GB1093051A - Improvements relating to slideways for transport - Google Patents

Abstract

1,093,051. Supporting and propelling vehicles. COLCHESTER LATHE CO. Ltd. Jan. 8, 1965 [Jan. 10, 1964], No. 1193/64. Heading B7L. [Also in Division F2] An anti-friction slideway for supporting a train of rafts 1 comprises a pair of tracks 10 formed on their upper surfaces with hollow cavities 14 each supplied with a fluid, e.g. oil through small bore pipes 15, which overflows the edges 13, and whereby in any cavity completely covered by a flat support surfaces 5 of a raft the fluid pressure will be sufficient to maintain the support surfaces out of contact with said edges. The restrictive nature of the pipes 15 limits the overflow of the oil from the cavities when they are not covered but a potential pressure of 160 p.s.i. exists in the oil reservoir to support the raft when a cavity is covered. The tracks are mounted in troughs 30 which collect the overflowing oil and transfer it to be filtered and recirculated to a manifold pipe 16. The slideway is set in a channel 17 so that the raft working surface 2 is substantially level with a workshop floor 18, flexible rubber side seals 2A preventing dirt entering the channel. Side pick-ups 6 supply the rafts with electricity. The tracks comprise a series of cast units 11, Figs. 2 and 3 (not shown), the edges 13 of the cavities be ground so they are coplanar. At raft loading stations vertical guides 20 guide an elevator frame 21 holding the raft on to cams 23, Fig. 5 (not shown), provided on spindles 24. In the operative position the cams extend above the level of the track and when the raft is placed on them they are rotated by a lever assembly and gently lower the raft on to the track. The operation is reversed at an offloading station and may be automatically actuated by the raft tripping a switch. Powerdriven friction rollers 22 propel the rafts away from the loading station and further movement is by an hydraulic reciprocating ram 25, with a rapid return stroke, the pawl 25A of which engages a lip 25B on the last raft of a train. A constant delivery with a variable delivery pump control the rate of action of the ram. The invention is not restricted to rafts transported on a pair of tracks and the rafts may move in two dimensions over an area provided with the necessary array of cavities by a turntable. If the fluid is gaseous e.g. air the troughs 30 are not necessary and the air may be admitted to successive " blocks " of cavities preceding the raft by valve means to reduce running costs.