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TOYOTA'S SYSTEM OF ACTIVE STABILITY (SAS) MOVES FORKLIFT SAFETY INTO A NEW ERA SCARBOROUGH, Ontario (July 27, 1999) - Toyota Industrial Equipment introduces its System of Active Stability (SAS), a revolutionary system of technological advancements to help reduce the risk of forklift tip-over. SAS is certain to change the way lift trucks are judged. Toyota's patented SAS technology is the first in the world to actively monitor and control the movements of a lift truck to help prevent the vehicle from tipping. The built-in system also helps to reduce the chance of injury and product damage from loads falling from forks that have been inclined too far forward or backward. Toyota designed SAS to address the same issues ¾ worker injuries and fatalities ¾ that led the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to recently mandate comprehensive training programs for forklift operators. According to OSHA statistics gathered in the United States, approximately 24 percent of all lift truck-related deaths are caused when the forklift overturns. This accounts for approximately 40 lives a year. Even as OSHA was preparing its training requirements, Toyota was demonstrating its leadership in the forklift industry by designing a better lift truck with safety in mind. SAS is an electronic control system with an on-board computer that monitors vehicle movements and reacts to help keep the truck and its load stable. The exclusive system includes two major breakthroughs in forklift technology: the Active Control Rear Stabilizer and the Active Mast Function Controller. The Active Control Rear Stabilizer greatly improves forklift lateral stability during turns. During operation, four sensors continuously monitor key areas that affect the dynamics of a forklift:
These four sensors send their data to the on-board computer that calculates the "dynamic stability factor." If the lift truck approaches a point of instability, the computer activates a Swing Lock Cylinder, which locks the rear axle to help prevent a tip-over.
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