A Multi-purpose Municipal Appliance.
Page 64
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DENNIS BROS., LTD., of Guildford, has, as our readers will know, supplied a large number of vehicles and appliances of different types to prominent municipal authorities in this country and overseas, and one of the most interesting machines recently to leave its works is that which is shown in the accompanying illustrations.
It consists of a combined gully emptier, street washing and sprinkling appliance, of which the County Borough of Smethwick has just taken delivery. The chassis is an example of the maker's &Ammer, and the design is standard in most respects, the only modifications which have been made being consequent on the addition of such fitments as are necessary to enable the machine to carry out its specific municipal duties.
The drive is taken from
the top of the gearbox to an air pump of the rotary type which is situated below the driver's seat. This drive, it should be mentioned, is totally enclosed and runs in oil. A long metal tube forms part of the equipment for lowering into gullies, and this is suspended from a rotating and balanced jib, which can easily be brought into action. The
pump exhausts the air from the interior of the tank, and it is passed out through the silencer, where it is mixed with the hot engine gases and burnt, thus avoiding the pollution of the atmosphere. When it is desired to discharge the contents of the tank, this is raised by hand-tipping gear to a sufficiently acute angle to ensure the complete discharge of the sludge. The pipe between the top of the tank and the pump being made in two sections, which are interconnected by a conical union, spring-loaded, readily comes apart.
The near-side near trunnion which supports the tank is hollow, and a water pipe is led thence to the turbine fire-engine-type pump located in front of the frame. A valve is situated close to the trunnion, and this, when
closed, prevents any dirt from reaching the water pump when the vehicle" is being used for gully work.
It is hardly necessary for us to describe the washing and sprinkling equipment, except to say that the operations can be controlled from the driver's cab. It might be mentioned, too, that the sprinkling heads, instead of delivering the water through the usual small holes, which are liable to become clogged, are provided with slits.
A rubber squeegee, in five sections, is carried at an angle between the front and rear wheels, and this enables any surplus water on the roadway to be removed to the gutters. The operations of raising and lowering this equipment are under the control of the driver, a lever being provided in the cab. For flushing gutters a Special pipe is provided on the near side of the appliance.