What is a crane?

A crane is a kind of machine equipment that lifts, lowers, or lifts and transports heavy objects by means of lifting hooks or other spreaders in an intermittent and repetitive manner. Crane is a kind of intermittent action handling equipment that is mainly used for vertical transportation and doubles as short-distance horizontal transportation. Its working characteristics are periodic. A complete working cycle generally includes fetching, lifting, translation, lowering, unloading, and then returning to the original place until the next fetching starts, that is, it is completed by repeated working cycles. Lifting, transferring, turning, and hoisting equipment for various operations. Frequent starting, braking, forward and reverse movements are the essential characteristics of crane movements.

Cranes are indispensable equipment for modern industrial production. They are widely used in factories, ports, construction sites, mines, railways, hotels, residential buildings, and other places to complete various constructions such as lifting, transportation, loading and unloading, installation, and personnel transportation. It can greatly reduce the intensity of physical labor, improve labor productivity, and improve people’s quality of life. Some cranes can also perform some special process operations in production, making the production process easier to mechanize and automate.

Cranes are indispensable equipment for modern industrial production. They are widely used in factories, ports, construction sites, mines, railways, hotels, residential buildings, and other places to complete various constructions such as lifting, transportation, loading and unloading, installation, and personnel transportation. It can greatly reduce the intensity of physical labor, improve labor productivity, and improve people’s quality of life. Some cranes can also perform some special process operations in production, making the production process easier to mechanize and automate.

The working characteristics of the crane

1. The crane usually has a huge bearing metal structure and a relatively complex mechanism, which can complete one lifting motion and one or several horizontal motions. For example, bridge cranes can complete three movements of hoisting, trolley operation, and trolley operation; tower cranes can complete four movements of hoisting, luffing, slewing, and trolley operation. During the operation, several movements in different directions are often operated at the same time, which is technically difficult.
2. There are various kinds of heavy objects to be hoisted, and the load varies. Some heavy objects weigh hundreds of tons or even thousands of tons, some objects are tens of meters long, and their shape is very irregular. There are also scattered particles, hot melted states, flammable and explosive dangerous goods, etc., which make the lifting process complicated. And dangerous.
3. Most cranes need to operate in a large range, and some need to install tracks and wheels (such as tower cranes, bridge cranes, etc.), and some need to install tires or crawlers to walk on the ground (such as truck cranes). , crawler cranes, etc.), and some need to run on wire ropes (such as overhead ropeways, cable cranes, etc.), the activity space is large, and once an accident occurs, the affected area is also large.
4. Some cranes need to directly carry personnel to do lifting movements on guide rails, platforms, or wire ropes (such as elevators, lifting platforms, etc.), and their reliability directly affects personal safety.
5. There are many exposed and movable parts, and they are often in direct contact with lifting operators (such as hooks, wire ropes, etc.), and there are many potential risk factors.
6. The working environment is complicated. From construction sites to large iron and steel complexes, to modern ports, railway hubs, and tourist resorts, cranes are in operation; workplaces often encounter dangerous factors such as high temperature, high pressure, flammable and explosive, transmission lines, and strong magnetism. Threats to equipment and workers.
7. Many people are often required to cooperate and work together to complete a job. Therefore, operators such as commanding, bundling, and driving are required to cooperate with each other, coordinate their movements, and take care of each other. The operators should have the ability to deal with on-site emergencies. The close cooperation between multiple operators is difficult.

The existence of many of the above risk factors often leads to more serious injury accidents. According to relevant statistics, the number of work-related fatalities in China’s annual serious injury accidents accounts for about 15% of the total work-related fatalities in all industrial enterprises. In order to ensure the safe operation of cranes, China lists it as special equipment for special management, and many enterprises regard the management of lifting equipment as one of the important links in safe production.

The safety management, product quality, and work quality of the crane’s manufacturing, installation, use, maintenance, and inspection all affect the safety of the crane and the life of the crane. Therefore, the requirements for lifting equipment and operators are relatively strict.