Greg Conner | 21 May 2015
By far the most common industrial lift is the hydraulic scissor lift table. This may seem like a complicated piece of equipment, but in actuality hydraulic lift tables are really very simple in design. Hydraulic scissor lift tables are comprised of five major components:
A hydraulic lift table raises and lowers when hydraulic fluid is forced into or out of the hydraulic cylinder(s). As hydraulic fluid is forced into a cylinder, the cylinder strokes outward forcing the scissor legs apart.
Since one end of both the inner and outer legs are connected to the base and platform, the platform rises vertically as the scissors legs open. The free end of the scissors legs are fitted with rollers that run in the base. Any time a lift table is raised, it is being supported by a column of fluid. The lift table remains in a raised position because the fluid is held in the cylinder(s) by a simple check valve. A lift table’s up speed is a function of the hydraulic pump and the motor that is turning it. The desired up speed and capacity to be lifted determine the amount of work the motor has to do, thus the horsepower required. If a lift table needs to move faster, it will take more horsepower. If a lift table has to have greater capacity, it will also take more horsepower.
The lift table is lowered by opening a down valve that allows fluid out of the cylinder at a controlled rate. This down valve is solenoid operated and a “normally closed” type valve, which means it stays closed until the electric solenoid is actuated. This feature prevents the lift table from lowering if there were a power failure. When the solenoid opens the down valve, the fluid returns to the reservoir.
The down speed of a lift table is a function of controlling how fast the fluid is allowed to leave the cylinder. This is done with a flow control (FC) valve. The FC valve is pressure compensated, which means it regulates the flow to a predetermined range whether the lift is loaded or empty. These FC valves are fixed rate or non-adjustable and typically the lift table’s down speed is matched to lift table’s up speed.
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Greg ConnerI joined Bastian Solutions in 2005 after graduating from Purdue University. My first role was as a project engineer before transitioning to a field application engineer. After seven years, I became regional director of Indiana, overseeing all local FAEs as well as Bastian Solutions’ e-commerce business. In 2016, I was promoted to Vice President, Eastern U.S. where I oversaw sales and operations for all Eastern U.S. offices. In 2019, I was promoted to Vice President of Global Sales, now overseeing international operations and global marketing.
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