In designing and building a customised flood response transport trolley for the fire brigade, Feinwerktechnik Ritzenthaler GmbH has enhanced safety, ergonomics and flexibility.
If fire-fighters are to help others, they must be able to do their job safely and efficiently. And that all starts with their equipment. How quickly can they grab hold of what they need? How can the crew’s transport cart be secured in place on uneven or sloping streets? What happens if a fire-fighter manoeuvring a heavily laden equipment trolley passes out or is so exhausted they lose all strength? These are exactly the sorts of questions that item pluspartner Feinwerktechnik Ritzenthaler asked itself – and the result is a modular flood response trolley that has been specially developed for the fire brigade and features a suitably protected dead man’s brake.
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Feinwerktechnik Ritzenthaler – an item pluspartner since 2004
Feinwerktechnik Ritzenthaler has been an item pluspartner since 2004, which makes it one of the very first item pluspartners. This family business specialises in customised solutions for special-purpose machinery, fixture engineering and production line work stations. Every one of its products is designed and manufactured to the customer’s specific requirements.
“We visit our customers at their premises to see the challenges that need to be addressed – and we then come up with the ideal solution,” explains Managing Director Boris Ritzenthaler. When it came to developing a transport trolley for the Bad Krozingen fire brigade, this approach proved highly successful once again.
Modular flood response trolley – how the project came about
When the volunteer fire brigade in the county town of Bad Krozingen asked Feinwerktechnik Ritzenthaler to design and build a transport trolley for use in flood response situations, they were looking for a solution that was safe, compact, versatile and tailor-made for their gear. “At that point, the only solutions available on the market were standard ones – and that’s why the fire brigade turned to us,” Ritzenthaler explains.
At that point, the only solutions available on the market were standard ones – and that’s why the fire brigade turned to us.
The fire brigade provided Feinwerktechnik Ritzenthaler with examples of all its gear, so the company was able to design and build a trolley that would accommodate this equipment perfectly. There was also a particular focus on ergonomics – heavy equipment such as pumps and cable drums is stowed in the bottom part of the trolley, while lighter equipment and roll-up hoses are stored nearer the top. After several development rounds, the ultimate solution created in close collaboration with the fire brigade was a robust transport trolley that the fire crew can use to move and handle its equipment quickly and safely.
Modular compartment system for flexible reconfiguration when working with different equipment
One special feature of the flood response trolley is its fully reconfigurable compartment system, which consists of partitions to keep the different pieces of equipment separate. “With conventional trolleys, the partitioning is fixed, so if your equipment changes, you need to order a completely new compartment solution,” Ritzenthaler explains. That’s why his company developed a system where the various compartments can be flexibly reconfigured. The drawers feature a “honeycomb” design that allows for customised partitioning of the compartments. The use of T-pieces means these compartments can be reconfigured as required, without any need for tools.
Thanks to the groove in the integral item profile, the divider elements can be moved into the desired position by simply loosening the screw.
The hose holders can also be steplessly adjusted – thanks to the groove in the integral profile, the divider elements can be moved into the desired position by simply loosening the screw. This gives users complete flexibility for adding and arranging hoses of different widths.
Ensuring the equipment cart can be moved safely from A to B – thanks to a dead man’s brake housed in the profile groove
One of the trolley’s key and fundamental safety features is the dead man’s brake – as soon as the person operating the trolley lets go of the handle, the trolley comes to a standstill. This ensures that if the operator passes out, for example, they won’t be injured by the trolley. In the case of conventional transport trolleys, this brake is operated via exposed cables. The downside to that is that if something falls on the cable and snaps or damages it, the dead man’s brake will fail and the trolley will run on, out of control.
We’ve designed everything to ensure the brake can’t be impaired by external influences. Instead of cables, we use tension rods that sit inside the groove and are therefore protected.
To minimise this risk, Feinwerktechnik Ritzenthaler developed a brake mechanism that sits inside the profile groove and incorporated this into the flood response trolley. “We’ve designed everything to ensure the brake can’t be impaired by external influences. Instead of cables, we use tension rods that sit inside the groove and are therefore protected,” the Managing Director explains. The specific groove he is referring to is the groove of the item Line 8 profile. A tension rod of the appropriate diameter is housed inside the profile groove and, when the brake is actuated, this rod transmits the movement directly to the brake lever by means of a milled connector.
item profile technology as the structural framework
When building the modular flood response trolley, Feinwerktechnik Ritzenthaler combined specialist components – including 3D-printed parts – with components from the item Building Kit System. The base frame is made from item Line 8 and Line 5 aluminium profiles in the dimensions of 40×40 and 80×40. The solution also features stainless steel fastening technology and standard Angle Brackets from item. The modularity of item profiles ensures that holders and fastenings can easily be added later on. What’s more, item profiles also offer all the stability that’s needed for transporting heavy loads safely. “Thanks to the item profile technology, we can build constructions that are both modular and stable. This provides us with the perfect basis for developing customised solutions,” Ritzenthaler says.
On the strength of its project for the Bad Krozingen fire brigade, Feinwerktechnik Ritzenthaler has now developed a basic trolley model. This standardised base structure is used as the starting point for building customised trolleys with bespoke partitioning and compartments. The company is currently building various transport trolleys of this type for a number of volunteer fire brigades.
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