mast lighting, on the other hand, distributes light specifically across a greater vertical range.
This allows, for example, the fork tines, the load and the relevant section of a high-bay racking system to be better illuminated. The operator thus benefits from targeted illumination of their working area, even when working at greater heights.
Light pattern rather than simply more light
For this application, it is not solely a question of how much luminous flux the headlamp produces. A higher value in lumens does not automatically mean that higher-level work areas are better illuminated.
What is far more important is that the available light is directed into the required directions. The light pattern of a mast-mounted spotlight is therefore a good example of why, when selecting a spotlight, the respective light pattern should always be taken into account alongside the luminous flux.
Note the mounting position and alignment
How the work area is actually illuminated depends not only on the light pattern but also on the position and alignment of the spotlight.
The mounting height and the angle of inclination help to determine where the vertically extended light distribution falls on the lift mast, load and racking. A lift mast floodlight should therefore be aligned according to its intended application.
The resulting illuminance in the various areas can be assessed using an lighting diagram.
Lifting mast light pattern and other light distributions
A lifting mast light pattern is optimised for targeted vertical illumination. For other tasks, however, different light patterns may be more suitable.
For example, an flood light distributes the light widely across the working area, whilst a spot concentrates the light more intensely. Which light distribution is suitable therefore always depends on the specific application and the desired illuminated area.