Low-floor drop-sided tipping trailer
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IN the case of a drop-sided semi-trailer tipper the body is normally equipped with deep longitudinal runners to afford torsional and beam stiffness, without which the sides would jam when the vehicle was loaded or standing on uneven ground. The problem of providing a low floor height without sacrificing stiffness has been overcome in a novel way by J. B. Weightman and Son Ltd of Brigg, Lines, in the fabrication of an aluminium tipper body for semi-trailer application.
This is based on a design concept evolved by Alcan Aluminium (UK) Ltd of Banbury, Involving the use of skirt type rails in place of full-lengthbody longitudinals. Floor he'ght has been reduced by about 30.5cm (12in) compared with a conventional counterpart.
To accommodate and distribute stresses created by tipping with a single-ram front gear and by the loads on the hinge pins, relatively short longitudinal members with a length of 122cm (4ft) are incorporated in the structure at the front and rear, but their use does not add to the height of the floor which is about 157.5cm (5ft 21n) from ground level.
Based on a Trailor 30-tonne (29.5-ton) chassis and coupled with a lightweight tractive unit the tipper would, it is claimed, have a payload capacity of 23.37 tonnes (23 tons) its unladen weight being 5.6 tonnes (5.5 tons). The weight of the body is 1.62 tonnes (1.594 tons). Having a maximum depth of 45.7cm (18in) the rails have top and bottom flanges comprising 15.24em (6in) by 2.54 (lin) flat bar, and the lower flanges are tied to cross-bearers by channel-section members to eliminate outward displacement when the vehicle is loaded. The web of the rails is of 1.27cm (0.5in) material.
Of welded construction, the body is described by Akan as a semi-monocoque type, and it is said that the use of skirt rails simplifies fabrication and thereby reduces labour costs. The internal width of the body is 239cm (7ft 16m) while the four-a-side detachable sides are of hollow plank construction.