SIDELIGHTS ON SHOWVAN DESIGN
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MR. OAKENHURST, the manager, pressed the " drawingoffice" button of the interdepartmental telephone system.
" Drawing-office; Slade speaking." "Will you come down? I've a couple of jobs here for you."
The chief draughtsman gave a part ing instruction to one of his assistants, picked up his sketchbook. and descended to the manager's office.
'Good morning, Slade." " Good morning, sir."
" I saw Mr. Smith, of Household Jams, yesterday," said the manager, "and he wants a van with a showcase on each side of it for a display of dummy jars. The case is to he fairly large, about. 4 ft. long by 2 ft. high and 8 ins, from back to front. He is enthusiastic about the display of the actual goods, but, at the same time, he realizes that it Will reduce the load ing space by about II cubic ft. There will be occasions when he will require the lull capacity of the van, so we have to work out a scheme to enable the cases to be taken out and a panel substituted."
Rigid Openings Necessary for the Showcases.
"The openings in the body for the showcases will have to be made par ticularly rigid," observed Slade, "so that the cases can be replaced satisfactorily after the van has been run without them for, say, two or three weeks: 2 .1 suppose Mr. Smith wouldn't • care for a collapsible case,
which would take up only an inch or so of thickness when not in use? " " How do you mean?" queried Mr. Oakenhurst.
" I would suggest." replied the draughtsman, " removing only the glass and back of the case, whilst the top and bottom could hinge up and down and the two ends sideways. Then the opening is not disturbed. The glass, of course, would be carried in a metal frame held by an outside fillet, which could be a one-piece metal rectangular unit, so that there were no corners to fit every time."
Easy Extraction of the Glass.
"Your idea about the glass and fillet sounds good," said the manager, "but I don't like a lot of hinged parts, which mean that the case loses its rigidity, and fastenings have to be made to bold the parts when folded. I feel sure that the case. without its glass, should come out in one piece. The panel which takes its place can have a metal frame similar to that of the glass, so that it lielps to keep the opening in shape."
"Is the loading portion to be the same length as with the previous job? " asked Slade.
"Yes, general design as this draw
lug No. 1,487, except that the body is to be about 4 ins, wider and the rear wheels paddle-boxed. Same model of chassis."
"Well," said the draughtsman, "if the cases are 4 ft. long and Mr. Smith has no objection to a central division of the glass, the front of the case could be in two portions and slide behind the panelling in opposite directions, because there would be 2 ft. 6. ins. to spare on each side of the opening."
" That sounds a bit complicated. and the thickness of the side frank.
ing would be increased. You would still have to take out the fillet to put the panel in," ,pointed out Mr. . Oakenhurst. "At the same time, • it simplifies access to the case if the display is to be varied from time to time and, from what I know of Mr. Smith, I think the sliding glasses would take his fancy. Why, that Merrythought unit window would just do the trick, with a few modifications! How do you propose to fix the case when it is in the body? .
Fixing the Showcase Within the "I would suggest," replied Slade, " a rebate the full depth of the carcase material and wide enough for a row of screws • and cups all round. Although these should hold the case, a couple of corner plates can be added
underneath and screwed to the pillars.
" Yes, that should be satisfactory. Make a fresh tracing from this drawing, showing the case in position, with a central division and a midway shelf, and let me have the print not later than 4 p.m.
" Now, about the second job," continued Mr. Oakenhurst. "Pots of paint this time, instead of pots of jam. Drake and Wallace Want a lorry with an enclosed front comport
(Above) A hinge-sided lorry, the design of which incorporates a front compartment for the accommodation of paints under cover, as stipulated by the Petroleum Spirit Regulations. (Right) A view of the front compartment of the lorry shown above depicting how the shelves slope towards the centre. A roller shutter at the back of the structure encloses
ment as high as the cab, for that Part of the load which comes under the Petroleum Spirit Regulations. They want to load from the sides and back. The compartment is to have trays on shelves and each tray is to be half the width of the body. The lorry „is to have hinged sides, fixed rear corner stanchiOns and tailboard, but no wheel-arches."
Slade proceeded to make a rough sketch. "How many shelves?" he asked.
" Two," said the manager. " The lower one is to be removable to take larger cans when necessary."
" Shutter or doors? "
Arranging for Both Shutters and "Both," replied Mr. Oakenhurst. "Use a shutter at the back, where doors would be definitely an obstruction, with a pair of doors on each side. With a pair of doors the obstruction is less than with a single door. As the trays have to pull out either at the side or back, angle-iron runners would not be suitable. Moreover, the tray must clear each opening."
" The trays will have to be
strong," ventured Slade, " and I would suggest having oak bottoms. It would also be a good plan, apart from supporting each shelf in the centre, to slope it down an inch or two to this central support, in order to prevent any creeping of the trays." He sketched as he spoke. " Is all the remainder of the lorry side to hinge, or is there any fixed portion between, immediately behind the front compartment? "
"It wasn't mentioned," said the manager, "but show a short fixed portion. It can have a curved top and give a touch of style to the lorry."
"Was any headroom be tween the shelves mentioned? " asked Slade, "be cause another 8 ins. or 9 ins, could be added to the front coinpartmerit by -dropping it on to the chassis, instead of continuing the main floor level forward. Then a skirt panel could run through to line up with the bottom of the front enclosure. There's one snag, however ; the bottom trays on the lower floor would not be accessible from the back."
"Well, I think we might put the suggestion forward as an alternative scheme. I think it would be found that a compartment double the size will be required in the near future and the larger the first one, the better. The trays, I understand, will not always be used, but they are handy when the customer brings a small platform trolley to the van, so that a trayful can be transferred at one time. By the way, there ought to be a protecting plinth at the base of the rear shutter."
"Yes," said Slade, " there will be ample Mom for that if the front compartment be built directly on the chassis, because the lower shelf will be several inches above the lorry floor."