FACILITATING LOADING AND UNLOADING.
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THE operations of loading and unloading a motor vehicle, often enolagh simple in themselves, have a direct bearing on working costs. It is perfectly true that such tasks are frequently carried out with little thought for the time and labour which they involve, and for this reason they are often tackled in a very inefficient way.
In some classes of trade the packages which have to be dealt with are of such a size and weight that loading and unloading present few, if any, difficulties, hitt in others, where miscellaneous goods put up in a variety of ways may have to be transported, the problem is seldom so simply solved. How often has one seen heavy cases being manhandled in a laborious fashion when the use. of a suitable tackle would have re
milted in time being saved and the expenditure of much physical energy avoided.
It is simple enough to load, or unload heavy goods by the aid of mechanical. equipment from a lorry with a platform body, or one with deep or shallow sides, but the task is certainly not easy of accomplishment when a body with a permanently fixed tilt cover is employed.
As it is vital to give protection to some classes of goods which are fragile or delicate and may readily be damaged by rain, sun or dust, it is imperative sometimes to use a fixed canopy, but the difficulties which have hitherto existed when loading and unloading vehicles in which such bodies are used can now be entirely overcome if the form of sliding
tilt, which is illustrated on this page, applied to a Guy vehicle be utilized.
The idea is so simple in general principle that it cannot fail to appeal to users who are anxious to increase the actual time that their vehicles spend on the road. The accompanying illustrations serve to prove the value of the system, for they show how the task of taking aboard or removing weighty cases can be facilitated by sliding the tilt cover to the fore end of the vehicle.
• It will be seen that the body top is made to slide well ahead of the driver's cab, thus exposing the greater portion of the load on the platform. The van top runs on roller bearings disposed along the top of the hinged side boards and along the sides of the cab. The minimum effort is required to move the body top, which can be readily pushed forward after unscrewing two fastening brackets on each side; the reverse action is, of course, just as easily effected.
A patent for the design has been applied for both at home and abroad by Mr. Sparshatt, the managing director, of Portsmouth Commercial Motors, Ltd., of Portsmouth, who are agents for Guy vehicles. The idea he seen in our Pictures applied to a 1-ton vehicle of this make, but it can be equally well adapted to machines of greater carry
ing capacity. The device enables a crane or block and tackle to be used in eases where their employment has been impossible or much restricted.