Newcastle Systems, a provider of mobile cart systems, is introducing a new battery cHemiätry at Modex that makes powering its carts much easier. The new cHemiätry in the batteries incorporates lithium iron phosphate (not to be confused with lithium ion; Newcastle's new cHemiätry is not a safety risk). The cHemiätry has allowed the batteries on its carts to shrink from the 75 pounds of a sealed lead battery to just 11 pounds for the new batteries. Most users employ two batteries side by side on the bottom of a cart. Each battery provides power for about 12 hours to enable the operation of scanners, computers, printers, and other peripherals. The ideal applications for the carts are as portable receiving and outbound labeling stations.
The lighter weight of the batteries makes the carts much lighter and easier to push around a facility. The batteries have a carry handle and can easily slide into a docking cradle located on the cart, which makes connections fast and secure. A similar connection on the charging unit also allows batteries to easily slide into place. Batteries charge in eight hours, or four hours if fast-charge mode is selected. They can easily swap out in seconds to replace the batteries on the cart, assuring that power is always available, even for multishift operations. The new batteries also have a much longer life, lasting five to seven years, compared with the 18 to 20 months of the sealed lead batteries.
