MECHANICAL SCISSOR LIFT

1. INTRODUCTION

Scissor lifts are a type of mechanism that allows for vertical displacement of
some load, through the use of linked, folding supports, in a crisscross “X” pattern,
referred to as a pantograph (or, simply, a scissor mechanism). Scissor lifts are widely
used in industrial applications, and also form a staple design element in competitive
robotics. Each arm of the crosses is ca led a ‘scissor arm’ or ‘scissor member’. The
upward motion is produced by the application of force, by some actuator (usually
hydraulic, pneumatic, or mechanical), to the outside of the one set of supports,
elongating the crossing pattern, and propelling the load vertically. However, the
positioning of the actuator, in terms of the point of application of the force on the
pantograph, can affect the force required of the actuator for a given load. Prudent
placement of the actuator can greatly reduce the force required and the stress levels in
the adjacent scissor arms.
We all know Climbing stairs to foot over bridge for changing railway platform
with heavy luggage is one of the major issue that every passenger and luggage
carrier faces during the beginning and end of the rail journey. Everyone wishes the
arrival and dispatch of a train from platform No. 1 without requiring climbing stairs.
so changing the platform with heavy luggage by climbing stairs to foot over bridge
every time is very tired and painful experience for everyone.

Even for normal person, pain of climbing stairs with handful of luggage is visible on
their faces. Certainly, Indian Railways is looking for provision of escalators and lifts,
but there is lot that should have also been done while providing stairs.

There are many incidences when the platform of the train changed to PF 1 when
VVIP has to board a train. At such time passenger should need to change their
platform with carrying heavy luggage this is very painful for every passengers.

So to face such incidents for transporting heavy luggage without climbing

stairs to foot over bridge we are trying to create a mechanism which is operated
mechanically by using manual power. Nowadays there are hydraulic and pneumatic
lift but in accidental cases or any technical problem it is difficult to carry these
systems as they are bulky and also need lot of maintenance but this mechanism is
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portable and requires less maintenance as compared to pneumatic and hydraulic
systems. Now days as every mechanism are getting optimized related to space and
portability our aim is to optimize and make a portable lift with sliding platform which
is easily accessible and easy to use for carrying luggage between two platforms
without climbing stairs to foot over bridge.

In case of the manufacturing of the scissor jack we can reduce the material of the
product by converting the manufacturing process, e.g., Casting into sheet metal, in
which the strength of the product remains as it is and the cost of the material will be
automatically reduces. Even part reduction by assembly process and no welding joints
will give less deflection and the large accuracy.

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 2. LITERATURE SURVEY

Balkeshwar Singh, Anil Kumar Mishra(2015), Studied that Scissor lifts, a staple of
mechanical design, especially in competitive robotics, are a type of linkage that can
be used to raise a load to some height, when acted upon by some force, usually
exerted by an actuator. The position of this actuator, however, can affect the
mechanical advantage and velocity ratio of the system. Hence, there needs to be a
concrete way to analytically compare different actuator positions.

Dr. Ramachandra C G, Krishna Pavana(2013), all current research into the

analysis of scissor lifts either focusses only on the screw jack configuration, or derives
separate force expressions for different actuator positions. This, once again, leaves the
decision between different actuator positions to trial and error, since the expression to
test the potency of the position can only be derived once the position is chosen.

M.M.Noor, K. Kadirgama, M.M. Rahman(2008), proposes a derivation for a

general force expression, in terms of a few carefully chosen position variables, which
can be used to generate the force expression for any actuator position. Hence, this
expression illustrates exactly how each of the position variables (called a, b and i in
this paper, as defined later) affect the force output, and hence can be used to pick an
appropriate actuator position, by choosing values for the position variables that give
the desired result.

Helmi Rashid and et.al(2013), Scissor Lift is a simple mechanical device used to
raise element or object from ground level to a certain height to perform a specific
work with maximum load and minimum efforts. This project describes the design as
well as analysis of a mechanical scissor lift which works on the principle of screw
jack. The design will be developed keeping in mind that the lift can be operated by
mechanical means so that the overall cost of the scissor lift is reduced. Also such
design can make the lift more compact and much suitable for medium scale work.

