DESC:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)

Title of invention:
AN AUTOMATED LIFTING MECHANISM FOR A HYDRAULIC JACK

Applicant:
BEML Limited
A company Incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 1956
Having address:
BEML Soudha, 23/1, 4th Main,
Sampangirama Nagar, Bengaluru - 560 027,
Karnataka, India

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PRIORITY
[001] The present invention claims priority from Indian patent application numbered 202041004440 filed on 31 January 2020.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[002] The present subject matter described herein, in general, relates to testing of a hydraulic jack and more specifically to an automated lifting mechanism for a hydraulic jack.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[003] Most of the vehicles are provided with a hydraulic jack for various purposes like lifting the vehicle axle during wheel replacement, holding of loads during servicing etc. During proposed usage, these jacks are lifted by manual efforts. During manufacturing of these hydraulic jacks, the jacks are tested for multiple cycles for quality checks. Each hydraulic jack needs to be tested for 25 cycles of operation (with an applied load of 20 Tons over the hydraulic jack). The Hydraulic jack has a lift stroke of 150 mm. Each cycle of testing takes about 100 strokes to lift the jack from its minimum position to its maximum height. The testing is currently carried out manually which requires enormous human effort. Therefore there is a need to reduce human efforts for testing of the hydraulic jack.
[004] The present subject matter discloses a system to overcome the above mentioned shortcomings of the existing system.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[005] It is an object of the present invention to enable testing of a hydraulic jack by using automated lifting mechanism.
[006] It is an object of the present invention to reduce human efforts required for testing of the hydraulic jack.
[007] It is an object of the present invention to reduce time required for testing of the hydraulic jack.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[008] Before the present system is described, it is to be understood that this application is not limited to the particular machine or an apparatus, and methodologies described, as there can be multiple possible embodiments that are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosures. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular versions or embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. This summary is provided to introduce aspects related to an automated lifting mechanism for a hydraulic jack, and the aspects are further elaborated below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the proposed subject matter nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the proposed subject matter.
[009] The present subject matter discloses an automated lifting mechanism for a hydraulic jack. The automated lifting mechanism comprises a pneumatic cylinder and a lever of the hydraulic jack. The pneumatic cylinder is configured with a piston. The lever is configured to be connected with the piston. The forward and reverse movement of the piston enables lifting of the hydraulic jack.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawing. For the purpose of illustrating the disclosure, there is shown in the present document example constructions of the disclosure, however, the disclosure is not limited to the specific methods and apparatus disclosed in the document and the drawing:
[0011] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figure. In the figure, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawing to refer like features and components.
[0012] Figure 1 illustrates a view of an automated lifting mechanism, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
[0013] Figure 2 illustrates another view of the automated lifting mechanism, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
[0014] Figure 3 illustrates yet another view of the automated lifting mechanism, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
[0015] The figure depicts various embodiments of the present disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words "comprising", “having”, and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. Although any systems and methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure, the exemplary, systems and methods are now described. The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the disclosure, which may be embodied in various forms.
[0017] Various modifications to the embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments illustrated, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
[0018] All the embodiments of the present subject matter are described by below list of reference numerals and part names.
Reference Numeral Part Name
100 automated lifting mechanism
10 hydraulic jack
110 pneumatic cylinder
112 piston
114 lever
120 double solenoid valve
130 filter regulator lubricator unit

