New Biflex Heavy-duty Trailers
Page 39
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MANY interesting features which conduce to the reduction of shock between vehicle and trailer, assist in the prevention of snaking and maintain good contact between the trailer wheels and the road are embodied in the latest designs of Biflex trailer, the products of Biflex 'Trailers and Tractors, Ltd., Shortiands Road, Kingston-on-Thames.
The trailers are a 12-tonner and a 6-tanner, each with four wheels and of all-steel construction, Theschief points of the design lie in the spring-loaded turntable, the connection between the main frame and the turntable being by means of a ball king-gin and a ball socket, the ball-socket housing being carried by a pair of semi-elliptic springs opposed and mounted on edge across the bogie, so that they can take both pulling and braking stresses. The weight of the forward portion of the trailer frame is taken by four laminated quarter-elliptic springs mounted in cruciform formation with their ends pressing upon steel rocker arms hinged to the sides of the king-pin carrier, which end in large-diameter steel rollers running on the turntable plate carried by the channel-steel bogie frame upon which are mounted the front-axle springs.
A fuller description of the turntable and king-pin design was contained in our article on the Biflex articulated trailers published in our issue dated May 26, but in the new models the second set of rollers and springs is an addition.
The chassis-frame Is of channel-steel, the heavier model having a section of 7 ins. by 2-1 ins. by 23, ins., with a thick
ness of in., and the lighter a section of 5 ins., the other dimensions being The 12-tonner has oversize Timken roller bearings and internal expanding brakes in 18-in, drums operated by the Lockheed hydraulic system, the connection through the king-pin being by abutting steel rods. The lighter trailer has 14-in, brake drums. In both the design is such that this brakes are automatically applied when the drawbar is dropped. A parking hand brake is also mounted independently at the side.
Heavy-duty 44-in. by 10-in, single pneumatics, or 38-in. by 8-in, twin pneumatics are mounted on Dunlop steeldisc wheels. The 6-tonner has 36-in. by 8-in. pneumatics.
The company is also arranging to produce a heavy-duty foot-wheel-steerjug trailer with a double bogie.
Complete and ready for coupling, the 12-ton chassis with a frame length of 18 ft. costs £295, whilst the 6-tonner with a length of 14 ft. is 1195.