Lifts and Cranes. These, as hydraulic machines, are adapted to very many places where other power apparatus is too slow; they operate on the same principle as the hydraulic press; having a cylinder and a ram: they have chain wheels attached to the outer end of the ram, as shown in the illustration.
As the ram advances the chain is shortened and when it recedes the chain is lengthened, thus, the weight attached to the end of the chain is raised and lowered. The hydraulic “lift” in passenger elevators operates upon the same principle and this gives an idea of the rapid motion capable of being imparted to the load. It is by the adaptation of hydraulic lifts and cranes in steel mills that such economical results have been attained.
PUMPS AS HYDRAULIC APPARATUS.
In Figs. 153 and 154 are shown representations of certain apparatus, long used in schools, to explain the rather obscure operation, of even the simplest of pumps; these models are made of glass so that all the movements of the valves, etc., may be clearly noted. Credit is due to Monsieur Ganot, author of Elements of Physics, for the following.
Fig. 153 represents a model of a suction-pump such as is used in lectures, but which has essentially the same arrangement as the pumps in common use. It consists, 1st, of a glass cylinder, B, at the bottom of which is a valve, S, opening upwards; 2nd, of a suction-tube, A, which dips into the reservoir from which water is to be raised; 3rd, of a piston, which is moved up and down by a rod worked by a handle, P. The piston has a hole in its center; this upper aperture is closed by a valve, O opening upwards.
Fig. 153.