GB177859A - Improvements in means for handling and transferring freight - Google Patents

Abstract

177,859. Fitch, B. F. Dec. 31, 1920. Handling transferable vehicle bodies; platforms; crabs; overhead transporters.-A travelling crane for transferring freight in removable bodies of motor-vehicles is arranged to move longitudinally of a platform 10 and has a hoisting trolly 15 which moves across the platform and along a boom overhanging the roadway 11, so that a vehicle can be unloaded at any point on the road 11 and the load deposited at any point on the platform or on a railway vehicle at any point of a track at the other side of the platform. The travelling crane comprises a roofed structure 40, 41 supported on triangular braced legs 22 and movable on rails 13, 14. According to the invention, rail 13 is at a level intermediate between the levels of the platform and the vehicle runway. As shown, upper and lower overhead rails 14 are carried on the wall 12 of the freight station so as to avoid obstruction of doorways or openings in the wall, but in a modification, in which the platform 10 is between the roadway 11 and a railway track, the rails 14 are arranged at the edge of the platform similarly to the rails 13, and support legs such as 22. The crane carries a motor 30 which drives the wheels 18 through gearing 31, 32 and a shaft 33 for moving the crane along the platform; a motor 60 on the trolly 15, which drives the wheels 58, 59 through gearing 61, 63 for traversing; and a motor 69 for hoisting. Winches.-The motor 69 drives two winding drums 66 simultaneously in the same direction, and four cables 65 pass over sheaves 67 arranged for lifting the vehicle body at four points, the cables leading two from the upper and two from. the lower sides of the drums.