Increased comfort: new control assistance devices for Liebherr crawler crane LR 1300

The Liebherr control system Litronic is already well-known for its user-friendliness in the crane world. With the new control assistance features vertical line finder and horizontal load path the comfort in operating crawler cranes can even further be enhanced. At the same time the new devices help to increase both safety and efficiency on the jobsite.

The “vertical line finder” and the “horizontal load path” are currently available for Liebherr’s 300tonnes crawler crane LR 1300. In the future, both devices shall be available for the entire LR series up to 300 metric tonnes (330 tons).

Vertical line finder

This control assistance feature ensures that the load on the rope is hoisted with perfect verticality. It assists the operator in avoiding side pull of the load caused by the long distance between operator and load or asymmetric centers of gravity.

In praxis, the usage of this device is quite simple: by pressing a button on the joystick the operator brings the crane’s boom and hoist winches as well as the swing in the correct position. Crosshairs on the monitor show whether the rope is in vertical position. The function of this assistance system is interrupted either when the crane operator releases the button or as soon as the maximum lifting capacity of the crane is reached.

With the vertical line finder the safety on the jobsite is enhanced. Thanks to the vertical hoisting of the load possible collisions with obstacles and persons can be prevented. Moreover, lifting of the load even with obstructed view is facilitated. A further benefit is the extended service life of the crane – load operation becomes smoother and stress on the boom and the steel in general is kept low.

Horizontal load path

The second newly presented device for Liebherr crawler cranes is the horizontal load path. Thanks to this system comfort during crane operation is increased as loads can be moved to the projected position more efficiently and precisely, even in blind spots. In addition, it facilitates the coordination of loads during lifting operations with more than one crane involved.

The horizontal load path is also activated by pressing a button on the joystick. The load is then moved horizontally at a constant height. Thus, boom and hoist winches are coordinated with the push of a single button, which significantly improves the user-friendliness of the crane.