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Tail lift With its latest option of a retractable-post tail-lift,
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announced this week, E. J. Ratcliff (Mechanical Engineers) Ltd., completes a range of three types of tail-lift designed to suit any mode of container operation.
The new retractable-post lift, which fits on the back of a vehicle in the same manner as a normal tail-lift, complements two other designs which have been progressively introduced during the past year. One of these is a normal pattern of electro-hydraulic tail-lift which is fitted to the container itself so that the container or demountable body has its own self-contained loading arrangements when it is detached from the vehicle. The other is the tiltdown design in which the whole tail-lift assembly can be swung down by an additional hydraulic, ram so that containers can be loaded from the rear, or a vehicle can be reversed under a demountable body.
The new retractable-post model looks like any other taillift when it is erect, but the top halves of the columns automatically retract when the tail-lift is lowered so that there are no projections whatever above the deck or skeletal frame of the carrying vehicle. This allows complete freedom of loading, including swinging a container on and off a vehicle over the rearend without fear of damaging the tail-lift assembly. The action is similar to that of a fork-lift truck in that the lift rises with a dual action. After rising half-way it engages stops on the retractable posts, which take over for the remaining upward travel.
An outstanding feature of the Ratcliff retractable-post tail-lift is its relatively simple mechanism which employs at each side a single chain running round sprockets and operated by a horizontal hydraulic ram hidden behind the chassis-attachment girder. Each chain pulls on the tail-lift, passes over a sprocket at the top and then down the back of the first sliding column, turning 90deg through a special link and then emerging in a sideways plant at the bottom of the column, round another sprocket and then up through the retracting post to the transverse hydraulic ram. When the ram first pulls on the chain it raises just the lift alone until the lift contacts the top of the retracting post. Further action then raises both lift and post together. No extra cables are involved.
A remote control switch assembly in a shock-proof rubber moulding can be attached to the normal control box on the side of the vehicle so that a driver or loader can control the action of the lift while he is standing on the tail-lift platform.
The Ratcliff retractable-post assembly occupies a total depth of 10in. front to rear. The platform, which can be ordered in various depths up to 3ft 6in., can be raised to 9in. above the vehicle's deck, which is sufficient to allow level-floor loading onto even the quite deep floor structure of an insulated ISO container. A bridge-plate for folding down between the lift platform and the container floor is included in the standard equipment.
The platform is of sturdy construction employing a rolled-steel welded frame with either a timber, steel or ventred deck. Closure of the platform against the face of the tail-lift assembly is assisted by a torsion bar and the platform is held closed under power. Ramps and safety gates, are available on the retractable-post model, which is available in 10cwt and 1 ton lifting capacities.
A weight of 74cwt is claimed for the 1 ton capacity retract
able-post tail-lift assembly. This compares with 6cwt for a similar-sized lift which fits direct to the back of a container, and 13'cwt for the tilt-down model which swings down the whole tail-lift assembly. The retractable-post model is suitable for applications where the vehicle is static while a container is swung on or off. For those who want to move the vehicle under a container or demountable body, the tilt-down design is recommended, and those who need the demountable body or container to be self-contained with its own loading arrangements use the more normal rigid-post tail-lift.
With both the retractable-post and the tilt-down models there is no obstruction to the opening of double-hinged doors on containers.
Made by: E. J. Ratcliff (Mechanical Engineers) Ltd., Delamare Rd., Cheshunt, Herts.
Silencer catalogue
The 1969 version of the Burgess silencer catalogue is now available to motor trade distributors.
This 40-page edition includes commercial vehicle replacement silencers, complete and part assemblies, exhaust pipes and tub-. ing, clamps, mountings and straps, and embraces a total of some 750 units. All components are described with vehicle model details, silencer measurements and the corresponding manufacturer's part numbers for identification.
Also listed are the Burgess Universal Silencers, a series of "straight through" silencers which provide full power with efficient silencing and which are offered for use where a "pattern" silencer is not available. These smaller units are often found very useful where it is necessary to fit a secondary or auxiliary silencer in the exhaust system. Published by: Burgess Products Co. Ltd., PO Box 11, Hinckley, Leicestershire.
