The Working Mechanism Of A Hydraulic Lift Or Elevator System

A hydraulic lift is a kind of an elevator system that is operated by utilizing pressure of fluid and is especially used for lifting vehicles in garages and service stations. A hydraulic apparatus is used to raise or move objects using the force which is created when pressure is exerted on liquid with a working piston. Force created then leads to the lifting or the work. Hydraulic lift technology has numerous applications in industries for example in transport and in construction. It is often used to operate heavy machinery or to just move and lift heavy or large objects like car, shipping containers and other. 

 

The physics equation which applies to hydraulic technology is “pressure x area = force.” Hydraulic elevator systems are used to lift a car using a hydraulic ram, a fluid driven piston mounted inside a cylinder. The hydraulic system used in a hydraulic lift has three parts: a tank, a pump and a valve. Pump forces fluid from the tank into pipe which leads to the cylinder. When valve is opened the pressurized fluid will take the path of least resistance and return to fluid reservoir. But when the valve is closed the pressurized fluid has nowhere to go except into the cylinder. As the fluid collects in the cylinder it pushes the piston up and lifts the elevator car. 

When the car reaches the appropriate floor the control system send a signal to the electric motor to shut off the pump. There is now no more fluid which flows into the cylinder but that which is already there cannot escape, the piston rests on the fluid and the car stays where it is. To lower the car the control system sends a signal to the valve and when the valve opens the fluid which has collected in the hydraulic cylinder can flow out into the reservoir of fluid. The weight of the car pushes the piston down, which drives the fluid into the reservoir. The car descends and to stop the car at a lower floor the control system closes the valve again. For more information on hydraulic lift visit JAM Hydraulics Pty Ltd