The world
of cranes
An early form of the crane was developed in ancient
times. Of course, there were no motors to drive the cranes, but human or animal
muscle power was required. Wooden scaffolding was tied together to form posts
and brackets and a rope was diverted. The load hung on one side of the rope, on
the other side the rope was pulled. The system was optimized in the Middle Ages
by the pulley block, but the basic construction of the cranes was still made of
wood. Without the wooden crane constructions, however, the builders of the
Middle Ages would not have been able to build domes, for example.
The derivation of the term crane is also
interesting. This has its bionic origin from a bird, the crane.
The crane
and its functions
The basic function of a crane is easy to describe:
A load should experience a change in location. On the one hand, the load
(weight, size and shape) determines the type of crane; on the other hand, it is
required by the environment, outdoors, indoors, on the water or at dizzying
heights. Another factor is the frequency of the load transfer.
The crane
and its structure
The construction of a crane is as diverse as the
crane itself. A crane usually requires a fixed point, a rotary drive, possibly
a counterweight, a winch to operate the crane rope, a tower or stand, a jib, a
trolley, a crane hook and a control station or a remote control.
The fixed point of the crane can, however, also be
a movable device such as a vehicle. In the case of land vehicles, the correct
counterweight and the correct support of the vehicle are decisive for how much
load (weight) can be carried. Vehicle cranes are now equipped with sensors that
switch off the crane when the load is too high.
The use of
cranes
Pillar jib cranes are very often used in the
machine tool sector. This primarily involves the lifting and feeding of raw
materials, the removal of the finished workpieces and the movement of tools,
clamping devices and other moveable devices. The pillar jib cranes are usually
fixed in place and cover the required work space with the pillar, the rotating
boom and the trolley. These cranes for a fixed work area can of course also be
designed as portal cranes.
Indoor hall cranes cover more than just one work
area. They ensure a flexible connection between many work and storage locations
within a hall. For this purpose, two opposite sides of a hall are usually
provided with crane runways. One or more bridges, each with one or more hoists,
then move on the crane runways. These cranes are also called bridge cranes.
Mobile cranes are required for a one-off use of a
crane, for example to set up a machine. Ideally, self-driving cranes or truck
cranes are used here. These mobile cranes are used in a wide variety of ways,
in the metalworking industry, the construction industry or in the event of
accidents to rescue vehicles.
Tower cranes are known from construction sites in
the construction industry. These stand on the construction site until the raw
building is finished. A tower crane is usually erected on the construction site
immediately after the excavation work has been completed. The climbing crane is
a special form of the tower crane. This is used in the construction of
high-rise buildings. Depending on the height of the building, the stand of the
crane is extended again and again.
Special cranes are, for example, the floating
cranes or the track construction cranes. Here the name already determines the
area of application. Other special cases are, for example, large bridge cranes
for containers or small motor cranes for special use when installing and
removing engines from vehicles.
Motor cranes are also often referred to as workshop
cranes because they can be used to move parts from one place to another very
easily.
An absolutely exotic, but conceptually existing, is
the helicopter crane. It can pick up and transport loads using a winch.
The control
of a crane
A feature of the crane control is that people carry
out the movements from a control station or by means of a remote control. There
are exceptions here as well. For example, there are fully automatic container
movements or component movements within a closed storage area.
The crane
as a supporting part of tramao
Since
a crane cannot be assigned to a specific category, tramao has its own top
category for forklifts, cranes and means of transport. There is a
cross-category breakdown into Truck mounted cranes, Bridge cranes, Slewing
cranes, Mobile cranes, Track cranes, Dockside cranes, Cable cranes, Climbing
cranes, Crane booms, Crane runways, Crane trolleys, Crane hoists, Loading
cranes, Crabs, Mini cranes, Gantry cranes, Crawler cranes, Pillar jib cranes,
Fast erecting cranes, Telescopic cranes, Tower slewing cranes and Tower cranes.
If, even with the large number of cranes, you still do not find the right
crane, there is still a category “Other cranes”.
tramao offers you a wide range of used and new
cranes. You can also find the right service companies for purchases, repairs
and spare parts procurement on tramao.de.
On tramao you will also find a wide range of crane
accessories such as crane hooks, chain hoists, crane tracks, hoists, crane
tongs and much more.
Should you decide to buy a used crane, you will
find a large selection of well-known manufacturers such as DEMAG, Vetter, Yale,
Aumund or ABUS on tramao.