Metric sizes
A coloured poster (952mm by 635mm) on standard metric sizes for sawn softwood, based on Draft British Standard Specification. has been produced by the Timber Research and Development Association in collaboration with Educational Productions Ltd. The poster illustrates typical full-size metric sections of softwood for common uses, including posts, boards, joists and studs: it also contains a complete range of metric sizes and lengths in scale 1:10.
Available from: Timber Research and Development Association, Hughenden Valley, High Wycombe, Bucks. Price: one poster 5s: 10 posters £1 10s; 50 posters £6 5s. (all prices inclusive of postage and packing in the UK).
Drill grinder
A modified version of Z. Brierley Ltd.'s twist drill grinding machine—the Mk IV—is capable of a series of operations, including simple point grinding and more complex forms involving the point geometries required in modern engineering.
The machine can grind spiral points, split points and NC prismatic points. Facilities are also available for the grinding of tools such as taps and core drills.
Design features incorporated in the Mk IV machine are claimed to ensure precise drillpoint sharpening and consistently uniform results when changing from one drill point to the next, which provides operation of the machine at maximum capacity at all times.
Made by: Z. Brierley Ltd., Queen's Road Works, Llandudno, North Wales, From R. A, Lister and Co. Ltd. comes a mobile industrial conveyor, model PL14, which is suitable for handling a wide variety of goods in most types of warehouse. Powered by a 2 hp electric motor, the PL14 can carry a 336Ib distributed load up to a maximum delivery height of 16ft at 60ft /min, Concentrated loads of 112lb can be conveyed up to lift 4in.
M basic form the machine can be loaded at ground level and delivers goods to a height of between 6ft 10in. and 14ft. To increase this range of heights, the conveyor is equipped with a pair of adjustable legs at its loading end. When these legs are fully extended, the loading height is 3f„ft and delivery heights range between 41ft and and 16ft. The machine's height and angle of operation are adjusted by a mechanical jacking system.
The PL14 model is 6ft wide overall, has a bed length of 18ft 9;in, and a 2ft wide track. Weighing 9cwt, it is easily manoeuvred on its two 20in. by 4in. pneumatic-tyred wheels. The conveyor's 400 /440V threephase motor has push-button controls for reverse and emergency stop together with a separate on /off switch, Made by: R. A. Lister and Co. Ltd., Dursley, Gloucestershire,
Grinding fixture
A universal grinding fixture—the Magrind—made and marketed by Ross Macready Ltd., will, with the aid of a simple surface grinder, do the work of other universal tool and cutter grinding machines costing £2,000.
Designed for use on either surface or cutter grinders, it will operate in either vertical or horizontal positions The manufacturer claims it can do more operations than other fixtures on the market and that changeover from vertical to horizontal plane takes only some 3min.
A small and compact piece. the Magrind is also extremely versatile. As a holding fixture it can be rotated through 205deg in one plane and 50deg in the other, producing a compound adjustment. Spring-loaded cam followers induce compound action axially and radially.
The Magrind can drastically reduce overheads in engineering shops by freeing other equipment from non-productive jobs such as sharpening and dressing.
The Magrind can be set up to handle all types of precision grinding or sharpening and costly setting-up operations are eliminated on one-off or short-run production work. Its set-up simplicity gives immediate locked-in precision for grinding step drills, ball-nosed slot mills, end mills, side and face cutters. concave cutters, counter sinks, deburring tools, taps and drill pointing. Because the tool is locked into the bushing, it can be removed without any loss of precision.
The basic fixture is supplied in a storage and carrying case which can also house accessories. Marketed by: Ross Macready Ltd., Gloucester Trading Estate, Hucclecote. Glos.
Price: £135.
Easy read micrometer Error is eliminated and measurement made faster by the use of the direct read-out
m i crometer--Speedread--m a de by GKN SharOlow Metrology Ltd. The precise measurement is shown numerically in the windows on the barrel of the micrometer; no interpretation is required. A conventional Vernier scale is also incorporated to give measurement to finer limits. Use of Speedread in the metric reading version will overcome the problems and errors likely in the change to metric measurement.