[0019] The Hydraulic jacks (bottle type) are used for various purposes like lifting the vehicle axle during wheel replacement, holding of loads during servicing etc. The testing of hydraulic jacks are done as per IS: 4552 (part 3) where different type of tests like visual test, no load test, performance test, load sustaining test, operating torque test etc. are performed. The hydraulic jacks are subjected to load test in the test rig, during which the performance aspects like drop, leak etc. are monitored. The performance test being manual requires two persons to operate the hydraulic jack at 20T load and 24T overload. The jack lifting mechanism designed can do the operation of the jack pneumatically and only operator is required to switch on and off during the cycle. Each hydraulic jack needs to be tested for 25 cycles of operation (with an applied load of 20 Tons over the hydraulic jack). The Hydraulic jack has a lift stroke of 150 mm. Each cycle of testing takes about 100 strokes to lift the jack from its minimum position to its maximum height. Therefore to complete the testing for 25 cycles a lot of human effort is required which also consumes a lot of time for whole testing cycle. The present subject matter discloses an automated jack lifting mechanism.
[0020] Referring to figure 1-3, in one aspect of the present subject matter, a schematic of an automated lifting mechanism 100 for a hydraulic jack 10 is disclosed. The automated lifting mechanism 100 comprises a pneumatic cylinder 110 and a lever 114 of the hydraulic jack 10. The pneumatic cylinder 110 is configured with a piston 112. The lever 114 is configured to be connected with the piston 112 and wherein forward and reverse movement of the piston 112 enables lifting of the hydraulic jack 10. In an embodiment, the pneumatic cylinder (110) is a double acting pneumatic cylinder.
[0021] Further the automated lifting mechanism 100 is configured with a double solenoid valve 120, a top Alternative Current (AC) coil (not shown), a bottom Alternative Current (AC) coil (not shown), a top magnetic read switch (not shown), a bottom magnetic read switch (not shown) and a Filter Regulator Lubricator (FRL) unit 130. The double solenoid valve 120 is fluidically connected to the top and bottom inlets of the pneumatic cylinder 110. The top AC coil is configured to be mounted on the double solenoid valve 120 in proximity of the top inlet of the pneumatic cylinder. The bottom AC coil is configured to be mounted on the double solenoid valve 120 in proximity of the bottom inlet of the pneumatic cylinder. The top and bottom magnetic read switches are configured to be mounted on the pneumatic cylinder 110 to read top and bottom positions of the piston 112 inside the pneumatic cylinder 110 respectively. The FRL unit 130 is configured to receive an external pneumatic pressure to filter, regulate and lubricate the air before supplying the air to the double solenoid valve 120.
[0022] In operation, once the automated lifting mechanism 100 is switched on, the bottom magnetic read switch reads the position of the piston 112. The magnetic read switch triggers the top AC coil to open the double solenoid valve port to the bottom inlet of the pneumatic cylinder 110. The air pressure pushes the piston 112 to the top position thereby lifting the lever 114. Once the piston 112 reaches the top position, the top magnetic read switch reads the position of the piston 112 and send signal to the bottom AC coil to open the double solenoid valve port at top inlet of the pneumatic cylinder. The air pressure pushes the piston 112 towards down side thereby pulling down the lever 114. One stroke of forward and reverse movement of the piston 112 completes and another cycle continues. To lift the hydraulic jack 10 from minimum position to maximum position 100 strokes of the forward and reverse movement of the piston 112 are required. Once the hydraulic jack 10 reaches the maximum position, the automated lifting mechanism is switched off. The hydraulic jack 10 is applied with a continuous load of 20 Tons for testing purposes. This load may be provided by a hydraulic press for the testing.
[0023] The automated lifting mechanism 100 is configured to reduce human effort by automating the testing of the hydraulic jack. Further the automated lifting mechanism 100 is used for lifting of the hydraulic jack 10 during breakdown of a vehicle or for changing a wheel of the vehicle.
[0024] The present invention may be used for the cabin lifting applications of heavy vehicles.
[0025] Exemplary embodiments discussed above may provide certain advantages. Though not required to practice aspects of the disclosure, these advantages may include those provided by the following features.
[0026] Some object of the present invention enables testing of a hydraulic jack by the automated lifting mechanism.
[0027] Some object of the present invention enables to ensure oil flow to steering circuit even after failure of steering pump.
[0028] Some object of the present invention enables to reduce human efforts required for testing of the hydraulic jack.
[0029] Some object of the present invention enables to reduce time required for testing of the hydraulic jack.
[0030] Although implementations for the automated lifting mechanism 100 for a dump truck have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features described. Rather, the specific features are disclosed as examples of implementation for the automated lifting mechanism 100.
,CLAIMS:
1. An automated lifting mechanism (100) for a hydraulic jack (10), wherein the automated lifting mechanism (100) comprises:
a pneumatic cylinder (110) configured with a piston (112); and
a lever (114) of the hydraulic jack (10), wherein the lever (114) is configured to be connected with the piston (112) and wherein forward and reverse movement of the piston (112) enables lifting of the hydraulic jack (10).

2. The automated lifting mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the automated lifting mechanism is configured with a double solenoid valve (120), a top alternative current (AC) coil, a bottom alternative current (AC) coil, a top magnetic read switch, a bottom magnetic read switch and a filter regulator lubricator unit (130).

3. The automated lifting mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the double solenoid valve is configured to be in fluidic connection with top inlet or bottom inlet of the pneumatic cylinder (110).

4. The automated lifting mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the top and bottom magnetic read switches are configured to be mounted on the pneumatic cylinder (110) to read position of the piston (112) inside the pneumatic cylinder (110).

5. The automated lifting mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the top alternative current coil is configured to be mounted on the double solenoid valve (120) in proximity of top inlet of the pneumatic cylinder (110) and the bottom alternative current coil is configured to be mounted on the double solenoid valve (120) in proximity of bottom inlet of the pneumatic cylinder (110).

6. The automated lifting mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the bottom magnetic read switch is configured to trigger the top AC coil to open outlet ports of the double solenoid valve (120) based on the bottom position of the piston (112) inside the pneumatic cylinder (110).

7. The automated lifting mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the top magnetic read switch is configured to trigger the bottom AC coil to open outlet ports of the double solenoid valve (120) based on the top position of the piston (112) inside the pneumatic cylinder (110).

8. The automated lifting mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the filter regulator lubricator unit (130) is configured to receive an external pneumatic pressure for filtering, regulating and lubricating the air before supplying the air to the double solenoid valve (120).

9. The automated lifting mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the air from the filter regulator lubricator unit (130) is configured to enable forward or reverse movement of the piston (112) to actuate the lever (114) for lifting of the hydraulic jack (10).

10. The automated lifting mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pneumatic cylinder (110) is configured to be a double acting pneumatic cylinder.

11. The automated lifting mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the automated lifting mechanism (100) is configured for lifting of the hydraulic jack 10 in the event of breakdown of a vehicle or for changing a wheel of the vehicle.

12. The automated lifting mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the automated lifting mechanism (100) is configured for cabin lifting applications of heavy vehicles.

13. The automated lifting mechanism (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hydraulic jack is configured to operate for load of 20 ton to 25 tones.