Conventional jacks are either mobile, using castors or a rear mounted hydraulic steering unit or rail mounted with retractable anvils. The new design advanced by Lloyds Somers and HRE uses "air technology", which utilises air skates mounted under the jack base allowing the jack to be accurately and easily positioned by a single operator.
The jack set also incorporates a "side shift" facility, which enables the position of the elevated vehicle to be adjusted whilst each jack is under load. This can be an advantage when building or maintaining the vehicles, as precise adjustment is available when aligning the mating parts between the vehicle body and the bogie.
Lloyds Somers director Steve Reece, who headed up the project, said: "To be the first UK company to be entrusted with crafting and supplying such an cutting edge piece of bespoke equipment is indeed an accolade. It’s fantastic to see the UK recognised for its unrivalled design and manufacturing skills, particularly within an industry as high profile as rail. Key to our success was the fact that Lloyds British has all the skills to complete such a project under one corporate roof, from the consultancy and the design, right through to the manufacture and installation."
Scott Dickson, Manufacturing Engineer at Hitachi Rail Europe, said: "Lloyds worked closely with us to match our requirements and come up with a bespoke solution. We look forward to continuing to develop new ideas with them in the future to further improve our production processes."