Initially these micrometers will be available in size Oin. to 1in. (reading to .0001in.) and 0 to 25mm (reading to .01mm, equivalent to .0004in.). The direct read -out feature will become progressively available throughout the GKN Shardlovv range of precision measuring in-. struments.
The firm will also offer, at a small charge, a factory conversion of Imperial reading Speedread micrometers to metric reading when the change is made to metric measurement. Made by: GKN Shardlow Metrology Ltd., PO Box 62, Petre St., Sheffield, 54 SLY.
A handy,size truck tyre
mileage/cost ready reckoner in plastics is now available from Goodyear through its countrywide depots and branches. It covers mileages from 10,000 to 100,000 and will enable close checks on tyre economics to be kept.
The reckoner covers tyre prices from £10 to £100 and carries references to Goodyear truck tyres, including the Super Single.
Freight service
Comprehensive details of the Thoresen freight service are included in the second edition of the Channel Motorway, a 12page booklet being distributed to Thoresen customers in the freight and haulage industry. For those involved in shipping freight to and from the Continent useful information included ranges from details of booking requirements for exports to facilities available to the drivers of freight vehicles and guidance for importers.
Mileage charts give the distances from key points in the UK to Southampton and from Le Havre to the principle Continental centres.
Available from: Thoresen Car Ferries Ltd., Car Ferry House, Canute Road, Southampton SOB 5GP, Hants.
Free of charge on request.
Safety booklet
A Safety, Health and Welfare Booklet published by the Department of Employment and Productivity gives advice and information on the .provision of adequate means of escape in case of fire.
It has been prepared to meet requests for guidance received after the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act 1963 came into operation.
Some advice is also included for those concerned with planning, design and erection ot buildings which, when occupied, will be subject to the Act.
The booklet explains that the object of the Act's requirement is to ensure that if there is an outbreak of fire in any part of the building, every person employed there shall be able to walk away to safety along a known escape route without being placed at hazard while doing so.
Obtainable from: HM Stationery Office.
Price: 2s
Minitester
A compact piece of equipment —the Minitester—is being introduced to the British market by Bosch Ltd. of Watford. It weighs only 14oz and measures 51n. by 3in. by 1-lin, combining a tachometer, dwell angle meter, voltmeter and ohm' meter.
The Minitester diagnoses all the most frequently occurring faults in the electrical system of any make of petrol-engined vehicle, and allows engine speed, dwell angle, voltage and resistance to be checked. It is simple to operate and powered by an' ordinary GV transistor battery. Readily portable, it can be used in any part of a garage or forecourt to check a suspected fault.
The Minitester is claimed to be the most compact piece of equipment of its kind incorporating so many diagnostic features. Marketed by: Bosch Ltd., Badlull Rd., Watford WD2 4LB, Herts. Dawson Bros. Ltd. has re designed its light vehicle washer (the New LT). The first unit is being used by the Sunshine Bread Co. (Norwich) Ltd.
Features include a wrapped.round metal plate frame that has a modern look and provides for
improved installation compactness. The side brushes now adjust automatically to variations in vehicle width up to 3ft (915mm) and if a roofbrush unit is used the brush will handle vehicles varying in height up to 1ft Sin, automatically.
As Sunshine Bakeries did not require a full roof-brush installation Dawson engineers developed an ingenious low-cost roof blanket. made of needled felt, which is hung above the vehicle path with its lower edge at a height just below that of the top of the vehicle. The blanket is continually moistened by a wash pipe and as the vehicle moves forward towards the side brushes it wipes the top. A special flow control on the rinse unit gives time-controlled flow through the rinse of 12.5gal of water per 25sec of travel. A "no-vehicle—no-rinse" system prevents any wastage of water.
As an option, a new type of automatic detergent-metering system can be fitted to the wash stage that prevents entry of the wash water into the detergent tank. The system operates automatically when wash pump is started.
