Jackscrew

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A 2.5-ton screw jack. The jack is operated by inserting the bar (visible lower
left) in the holes at the top and turning.
A jackscrew, or screw jack, is a type of jack that is operated by turning a
leadscrew. It is commonly used to lift moderately heavy weights, such as vehicles;
to raise and lower the horizontal stabilizers of aircraft; and an adjustable
supports for heavy loads, such as the foundations of houses.[citation needed]

A leadscrew operates this automotive scissor jack.

Antique locomotive screw jack

Antique wooden jackscrew for repair of cart and wagon wheels (Ethnographic Museum
of Elhovo, Bulgaria)

Contents
1 Description
2 Advantages
3 Mechanical advantage
3.1 Limitations
4 Applications
4.1 Industrial and technical applications
4.2 Aviation
4.3 In electronic connectors
4.4 Trivia
5 See also
6 References
Description
A screw jack consists of a heavy-duty vertical screw with a load table mounted on
its top, which screws into a threaded hole in a stationary support frame with a
wide base resting on the ground. A rotating collar on the head of the screw has
holes into which the handle, a metal bar, fits. When the handle is turned
clockwise, the screw moves further out of the base, lifting the load resting on the
load table. In order to support large load forces, the screw usually has either
square threads or buttress threads.

Advantages
An advantage of jackscrews over some other types of jack is that they are self-
locking, which means when the rotational force on the screw is removed, it will
remain motionless where it was left and will not rotate backwards, regardless of
how much load it is supporting. This makes them inherently safer than hydraulic
jacks, for example, which will move backwards under load if the force on the
hydraulic actuator is accidentally released.

Mechanical advantage
The ideal mechanical advantage of a screw jack, the ratio of the force the jack
exerts on the load to the input force on the lever ignoring friction is

{\displaystyle {\frac {F_{\text{load}}}{F_{\text{in}}}}={\frac {2\pi r}{l}}\,}

{\frac {F_{{\text{load}}}}{F_{{\text{in}}}}}={\frac {2\pi r}{l}}\,
where

{\displaystyle F_{\text{load}}\,} F_{{\text{load}}}\, is the force the jack exerts

on the load
{\displaystyle F_{\text{in}}\,} F_{{\text{in}}}\, is the rotational force exerted
on the handle of the jack
{\displaystyle r\,} r \, is the length of the jack handle, from the screw axis to
where the force is applied
{\displaystyle l\,} l\, is the lead of the screw.
The screw jack consists of two simple machines in series; the long operating handle
serves as a lever whose output force turns the screw. So the mechanical advantage
is increased by a longer handle as well as a finer screw thread. However, most
screw jacks have large amounts of friction which increase the input force
necessary, so the actual mechanical advantage is often only 30% to 50% of this
figure.

Limitations
Screw jacks are limited in their lifting capacity. Increasing load increases
friction within the screw threads. A fine pitch thread, which would increase the
advantage of the screw, also reduces the speed of which the jack can operate. Using
a longer operating lever soon reaches the point where the lever will simply bend at
its inner end.

Screw jacks have now largely been replaced by hydraulic jacks. This was encouraged
in 1858 when jacks by the Tangye company to Bramah's hydraulic press concept were
applied to the successful launching of Brunel's SS Great Eastern, after two failed
attempts by other means. The maximum mechanical advantage possible for a hydraulic
jack is not limited by the limitations on screw jacks and can be far greater. After
World War II, improvements to the grinding of hydraulic rams and the use of O ring
seals reduced the price of low-cost hydraulic jacks and they became widespread for
use with domestic cars. Screw jacks still remain for minimal cost applications,
such as the little-used tyre-changing jacks supplied with cars.

Applications
The large area of sliding contact between the screw threads means jackscrews have
high friction and low efficiency as power transmission linkages, around 30%�50%. So
they are not often used for continuous transmission of high power, but more often
in intermittent positioning applications.

In heavy-duty applications, such as screw jacks, a square thread or buttress thread

is used, because it has the lowest friction and wear.

Industrial and technical applications

In technical application such as actuators, an Acme thread is used, although it has
higher friction, because it is easy to manufacture, wear can be compensated for, it
is stronger than a comparably sized square thread and it makes for smoother
engagement.

The ball screw is a more advanced type of leadscrew that uses a recirculating-ball
nut to minimize friction and prolong the life of the screw threads. The thread
profile of such screws is approximately semicircular (commonly a "gothic arch"
profile) to properly mate with the bearing balls. The disadvantage to this type of
screw is that it is not self-locking. Ball screws are prevalent in powered
leadscrew actuators.

Aviation
Jackscrews are also used extensively in aviation to raise and lower horizontal
stabilizers.
The failure of a jackscrew on a Yakovlev Yak-42 airliner due to design flaws
resulted in the crash of Aeroflot Flight 8641 in 1982.

The failure of a jackscrew on a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, resulting from a lack of

grease, brought down Alaska Airlines Flight 261 in 2000.

The destruction of a jackscrew on a Boeing 747-400F, brought down National Airlines

Flight 102 in 2013. This flight had just departed Bagram Airfield when a MRAP
armoured vehicle broke loose and slid through the rear bulkhead, severing
hydraulics lines and most importantly, destroying the jackscrew, rendering the
aircraft uncontrollable.

In electronic connectors
The term jackscrew is also used for the captive screws that draw the two parts of
D-subminiature electrical connectors together and hold them mated. When unscrewed,
they allow the connector halves to be taken apart. These small jackscrews may have
ordinary screw heads or extended heads (also making them thumbscrews) that allow
the user's fingers to turn the jackscrew. Furthermore, the head sometimes has an
internal female thread, with the male externally threaded screw shaft extending
from that. The threaded-head type can be used to panel-mount one connector and
provide a means to attach the mating connector to the first connector.

Trivia
The jackscrew figured prominently in the classic novel Robinson Crusoe. It was also
featured in a recent History Channel program as the saving tool of the Pilgrims'
voyage � the main crossbeam, a key structural component of their small ship,
cracked during a severe storm. A farmer's jackscrew secured the damage until
landfall.

See also
Acrow prop
Ball screw
Leadscrew
Roller screw
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Screw jacks.
Reynolds, Francis J., ed. (1921). "Jackscrew" . Collier's New Encyclopedia. New
York: P.F. Collier & Son Company.
Categories: Mechanisms (engineering)ScrewsActuatorsConstruction equipment
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