PROJECT REPORT

on

AUTOMATIC PNEUMATIC LIFT FOR AUTOMOBILE

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of the degree

of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
in
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
by
S. HARI HARAN (10203054)
S. HARI KRISHNAN (10203055)

under the guidance of

Mr. S. SILUVAI MUTHU, B.Sc., D.M.I.T., M.E.,
(Asst. Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering)

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

SRM UNIVERSITY
(under section 3 of UGC Act,1956)
SRM Nagar, Kattankulathur - 603 203
Kancheepuram Dist

April 2007
 BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

Certified that this project report "AUTOMATIC PNEUMATIC LIFT

FOR AUTOMOBILE" is the bonafide work of "S. HARI HARAN

(10203054) and S. HARI KRISHNAN (10203055)" who carried out the

project work under my supervision.

DEAN INTERNAL GUIDE

School of Mechanical Engineering

INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL

EXAMINER

Date:
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the course of our project, we are indebted to so many people who

have contributed for making this project a great success. We would like to

express our heartfelt gratitude to our Dean Dr.Krishnan (School of

mechanical Engineering SRMIST) for giving us this opportunity to do this

project.

We would like to thank our internal guide Mr. S. Siluvai Muthu

Asst. Professor, SRMIST for his support, which helped us to complete this

project successfully.

We would like to express our sense of gratitude to all our college

faculties for their timely help and valuable guidance in the course of the

project.

We are indebted to our parents for having supported us in all our

endeavors..
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SYNOPSIS

This project work titled "AUTOMATIC 4 SIDE PNEUMATIC

LIFT" has been conceived having studied the difficulty in lifting e any

type of light vehicle. Our survey in this regard in several automobile garages

revealed the facts that, mostly some difficult methods were adopted in lifting

the vehicles for reconditioning.

The project concentrates on this difficulty, and hence a suitable

arrangement has been designed such that the vehicles can be lifted from the

floor without application of any impact force. By pressing the button, the

solenoid valve activated. The compressed air is goes to the pneumatic

cylinder through solenoid valve. The ram of the pneumatic cylinder is act as

a LIFT.

The automobile engine drive is coupled to the compressor engine, so

that it stores the compressed air when the vehicle running. This compressed

air is used to activate the pneumatic cylinder, when the button is activated.
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CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

NO NO

Acknowledgement i

Synopsis ii

1 Introduction 1

2 Literature survey 3

3 Pneumatic Components and Description 7

4 Block Diagram 14

5 Design Calculations 18

6 Working principle 19

7 Factors determining choice of Materials 20

8 Advantages and Disadvantages 23

9 Applications 24

10 List of materials 25

11 Cost estimation 26

12 Conclusion 28

Photography 29

Bibliography 33
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CHAPTER - 1

INTRODUCTION

The automatic pneumatic LIFT for light vehicle garages has been
developed to cater the needs of small and medium automobile garages. In most
of the garages the vehicles are lifted by using screw LIFT. This needs high man
power and skilled labors.

In order to avoid all such disadvantages, this automatic pneumatic

LIFT has been designed in such a way that it can be used to lift the vehicle
very smoothly without any impact force. The operation is made simple so that
even a layman person can handle it by just pressing the button.

Degrees of automation are of two types, viz.

Full automation.

Semi automation.

In semi automation a combination of manual effort and mechanical

power is required whereas in full automation human participation is very
negligible.

NEED FOR AUTOMATION

Automation can be achieved through computers, hydraulics,

pneumatics, robotics, etc., of these sources, pneumatics form an attractive
medium for low cost automation. Automation plays an important role in
automobile.
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Nowadays almost all the automobile vehicle is being automized in

order to protect human beings. The automobile vehicle is being automized for
the following reasons.

To achieve high safety

To reduce man power

To increase the efficiency of the vehicle

To reduce the work load

To reduce the vehicle accident

To reduce the fatigue of workers

To achieve high responsibility

Less Maintenance cost

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CHAPTER - 2

LITERATURE SURVEY

PNEUMATICS

The word 'pneuma' comes from Greek and means breather wind. The
word pneumatics is the study of air movement and its phenomena is derived
from the word pneuma. Today pneumatics is mainly understood to means the
application of air as a working medium in industry especially the driving and
controlling of machines and equipment.

Pneumatics has for some considerable time between used for carrying
out the simplest mechanical tasks in more recent times has played a more
important role in the development of pneumatic technology for automation.