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 3. THEORY

A scissor lift is a vertical lifting device that consists of a platform. The

mechanism incorporated to achieve this function is the use of linked, folding supports
in a criss-cross pattern, known as a pantograph. pressure is applied to the outside of
the lowest set of supports in order to create the vertical motion, due to this pressure
the criss-cross pattern elongates to propel the work platform vertically upwards, the
platform can be assisted with an extending 'bridge', this bridge helps in closer access
in the work area thus eliminating inherent limits of only vertical motion.
The scissor lifts can be classified according to energy used as hydraulic,
pneumatic or mechanical. each of these mechanisms has its pros and cons, which are
studied and modified according to its application in various industries. Scissor lift
design is preferred over other heavy lifting devices available in the market because of
its ergonomics. The frame is very sturdy & strong enough with an increase in
structural integrity.
Types of scissor lifts are as follows
1. Hydraulic Lifts
The hydraulic scissors lift is operate using the fluid pressure that raises the platform
via power through the use of pressurized hydraulic oil. Slight speed variation is
possible owing to temperature fluctuations that can alter the viscosity of the hydraulic
oil.
2. Pneumatic Lifts
The pneumatic lifts are operated using air pressure and they are very efficient because
the power supply is carried out by compressing the atmospheric air. Most of the units
don’t require electricity and thus can be used at any place where the air is available.
3. Mechanical Lifts
The mechanical lifts are extended through a rack and pinion system or power screw,
both of which can convert rotational motion. All the electric lifts are mechanical. The
benefit of mechanical lift is that the teeth of its gear system prevent from slippage
essentially.

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3.1 METHODOLOGY
When a Rotating or translational motion is applied to the handle the lead
screw attached to the axis of the handle starts revolving. As the two end of the lead
screw is connected to both the end of the joints or nodes of the lift the nodes are
pulled towards each other and due to the simultaneous movement of the connected
links the lift starts lifting upward. The basic principle of this lift is lifting of a car by
screw jack as the screw jack lifts the car from one side the pair of this lift will lift the
entire car to a certain height and also move the car to short distance using a roller
skater mechanism. The main difference between a screw jack and this lift is that
screw jack lifts the car partially from one side and it is generally applicable for tire
changing when punctured. But this lift will entirely lift the car from ground level to a
certain height and the mechanic can perform all the under body work of a car. In case
of car failures to move the car alongside of road on a heavy traffic road instead of
using cranes we can use this mechanism which is less time consuming as compared to
cranes.
Deflection in scissors lifts can be defined as the change in elevation of all
parts to the original size of entire assembly i.e from the floor to the top of platform
deck, whenever loads are applied to or removed from the lift. Each component within
the scissors lift has the potential to store or release energy when loaded and unloaded.
Deflection takes place in all parts of scissor lift i.e Scissors Legs, Platform Structure,
Base Frame, Pinned Joints. To reduce stresses and deflection in scissor lift the load
should transfer equally between the two scissors arm pair. Base frames should be
attached to the surface on which they are mounted.

3.2 MATERIAL SELECTION

Selection of the material is most important factor for designing the system
which depends on a component and tasks that the component performs. Different
parts of the mechanism take different load and stress because they carry out different
functions. Individual approach is necessary to select a material for every part. The
detailed study impacts on total efficiency and benefits from it help to decide best
properties which can give different materials. Thus, main parts of the design are
allocated and features of each and every part are explained separately.

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The main interest is made by the Scissor arms of the lift, the greatest part of the
loading is shared between them and they are a basic element of the assembly. This
part is subjected to a normal force which can cause buckling and shear force cause
bending. Thus there can be bending deformation or breaking of the part. Properties
such as strength, hardness, and stiffness are needed. the appropriate material for the
purpose is mild steel.
The other components are top platform and base support frame. The top
platform takes the load caused by a weight of lifting the material. The main needed
property here is strength and the selected material is mild steel. The base support
frame is subjected to the weight of the load scissors mechanism itself -cylinder and
Scissor arms, hence, hardness and stiffness are required. Mild steel is appropriate.
Sr. no Mechanical composition of mild steel (ms) BS970
1 Max stress 400-560 N/mm²
2 Yield stress 300-440 N/mm²
3 0.2% proof stress 280-420 N/mm²
4 Elongation 10-14 % /mm

