Container Transport
Page 19
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'aul Moody
egrated handling show
IDDLE carriers, fork-lift trucks and pallet s were all put through their paces at the -1 Organisation's "Integrated Handling ention" at the Rubery Owen works in iesbury this week. The convention was first on Tuesday and was repeated on the ving two days.
object was to show to prospective cusrs from all over Europe and the UK a ling system which takes the goods from 'reduction line, stows them into the conand loads the container on to a vehicle Avery.
e demonstration began with a reach de-stacking from a rack. The truck was a eyancer Raymond with a lifting capacity ,5001b, incorporating the pantograph 1 system. It is powered by a 24V battery h is roller-mounted for easy removal. The e-drive motor provides rear-wheel tracand separate pump motors drive the mast steering hydraulic motors. With standard lasts it has an extended height of up to lin.
to Conveyancer Raymond pallet trucks moved the loads to the container area, pedestrian operated and the other with a -in platform to allow the operator to 1 with his load. Both trucks were of 2-ton city. The drive unit consists of an electric ir which transmits power through a chain irect-coupled reduction gears to a sin!rive /steering road wheel. The steering Ile carries a control head for direction, speed and hydraulic operation of the The control system can be of the ;-step dual-voltage type or with thyristor I) stepless control.
I the containers on view in the de monstration area were built either by the Duramin Engineering Co. at Lydney or at Rubery Owen's Wednesbury factory, and conformed to ISO standards.
For the actual demonstration two 20ft containers were used, one with side-opening and the other with end-opening doors. All the corner castings were interconnected with steel corner cappings to provide a rigid structure that would ensure safe lifting—either with a spreader device or by a vertical pull from the castings. Steel used in the manufacture of these containers is high-yield, which is claimed to retain its structural properties at temperatures as low as 40deg C. The interior is coated throughout with anti-condensation paint; care must be taken with certain types of cargo that this is not damaged.
The stowing of the containers was carried Out by two Conveyancer Starline fork-lift trucks, one with a 1-ton and the other with a 3,000lb capacity and both with integral sideshift. The smaller truck, the E22-24RC, is proving to be a ready seller in the US market. It is a four-wheel truck with a horizontal traction motor, which drives a double reduction nose-piece through a flexible coupling, and the drive is taken through a separate half-shaft to each roller-bearing-mounted front wheel. Steering is by a conventional steering gearbox, drag link and double tie rod arrangement which gives differential tracking during turning. Cushion tyres are fitted as standard but pneumatic tyres are available -as an optional extra.
The larger truck, the E3C, is fitted with thyristor stepless traction speed control, and the rear wheels are steered through conventional cam and roller box with double tie-rod to give differential tracking.
Pallet-less handling was demonstrated with the Conveyancer E5 fitted with a Cascade push/pull attachment. This entailed the use of a skid board and, although the operator must manipulate the push /pull attachment, little extra time is spent as compared with pallet loading.
A Shortland TC12, marketed by Conveyancer, was used to move empty containers. Available in 10,000 and 12,000lb capacities, both with 24in. load centres, the Shortlands are fitted with 100 hp Ford diesel engines and two-speed torque converters.
The big boys among the machines shown were the Karricon straddle carriers.
The Karricon 304 straddle carrier is powered by two Perkins 6.354 diesel engines and has an inside turning circle of lift Sin. Its grappler will take 10ft, 20ft and 30ft ISO top-lift containers and flats, with a maximum capacity of 70,000lb.