Portable Work Positioner to Inspect Aircraft Engine Parts

Custom built portable-lift and turntable fits air-casting system to provide a precise degree of positioning.

Our customer, a manufacturer of aircraft engines required a lift system to serve as a portable work positioner to inspect engine parts. Most often, the customer uses an overhead crane to lift pieces to inspection stations. However, some of the parts do not require such a laborious process due to their nature in size and can be moved much easier by a simple portable lift table.

Two pre-conditions were set prior to building the lift:

1. Design a portable-lift and turn system to mount to an air caster system.
2. Precision cut the turntable to match pre-determined specification.

We took our standard Series 35 Extra Wide lift and custom fit the base frame to the air caster system that the customer provided. The second process was to machine plate the turntable to achieve the desired cut aspects. We also added a special black oxide finish to the turntable to prevent rusting and to provide a more durable surface. The turntable will be used to hold the parts in a fixed position for the inspection process and manually rotate as needed.

AQ Project Ref.#117846

Autoquip lifts can be easily modified to include air bearings presenting a portable solution for environments needing an alternative to the standard wheelbase transport. The customer will rely on this lift for an easier method of moving the work pieces through tight spaces and over to the inspection area where they can manually turn to inspect each engine part.