Novel Loading Facilities in Meat Trailer
Page 47
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ABIG difficulty of large-scale meat haulage is the handling of carcases Aveighing some 4 cwt. each. This problem has been thoroughly solved in a 9-ton trailer recently built by R. A. Dyson and Co., Ltd., 76-80 Grafton Street, Liverpool, 8, two views of which appear on this page.
To be used for the transport of fresh meat, the vehicle is equipped for speedy handling of the load and constitutes a big improvement on less modern designs. With a floor height of only 1 ft. 9 ins., the van is 18 ft. :I ins, long and 10 ft. high. Under the .1-oaf are four longitudinal I-section girders. along which run, on rollers, the hooks from which the carcases hang. Needless to say, the superstructure supporting these girders. is substantially built.
There is no necessity to outline the relatively orthodox construction of the chassis, body and superstructure, although these are by no means without interest, 'for the lifting gear is the salient feature. It should be Mentioned, however, the the Upper platform is only 5 ft. 5 ins, long, that the rear axle is built-up, the bed and stubs having shrunk-on steel castings, incorporating the spring housings, and that, as a result of this arrangement, and although twin 29 by 7 tyres are used, there is ample width between the wheel-arches.
Across the rear and just above the ends of the four roof girders, suns a channel with its-main face towards the' rear, On this, and free to slide along it, is a bracket carrying a pulley. Through the former runs a long screw by means of which the pulley can be traversed from side to side.
Working on this pulley and on another at the off side is the crane cable, which is wound on a winch, mounted at a convenient height above the floor, to the right-hand side of the body. Both the winch and the traversing screw are hand-operated by two endless ropes, each of which runs over a pair of large-diameter pulley
wheels. On the end of the cable is a special double hook designed to engage with the roller-equipped meat hooks, these having side extensions,' or trunnions, for this purpose.
The procedure when loading is to attach a meat hook to a carcase and then to hitch on to it the crane hook. Next, by pulling the right-hand rope, the load is raised. Then, with the lefthand rope. the screw is rotated and the moving pulley brought in line with the desired girder. When the meat hook is level with the girder, the carcase is swung forwards until the rollers are.on the flange. The crane hook may then be lowered and disengaged.
Little effort is required to operate the crane, for not only does the mechanism afford a big mechanical advantage, but also friction has been minimized by employing exclusively ball bearings. In this connection it is noteworthy that those in which the traversing screw turns are of the selfaligning type, so that no binding can occur, even if the screw should flex Under load or through distortion of the supporting structure.