Vehicle jack with wedge mechanism

Abstract

In many developing countries, particularly Nigeria,the high cost of production of a vehicle jack and the prevailing economic situation has made the commercial production of vehicle jacks difficult. Thus, the development of an appropriate technology for a vehicle jackwould be of vital utility to vehicle users. This paper presents the design and construction of a low-price, simple mechanical jack with wedge mechanism to provide a lift of about 160 mm with a self-locking capability for both small- and medium-sized vehicles. The design calculationsinvolve the evaluation of applied force required, the screw shaft design, and the lift head design analysis. The fabricated jack was tested on some small and medium vehicles, which resulted in a good lift without any pre-manual lifting. The jack weighs about 4 kg and costs about N1000 per unit.

Keywords

• vehicle jack
• screw system
• wedge mechanism
• vehicle lifting