Stillage Loading for Cars
Page 56
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CLAIMED to be an original method• of carrying complete cars to the docks, a stillage system has been introduced by Morton's (Coventry), Ltd., Binley Road, Coventry, which enables six sports cars, destined for export, to be loaded on to a standard 10-12-ton articulated trailer having a platform length of 27 ft. On a specialized car transporter of the same nominal capacity it would normally be impossible to carry more
• than five similar vehicles. To the manufacturer the system has the particular merit that the service can easily be expanded in an emergency by the use of platform lorries.
Although a conventional car transporter offers an advantage with regard to loading and unloading times, the operators are confident that extension of the stillage method could provide outstanding benefits to manufacturers, shipping companies and overseas agents. Triumph TR3 sports cars are now conveyed by road from the works of the Standard Motor Co., Ltd., to Coundon Wharf in Coventry. where they are transferred to special collapsible stillages designed to accommodate them with the least waste space. The stillages are loaded on to the trailer by a crane, owned by the vehicle operators, and the cars are removed from the stillages at the docks.
If the cars were loaded into the stillages at the end of the production line, they could be safely stacked five high in any available storage space, which in some cases would avoid the use of a dumping grPund remote from the works.
s" Stillage loading in the ship's hold and delivery by stillage from the destination port to the agent's premises would then afford complete and uninterrupted protection to the cars from the factory line to depot or showroom.
The car stillages are constructed of welded tubular sections, the two side sections being identical. These comprise an open rectangular frame with a vertical member in the centre and diagonal members between the outer ends of the upper longitudinals and the lower end of the centre post. Two end-frames of angle sections are bolted to fish plates on the main vertical members.
Four coupling-mounted cross tubes are employed to support the wheels of the car and to brace the structure on the lower side. The, couplings are slidably mounted on the lower longitudinal tubes and then locked by a bolt. This enables the car to be located in the stillage in either direction after the cross supports have been adjusted to the appropriate wheel position; upwards displacement is prevented by canvas straps. Cross bracing at the top of the stillage is provided by a similar type of tubular member mounted in couplings.
Pallet feet are welded to the six uprights of the structure to support the legs of the stillage stacked above it. Provision is made for lifting the stillage by means of hooks, endless slings and fork truck. Brace members welded diagonally across the upper corners of the side frames are drilled to receive a hook, and S-type hooks can be fitted to the members to enable endless slings to be used. Sideways movement of the wheels is prevented by two curved runners attached to the frame by tubular supports.
A modified form of stillage will shortly be built having a hinged end section and equipped with channel-section guides" for the car wheels. These features will materially reduce the time required ,to mount the car in the stillage, which is normally performed by one man. The prototype of a saloon-car stillage has been built and tested.
Dimensions of an open stillage include a length of 13 ft. 2 in., an approximate width of 5 ft. 6 in. and a height of 3 ft. 4 in. The docks service is being operated by a Hands semi-trailer with Scammell coupling which is loaded with six stillages stacked three high toa total height above ground level of 14 ft. 6 in. The prime mover is a Commer tractor.
A stillage can be dismantled by one man in about 20 min. by removing the coupling and fish-plate bolts and withdrawing the cross tubes. It weighs 5 cwt., and when closed occupies a space of 13 ft. 2 in. by 3 ft. 2 in. by 1-ft.
A representative of The Commercial Motor who watched operations at Cohndon Wharf confirms that crane-loading of the stillages can easily be completed in about 16 min. Lashing down occupies about 15 min., but this will be reduced when a special type of cable-and-turnbuckle equipment is employed.