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SPECIAL BODIES THAT F

28th December 1934
Page 30
Page 31
Page 30, 28th December 1934 — SPECIAL BODIES THAT F
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DUCE TRANSPORT COSTS

Designing Sling Vans, Box

Conthiners and Trays to

Afford Strength and Light

ness. How Current Types Can Easily be Adapted to

Serve New Purposes

/T is always an economy for the load to be made up independently of the vehicle which is to carry it. iThis is effected binneans of sling-van bodies, i box containers and

trays. The sling van carries the whole of the load. The box container is usually of such dimensions that two or more may be transported on the same lorry. The tray may vary in size from a small sliding pattern, suitable for a baker's or dairyman's van, up to the large unit, which occupies the whole of the loading portion of a platform lorry.

Outstanding Features of the Platform-lorry Flat.

The demountable unit used in con junction with a platform lorry is called a "fiat," and is slid on to the vehicle from a hand trolley, which has the same height of floor, or it is lifted by a crane.

Assuming that the lorry is required to carry a load independently of its use as the transporter of a flat, it is built in the usual manner, with a strongly-boarded floor, chock rails, a front board to protect the back of the cab, and at the rear a fixed rail or board, or a dwarf tailboard. The flat, especially if it is to be lifted by a crane, must have a strong underframe to carry the load when it is unsupported by the lorry. It is designed to fit the vehicle, and it is an advantage if it be made so that flats may be piled on each other, when the lorry is collecting them after they have been unloaded at nat the warehouses and factories concerned.

The flat has its cross-bearers closely spaced, so that the floor may be laid lengthwise. Under these crossbearers are longitudinals on which the flat rests. These longittidinals have a flat wearing plate on the underside, which engages with a half-round one on the floor of the lorry.

The flat is a few Inches smaller than the lorry, because it fits inside the chock rails, with about an inch clearance on all sides. The outer longitudinals are set back from the ends of the cross-bearers of the flat, so that they register with the floorwearing plates of te lorry.

The longitudinals are also shorter than the top of the flat. With this style of underframe one flat may be placed on top of another. The crossbearers of one flat rest on the chock rails of that below it, also the longitudinals, being recessed, fit inside the lower one.

The fiat is lifted by a ring or shackle close to each corner. The eye or centre portion of the shackle has a flap, which is cranked under the chock rail and down the face of

the longitudinal.

The flat has for many years been used in the cotton trade, also by wholesale grocers. It is a type of bodywork which could be adapted in other trades, and its scope could be extended by equipping the lorry with smaller trays, so that any number up to a dozen could be accom modated at the same level. The smaller tray would appeal to the makers of jam, paint or other bottled or tinned goods, also the manufacturers of accumulators.

Bulky loads, such as hay, straw and hops, are often carried on a platform lorry, and part may be mounted above the cab roof. The load, 12 ft. or more high is secured by means of •ropes lashed to cleats and hooks on each side of the lorry. The load is canted towards the centre, because the outer bales have one edge resting on the projecting side rails. As an alternative, the floor may slope downwards from each side towards the centre, the chock rails being omitted.

With regard to the front platform, this should, if possible, be supported independently of the cab. The back of this platform is secured to the top of the forward board of the lorry, and, in front, is mounted on a pair of stanchions, the feet of which are bolted to the chassis.

With a forward-control cab, however, this front support is not so easy of access. In order not to obstruct the windscreen, the front stanchions would be set out immediately in front of the screen pillar, whilst below the waist they would converge to the dumbirons. Without a front support, the platform is held by diagonal stays and corner plates.

For a heavy and compact load, a low floor level is desirable. An in dependent trailer or semi-trailer is suitable for this type of load, because the greater part of the unit may have a well floor extending from the front, behind the turntable, to the rear.

The width of the well at the rear is determined by the track, so that if the body be of the usual width, the wheel-arch enclosures project into the well area. These are squaredup on the inside and extend to the end of the trailer, if there be only a small overhang beyond the axle.

The platform above the turntable is similar to that of any ordinary lorry, with its rails and front board.

The Double-platform Lorry and Its 1LTses.

The platform lorry is suitable for packages or cases of goods which may easily be piled one on another. or for large and heavy articles, such as machinery, where little or no piling is attempted. If, however, any separation of the load be required, then the double platform lorry is adopted.

This kind of vehicle is used by wholesale dairymen, for carrying churns, whilst the smaller pattern, owing to its ease of access on three sides, is suitable for house-to-house deliveries. The body has a boarded roof and there is only a centre standard on each side, in addition to the corner pillars, so that the openings are of maximum size.

Each floor is fully boarded and protected at the sides and back with a rail about 3 ins, deep, in order to prevent goods from slipping out, although a tradesmansuch as a greengrocer, would have much of his stock in boxes. At the back, the upper part of the lorry is enclosed by a roller shutter whilst there is a tailboard below, which will often be of value as a temporary counter.

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