Pneumatic systems operate on a supply of compressed air which must

be made available in sufficient quantity and at a pressure to suit the capacity of
the system. When the pneumatic system is being adopted for the first time,
however it wills indeed the necessary to deal with the question of compressed
air supply.

The key part of any facility for supply of compressed air is by means
using reciprocating compressor. A compressor is a machine that takes in air, gas
at a certain pressure and delivered the air at a high pressure. Compressor
capacity is the actual quantity of air compressed and delivered and the volume
expressed is that of the air at intake conditions namely at atmosphere pressure
and normal ambient temperature.
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The compressibility of the air was first investigated by Robert Boyle

in 1962 and that found that the product of pressure and volume of a particular
quantity of gas.

The usual written as

PV = C (or) PıVı = P2V2

In this equation the pressure is the absolute pressured which for free is
about 14.7 Psi and is of courage capable of maintaining a column of mercury,
nearly 30 inches high in an ordinary barometer. Any gas can be used in
pneumatic system but air is the mostly used system now a days.

SELECTION OF PNEUMATICS

Mechanization is broadly defined as the replacement of manual effort

by mechanical power. Pneumatics is an attractive medium for low cost
mechanization particularly for sequential or repetitive operations.

Many factories and plants already have a compressed air system,

which is capable of providing both the power or energy requirements and the
control system (although equally pneumatic control systems may be
economic and can be advantageously applied to other forms of power).

The main advantages of an all-pneumatic system are usually economy

and simplicity, the latter reducing maintenance to a low level. It can also have
out standing advantages in terms of safety.

PRODUCTION OF COMPRESSED AIR

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Pneumatic systems operate on a supply of compressed air, which must

be made available, in sufficient quantity and at a pressure to suit the capacity of
the system. When pneumatic system is being adopted for the first time,
however it wills indeed the necessary to deal with the question of compressed
air supply.

The key part of any facility for supply of compressed air is by means
using reciprocating compressor. A compressor is a machine that takes in air, gas
at a certain pressure and delivered the air at a high pressure.

Compressor capacity is the actual quantity of air compressed and

delivered and the volume expressed is that of the air at intake conditions
namely at atmosphere pressure and normal ambient temperature.

Clean condition of the suction air is one of the factors, which decides
the life of a compressor. Warm and moist suction air will result in increased
precipitation of condense from the compressed air. Compressor may be
classified in two general types.

1. Positive displacement compressor.

2. Turbo compressor

Positive displacement compressors are most frequently employed for

compressed air plant and have proved highly successful and supply air for
pneumatic control application.

The types of positive compressor

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1. Reciprocating type compressor

2. Rotary type compressor

Turbo compressors are employed where large capacity of air required

at low discharge pressures. They cannot attain pressure necessary for
pneumatic control application unless built in multistage designs and are seldom
encountered in pneumatic service.

RECIPROCATING COMPRESSORS

Built for either stationary (or) portable service, the reciprocating

compressor is by far the most common type. Reciprocating compressors lap be
had is sizes from the smallest capacities to deliver more than 500 m³/min. In
single stage compressor, the air pressure may be of 6 bar machines discharge
of pressure is up to 15 bars. Discharge pressure in the range of 250 bars can be
obtained with high pressure reciprocating compressors that of three & four
stages. Single stage and 1200 stage models are particularly suitable for
pneumatic applications , with preference going to the two stage design as soon
as the discharge pressure exceeds 6 bar , because it in capable of matching the
performance of single stage machine at lower costs per driving powers in the
range .
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CHAPTER - 3

COMPONENTS AND DESCRIPTION

1. PNEUMATIC CYLINDER

2. DIRECTION CONTROL VALVE

3. FLOW CONTROL VALVE

4. HOSE COLLAR AND CONNECTOR

5. HAND LEVER

1. PNEUMATIC SINGLE ACTING CYLINDER:

Pneumatic cylinder consist of

A) PISTON B) CYLINDER

The cylinder is a Single acting cylinder one, which means that the air
pressure operates forward and spring returns backward. The air from the
compressor is passed through the regulator which controls the pressure to
required amount by adjusting its knob.

A pressure gauge is attached to the regulator for showing the line

pressure. Then the compressed air is passed through the single acting
3/2 solenoid valve for supplying the air to one side of the cylinder.

One hose take the output of the directional Control (Solenoid) valve
and they are attached to one end of the cylinder by means of connectors. One
of the outputs from the directional control valve is taken to the flow
 8

control valve from taken to the cylinder. The hose is attached to each
component of pneumatic system only by connectors.

