Jacks

Description

Jacks are mechanical devices used for the purpose of lifting heavy loads. Jacks make use of screw thread or a hydraulic cylinder for applying high linear forces. One of the commonly used jacks is the mechanical jack. A manual force is applied on the pedal of the jack in order to lift the equipment. A jack is also used for leveling and positioning heavy equipments. Jacks can be mechanically operated, hydraulically operated, electrically operated, or can be operated manually.

Types

The most common types of jacks are listed below:

• Mechanical jack which are further classified into,
• Car jack- for lifting a vehicle by applying force manually
• House jack- used for lifting houses
• Screw jack- is a mechanical jack used to lift the object with use of its threads
• Floor jack or Garage jack
• Hydraulic jack- for lifting heavy loads, operated by using an incompressible fluid, usually oil which is self lubricating
• Electric jacks- operated by electric power to lift equipments

Other types of jacks includes:

• Bottle jack
• Air jack
• Scissor jack
• Transmission jack
• Ratchet jack

Specifications

The basic specifications for a lifting jack are listed below:

• Lift capacity- which means the amount of load that a jack can lift
• Lift stroke- difference between the extension and retraction movement of the lifting jack
• Minimum and Maximum height- are the distances from base of the jack to lifting element in fully-retracted and extended positions

Advantages

• Heavy equipments and loads can be lifted easily
• Requires less maintenance incase of a mechanical jack

Applications

• Jacks have a broad range of applications in most of the manufacturing industries for lifting heavy equipments and loads
• Electric jack and power jacks are used for railroad applications
• For lifting the chassis for repairing work or to change the tire in automobiles