THE HENDRiCKSON LORRY CRANE.
Page 19
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By Henry Sturiney.
ONE OF THE FIRST patents I ever took out in connection with -motorcars, not far off 25 years ago, was a crane, by means of which heavy merchandise could be lifted on or off a motor wagon with ease. In my.invention. I used a jib crane and an engineoperated winch and it is curious that so useful an idea failed to make any :headway until quite recently; when more than one engine-operated hoist, or winch, has been put on the market in 'America, and I even met with a case the other day in which a jib crane was !employed. It will be seen that the idea Of a crane attached to a truck is now at last beginning to be recognized, after these long years, as Israetieal, :and the Hendrickson truck crane, which is the latest development in this line, strikes out on clearly original lines.
The purpose of the motor truck itself is to save labour and time, and the purpose of the Hendrickson outfit is to save still snore labour and time. Unless the goods to be carried are of quite a light dm:rade'', it is needful to send out two men with each wagon to handle-the goods, and if the weight of each unit of merchandise, as in the case of pieces of heavy machinery, blocks of stone, etc., is really large, it cannot be loaded and unleaded without still more men, and the work of doing so is by. no means free from danger to them. Hendrickson aims at enabling one man only to do the work, however weighty the load units may be, and, curiously enough; he does not utilize the power available in the engine for doing the work, but relies on the use of the well-known system of pulley blocks.
What Hendrickson does is to build up, attached firmly to the elsassie frame, a framework of structural StEse-h supporting a central horizontal I-beans running rather more than the length of the oar platform and mounted at a height just higher than the top of the cab... This • Ibeam supports a small travelliug crane consisting of pair of rollers, one on each side of the central web and running on the bottom flanges of the beam, Which carry a systetn of pulley blocks multiplying in accordance with the weights de signed to •be lifted. With this device projecting a-foot or two beyond the back of the platform, one man: con easily lift the weight vertically, and can then, when it has been lifted high enough to clear the. platform, run it along the length of the beam and drop it on the platform just where required, and can as easily -lift it from the platform, run it hack over the end, and lower it gently to the ground.
In order to allow for the effect of uneven ground, which might cause the beans to set, at a considerable angle, a screw adjustment is provided at the forward end of the beam, whereby this end can be raised and lowered some inches, so that the beam can be levelled, and, moreover, a brake is provided on the trolley, by means of which it cart be prevented fronirovercoming the power
of the Man to control it, if the level has not been set correctly ; and a further adjustment is provided, in one modification of the device, in which, after the removal of a pin, the beam can be adjusted longitudinally, so that be front end can be pushed forward over the cab if it becomes needful to back the wagon close sip against a wall, or, on the other hand, it can be made to project Much more rearward and thus enable the load to be taken from, or dropped down on, land the other side of a fence, for example.
Whilst such a device would be of little use on the ordinary tradesman's lorry, it will undoubtedly prove of considerable advantage in the case of contractors, quarry owners, stone masons, concerns in the heavy engineering trades, and others whose business calls fordealing with heavy unit masses.
In these various trades, the Hendrickeon crane will do much to lessen manual exertion.