CYLINDER TECHNICAL DATA

Piston Rod: M.S. hard Chrome plated

Seals: Nitrile (Buna - N) Elastomer

End Covers: Cast iron graded fine grained from 25mm to 300mm

Piston: Aluminium.

Media: Air.

Temperature Range: 0^c to 85^c

Cylinder Stroke Length : 170 mm

Outer Diameter: 60 mm

Inner Diameter : 50 mm

Wall thickness: 10 mm

Parts of Pneumatic Cylinder

Piston

The piston is a cylindrical member of certain length which

reciprocates inside the cylinder. The diameter of the piston is slightly less than
that of the cylinder bore diameter and it is fitted to the top of the piston rod. It is
one of the important parts which convert the pressure energy into mechanical
power.
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The piston is equipped with a ring suitably proportioned and it is

relatively soft rubber which is capable of providing good sealing with low
friction at the operating pressure. The purpose of piston is to provide means of
conveying the pressure of air inside the cylinder to the piston of the oil cylinder.

Generally piston is made up of

Aluminium alloy-light and medium work.

Brass or bronze or CI-Heavy duty.

The piston is single acting spring returned type. The piston moves
forward when the high-pressure air is turned from the right side of cylinder.
The piston moves backward when the solenoid valve is in OFF condition. The
piston should be as strong and rigid as possible. The efficiency and economy
of the machine primarily depends on the working of the piston. It must operate
in the cylinder with a minimum of friction and should be able to withstand the
high compressor force developed in the cylinder and also the shock load during
operation.

The piston should posses the following qualities.

a. The movement of the piston not creates much noise.

b. It should be frictionless.

c. It should withstand high pressure.

Piston Rod
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The piston rod is circular in cross section. It connects piston with

piston of other cylinder. The piston rod is made of mild steel ground and
polished. A high finish is essential on the outer rod surface to minimize
wear on the rod seals. The piston rod is connected to the piston by
mechanical fastening. The piston and the piston rod can be separated if
necessary.

One end of the piston rod is connected to the bottom of the piston.
The other end of the piston rod is connected to the other piston rod by means of
coupling. The piston transmits the working force to the oil cylinder through
the piston rod. The piston rod is designed to withstand the high
compressive force. It should avoid bending and withstand shock loads
caused by the cutting force. The piston moves inside the rod seal fixed in the
bottom cover plate of the cylinder. The sealing arrangements prevent the
leakage of air from the bottom of the cylinder while the rod reciprocates
through it.

Cylinder Cover Plates

The cylinder should be enclosed to get the applied pressure from the
compressor and act on the pinion. The cylinder is thus closed by the cover
plates on both the ends such that there is no leakage of air. An inlet port is
provided on the top cover plate and an outlet ports on the bottom cover plate.
There is also a hole drilled for the movement of the piston.

The cylinder cover plate protects the cylinder from dust and other
particle and maintains the same pressure that is taken from the compressor. The
flange has to hold the piston in both of its extreme positions. The piston hits the
top plat during the return stroke and hits the bottom plate during end
 11

of forward stroke. So the cover plates must be strong enough to withstand

the load.

Cylinder Mounting Plates:

It is attached to the cylinder cover plates and also to the carriage with
the help of 'L' bends and bolts.
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Cylinder Tube Materials:

Sl.No. LIGHT DUTY MEDIUM DUTY HEAVY DUTY

1 Plastic Hard drawn brass hard drawn brass
tube tube.
2 Hard drawn Aluminium Castings Brass, Bronze, Iron
tube
3 Hard drawn Brass tube Hard drawn steel Castings, welded
tub

End Cover Materials:

LIGHT DUTY MEDIUM DUTY

HEAVY DUTY

1. Aluminium stock Aluminium stock Hard

tensile

(Fabricated) (Fabricated) Castings

2. Brass stock Brass stock

(Fabricated) (Fabricated)

3. Aluminium Aluminium, Brass,

Castings iron or steel Castings.

13
 14

Piston Materials:

LIGHT DUTY MEDIUM DUTY HEAVY DUTY

Aluminium Aluminium Castings Aluminium Forgings,

Castings Brass (Fabricated) Aluminium Castings.

Bronze (Fabricated) Bronze (Fabricated)

Iron and Steel Brass, Bronze, Iron or

Castings Steel Castings.

Mount Materials:

LIGHT DUTY MEDIUM DUTY HEAVY DUTY

Aluminium Aluminium, Brass High Tensile

Castings And Steel Castings Steel Castings

Light Alloy High Tensile

(Fabricated) Steel Fabrication

Piston Rod Materials:

MATERIAL FINISH REMARKS

Mild steel Ground and polished Generally preferred

hardened, ground and chrome plated
polished.

