Extraordinary cushions get under the skin of problem lifts

New ranges of seamless inflatable lifting cushions are being introduced to Australia to handle tricky lifts.

Pronal lifting CLP cushions can delicately raise loads ranging from heavy vehicles, pipelines and plant through to beams, bridge components, building components, machinery and resource development structures.

Pneumatic actuation, isolation and suspension specialist Air Springs Supply Pty Ltd is national distributor for the custom-fabricated lifting cushions engineered by French elastomer specialist Pronal, the organisation that developed the tough lifting tanks used to pluck artifacts from the Titanic nearly 4km down on the ocean floor.

Pronal's newest cushions range from ultra-thin bags (just 20mm thick deflated) that can lift weights of more than 65t each, to powerful spreading cushions that can exert hundreds of tonnes of force to part plant and machinery components for servicing, or to extract quarried material. Complementary low-pressure CPB Maxi-Lift cushions can be used on land and under water, offering greater strokes of up to 700mm (or 1400mm where a pair are employed).

Air Springs Supply national sales manager Simon Agar says the Pronal bags combine the advantages of high durability and power with gentle, precisely controlled lifting that can spread the load over broader surfaces of the object being lifted, rather than point loads. They are so delicate and progressive in operation that they have been employed in difficult emergency applications such as aircraft recovery.

“Sometimes is it not necessary or desirable to use cranes, slings or cylinders for lifts that present particular technical challenges in terms of lifting surfaces or surfaces to which lifting force is to be applied. Where considerable investments may be contemplated in custom-engineering a conventional lifting platform, it may be well worth considering the simple principle of pneumatic actuation,” he said. “This can be particularly so when working in confined spaces, such as trenches and mines, where there is little room beneath pipelines and plant.”

Features of the product include:

As well as straight lifting, they can be used for pressing, clamping, tilting and guiding;

Strokes from 70-585smm (CLP), with longer strokes provided by combinations of cushions;

In addition to standard sizes, specific sizes and shapes can be made to order;

Ease of use, with inflation either by compressor or simple air cylinders;

Inflation pressures up to eight bar, regardless of stroke;

Construction from threaded layers coated with chemical resistant elastomer, hot vlucanised under pressure in one operation;

Non-slip surface providing maximum friction when stacking two cushions; and

Control systems tailored to particular uses.

Pronal equipment such as the PAC series of lifting cushions can be supplied with trailers, lifting bases and control systems, developed to the demanding standards of Pronal's world-wide customer base, including military and civil aviation applications.

More i nformation: Air Springs Supply Pty Ltd, 02 9807 4077, fax: 02 9807 6979, sales@airsprings.com.au, www.airsprings.com.au