Scissor Lifts And Other Elevated Work Platforms

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Elevated work platforms (also known as aerial work platforms or incorrectly generalised

as cherry pickers) have many uses, allowing workers and others to reach areas they wouldnt otherwise be able to. This of course is useful during building work, window cleaning or other general maintenance, allowing workers to reach high up areas and transport materials they need with relative ease.

While elevated work platforms are generally associated with construction, they of course also have use in various other fields. For example they are very practical for emergency services and can be used in rescue missions helping trapped civilians from top story windows, rescuing rock climbers and dog walkers from cliff edges or getting a downward angle to put out fires. At the same time they can be used for a variety of entertainment purposes, one example being the cherry picker used by Michael Jackson in his concerts that allows him to move out above the audience. Finally, smaller aerial work platforms can be used indoors to change light bulbs or stack tall shelves.

With so many different uses then it stands to reason that there would be various types of lifts to suit specific purposes. The most well known of these elevated work platforms then is the cherry picker (the name of which is owed to its origins as a device used in orchards) which is so widely used that the term is often incorrectly used as a general term for all work platforms. In reality the term only refers to those lifts that can move in more directions than directly up. The cherry picker has an extendable neck with various hydraulic or pneumatic powered pistons used to fold and extend various sections. These can be telescopic sections that extend in straight lines or fully articulated boom arms with the work platform itself hanging at the end of the highest point. This makes it more practical for reaching difficult areas and more manoeuvrable for complicated procedures and gives it its other name articulated lift. A variation of these lifts are the spiders which give the base extendable legs that spread the centre of gravity so allowing for more height.

Scissor lifts however work differently, using a collapsible criss-crossing section that can unfold and compact in order to push a work platform directly upwards (it is the appearance of this system that gives the scissor lift its name). While this limits the amount of manoeuvrability possible, it is far simpler to operate and is capable of taking heavier loads. At the same time scissor lifts often have an in-built safety mechanism in that the pressure inside the collapsible neck will slow the descent of the platform even when there is no power. It is also safer in that the platform itself cannot swing as it does with many cherry pickers.

Finally the old fashioned name of hotel lift is a far smaller variation on the scissor lift. Obviously it cant reach as high, and is not designed to bare as much weight. However its usage is restricted to indoor tasks such as painting ceilings or retrieving items from storage in high shelves and cases.

by: Charina Gonzales

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