Dempster Container Transfer Unit
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A ROAD/RAIL, side-loading container "L transfer unit for mounting on a standard lorry chassis has recently been added to the range of mechanical handling equipment made by Dempster Bros., Knoxville, Tennessee. Developed to meet the increasing demand for integrated road/ rail movement of containerized freight, it undertakes the transfer of containers from rail flat cars to a conventional rigid or articulated road unit and for reverse transfer from road to rail.
The side loader is mounted on the vehicle chassis and cOnsists of two bolsters with guide channels, under which are installed hydraulic levelling jacks in the front and rear of the chassis frame (all four being independently controlled). Two travelling bail platforms, mounted in guide channels, are driven by a reversible hydraulic motor through a speed reducer. The operator aligns the side loader to the height of the rail flat car, raising it to the proper height with the levelling jacks. The platforms containing the spring-loaded bails move out to engage hooks under the container, which is drawn on to the side loader. The vehicle to which the load, is to be transferred is placed alongside the transfer unit and with its container channels in line with those on the side loader. Using its opposed bails, the side loader pushes the container into the carrying position.
Powell Duffryn Engineering Co. Ltd., of Cardiff, the U.K. licensee for Dempster equipment, is considering the introduction of the side loader in the U.K. and has sent one of its engineers to Knoxville to evaluate the unit.