Hydraulic ejector speeds turn-round
Page 32
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
& VEHICLE turn-round operation involv
ing the unloading and loading of 21420 ilk bottles is being achieved in little more tan 5 min. at the Hillsborough, Sheffield, spot of Express Dairy (Northern) Ltd. laying an important part in this is a semiailer van fitted with special hydraulic ejector luipment manufactured by Edbro Ltd., olton.
Built by Cravens Homalloy on a BTC ..mi-trailer, the 27 ft. 6 in.-long by 7 ft. 6 in.ide van is used as a bulk feeder from the aiding plant at Broadfield Road in Sheffield. ,oad capacity is 10,560 bottles on stillages, a.ch carrying 24 crates holding 20 bottles. At Broadfield Road the stillages are loaded Ito the van by fork-lift truck, an operation tking 20 min.
The stillages rest on roller tracks incororated in the floor. Running the full length f the body in the centre of the floor is a raised hannel which carries the ejector equipment. !ap able of a line pull in the region of 2,500 lb., us is operated by Duplex roller chains owered by Edbro hydraulics working from le engine of the AEC tractive unit. This is ut into operation on arrival at the Hillsorough depot.
An unusual feature at Hillsborough is the floating" dock, up to which the van is reersed. To prevent the van from touching the rich, it is backed up to a concrete "stopper" uilt into the floor. On this is mounted a motorized hydraulic jack which lifts the chassis frame, raising the heavily loaded van floor to dock height.
The "floating" dock, which runs horizontally on rails by means of electric power, also has roller tracks in the floor. The dock is moved to locate these with those inside the van, and the ejector mechanism, controlled by a lever in a compartment at the nearside rear, is set in motion. The stillages are pushed out on to the dock in just one minute.
When the ejection equipment has been returned to its normal position up against the bulkhead, the dock is "floated" so that waiting stillages with crates of empty bottles, again on matching roller tracks, can belocated to correspond with those in the van floor. These are then pushed manually into the van ready for their return to the bottling plant.
Back at Broadfield Road, the stillages are unloaded again by the ejector equipment on to a platform with roller tracks which can be adjusted for height to suit the vehicle.
To prevent movement of the stillages in transit, locking devices are provided along each side of the van. These are raised and lowered by hand through apertures built into the lower part of the alloy body.
The whole of the system described is covered by patents taken out by Express Dairy Co. Ltd.