OPERATING AN AUXILIARY LOADING DEVICE.
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Details of a Successful Appliance which Can Be Fitted to Thornycroft Vehicles for Assisting Loading and Unloading,
MI OR SOME time past 3. I. Thorny..11.2 croft and Co., Ltd., have been paying great attention to the problem of utilizing auxiliary devices on their vehicles by which loading and unloading can be expedited. They have also made successful experiments with various forms of power take-off, and of these one of the'hest is that which is shown in operation in the illustrations OT1 this page, apd which can be fitted to the 4ton J type, 5-ton Q type and 6-ton W type chassis. It provides a most useful means of loading heavy goods on to a platform vehicle and even for hauling the vehicle itself out of heavy ground in case it has become bogged.
At the ends of the live axle are castings in the form of drums similar to those employed on windlasses, which are bolted to the driving flanges of the rear wheels. Either one or both drums may be brought into operation, and the full power of the engine can be transmitted to them through any of the four apeeds of the gearbox.
Owing to the differential action, if one drum only be employed the winding speed is doable that obtained when both are in use.
When using the drums, the drive is, of course, disconnected from the rear wheels, so that these do not have to be jacked up.
In the illustrations both drums are seen in use, fairleads being provided for the cables which pass round the drums,
under the fairleads, over the pulleys on the top of steel uprights, and thence round the steel tube which it is required to load, the ends being made fast to the bases of the uprights. The loose end of each cable is held by a man, power is applied to the drum, equal tension being given to both cables, and the steel tube is rolled up the ramp, being brought to rest against the special bracket on the platform, where it is chocked up and the cables removed from the drums.
In these days of high labour costs, a hauling device of this nature might well be utilized to a much larger extent than is at present the case, and it will readily be seen that such useful accessories as these drums may be applied to other purposes besides that shown ; for in. stance, heavy cases can be loaded on to a lorry by means of a pulley at the front of the lorry and a ramp at the rear, the cable or cables from the drums being carried under suitable fairleads to the front pulley. The size of the tubes can be judged from the Indian boy within one of them.
The vehicle and equipment showe were supplied by Thornycroft (India), Ltd.