Stainless steel Ground and Polished Less scratch resistant than

chrome plated piston rod
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Technical Data:

1. FLOW CONTROL VALVE:

Size : ¼"
Pressure : 0 to 10 kg / cm2
Media : Air

(b) Purpose:

This valve is used to speed up the piston movement and also it acts as an
one - way restriction valve which means that the air can pass through only one
way and it can't return back. By using this valve the time consumption is
reduced because of the faster movement of the piston.

2. PU CONNECTIORS, REDUCER AND HOSECOLLAR:

In our pneumatic system there are two types of connectors used; one is
the hose connector and the other is the reducer. Hose connectors normally
comprise an adapter (connector) hose nipple and cap nut. These types of
connectors are made up of brass or Aluminium or hardened steel. Reducers are
used to provide inter connection between two pipes or hoses of different
sizes

3. DIRECTION CONTROL VALVE

The direction control valve is a 5/3 hand lever operated with ¼" thread.
Maximum operating pressure is 10 bar.
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CHAPTER - 4

BLOCK DIAGRAM

C4 DCV DCV C1

C3 DCV DCV C2

COMP

Legend

FCV-Flow Control Valve

DCV-Direction Control Valve
C- Pneumatic Cylinder
COMP-Compressor
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18
19
20
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CHAPTER - 5

DESIGN CALCULATIONS

SELECTION OF CYLINDERS AND PRESSURE FOR DIFFERENT

LOADS

For the cylinder used for the purpose of the project, th design
calculations are as follows:

F=PXa

Where F = Force due to the weight of the vehicle

P = Air Pressure from compressor

a = Surface area of piston

us

The dia of the piston is 50 mm = 0.05 m.

Therefore the surface area of the piston =  (0.05)2 = 0.0019625 m2

P = 1 bar = 1X 105 N/mm2

F = 1X 105 X 0.0019625 = 196.24 N

Converting it into kilograms, 196.25/9.81 = 20 kg.

Now, for 1 bar pressure, the cylinder can lift 20 kg. Supposing we
supply a pressure of 10 bar, the load lifted will be 200 kg.

So this is sufficient enough to lift a small size car such as Maruthi 800
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CHAPTER - 6

WORKING PRINCIPLE

The hand lever of direction control valve is activated when it is

required to change the wheel. The control signal is given to the flow control
valve, when the button is activated. The compressed air goes to the flow
control valve.

The flow control valve is activated at the time of hand lever in

forward direction "ON". The compressed fluid (oil) goes to the pneumatic
single acting cylinder. The compressed air pusses the pneumatic cylinder piston
and move forward. The RAM is fixed at the end of the single acting pneumatic
cylinder. The piston moves towards the ground and the ram is lifting the vehicle
upwards.

The flow control valve is deactivated at the time of hand lever in

backward motion "OFF". The pneumatic cylinder air goes to the atmosphere
through exhaust port.
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CHAPTER - 7

FACTORS DETERMINING THE CHOICE OF MATERIALS

The various factors which determine the choice of material are discussed
below.

1. Properties:

The material selected must posses the necessary properties for the
proposed application. The various requirements to be satisfied can be
weight, surface finish, rigidity, ability to withstand environmental attack from
chemicals, service life, reliability etc.

The following four types of principle properties of materials

decisively affect their selection

a. Physical

b. Mechanical

c. From manufacturing point of view

d. Chemical
 24

The various physical properties concerned are melting point, Thermal

Conductivity, Specific heat, coefficient of thermal expansion, specific gravity,
electrical Conductivity, Magnetic purposes etc.

The various Mechanical properties Concerned are strength in tensile,

compressive shear, bending, torsional and buckling load, fatigue resistance,
impact resistance, elastic limit, endurance limit, and modulus of elasticity,
hardness, wear resistance and sliding properties.

The various properties concerned from the manufacturing point of

view are.

Castability,

Weldability,

Brazability,

forge ability,

merchantability,

surface properties,

shrinkage,

Deep drawing etc.

2. Manufacturing Case:

Sometimes the demand for lowest possible manufacturing cost or

surface qualities obtainable by the application of suitable coating substances
may demand the use of special materials.
 25

3. Quality Required:

This generally affects the manufacturing process and ultimately the

material. For example, it would never be desirable to go for casting of a less
number of components which can be fabricated much more economically by
welding or hand forging the steel.