The wash pump motor and brush motors are started automatically in the Norwich installation when the vehicle approaches the washer. A 600gal recirculating wash tank below the washer conserves water.
Made by: Dawson Bros. Ltd., Gomersal, Cleckheaton, Yorkshire. Wheel-free repairs and servicing, as well as pre-MoT testing and investigation are simplified for vehicle operators and repairers with the Commercial Jacking Beam introduced by Epco Ltd. The unit can lift both axles of vehicles loaded up to 10 tons over pits or servo docks, and still provide a 2-ton safety factor.
The Epco Beam has two 12in. stroke rams which can be operated together or individually by the closure of a valve. Once the load is lifted hydraulically, holding nuts are then screwed down the threaded rams. The weight is taken on the cross-beams; no Any operator whose garage compressor is on the small side has probably experienced difficulty— when inflating tubeless trucktyres— in sealing the tyre to the wheel rim while sufficient pressure is achieved to spread the tyre walls.
At last a simple solution has been found. It comes from a Goodyear tyre fitter at the company's Wednesbury works, Mr. R. Haynes, who put his idea forward through Goodyear's suggestion scheme and earned himself a cash bonus for it.
axle stands are needed. Specially designed one inch wide vee crutches can accommodate the most complicated axle assemblies.
Movement along a pit or servo dock is on four roller-bearing wheels widely spaced to spread the load. Adjustment for 32in. to 42in. widths and clearance for the lowest axles have been allowed for.
The Epco Beam can be used not only for testing, but for many other garage requirements where wheels have to be "freed". Springs, for instance, can be fitted on loaded vehicles from underneath by fitting steel tube extensions to the threaded ram heads and making contact with chassis and cross-members.
A length of smooth coated rubber hose sufficient to encircle the wheelrim is inserted between the tyre wall and the rim, sealing the two together. The whole is coated with a solution of soft soap and water, and air is pumped into the tyre. As the pressure increases the wall of the tyre expands and gradually forces the rubber hose out from between it and the rim. By this stage the tyre is firmly seated and adequately sealed to accept the increasing pressure. Different lengths of hose are used for varying sizes of tyre. The weight is held while the axle is dropped for the new springs to be inserted.
Included in the standard equipment are jack saddle, two flat ram heads, two steel tube extensions and coupling sockets. Made by: Epco Ltd., Star Works, leeds 7.
Price: £155.
Timber grab
An hydraulic timber grab, the GFT, has been announced by F. W. McConnel Ltd. Operated in conjunction with a tractor having a conventional three-point linkage and a McConnel 5/14D slew-loader, the grab enables one man to load 10 tons of timber in approximately 50min. The grab was developed by Forest Thinnings Ltd., Spensers House, Amery Street, Alton.
Features of the grab include an hydraulically controlled mechanism that provides 230deg of rotation and is actuated by the operator sitting on the rearward facing seat. Its lifting capacity is 7cwt to 15cwt depending on the loading height and reach required, while the maximum loading height is 11ft 3in. measured from ground level to the bottom of the grab.
A stretch linkage construction gives an opening for pick-up of 6ft 4in. and the large overlap in the closed position enables the machine to grip single long timbers of diameters down to Sin. A special friction-damped knuckle with stops prevents sway when the grab is fully open.
Made by: F. W. McConnel Ltd., Temeside Works, Ludlow, Shropshire. A tractor-mounted fork-lift mechanism of 1-ton capacity has been added to the Tail-Slave range of machines marketed by F. W. McConnel Ltd. It is the McConnel Model TST. 20 TailSlave and features a Hy-Fi twin joystick hydraulic control unit, developed by the McConnel company. The control unit can readily be transferred from one machine to another.
The TST. 20 is designed for pallet and box handling of fertilizer, potatoes, feeds, seeds, fruit or vegetables and for moving building materials and timber. It will lift a 1-ton load to a height of Oft and will handle all industrial pallets up to 5ft by 4ft and standard 5cwt and 10cwt potato boxes.
