AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

A NEW TIPPING GEAR.

15th February 1921
Page 14
Page 15
Page 14, 15th February 1921 — A NEW TIPPING GEAR.
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

A Patented Gravity Gear, Embodying Original Features Designed by the • Lacre Motor Car Co., Ltd.

WE HAVE on several occasions in the past referred to the 'various types of tipping gear as employed by commercial vehicle makers, and although many of the different methods adopted have proved very satisfactory in actual service, it is hardly to be expected that finality in this direction has been reached. Certain types of gear are, perhaps, better suited to some conditions of operation than others, although the chief points looked fortby users of tipping wagons, amongst which municipalities loom large, are simplicity and efficiency in operation.

It would be difficult to conceive a. more simple gear than that which has recently been patented by the Lacre Motor Car Co., Ltd., but it is a little too early to talk of its efficiency under actual service conditions, although the demonstration, which we had the pleasure of witnessing a short while ago, of a vehicle fitted with this type of gear for the Glasgow Corporation substantiated the claims made for it by the makers.

At Brat glance, the new Lacre tipping gear appears to be a modification of the usual typo of end-tipping gear where the body is carried on rollers to the end of the chassis until the load is balanced, anc then tipped This, however; is not th case, for there are several iniportan modifications which have the effect o reducing the time required to tip du body to such a considerable extent as t4 be a valuable factor.

It would appear that nothing could hi more simple than rolling the body alonl a straight path and tipping it, but upor further consideration of the matter it wil. he seen that if a body is 8 ft. 6 ins, long the point at which it will balance wouk naturally be 4 ft. 3 ins, from the end, assuming the load to be evenly nistri bated. As the average height of the chassis frame above the ground level is generally between 2 ft. 6 ins. and 3 ft., this means that the angle of tip can very rarely be made to exceed 30 degrees, which, although sufficiently steep for the requirente.nts of certain users, might not be found satisfactory when shifting such loose loads as sand, gravel, manure, etc.

To increase the angle of tip, the body, insteadof being rolled until it is quite balanced, is only rolled past of the way and then tipped ; this means that it is necessary actually to lift the load through acertain distance in order to complete the tipping action, and-as the gear reduc lion must be sufficiently Tow to enable th< lift to be effected, it follows that the speed of operation must be slow through out. This point is illustrated by the diagrammatic sketches which accompany

this article. Fig. 1 illustrates the path of the centre of gravity of the load in an ordinary screw gear, Fig. 2 showing the path of the centre of gravity with the , rolling type of gear, whilst Fig. 3 illustrates the path of the centre of gravity in the new Lacre tipping gear.

In the ease of Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, it will be seen that the angle through which the load has to be lifted, at some time or ether, is very steep, and that the power required is in proportion. In the Lacre gear this difficulty is entirely overcame in a simple and effective manner. By controlling the relative movement in the front and rear end of the body the centre ef gravity of the entire moving load is made, to follow practically a straight path, which use a slight downward slope. This slope is so proportioned that the effort required to move the body with its full load is practically the same as that required to move the empty body back to its normal position. Sincethis. effort is constant, the gear reduction is comparatively high, with the result that the load can be moved at the maximum possible speed and with the minimum of effort.

In actual practice it is claimed—a claim which we can support after witnessing the demonstrativi referred to— that the full load can be easily tipped by one man and the empty body retsuned to its normal position inside of 30 seconds. rattling under the effects of vibration. The bottom threaded portion of the rod screws into the top of the main body of A compression tap of somewhat novel design is being marketed by the Automobile Engineering Co., Ltd., of Bessborough Place, Bessborough Street, London, S.W.1, this company holding the sole selling rights for the tap, the retail price of which has been fixed provisionally at 2s. bd., and for this price it'ean be supplied with any type of thread required.

The body of the tap is turned from hexagon brass rod, and it is internally threaded for about half its length. At its top is a brass casing, which is held by, and swivels on, a steel ring carried in a groove cut in the top of the tap. The brass easing carries a rod threaded at each end and turned with a:cone-faced collar at its centre. Between this collar and the brass casing is a light spiral spring, which prevents the casing from\

When it is considered that the average time required to tip a body tither by hydraulic means or any other form of power tipping gear is between 40 and 90 seconds, it will be realized that this new method effects a great saving of time. Not only is the time required to operate the gear considerably reduced, but the cost of the mechanism and, incidentally, the' cost of maintenance is reduced to the minimum. • Many types of tipping gear are exceptionally heavy in build, but with the Lacro gear a great saving of weight has been effected. The mechanism of the gear is exceptionally simple, the body being mounted on rollers in the usual way and travensing two machine-cut racks engaging in two small pinions mounted on a cross-shaft. A stop at the end of each rack governs the extent of tip.

An automatic and very effective safety locking device is fitted (it can be clearly seen in the right-hand illustration of the two pictures reproduced at the top of this page), which comes into operation automatically as the body is returned to —its normal position.

We wore able to test this gear for ourselves, and we were very surprised .at the little effort required to tip the load, it merely bring necessary to gite the handle several turns, when the mechanism would do the rest.

the tap until the coned surface of the collar makes a joint with the former.

The top portion of the rod is threaded merely to carry the vulcanite cap, by which it is loosened or tightened.

This tap presents several improvements over those of the ordinary type, for it is impossible for any leakage to occur through it, as .often happens when the ordinary barrel type tap is embloyed. The latter type is also apt to become very tight under the effects of heat and carbon deposit, with the result that long before the tap would, in the ordinary course of events, be worn out, se much pressure has to be applied to the handle, in order to open or close the tap, that in many cases it breaks off short and renders the device totally useless for priming.

Tags

Locations: London

comments powered by Disqus