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the squeezer
AN AMERICAN invention enabling lightweight foam blocks or similar materials to be carried in larger quantities within a normal-sized box van trailer is now available in Britain.
The device, the StrickSqueezer, is a development of a 12.2 metre (40 ft) truck trailer or container body which has been fitted with a pully system and removable bulk head to compress the material being carried into a third of its original volume.
Armour plate aluminium is used for the front section of the squeezer body and the whole trailer is said to be extremely strong.
Loading the trailer with foam blocks is very simple. The vehicle is backed up by a loading bay and the first series of blocks installed until they nearly reach the door of the trailer.
An aluminium-magnesium lightweight bulk head, which has wheels fitted to the bottom edge, is rolled into the • back of the body by one man. It is lifted into place at the back end and two cross members are attached to the four cables which run from the front of the vehicle to • the back.
These cables are connected together by a series of pullies at the front of the trailer and are joined to a 7.5hp electric motor which provides the compressing force.
It is necessary for an outside supply of 3-phase electricity at 415 volts to be available to run the squeezer, but the manufacturers say that this is readily available at most warehouses and factories.
Once the bulk head is in position, the motor is started by means of a remote control hand unit.
As the cables pull the bulk head towards the front of the trailer, the foam is gradually compressed to a third of its original thickness.
Once full compression is completed — there is an inbuilt automatic safety cut out to prevent overload on the motor — the first bulk head is held in its forward position by standard Aeroquip locking bars which are slotted into tracks at the sides of the trailer.
The process is repeated with more blocks of foam and bulk heads until the trailer is full.
When the vehicle reaches its destination, unloading is a reversal of the loading procedure with the motor being used to release the bulk head under full control.
In the UK and Europe the Squeezer will be handled by Amari IAmited, New Bond S House, london, a subsidiary o Selectio Trust Limited, an, will be available on a leasehol, basis at 18 dollars a day for five-year lease.
Amari also intends to intro duce its associate company Transrent Internationa which, together with Strict will form a new Europea. organisation offering a rang of trailer leasing services.