New Dyson 10-ton Cable-drum Trailer
Page 41
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Interesting Frame Construelion Giving 1-ft. 7-in. Floor Level — Widely Adaptable Drum Mounting and Novel Scotching Device
!".
A NEW type of cranked-frame cabledrum trailer with a carrying capacity of 10 tons has been developed by R. A. Dyson and Co., Ltd., 76-80, Grafton Street, Liverpool, 8. We show, in the accompanying illustration, an example which has been built for Dundee Corporation Electricity Department.
The chassis is made of angle-section steel and. plate, and is suspended by. shallow springs on a cran,ked axle. By this arrangement the remarkably low.. loading height of 1,ft. 7 ins, has been attained. As the largest drums are ft. 6 ins, wide, single tyres have to be used at the rear, those employed being 38 by 9 giants. For the front, 29 by 8 twin equipment is provided.
Designed to pay out cable directly into the trench, the trailer incorporates ingenious drum-handling apparatus, not the least interesting feature of which is its adaptability to drums of various dimensions. There are two. uprights—one at each side of the chassis—which each accommodate . a pair of sliding bearing blocks, held apart by a vertical tubular connection. These can be raised _ or lowered by ratchet-operated screw gear, which is provided for each upright.
It is clear that .by employing one or other of the bearing-block holes on each side a wide range of
drums can be handled by this device. The system of scotching the drums is noteworthy. It will be observed that angle rails extend along the sides of the outfit, just below the level of the bottom bearing block when in its lowest position. Actually they are 2 ft. above the trailer floor. Resting on these and placed transversely is a pair of crossbars, These are free to slide along the channels, but can be locked in any desired position by quickly operated cramps which secure them to the rails. Of angle section, these bars have wooden fillets, which bear against the drums and serve as highly effective scotches.
• To protect the floor from damage from the concentrated _pressure of the flanges of the unsheathed cable drums, channel-steel adjustable rails are placed upon theflooring for their reception. The ends of these can just be discerned in the illustration below.