3.4 CLASSIFICATION

1) According to Lift Type

1) Single leg set
2) Multiple height
3) Multiple width
4) Multiple length
2) According to Energy Used
1) Hydraulic
2) Pneumatic
3) Mechanical
3) According to Mounting
1) Surface
2) Pit
3) Mobile

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3.5 DESIGN
Working Principle
A scissor lift, or commonly called as a table lift, is mainly used to lift people
upwards with its crisscrossing foundation supporting beneath the platform. As the
platform pulls itself together, it moves upright in the vertical direction and push the
platform in accordance with the height and weight. These lifts can be controlled
through hydraulic, pneumatic or mechanical power for height extension. Originally
delivered in numerous sizes and shapes, it is designed and manufactured as an
industrial lift, and has been customized for commercial and comprehensive purposes.
Scissor lifts typically operate in two axes of movement and are designed for
applications where people and material need only up and down travel (stationary lift),
where the lift needs to be moved around to perform work (manually positioned lift),
or to access work along a fixed area of travel (rail guided lift).

fig.3.5 scissor lift

In this section, all design concepts developed are discussed and based on
evaluation criteria and process developed, and a final here modified to further
enhance the functionality of the design.
Considerations made during the design and fabrication of a single acting
cylinder is as follows:

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1. Functionality of the design
2. Manufacturability
3. Economic availability. i.e. General cost of material and fabrication techniques
employed

For a scissor lift Force required to lift the load is dependent on,
Angle of link with horizontal
Mounting of cylinder on the links
The length of the link.
Formula used
Where W = Load to be lifted
S= a2 + L2 -2aL*cos α
S = Distance between end points of the cylinder.
L= length of Scissor arm= 4.2 m
α = angle of cylinder with horizontal.

The Scissor Lift Consists of Several Components

Those are as given below:
1) Upper Base: The upper base will be made of mild steel material and its rectangular
cross section. Whereas, the base plate has two rigid supports. These supports are
provided for connecting base plate to links.
2) Lower Base: The lower base plate is of mild steel material. The upper and lower
base is connected by links via fixed supports. While, the other parameters are same as
upper base.
3) Links: The upper base and lower base are joined with the help of links provided
which will be made up of mild steel. Since for buckling of the link in the vertical
plane, the ends are considered as hinged.
4) Lead Screw: While designing the lead screw the EN24T material is selected. This
Material has yield strength of 650 N/mm2 and the ultimate strength is of 850 N/mm2.
For further design of lead screw factor of safety is taken as 5.
5) Roller Support: The material used for manufacturing of roller is mild steel. Roller
support is provided to avoid friction
between base and links.

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3.6 DESIGN OF COMPONENTS

3.6.1 Design of Upper frame

The upper plate in a scissor lift is used to place the load and transfer it to the
links. The designing of the upper plate is undertaken similar as the base plate. The
upper plate has the similar requirements as the base plate. Also it has been found that
not much of the stresses are developed in the upper plate as well.
The upper base will be made by connecting hollow rectangular pipe of cross
section 50*25mm and thickness of 3 mm. Thus, the cross section length of upper base
will be 760*460mm.

fig.3.6.1 Design of Upper frame

3.4.1 Design of Links

According to the availability of rods in the markets we have selected a rod of
cross section 50*25 mm with a thickness of 3mm. And we are further going to
analyze whether it will be suitable for our design.
Load acting on one link = F / 2 = 269 N
The link is designed for buckling load, assuming
factor of safety (FOS) = 5
Thus critical buckling load = 269 x 5 = 1345 N
Assume width of link = 3 x thickness of link and
c/s area of link = 3 x thickness2
Moment of Inertia = 2.25 x thickness4
Radius of gyration = 0.866 x thickness 9
 fig.3.6.3 Design of Links

