The Pronal Group offers stock and custom-fabricated lifting cushions powerful enough to lift and split rock and heavy plant equivalent in weight to locomotives and semi-trailers. Features of the lifting cushions include:
- The lifting cushions range from ultra-thin bags (just 20mm thick deflated) that can lift weights of more than 65 tonnes each
- Another variation of the lifting cushions on offer include powerful spreading cushions that can exert hundreds of tonnes of force to part plant and machinery components or split and lift rocks
- These CLP and CLT ranges of lifting cushions are complemented by low-pressure CPB Maxi-Lift cushions, which can be used on land and under water, offering greater strokes of up to 700mm (or 1400mm where a pair are employed)
- Safety in lifting is enhanced by the lifting cushions incorporating the strength of Kevlar textile, the same super-tough fibre used in body armour, racing tyres and racing sails
- Weight for weight, Kevlar is five times stronger than steel and superbly suited for repetitive work in harsh environments, including construction, energy, industrial, resources and civil engineering sites
- Safety attributes of the lifting cushions cushions include non-slip surfaces for maximum friction when stacking two cushions, cross-marking for easy centering under load and inscription of basic safety rules on the product
- A broad range of accessories is available for different fields of application of the lifting cushions, including simplified inflation controller, control panel and air pressure relief valves
Inflated by compressed air, versatile lifting cushions can delicately raise loads ranging from pipelines of all types to trucks, tracked vehicles, beams, bridge components, building components, machinery and resource development structures. They are already in industrial service in Australia delicately hoisting loads such as pipelines that might be damaged by alternative methods involving high point loads, or where their compact load-spreading qualities are useful on soft and irregular surfaces and in confined spaces.
“It is a tragedy that a death occurs to draw attention to the need for such cushions, but a very simple solution is available for industries that need it,” said Air Springs Supply General Manager Simon Agar. “These highly portable and extremely rugged reusable lifting cushions respond precisely to the call by the Queensland State Coroner in Rockhampton* for coal mining operations to equip each underground district with airbags of sufficient capacity to move or lift the heaviest equipment in the district,”