Trailers Work in Pairs
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AFLEET of special trailers has recently been built by Carrimore Six Wheelers, Ltd., North Finchley, London. N.12. to the order of the English Electric Co.. Ltd. The trailers, which are of two types, will work in pairs and arc for use by the Metropolitan Water Board.
One of the models is an eight-wheeler
'Anti two short independent axles at the front, carrNing four wheels in line, and tandem-bogie rear axles coupled by a central balance beam. II has a carrying capacity of 22 tons, and is 29 ft. 3 in. long, 8 ft. 6 in. wide, and 12 ft. 6 in. high overall. The large body is built entirely of steel and the sides open out, the upper sections forming an awning and the lower parts a working platform. It accommodates a 475 kW. generating set and works in conjunction with an auxiliary trailer.
This has a normal four-wheeled chassis, with body similar to that of the main trailer. It carries a 600-gallon fuel tank, an air compressor, with bottles, for starting the engine on the main trailer, electric cable reels, and a complete kit of spares for the generating set. It is 18 ft. 3 in. long and 8 ft. 6 in, wide overall. A loading height of 3 ft. 8 in. and a body height of 7 ft. 9 in. give an overall height of 11 ft. 5 in. There is a detachable hinged support leg at each corner, whereas the larger trailer has four steadying jacks on each side.
Both trailers have Michelin tyres, those on the "parent" being 7.50-20 12-ply and those on the auxiliary trailer, 7.00-20 10-ply. Both also have singlepipeline pressure brakes connected to the prime mover.
SUITABILITY for quantity production is increasingly becoming the most important factor in design and this particularly applies to power units. The pressbutton factory could, in the opinion of many production experts, be planned on existing technical knowledge, and in any event great advances in automation in the next decade are a foregone conclusion. The universal machine tool operated by a skilled workman has already been relegated to experimental and development shops; labour costs are so high that any factory making mechanical components for commercial use must employ the latest types of automatic machine for runs of thousands of components a week.
The application of electronics to production technique percentage of the annual depreciation, than is the case with a unit built cheaply in large quantities for a much shorter service life between replacements. The latter will undoubtedly be the trend which automation will foster.
If mechanized assembly is successfully adopted the details of the power unit must be changed to accommodate it. All existing units are designed for hand stripping, so that they can be overhauled at regular intervals by mechanics in the operator's workshops or in the factory service depot. The machine-built unit would probably be "buttoned up" and impassible to strip in the normal way. Such jobs as valve grinding and the renewal of pistons or bearings would be