4. Availability of Material:

Some materials may be scarce or in short supply. It then becomes

obligatory for the designer to use some other material which though may not be a
perfect substitute for the material designed.

The delivery of materials and the delivery date of product should also
be kept in mind.

5. Space Consideration:

Sometimes high strength materials have to be selected because the

forces involved are high and the space limitations are there.

6. Cost:

As in any other problem, in selection of material the cost of material

plays an important part and should not be ignored.

Some times factors like scrap utilization, appearance, and non-

maintenance of the designed part are involved in the selection of proper
materials.
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CHAPTER - 8

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

ADVANTAGES

It requires simple maintenance cares

The loaded light vehicles can be easily lifted.

Checking and cleaning are easy, because of the main parts

are screwed.

Handling is easy.

Manual power not required

Repairing is easy.

Replacement of parts is easy.

Maximum height up to 1.5 feet can be reached.

DISADVANTAGES

1. Initial cost is high.

2. High maintenance cost.

3. Separate air tank or compressor is required.

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CHAPTER - 9

APPLICATIONS

It is very much useful for Car Owners & Auto-garages. This

automatic pneumatic LIFT is used for lifting the vehicles.

Thus it can be useful for the following types of vehicles;

1) MARUTI,

2) AMBASSADOR,

3) FIAT,

4) MAHINDRA,

5) TATA

CHAPTER - 10

LIST OF MATERIALS

Sl. No. PARTS Qty. Material

i. Single Acting Pneumatic Cylinder 2 M.S

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ii. Direction Control Valve 4 Aluminium

iii. Flow Control Valve 1 Aluminium

iv. Wheel 4 Rubber

v. Polyethylene Tube - Polyurethene

vi. Hose Collar and Reducer 24 Brass

vii Stand (Frame) 1 Mild steel

CHAPTER - 11

COST ESTIMATION

1. MATERIAL COST:

Sl. PARTS Qty. Material Amount

No. (Rs)

i. Single Acting Pneumatic 4 M.S 1800

Cylinder

ii. Direction control valve 4 Aluminum 650

 29

iii. Flow Control Valve 1 Aluminium 450

iv. Polyurethane Tube - Polyurethene 22 per m

v. Hose Collar and Reducer - Brass 12

TOTAL 11700

2. LABOUR COST

LATHE, DRILLING, WELDING, GRINDING, POWER HACKSAW,

GAS CUTTING:

Cost = Rs. 300

3. OVERHEAD CHARGES

The overhead charges are arrived by "Manufacturing cost"

Manufacturing Cost = Material Cost + Labour cost

= 11700 + 300

= Rs. 12000

Overhead Charges = 20% of the manufacturing cost

= Rs. 2400

TOTAL COST

Total cost = Material Cost + Labour cost + Overhead Charges

= 11700 + 300 + 2400

= Rs.14 400

Total cost for this project = Rs. 14, 400

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CHAPTER - 12
CONCLUSION

This project work has provided us an excellent opportunity and

experience, to use our limited knowledge. We gained a lot of practical

knowledge regarding, planning, purchasing, assembling and machining

while doing this project work. We feel that the project work is a good

solution to bridge the gates between institution and industries.

We are proud that we have completed the work with the limited time

successfully. The "AUTOMATIC PNEUMATIC LIFT" is working with

satisfactory conditions. We are able to understand the difficulties in

maintaining the tolerances and also quality. We have done to our ability and

skill making maximum use of available facilities. In conclusion remarks of

our project work, let us add a few more lines about our impression project

work.

Thus we have developed an "AUTOMATIC PNEUMATIC LIFT"

which helps to know how to achieve low cost automation. The operating

procedure of this system is very simple, so any person can operate. By using

more techniques, they can be modified and developed according to the

applications.
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PHOTOGRAPHY

FGSF
 33

PNEUMATIC PISTON TRADITIONAL SCREW LIFT

COMPONENTS OF THE PROJECT

FLOW CONTROL VALVE

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 35

POLYURTHENE PNEUMATIC HOSE

5/3 HAND LEVER OPERATED

DIRECTION CONTROL VALVE

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PNEUMATIC CYLINDER

BEFORE APPLICATION OF THE PNEUMATIC LIFT

AFTER APPLICATION OF THE PNEUMATIC LIFT

 37

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. G.B.S. Narang, "Automobile Engineering", Khanna Publishers, Delhi,

1991, pp 671.

2. William H. Crowse, "Automobile Engineering".

3. Mechanisms In Modern Engineering Design Vol. V. Part I.

4. Elements Of Workshop Technology - VOL II -S. K. Hajra

Choudhury.