During the decade of the 1980's and 90's four-post drive on lifts, parallelogram lifts and scissor lifts became increasingly popular in the heavy-duty commercial lifting market. These drive on platform type lifts afforded the operator the safety of having a vehicle parked on a platform, but the disadvantages sometimes outweighed the advantages. The former included crossbeams (fore and aft) that limited the ability of the mechanic to access certain working areas under the vehicle. This is especially true with large utility trucks where axles and differentials sometimes got in the way of the crossbeams. Also, the posts increased the width of the bay required and could obstruct removal of tyres etc.
Parallelogram lifts, though narrower in design also offered some disadvantages inasmuch as the nature of a parallelogram lift was characterised by an "overhang" as the lift pivots up and down. The overhang often limited shop bay clearance.
Scissor lifts couldn't totally answer the problem either, as access was restricted underneath the platforms due to the physical obstruction of the scissor mechanisms - therefore if you're working underneath the vehicle, to get to the outside of the vehicle you always have to walk to one of the ends of the lift, you can't just nip underneath the raised platform. What the industry needed was a vertical rise, heavy-duty platform lift that had no overhang, no crossbeams to interfere with the movement of the technicians and free space under the platforms for total access to all sides of the vehicle. In addition, such a design needed to accommodate the entire varying wheel base lengths characteristic of today's commercial vehicles. Stertil KONI, a manufacturer based in Europe and a leader in vehicle testing technology, has developed such a new type of lifting technology: the STERTIL-KONI SKY LIFT. The SKY lift consists of a unique, patented design features that provide substantial benefits to the end user.
Sky lift features include:
Truly clear-floor features with no crossbeams or obstructions between the lifting legs or runways Vertical lifting with no posts to impede access to tyres. No base frame. Lift can be flush mounted (flat surface) or surface mounted Four independent legs no matter what the length of the runways (you can go up to 14.5m and still only need four legs) Inclinometers control the synchronization SKY lift can be used in tandem configurations too. You can have a 10m platform in line with an 8 m one and have them operate as two separate lifts or one fully synchronised lift. The ability to use rolling jacking beams that allow the operator to lift the vehicle off the runway so that brakes and wheels can be serviced The lift can be easily moved since it only has four small base plates.
The SKY lift also offers the following options that can be beneficial to users:
Jacking beams ranging in capacity from 12 to 16 tons 24-volt low lighting Air connection built into the platforms 110-volt electrical sockets for hand lights and for the powering of small appliances Wheel alignment capabilities including play detectors built into the platforms Remote control with 10m extension to operate the lift from a safe distance Extra long drive on/off ramps for vehicles with very low profile configurations Two speed lowering which can be critical when the operator is trying to "feather" vehicle descent to lower onto support stands Connecting platforms to allow various SKY lifts to operate in tandem for extra long length vehicles
