A SIMPLE AND EFFICIENT TIPPING GEAR.
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Primarily Intended for the Ford Ton Chassis, the Gear is Suitable for Heavier Vehicles.
ONE OF THE features usually looked for in any mechanical contrivance is that of simplicity, and it is for this reason that. .we believe many of our readers will be particularly interested in the automatic .tipping gear designed by the Waidic Patents Co., of Crossland Hill, Huddersfield, for whatever shortcomings -(if any) it may possess in other directions, it-certainly possesses the out standing merit of simplicity. The gear which we illustrate and 6re about to describe is designed -expressly corporate a sliding action of the liodY preliminary to tipping, and this sliding action is brought •abont, by fhe -forward progression of the-chassis, until the trunnions on the loody.are anchored by hook-shaped bearings at the rear end of the, chassis frame, when tipping Occurs. To replace the body on the chassis in this particular design the vehicle has to be reversed.
We will now deal with the gear as applied to the Ford ton chassis. Let it be said at the start that the main idea of the inventors' mind has been to facilitate the tipping of the load and the return , of the body to its normal position On the chassis with a small expenclitUre of time and labour. The work is accomplished entirely by the power of the engine. witheut having recourse to
connection with the revolving parts of the vehicle's mechanism'. by means of gearing, belts, chains, pulleys and the like. In the Waldic design a leg or strut, is provided on each side of the body, this strut being pivoted at its upper end to a rigid longitudinal member of the body or to a horizontal lever which may be attached pivotally to the body. The two struts are of such a length that the lowei ends rest on the ground when lowered to an oblique position in planes parallel with the length of the vehicle, and they.have a forward or rearward inclination in relation to the vehicle. It will thus be seen that if the vehicle is driven forwards:and backwards whilst the legal are "in'the respective oblique positions, the lower ends being Suitably pointed to resist their movement along the ground, the struts will act in the manner of a pair of spra.gs, and an upward. force will be exerted against the members of the body to which their -upper ends are pivoted.
The ,body < will be approximately balanced on a pair of trunnions at a snitableldistance to the rear of the point of balance in such a manner that ,the body will retain its horizontal position SO long as is desired. It will be clear that the body will be tipped to its highest point of 'inclination when the legs have reached a vertical position Further pro
' gress of the vehicle will cause them again to assume An oblique position, thereby allowing the forward end of the body to fall until it is returned to the horizontal position.
The inventors , realize that in certain cases the legs would foul the driving and braking tmeehanism,Vand.dinlisuch s, instances, and also where the body has not enough overhang at. the roar to allow it to tip sufficiently, the use of a horizontal lever, in conjunction with each strut, enables these to be fitted in a Convenient position ahead of the rear axle. The manner in which it is accomplished is as follows :—
A horizontal lever on each side of the chassis is pivoted at its rear end to a longitudinal body member, The forward ends of the horizontal levers are attached to the chassis frame by brackets which permit of a sliding movement, and, further, which will oscillate on trunnions to allow the horizontal levers to assume an oblique position in their operation. At a point which is near the centre of the length of the horizontal levers, the upper ends.of the legs . or struts are pivoted. When the vehicle is driven forwards the force exerted through the legs operates the horizontal levers, thu.s tipping the body. The only difference between the two types which we have described is that in the one case the struts actually tip the body, whilst in the other they are used for exerting a force which tips the body through the horizontal levers.
When a body does not overhang the chassis sufficiently at the rear to allow a body to tip on central trunnions, the company fix longitudinal plates on the chassis -frame to provide smooth runways to enable the outer longitudinal
members of the body to gide, back a convenient distance and bring the trunnions into a more suitable position at the rear ends of. the frame, where hooks are fixed with their open sides facing forwards for the reception of theccentral body trunnions. It will be understood that this auxiliary sliding motion of the body will be accomplished by the force operating on the horizontal levers when the vehicle moves forward, before the body can tip, which will occur when resistance to sliding is occasioned by the entry of the central body trunnions into the hooks.
The company embody suitable fastenings to prevent the body sliding or tipping inadvertently, whilst small rollers on the longitudinal members of the body are fitted to reduce friction.
With this type of tipping gear the operation of returning the body to its normal position is accomplished by the power of the engine in 10 secs. to 15 secs., the only manual labour required in the operation of tipping is that of raising and lowering the legs, which automatically releases and relocks the front end of the body.
The illustrations which we publish on the preyions page show the various positions of the gear,when tipping. In this case the simple lever arrangement we have described is employed. The price of the tipping gear complete for the Ford ton chassis is £10 1.0s., which certainly compares very favourably with the usual type of gear employed'.