3.4.2 Design of Connecting Pins

Instead of using connecting pins we use nut and bolt for assembling the
various links of scissor lift table. Their dimensions are as follows,
1) Dia 10mm And length 75mm
2) Dia 12mm And length 50mm
The material of the nut is assumed to be mild steel. And therefore the bearing
pressure of mild steel = 20 N/mm2.
Assumed that the load W is uniformly distributed over the cross sectional area
of the nut, therefore the bearing pressure between the threads is given by Pb = W /
(_/4) x [(do2) – (dc2)] x n Thus we get n = 0.1903 (n is the number of threads in
contact with screw)
In order to have good stability and also to prevent the undesirable movement
of screw in the nut, take n = 4 Now thickness of nut (t) = n x p = 24 mm and width of
nut (b) = 1.5 do = 27 mm

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 3.4.3 Lead Screw
Lead screw is the ultimate component that takes up the load that is to be lifted
or lowered by lift. It also delivers torque from the motor to the nut and also prevents
falling of the lift due to its own weight.
In minimum position, The core diameter of the screw is taken as
dc = 12 mm And the pitch of the screw is taken as p = 2 mm
Therefore outer diameter do = 14 mm.
And the average diameter, d = 13 mm
Let _ be the helix angle
Now tan _ = p / (_.d) = 2 / (_.13) = 0.0489
Assume μ = tan _. Thus we get _ = 0.20
Effort required to rotate the screw while increasing the height, P = W x tan (_ + _) =
135.23 N
Similarly effort required to reduce the height, P = W x tan (_ - _) = 80.5 N Torque
required in rotating the screw, T = P x (d/2) = 878.9 N.mm
Torsional shear stress (calculated) = 10.36 N/mm2
Direct tensile stress (calculated) = 4.76 N/mm2
Maximum principle stress (calculated) = 13 N/mm2
Maximum shear stress (calculated) = 10.63 N/mm2
It has been found that all the above calculated values are within the permissible limits.
Therefore all dimensions considered are correct.

Fig.3.6.5 Lead Screw

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3.5 DESIGN CALCULATION

The scissor lift has a non-negligible mass. A significant amount of work will
be done by the actuator in lifting the mass of the scissor lift itself to any given height
h. Hence, this work must be accounted for. This section will derive an equation for the
work done in lifting the weight of the scissor lift to any height h. We will model the
mass of the scissor lift in terms of an arbitrary cuboidal mass 𝑚, of weight 𝐵 = 𝑚𝑔,
and dimensions 𝑎×𝑏×h. (B is used to avoid confusion with any other variables) We
will examine the behaviour of the mass as the height increases, but mass remains the
same (as is the case with a scissor lift in extension). For the sake of simplicity, the
density (𝜌) is taken to be constant (although this is not the case) Consider an
infinitesimal slice of this solid, of thickness 𝑑𝑦, at a height 𝑦 from the base of the
solid.

Fig.3.7
Now, if the height of the block changes but weight remains the same, work
done in changing height, Δ𝑊2 is given by:
Δ𝑊B = 𝑊2 − 𝑊1
⇒ Δ𝑊2 =𝐵/2 (h2-h1)

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4. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF SCISSOR
LIFT TABLE
➢ ADVANTAGES:-
A scissor lift or widely known as a table lift is primarily used to lift
people upwards with its criss-crossing foundation supporting under the
platform. Therefore, there are many benefits to hiring scissor platforms in
working and construction sites;

Safety
Scissor lifts are work platforms used to safely move workers vertically and to
different locations in a variety of industries including construction, retail,
entertainment and manufacturing.
Before we mention about the safety, first we should know which equipments
were used before the invention of scissor lifts; step ladders and scaffolding. However,
those traditional fixtures could not provide enough support and reliability after a
certain height and those who work with scaffolds and ladders should make an extra
effort to build these towers accordingly safety measures and If they neglect to
implement these measures, unfortunately, they will risk their lives as well as others,
on the other hand, scissor lifts provide a strong and reliable foundation for workers to
perform their professional duties when used according to manufacturer’s
recommendations.

1. Productivity
Scissor lifts are moved easily and safely from one place to another without
hassle . This will help reduce in physicall effort and fatigue of the workers who
operate them and instantly will save time. As a result of that, they will have more
energy and time for complete their daily operational tasks.

