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Cranes have been used for at least 2,000 years, with the Romans and Egyptians using them for monumental construction. Modern cranes can be simple or complex, with mobile, truck-mounted, rough-terrain, loading, stacking, gantry, floating, and tower versions available for various applications. All cranes use simple machines to reduce workload and are essential in many industries.
Cranes are machines that use levers and/or pulleys to lift significant weights. What a person might pass by on the street may seem like a fairly modern invention, but in reality these machines have been around for at least the last 2,000 years, if not more. The Romans used them to build huge monuments and medieval churches were built with them. The Egyptians may have used them to create the pyramids. The modern version can be simple or complex and vary according to their application.
A relatively simple version is the mobile crane. A telescoping boom (boom) or steel truss mounts its mobile platform. Both sheaves and levers lift the boom, and usually a hook is suspended from the boom.
The platform of a mobile crane may have traditional wheels, wheels designed for railroad tracks, or a crawler track, which is useful for navigating unpaved and rough surfaces. This equipment can be used for demolition or earthmoving by replacing the hook with an appropriate tool, such as a wrecking ball or bucket. Telescopic cranes, with a series of hydraulic pipes interlocked together to form the boom, can also be mobile.
Truck-mounted and rough-terrain cranes are also essentially mobile. The truck-mounted version is generally equipped with stabilizers to increase its stability. Those for rough terrain tend to have a base that resembles the bottom of a 4WD vehicle, and outriggers stabilize them as well. They tend to be used in rough terrain, as the name suggests, and are often used for gathering and hauling materials.
Loading cranes have hydraulically operated booms mounted on trailers. They load the goods onto the trailer and the articulated boom sections are folded away when not in use. The loader may also be considered telescopic, as a section of the boom, in some models, may be telescopic for ease of use.
Stacking equipment is most commonly found in automated warehouses, where it tends to follow an automated picking system. For example, in massive automated freezers, these cranes, equipped with a forklift apparatus, can work remotely, stacking or picking foods as needed. This recovery system helps keep workers out of the cold.
Gantry cranes are most often found in ports and railways, where they unload and move huge containers from ships and trains. The bases are huge crossbeams that run on rails, so raised containers can be moved from one location to another. The portainer is a special type of portal that lifts materials in and out of ships.
Floating ones mounted on barges or pontoons are also essential for the shipping industry. Located in the water, they are used to build ports, salvage ships or build bridges. Like the carriers, this equipment can also unload ships. It is capable of handling very heavy loads and awkwardly shaped containers.
Tower cranes, on the other hand, generally do not have a mobile base. These are often the taller types and need to be assembled piece by piece. The base looks like a long ladder and the arm is perpendicular to the base. This equipment is used to construct tall buildings, and in the case of skyscrapers, often one is assembled and secured inside the building itself during construction.
All cranes are a mix of simple machines used to reduce workload. As simple as they may seem, they are instrumental in many aspects of the industry. They can dig, move, create or destroy, depending on their type. This gear exemplifies the idea that sometimes the oldest ideas are the best.
