Hydraulic jack – an important tool in the construction industry and workshops
Have you ever been to a service station? Cars are usually loaded onto a platform that rises gradually. This rig uses the same tool called a Hydraulic Jack. This device or mechanical tool is used to lift heavy objects manually with the need of human effort. The most common are mechanical jacks. However, there are several others such as floor jacks and bottle jacks that are often used. They all use the same basic phenomenon, but differ in their form.
A hydraulic jack uses a fluid that is incompressible and is confined in a cylinder by a pump piston. Oil is used as the piston retracts, it directs oil from the source through a suction valve on the side of the pump chamber. As the piston moves forward, it drives oil through a discharge check valve into the piston chamber. The suction valve ball is in the chamber and is cleaned with each stroke of the piston. The distributor valve ball is outside the chamber and opens when oil is forced into the cylinder. Now the suction ball inside the chamber is closed and the oil pressure increases in the piston chamber.
Jacks are generally used to lift heavy objects. They can use different methods such as the car jack using the lead screw to lift the heavy car. Acme threads withstand heavy vehicles. Similarly, hydraulic jack is also used to lift heavy objects by hand power. Pascal’s principle is used here, which states that the pressure in a closed vessel is the same at all points. Force divided by area using this equation determines the pressure. The hydraulic jack is built with two cylinders, one large and the other small. An application of a small force can lift heavier objects placed on the larger cylinder; both cylinders are full of oil.
Hydraulic jacks are divided into different types with a difference in construction. There are floor jacks where the horizontal piston presses the short end of the bell crank, the long arm providing the vertical movement to a lifting pad held level by a horizontal link. Floor jacks usually include wheels that allow compensation for the curve taken by the lifting pad. This mechanism allows for a low profile when folded for convenient under-vehicle operation while providing great extension.
In Bottle Jacks, the piston is upright and directly holds a bearing pad that holds the object being lifted. With a single-acting piston, the lift is slightly less than twice the folded height of the jack, making it only suitable for cars with relatively high ground clearance. For lifting structures such as houses, hydraulically connecting multiple perpendicular jacks via valves allows the distribution of forces across the level while sanctioning tight control of the lift.
The hydraulic jack is quite an important tool in the construction industry and workshops as it reduces a lot of work for the mechanics and laborers and they are widely used in these fields.
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