LIFT-UP TIPPING TRAILER HAS UNDERFLOOR RAMS
Page 45
Page 46
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
New Neville Design for 32 tons G.t.w.
By P. A. C. Brockington, A.M.LMech.E 1-1. A PAYLOAD capacity of 20 tons 10 cwt. and a 19 cu. yd. body with a length of 27 ft 6 in. are features of a 32-ton-gross chassisless tipping semi-trailer demonstrated last week by Neville Industries (Mansfield) Ltd. at the company's new Bradder works in Mansfield. The unladen weight of the outfit with a Foden 6A6/32 tractive unit is 11 tons 10 cwt. The prototype outfit will be operated experimentally by Hoveringham Gravels and will afford an increase in payload of over 3 tons compared with the concern's 26 ton eight-wheeled rigids.
Whilst the basic operating principle of the trailer, which is known as the Radilift, is similar to that of the Villiers in that the running gear is moved towards the tractive unit when the entire structure is tipped, incorporation of the hydraulic rams in the radial-arm assembly (compared with location over the fifth-wheel coupling in the case of the Villiers outfit) enables the coupling to be fitted in the position recommended by the makers of the prime-mover and the body to be extended forward of the coupling. Moreover, the system provides for tipping about hinge pins at the, rear of the tandem-axle bogie, all the wheels of which remain in contact with the ground, whereas the Villiers trailer tips about the rear bogie wheels, and the front wheels are raised with the body.
Other dimensional details of the outfit include a distance between outer axles of 32 ft. and an overall length of 37 ft. 6 in., whilst the unladen weight of the trailer is 5 tons. The Foden tractive unit is of the standard type with a wheelbase 11 ft. 3f in. and is powered by a Foden Mk. 7 two-stroke having an output of 225 b.h.p. Developed by Anthony Hoists in conjunction with Neville, the lifting gear is a twin-ram two-stage unit which gives an angle of tip of 47 degrees with a maximum operating pressure of 1.500 lb./ sq. in. The six-cylinder hydraulic pump is 'of Edbro manufacture.
The body is built of standard Neville light-alloy bolted sections and has a width and height of 7 ft. 8 in. and 2 ft. 6 in. respectively. The tailboard is of the Neville rubber-sealed type. The rams are swivel-mounted towards the rear of the radial-arm assembly and are pivoted to the castellated steel lifting frame some 2 ft. in front of the upper pivots of the radial arms, the lower pivots of which are mounted on the fifth wheel. A cross-braced stabilizer is linked at its upper end to transverse extension of the radial arms in line with the swivel pins of the rams and at its lower end to the front of the tandem-axle bogie,. It acts, therefore, as a compression bar as well as a stabilizer and, by preventing elevation of the front end of the bogie, provides greater stability during the tipping operation. If required, a trailer could be produced without a stabilizer and the bogie attached rigidly to the main frame, in which case the front wheels would be lifted clear of the ground when the trailer was tipped as with the Villiers. A Hope anti-jack-knifing device is fitted to the fifth-wheel assembly and it is pointed out by Neville technicians that this is facilitated by the absence of ram mounting gear on the coupling. Not shown in the photographs, manually operated landing-gear jacks are attached to the ends of the cross-arm on the rear end of the radial-arm assembly. A Clayton Dewandre three-line airbraking system is used in conjunction with Anchor-Lok-operated bogie brakes. The parking brake is also Anchor-Lok actuated, whilst a hand lever in the driver's cab can be used to apply the rear brakes to lock the wheels during the tipping operation. Michelin " X" 22.5 x 10.00 tubeless tyres are fitted to both the semi-trailer and tractive unit. The running gear is built of Foden standard units, a separate sub-frame carrying a two-leaf-spring, fully articulated suspension assembly. Normally a tandem running gear will be offered with a Norde suspension based on four Metalastik rubber units which ,act in shear and compression and offer . particular advantages for light-load running. Tipping trailers of 12 ton and 16 ton capacity will later be available.
Another Topic
At the Neville demonstration, the problem of resonant vibrations with a conventional suspension system was one of the main topics of conversation with Mr. P. James and Mr. P. Knight of Hoveringham. who attribute repeated fractures of the long bodies of 26-tongross rigid tippers to high-frequency vibrations when the vehicle is running empty. As mentioned in " Technitopics " on page 55, resonance is caused by the leaf springs "acting solid" when the vehicle is unladen, in which case the vibration of the wheels is completely undamped, the only springing being provided by the tyres. Standing near the group was Mr. R. Wragg, managing director of the North Derbyshire Engineering Co. Ltd., which produces the Norde rubber-based suspension. This has no built-in friction and, later, Mr. George Neville confirmed Mr. Wragg's claim that the Norde system eliminates resonance and high-frequency fatigue failures. This has been found particularly advantageous in the case of Neville trailers carrying Metalair lightalloy tankers.
SMTA AND MAA JOINT COMMITTEE THE Motor Agents' Association and the Scottish Motor Trade Association have formally agreed that a joint consultative committee shall be set up with the object of working together to give the best possible service to the retail motor trade.
The first meeting of the committee will probably be held before the end of the year. Its terms of reference will be wide and initially its work will be almost entirely exploratory, to see how best its objective may be achieved.
The SMTA representatives will be Mr. W. D. Miller, president, and Mr. David Fairley, general secretary. The MAA will be represented by Mr. Reg Hill, president; Mr. Alan W. Wright, deputy president; and Mr. Frank Higham, director-general.
Fork Truck Winner
'L'OR the second time in three years the Fork Truck Driver of the Year Competition has been won by Mr. Peter Simmons, driving a Conveyancer E4-24 electric truck. Mr. Simmons, who works for Kimberley Clark Ltd., Maidstone, Kent, first won the title in 1963, and again this year, driving a similar Conveyancer vehicle. He was awarded the champion's laurels, coming first in Class B and in the overall finals.
Redfords in Glasgow
THE largest display of Bedford commer cial vehicles ever staged in the UK will open on November 12 in the Finnieston Street, Glasgow, showrooms of SMT Sales and Service Ltd. Designed to coincide with the Scottish Motor Show, the SMT Exhibition will comprise more than 60 Bedford goods vehicles and p.s.v.
Road-Rail Techniques
A COMPANY has been created in 1-3. France to assess the possibilities of the various road/rail techniques that are now in being in that country and even-tually to decide on all future developments. The company, Societe Civile d'Etudes et de Coordination des Transports Mixtes (known as SECOTRAM), comprises three groups — the GTTM 1 SOFRAMIXTE group, which operates the UFR road/rail trailers (see The Commercial Motor, February 26. 1965); the SEGI/STEMA group, which operates Kangaroo rail/ road semi-trailers (The Commercial Motor, July 31, 1964); and a railway group which includes a special company, Compagnie Nouvelle des Cadres (CNC), formed to develop containerization in France.
The address of SECOTRAM is 95 rue dAmsterdam, Paris Sc.
Dennis Paxits for Southwark: Dennis distributor. Commercial Motor Garage Ltd. has received an order from the new London Borough of Southwark for 12 Dennis Paxit Major DIA refuse collectors.