2. Flexibility
There are sevaral types of scissor lifts for specific jobs, such as electric
powered scissor lifts are best known for indoor usage while diesel powered scissor
platforms are great for outdoor usage and rough terrains also there are endless

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possibilities when it comes to size ( wide, narrow, light weight….etc) and height to
end users .
3. Compact Design
If you have a limited space in your warehouse or storage and your job requires
you to working at height, scissor lifts are an excellent solution for you since they have
designed to fully retracted and take up very little space .
4. Simplicity of Transfer
You do not need to worry about mantling and dismantling of the machine so
that you can easily transfer scissor lifts with tow trucks. This will save your time and
energy for other tasks.
5. Varied Power Option
Numerous scissor lifts use different types of power in order to operate. Some
rely on mechanical power. Others use ultra-smooth hydraulics or pneumatic power
instead. Scissor lifts also come in a variety of different sizes and types, making them a
great fit for a wide range of different settings.

➢ DISADVANTAGES:

The possible disadvantages of this invention may be as below:

1. Elements of this system have to manufactured separately to a high degree of
precision which increases the overall manufacturing cost of the system.
2. Higher degree of maintenance is required and hence maintenance cost is increased.
3. The entire system is subjected to mechanical friction, hence regular lubrication
must be provided.
4. Additional protection against rust and corrosion is required

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 PROCESS SHEET
Component Name-Main Base Frame
Raw Material- M.S. Rectangular pipe

Sr. Name Procedure Machine Tool/Guage Time (min)

No. Of

1. Cutting Cutting is done on Plate Steel rule 45

rectangular pipe with the help Cutter
of plate cutter
2. Drilling Drilling is done on Drilling 20
rectangular pipe with the help machine
of vertical drilling machine

3. Welding Welding is done on the joint Welding -- 60

between two corner pipes by
Machine
using welding transformer

4. Grinding Grinding is done on surface Angle -- 30

of pipe and joint of welded Grinder
surface

Total time for 155

operation

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 COST ESTIMATION

SR.NO. NAME OF MATERIAL QUANTITY AMOUNT

PARTS (RMS)

1 Rectangular pipe M.S 3 1400/-

2 Base frame M.S 1 600/-

3 Supporting frame M.S 2 800/-

4 Plywood Wood 3 600/-

5 Wheels Plastics 6 400/-

6 Threaded Rod Steel 1 1500/-

7 Bearings S.S 10 600/-

8 Nut & Bolt M.S 10 400/-

9 Welding Rod Nickel Alloy 1 Box 300/-

TOTAL 6600/-
COST

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LABOUR COST

Lathe + Drilling + Welding + Grinding+ Cutting

Total Cost = 1450/-

Transportation Cost + Material Handling = 600/-

Other Charges = 800/-

OVERHEAD CHARGES

The Overhead Charges Are Arrived By “Manufacturing Cost”

Manufacturing Cost = Material Cost + Laboure Cost

= 6600 + 1450
= 8050/-
Overhead Charges = 20% of The Manufacturing Cost
= 1610/-

TOTAL COST

Total cost = Material Cost + Laboure cost + Other Charges + Overhead

Charges
= 6600 + 1450 + 1400 + 1610
= 11060/-
Total cost for this project = 11060/-

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 5. CONCLUSION

Instead of using hydraulic or pneumatic lift we have used mechanically

operated lift which is more cost efficient and portable. We have designed scissor lift
in such a way that it has reduced design complexities. All the design calculations are
performed taking into consideration the dimensions of car and all the safety issues.
Modifications can be done by providing rollers to the lower base so it could be
portable. Also by providing upper magnetic base ferrous material can be held easily.

Portable work platform Mechanical scissor lift is designed for high load
resistance. The Mechanical scissor lift is simple in use and does not required routine
maintenance. Both the mild steel and aluminium alloys are good at their different
aspects. Mild steel has greater durability strength and it is also cheap and easily
available. As these properties plays an important role in designing scissor lift. So in
designing scissor lift mild steel has greater importance.

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