Lifting devices, automotive

Safety standard for portable automotive lifting devices, covering requirements for safety, health, design, production, construction, maintenance, performance or operation of equipment, or qualification of personneL... 

PALD-1997 Safety Standard for Portable Automotive Lifting Devices AI 2002... 

BALD Committee on Portable Automotive Lifting Devices Joseph Wendler... 

Some lifts use electrohydraulic actuators to hft and fold, with valves and gravity used to lower the lift. Crane lifts may swing out from a post at the front or rear of the side door. Interlocking mechanisms are available with some lifts to prevent the lift from being operated while the door is closed. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has developed guidelines for the testing of wheelchair lift devices for entry and exit from a personal vehicle. The standards are intended to set an acceptable level of reliability and performance for van hfts. 

Acetal resins are also used extensively in transportation, especially automotive. Handles and internal components (gears, gear racks, cables) for window lifts and other similar devices are examples. Most of the appHcations which do not involve painting or plating are below the window line. Many common consumer items are manufactured essentially entirely from acetal resin (eg, disposable lighters) or have critical components molded from acetal resin (eg, hubs and platforms for videocassettes). The properties that make acetal resins useful in industrial appHcations make them useful for internal components, especially mechanical drive systems, of many household appHances. 

Serious research in catalytic reduction of automotive exhaust was begun in 1949 by Eugene Houdry, who developed mufflers for fork lift trucks used in confined spaces such as mines and warehouses (18). One of the supports used was the monolith—porcelain rods covered with films of alumina, on which platinum was deposited. California enacted laws in 1959 and 1960 on air quality and motor vehicle emission standards, which would be operative when at least two devices were developed that could meet the requirements. This gave the impetus for a greater effort in automotive catalysis research (19). Catalyst developments and fleet tests involved the partnership of catalyst manufacturers and muffler manufacturers. Three of these teams were certified by the California Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board in 1964-65 American Cyanamid and Walker, W. R. Grace and Norris-Thermador, and Universal Oil Products and Arvin. At the same time, Detroit announced that engine modifications by lean carburation and secondary air injection enabled them to meet the California standard without the use of catalysts. This then delayed the use of catalysts in automobiles. 

Another alternative would be to visit an automotive repair shop. Internal combustion engines, lifts, levers, and hand tools are only a few of the types of mechanical devices you could see in use. Yet another possibility would be to visit a local manufacturer in your town. Examples include a foundry, a sheet metal fabricator, an automotive manufacturer, or a pump manufacturer. Look in the phone book under manufacturing for possibilities. 

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