FACILITATING ROAD -RAI CONTAINER TRANSPORT
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ADUTCH concern, Van Doorne's Aanhangwagenfabriek N.y., 50,' turghstraat, Eindhoven,Holland, which is a regular purchaser. of The Commercial Motor; has drawn our attention to its special system of handling, by road, railway containers, which have been designed by it, and in which the Netherlands Railways have already shown. interest to the extent of placing a trial order: The company is, incidentally, willing to enter into an arrangement with some English engineeringco'ncern for the manufacture of its outfits under,liCence., Containers in various capacities are already employed in many countries. They offer the shipper the advantages of cheaper and moreeffective packing,' less risk of dainage, and small fear of lOss, because the containers can be locked and sealed as required. The type used by the Netherlands Railways has a capacity of 12 cubic metres, equivalent to a. load capacity of approxi mately 5 tons.,, • .. • .. The road-transport•, side of the outfit consists of a DAF semi-trailer and any suitable tractor equipped with the necessary quick-acting coupling and uncoupling gear. A difficulty formerly experienced with the transport of containers was that for the unloading of these from a railway truck on to a motor vehicle a lifting crane or loading platform was necessary; for this reason they had to be handled at certain fixed spots, which meant that the railway wagons hd to" be Shunted and the consignor and consignee had to have at their disposal loading devices for the purpose. With the DAF transport unit this difficulty is obviated. No special installation is required for handling, and transhipment can be effected at any convenient site. The transport unit itself is equipped with a loading and unloading :device, Which is poweroperated by means of an hydraulic gear driven from the engine of the towing vehicle through a take-off fitted to its gearbox. On the trailer is an auxiliary frame, and in shifting a container from or on to a railway truck the difference in height between the semi trailer and the truck plat form is overcome by lifting the auxiliary frame of the semi-trailer at the rear until it has reached the same level as that of the truck. Sliding rails provided on the semi-trailer are then pushed out to form the connection between the road vehicle and the truck. To place a container on the ground or lift it from the
ground, the auxiliary frame is tipped backwards and the sliding rails pushed out until they reach ground level.
The same transport unit can also be employed for handling other heavy objects, such as machinery. For this purpose a fiat loading platform, equipped with rollers and connections similar to those used with the container, is employed.
Another facility is that the tractor unit can be employed as a towing vehicle for any normal semitrailer provided with the DAF connections. A change can be effected in a matter of a few, minutes, for the joining of the vacuum brake line and of the rear light lead is automatically effected at the ,momentof coupling. The driving mechanisin_of the oil pump for the hydraulic-pressure system is likewise arranged in the coupling and needs no special attention.
Control of the loading and unloading device is afforded by a governor situated' at the left-hand rear side of the semi-trailer. A feature of this device is that the approximate total weight of the laden container can be ascertained, sothat the weight agreed with the shipper can be Verified: Incidentally, the whole operation of loading and discharging a container or other unit can be effected by one person: The containers, as produced by the DAF concern, are built entirely of steel-plate electrically welded. Their weight is limited to 865 kilos., although, as mentioned previously; each can carry. 5 tons. , The operation ofthe complete outfit can clearly be understood from the' photographs which we reproduce.
• Actually, the containers are so built that one side can be cpened, and in handling bulky loads the container need not itself be unloaded, but the auxiliary frame can be tipped to a maximum angle of 45 degrees, when the load can be discharged by opening the drop-side.
What may be termed the backbone of the DAF trailer is a box girder frame made of pressed-steel sections electrically welded.
Safety has been studied• in the tractor and semitrailer connections, for a single movement of a lever in the driver's cab locks the two in triplicate. No loose pipe lines or wires are required.