B.R.S. Demonstrate
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New Handling Methods
Extensive Use of Pallets and Fork Trucks with Special Attachments: Electronic Apparatus Aids Load Checking
THE use of the Skid-Stac system with fibre-board pallets, vehicle loading with combined forkand pallet-truck equipment and news of experiments with electronic, apparatus to assist load checking were highlights of a demonstration by British Road Services in Birmingham last week.; A wide variety of Conveyor systems, small trucks for ' work in narrow isles and heavy fork trucks converted to crane operation also aroused widespread interest among the 200 visitors. Some of the equipment was specially developed by B.R.S. engineers to meet particular requirements.
The aim was to show the staff, examples of the latest mechanicalhandling methods ,einployed by B.R.S. (Parcels), Ltd., and warehouse practices that could be fully exploited in new premises. .
Value of Skid-Stae Deicribing the merits of employing the Skid-Stac attachment, which is produCed by the makers of Conveyancer fork-lift trucks, Mr. C. Y. Hardie, special services officer of B.R.S., pointed out that the weight of the pallets was negligible and that they did not occupy much space, to which advantages could be added a monetary
saving of about 30s. a pallet. The truck was seen double-stacking pallet loads on a platform vehicle and unloading at ground level on a rough surface.
A Lansing Bagnall oil-engined I-ton fork truck was shown with prototype equipment enabling a hand-operated truck to be lifted, to vehicle-floor level and thus facilitate the distribution of the pallets from the rear. This systerb was developed for B.R.S. to overcome loading difficulties when access from the sides is impossible. Its demonstration was included in the display of pallet and stillage trucks, " semi-live" stillages and tug-bar handles and examples of their use in perambulating outward warehouse deliveries. . .
A Coventry Climax fork truck was' employed to load a van from the back of the Vehicle with the aid of lengths of lightweight roller conveyor on the floor.
A demonstration of new experimeotal methods of sorting. parcels at ground level involved the use of gravity-type ,lightweight roller conveyors and exemplified one of the advantages of unloading without a platform. An Austin 3-ton van containing an assortment -of small packagei was unloaded by an operatOr in the
422 vehicle and two others at the.lower end of the conveyor, who removed the cases to four cage pallets. This system is employed with great advantage at Burnley depot and enables 3 tons to be unloaded in 15 minutes.
Normally three vehicles are unloaded at the same time, one fork truck being employed to move the filled pallets to a "parallel concentration area," where the packages are sorted into detailed route loadings. The large number, of sorting operations at the depots precludes the use of pallets for All loads.
In the course of the demonstration of the gravity conveyor, Mr. Hardie drew attention to load-checking difficulties which had resulted from the higher speed of unloading made possible by mechanical handling, and referred to two types of apparatus which were being used experimentally to reduce checking time.
One of . these, the Minifon, is of German origin (used by the Gestapo during the war) and is a wire recorder which can be accommodated in the coat pocket and has an operating time of 24 hours. The instrutpent records the verbal statements of the checker, and these are later "played back" to a clerk in the office, who fills in the details on a consignment note.
Another system, which is also the subject of experiment, incorporates an inductive radio set with which the operator transmits the information direct to the depot office.
Big Time Saving
For those depots at which loading and unloading from platforms are necessary (this is normally considered a disadvantage) a special extensible cantilever conveyor has been evolved by B.R.S. technicians, The forward end of the conveyor can be projected up to 16 ft. over the floor of the vehicle, but does not rest upon it. The equipment is in use at the Eastleigh depot and has reduced loading time in some cases from two hours to 30 minutes.
The advantage of a fully mobile conveyor for loading to upper-floor level in warehouses was shown in a demonstra, tion of a Fourways hinged-boom unit produced by Fourways (Engineers), Ltd., Epping, Essex, which was attached to a Ferguson tractor, and is of the type employed at the Cardiff depot. The conveyor has a lifting range of 16 ft., the boom being elevated by a hydraulic ram.
The Copts Paclaveyor with a fully hydraulically actuated adjustable boom was shown in action, and the Collis battery-electric stacker was employed to lift pallets to a higher deck. This machine is moved manually and is available with capacities ranging Up to 24-cwt.
Designed by B.R.S., the special parcels pallet is a plain platform with dished sides, Which tend to tilt the outer packages inwards and so stabilize the load. This is known as the Gondola pallet.
The grea.t value of a side-lift gear for the accurate placing of loads was demonstrated when an S.D. Freightlifter with a capacity of 8 tons was employed to lift a railway container from a semitrailer and load it on to a Bristol eightwheeter. The machine was fitted with a special type of spreader (after removal of the forks) and this could be moved sideways to locate the load exactly. The gear is also useful when a number of large cases must be tightly packed.'
The The Freightlifter was converted to a jib crane by fitting an attachment over the forks for lifting billets, and as a fork truck it handled two 4-ton loads together mounted on Stevedore pallets. These measure 54 in. by 72 in. and are used for consignments destined for shipment.
Handling Heavy Billets
A Ransornes and Rapier fork truck with a capacity of 15,000 lb., equipped with a cantilever jib crane, was used in conjunction with the Freightlifter to load and unload steel billets, three at a time, with a total weight of over 2 tons.
The vehicle was a Bristol eight-wheeler. This operation was performed with slings, also by using 'the forks, the billets being supported on wooden runners both on the floor of the vehicle and on the ground.
In a demonstration (*smaller types of truck, suitable for warehousing on pre mises with structural limitations, six
machines operated at the same time in 8-ft. isles to show the. value of
manceuvrability. The machines included a Lansing Bagnall and a Matling pedestrian-controlled straddle carrier, Coventry Climax and Ransomes clamp trucks and fork trucks of,Conveyancer and Yale and Towne manufacture. Commenting on the advantages of clamp trucks in obviating -the use of pallets, Mr. Hardie commended the makers for overcoming an earlier objec-. non to 'lifting by this method, that it was liable to cause damage to the goods: The, latest types have safety valves which automatically restrict the maxi. mum pressure that can be exerted.
Easy conversion of the mediumcapacity fork truck to a jib crane is of particular advantage at the B.R.S.
depot at Lister Street, Glasgow, and the possibilities of such conversions are increased by the general use of the type.
The facility with which Coventry Climax and Conveyancer trucks could
be equipped with crane attachments was demonstrated, and the machines were employed to lift casps supported on wooden runners to show how pallets could thereby be dispensed with.