Wire Rope Hoist
The wire rope is a very effective raising and lowering medium for hoists that are both mobile or permanent configurations, free standing or mounted to a track or ceiling. Wire rope has a high breaking strength, and is the first choice in heavy duty applications where objects like vehicles, engines, agricultural machinery and construction equipment need to be transported from one location to the other. Wire rope hoists are used in many different applications within the automotive manufacturing and maintenance, aerospace, construction, agricultural, marine and machinery manufacturing industries, among many others. They are mostly seen in industrial settings within facilities, factories and plants.
A wire rope hoist consists of a certain amount of wire rope, which are wound in large spools and contained in a storage drum, one or more electrically driven motors, a gear box where the controls are kept, and a braking system. The amount of rope kept in the storage drum depends on how high the heavy object is to be lifted. Most spools contain at least several dozen feet of wire rope. The rope itself is made up of three main components-the single pieces of wire, which are wound around each other to make a strand. Each strand is composed of several wires, up to 37 or as few as 2. The strands are then wound around a core, usually made of rubber for its flexibility, to create wire rope. There are different pattern options that alter the strength, thickness and flexibility of the rope. The wire rope is usually attached to a metal hook, made of a steel grade, that has been hot dipped in liquid zinc to improve its surface durability, a process known as galvanization.
