Electric hoists and electric hoist manufacturers including wire rope hoists, chain hoist, engine hoists, boat hoist, and electric chains hoists.  

Information Page Links:

Featured Electric Hoists Manufacturers

About Electric Hoists

Electric Hoist Terms

Electric Hoists Associations

Electric Hoists Resources

Trade Shows

Featured Electric Hoist Articles

More Articles

ISO - International Organization
for Standardization

Back

About Electric Hoists

Electric hoists are a mechanical unit that is designed to lift, lower or pull loads. Whether a manually-powered product for small loads or a heavy duty electrical motor driven version, an electric hoist can offer a load carrying capacity for companies and individuals, which no human alone could match. Electric hoists can be operated by electrical, manual, hydraulic or pneumatic power, but the most commonly used are electric hoists. An electric hoists is powered by an electrical motor that helps them lift or lower a load to a designated location. These types of electric hoists are typically mounted in one of three arrangements: lug, trolley or suspension mountings. For consumers who desire something besides off-the-shelf mounts, many companies additionally offer custom mounting configurations.

A common type of electric hoist is a chain electric hoist, which uses a linked or roller chain to lift and lower loads. Chain electric hoists are sturdy and can be advantageous because they are fairly inexpensive, simple to operate, generally rust-resistant and low maintenance. Additionally, these electric hoists are flexible and have the ability to withstand high temperatures and other less desirable environments. An alternative to a chain hoist is a wire rope hoist, which uses wire rope instead of chains to transport materials. These types of electric hoists can be used in various positions, either stationary or as a mobile unit attached to a trolley system. Other types of electric hoists are available for very specific applications, such as those used to remove engines from airplanes and automobiles, and those that help operate the gates of dams.

Because of the wide variety of materials and products that can be transported using electric hoists, winches and cranes, many different industries are able to benefit from these machines. An electric hoist can be used to move and handle large rolls of paper to install in printing presses, so that newspapers can be printed daily. In the food industry, electric hoists are capable of moving large equipment that is used for the mixing of ingredients and containers for storage. Electric hoists of this type are generally made for the particular environment and can be very gentle, depending on need. In mining applications, electric hoists are especially useful for withdrawing shield support and mounting platforms from mines. These electric hoists tend to be highly durable hoists that are able to withstand the rough environment, plus they tend to be explosion proof.

When considering electric hoists, it is important to consider the application for which it will be used. Maximum weight capacity, maximum lift speed, line type and mounting type of the electric hoists need to be taken into account as well. These are important considerations because, for instance, buying a casual load lifting hoist to transport a boat would be disastrous. Using a lighter load hoist would result in damage to the hoist and/or boat, not to mention the safety issues it would raise for the employees. Safety must be taken into account when using electric hoists to ensure that the weight of the objects being raised or lowered does not surpass the maximum load carrying capability. Injuries can happen when dealing with this kind of equipment, so one must understand how to safely operate these electric hoists machines before use in order to avoid harm.

Featured Articles

"Don't Let Chain Hoist Safety Be Your Weakest Link"
www.stevenspublishing.com/Stevens/OHSPub....

"Safe Cranes and Hoists Are No Accident"
http://www.mrotoday.com/mro/archives/Uptime/cranesFM98.htm

Images Provided by Engineered Material Handling

Types of Electric Hoists

• Auxiliary hoists are supplemental hoists that are used to handle light loads at a higher speed than the main hoist.
  
• Boat hoists are lifting units specially designed to raise and lower boats. Boat hoists are typically hydraulically or electrically powered and can lift up to 20,000 pounds.
  
• Chain hoists use roller or link chains as a lifting medium. Chain hoists are typically electrically powered, but can be manually and pneumatically operated as well.
  
• Engine hoists are lifting units designed to allow engine removal from automobiles, airplanes or boats. Engine hoists are typically hydraulically powered, but sometimes use an electrical motor.
  
• Gate hoists are exclusively used to lift the water controlling gates at dams.
  
• Hoists are devices used to lift heavy loads.
  
• Modular hoists have an integral drum, motor and gearbox, with no visible shaft couplings between them.
  
• Overhead hoists are attached to wall columns or ceilings.
  
• Trolley hoists are hoists suspended from a trolley. These hoists can be built into the trolley or connected to the trolley using a clevis or hook.
  
• Winch pulls heavy loads horizontally.
  
• Wire rope hoists use wire rope as a raising/lowering medium. A complete wire rope hoist consists of a rope storage drum, one or more motors, a gear box and a braking system; they can be mounted in a stationary position or along a monorail attached to a trolley that allows them to slide to different locations.