Automotive alignment lift

An automotive lift comprising a pair of lifting sections, each lifting section comprising

• a deck rail for supporting a vehicle, supported by at least two legs, each leg having
• an associated sliding assembly to which an upper portion of the leg is pivotally affixed, slidably mounted to the deck rail and having a path of travel along a portion of the length of the deck rail, and
• an associated link arm, having an upper end pivotally secured to the deck rail at a fixed position spaced from the path of travel of the sliding assembly and a lower end pivotally secured to an intermediate portion of the leg, and
• a hydraulic cylinder secured at a fixed position on the deck rail to apply a force longitudinally along the deck rail, having a piston with a piston shaft extending from forward and rear ends of the cylinder, a forward end of the piston shaft being coupled to a forward sliding assembly and a rear end of the piston shaft being coupled to a rear sliding assembly, to move the forward and rear sliding assemblies in synchronous relation,
• the actuator forces each sliding assembly to move toward its associated link arm to alter an angulation between the leg relative to the deck rail and thus raise the deck rail.

An automotive lift comprising a pair of lifting sections, each lifting section comprising

• a deck rail for supporting a vehicle, supported by at least two legs,
• each leg having
• an associated sliding assembly to which an upper portion of the leg is pivotally affixed, slidably mounted to the deck rail and having a path of travel along a portion of the length of the deck rail, the path of travel having at least one row of slots extending along a portion of the length of the deck rail, and
• an associated link arm, having an upper end pivotally secured to the deck rail at a fixed position spaced from the path of travel of the sliding assembly and a lower end pivotally secured to an intermediate portion of the leg, and
• an actuator for applying a force to each sliding assembly, whereby the actuator forces each sliding assembly to move toward its associated link arm to alter an angulation between the leg relative to the deck rail,
• wherein each sliding assembly is provided with a pair of brake arms retractable from an extended position in which the brake arms extend into the slots to a retracted position in which the brake arms are retracted from the slots, the brake arms being biased toward the slots and being retractable by a force applied to the brake arms.