Although the machine will fit most makes of tractor of upwards of 35 bhp with three-point linkage, a heavier tractor of higher horsepower is recommended for box tipping because of the cantilever effect. The unit features an hydraulically operated mast tilt and load-shift and can be used in conjunction with an 8in. side-shift and a 1-ton box tip attachment offered as optional extras.
The side-shift attachment enables the operator to carry out precise side-by-side stacking without the need to keep moving the tractor. The box tip attachment replaces the forks and is designed for work in bulk-storage. It can be used to lift midshouldered boxes, for filling an indoor potato clamp or for stacking and emptying produce boxes.
A trailer-hitch and folding forks are fitted as standard which enables the tractor to tow a trailer without removing the Tail-Slave.
Made by: F. W. McConnel Ltd., Temeside Works, Ludlow, Shropshire.
Price: £332 10s; side-shift £50; box tip attachment £205.
Windscreen washer
A windscreen washer, added to Stenor Ltd.'s range of equipment, is actuated by a patented manually operated pump and delivers two power sprays through twin jets. It is supplied with a polythene container, carrier, two chromeplated adjustable jets, pump unit and tubing.
Two models are produced, the MW /2 for light vehicles and the CW/4 for heavier vehicles. Made by: Stenor Ltd., Richmond, Surrey.
Price: MW /2, 35s; CW/4, 45s.
Spacer coupling
Known as the Metastrearn T series flexible coupling, a spacer coupling embodying a new design of steel membrane has been introduced by Flexibox Ltd. The membrane is of hexagonal form and is waisted between the driving and driven points, which provides optimum flexibility and torque-carrying capacity.
The bending and fatigue stresses derived from torque loading are practically eliminated, while its high degree of flexibility minimizes stresses due to misalignment.
For the smaller sizes of coup
ling, two types of hub are available which enables a large range of shaft diameters to be accommodated.
In the standard form, the coupling is supplied with stainless-steel membranes and high-tensile steel bolts and bushes, Other metal parts are of specially treated mild steel.
Couplings of special light alloy are available. Special adaptor plates can be supplied instead of hubs, and facilities for taper-lock bushes provided.
Made by: Flexibox Ltd., Nash Road, Trafford Park, Manchester.
A dynamic brake tester operating on the torque reaction principle. announced by Flexibox Ltd., is designed to test the braking efficiency of light commercial vehicles and cars having axle weights up to 4,000lb (1 ,814kg). It is known as the Dynafl ex.
The unit comprises two pairs of grit-bonded 84in. (21 cm} diameter rollers, driven by two 2 hp motors through reduction gearboxes at 1.25 miles (2km) per hour. A sensing roller gives a warning of slip.
A desk console control cabinet houses two large maximum-reading dials, indicator lights and switchgear. Consistent pressure on the brake pedal is ensured by a pedal pressure gauge. An in
car remote control push button switch is available as an optional extra.
Made by: Flexibox Ltd., Nash Road, Trafford Park, Manchester.
Roof racks
An all-steel roof rack the 3628) made from Flo-coat which has a permanent, attractive silver finish has been introduced by Desmo. The tube has a zinc coating to B.S.S. 1706 exterior use.
The platform area of the 3628 is 36in. by 26in. and fixing is by means of pad feet and strainers making for simple fitting ot removal. It will fit most carbased vans.
Another roof rack from Desmo --Universal 4003—is adjustable to fit the smallest and largest vans. It is strongly made in polished aluminium, and has five hardwood slats, protected by clear polyurethane varnish. secured to its cross-frames. These slats enable smaller items to be carried. 'Adjustment is by means of the seburing legs which can be moved :along the crossmembers by releasing the retaining plates.
They provide an adjustment of 11in. from 41 in. to 52in. The luggage area is 33in. by 42in. and, as the adjustment is to the legs, this area does not vary with different sized vehicles.
Longer-thtm-standard versions are also available. without slats but giving an increased carrying area of 72in. by 321in. These models are fitted with two sets of supporting legs, again with 11 in. adjustment. These roof racks take full advantage of the large roof areas of, for instance, estate cars.
Made by: Desmo Ltd., Pensmett Trading Estate, Brierley Hill, Staffs.