Means or Appliances for Use in an Improved System of Loading and Unloading Milk Cans and other Receptacles and Articles of Merchandise and Luggage into and from Railway Vans.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Oct., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 30th July, 1894-Accepted, 27th Oct., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Means or Appliances for Use in an Improved System of Loading and
Unloading Milk Cans and other Receptacles and Articles of
Merchandise and Luggage into and from Railway Vans.
I, WILLIAM COOPER, of Stone House, Stafford, in the County of Stafford,
Basic Slag Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates, more especially, to the loading and unloading into and
from railway vaus of milk cans; but is applicable also to the loading and unloading,
into and from railway vans, of other receptacles, such for instance as fruit baskets,
and articles of merchandise and luggage.
In loading and unloading milk cans at a railway station singly, as is usually the
case, a considerable time is required if there is a large number of cans, and trains
are frequently delayed in consequence; moreover, a great deal of noise is made,
and the somewhat rough handling to which the cans are subjected tends to damage
them.
Now, according to the improved system referred to in the title, the cans (or it
may be other receptacles or articles of merchandise or luggage) to be loaded into a
railway van are first placed upon a platform or frame fitted with rollers underneath
by means of which it rests upon a trolley. The trolley is made of such height up
to the part thereof on which the rollers rest that when it is wheeled up with its end
against the side of the railway van the part of the trolley upon which the rollers of
the platform or frame rest is level, or approximately so, with the floor of the van;
and when the trolley is in such position in relation to the van the platform or
frame is pushed into the van together with all the cans which have been placed
upon it. The cans are unloaded by rolling the platform or frame out again on to a
similar trolley to the one from which it was rolled into the van. The platform or
frame may be provided with handles for convenience in pulling it out of a van.
It is preferred that the sides of the van shall each be made up of a number of
sliding doors, so that any part of a side can be opened. In the case of vaus formed
to open in the middle only, or at the ends only, the platforms or frames on which.
the cans rest may be mounted upon castors, so that after being pushed into the van
they may be wheeled end ways along the floor thereof so as to enable as many of
such platforms or frames as the van will hold to be put in position therein.
By means of the above described appliances which constitute this invention the
cans may be loaded and unloaded with great facility, with very little noise and with
no liability of the cans becoming damaged.
Dated this 28th day of October 1893.
STEPHEN
WATKINS,
Wolverhampton, Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Means or Appliances for Use in an Improved System of Loading and
Unloading Milk Cans and other Receptacles and Articles of
Merchandise and Luggage into and from Railway Vans.
I WILLIAM COOPER, of Coton Villa (formerly of Stone House) Stafford in
the County of Stafford, Gentleman (formerly Basic Slag Manufacturer) do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
[Puino QdI

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This invention relates, more especially, to the loading and unloading into and
from railway vans of milk cans; 'but is applicable also to the loading and unloading,
into and from railway vans, of other receptacles, such for instance as fruit baskets,
and articles of merchandise and luggage.
In loading and unloading milk caus at a railway station singly, as is usually the
case, a considerable time is required if there is a large number of cans, and trains
are frequently delayed in consequence; moreover, a great deal of noise is made,
and the somewhat rough handling to which the cans are subjected tends to damage
them.
Now, according to the improved system referred to in the title, the cans (or it
may be other receptacles or articles of merchandise or luggage) to be loaded into a
railway van are first placed upon a loose platform, frame, or tray, fitted with rollers
or castors underneath by means of which it rests upon a trolley. The trolley is
made of such height, up to the part thereof on which the rollers or castors rest,
that when it is wheeled up with its end against the side of the railway van the part
of the trolley upon which the rollers or castors of the tray rest is level, or
approximately so, with the floor of the van, and when the trolley is in such
position in relation to the van, the tray is pushed into the van together with all the
cans which have been placed upon it. The cans are unloaded by rolling the tray
out again on to a similar trolley to the one from which it was rolled into the van..
The tray may be provided with handles for convenience in pulling it out of a van.
The floor of the van and the top of the trolley may, if preferred, be fitted with
rollers or small wheels on which the loose platform, frame, or tray, may be rolled,
instead of fitting the loose platform, frame or tray with rollers.
In order that the invention may be clearly understood, I will proceed to describe
a practical application thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, of
which
Figure 1 is a transverse section through a railway milk van and portion of a
station platform, and shews a trolley backed up endways against the side of the van
and carrying a tray on which are placed a number of milk cans;
Figure 2 is a sectional plan of the van and a plan of the tray, with its cans, which
is carried by the trolley; and
Figure 3 is a transverse section through the trolley and tray, taken on line x x of
Figure 1.
The van A is, preferably, fitted with a set of sliding doors extending throughout
the entire length on each side, so that any portion of either side may be opened as
desired. A convenient arrangement consists in fitting two doors a a, to slide in
outer grooves, for use in closing in the ends of a side, and in fitting a number of
doors bb etc. to slide in inner grooves for use in closing in the intermediate space
between the doors a a. In Figure 2, two trays B B, carrying milk cans C C etc.,
are shewn in. place within the van, and two of the doors bb are shewn as moved the
one against one end of the van, and the other up against it, leaving an opening c
through which the tray B carried by the trolley is to be pushed into the van. The
upper surface of the top d of the trolley D is level, or approximately so, with the
floor of the van (as shewn by Figure 1), and the tray B is fitted with rollers or
small wheels e e etc. (or castors) by means of which it is readily rolled from the
trolley into the van. By opening the doors at suitable places along the side of a
van, as many trays as the van will hold may, of course, be pushed therein. The
trays with the milk cans resting thereon may be unloaded from the van by rolling
them out on to a trolley such as D.
fare handles fixed to the tray to facilitate drawing it out of a van on to a
trolley, and consist conveniently each of a bar fixed in front of an opening cut out
of the edge of the tray.
If the trays are to be loaded into and unloaded from vans formed to open in the
middle only, or at the ends only, they are made to run on castors, so that after being

page_text: pushed into a van they may be wheeled sideways (that is endways of the van) until
the van is full.
It may sometimes happen at a station that there are not sufficient milk cans for
the same destination to cover, or nearly so, a tray of full length (that is to say, a
tray which reaches from side to side the van, or nearly so); and in such case a
tray of half length may be used. Such a tray is illustrated in plan by Figure 4,
and holds four cans of the ordinary size. It is preferred to mount such a tray on
castors, so that it may be rolled in behind a tray of the same size, or rolled out
from behind it, if it is found convenient in arranging or distributing the traffic.
When castors are used for a tray of either size, it is preferred to use what are
known as
"ball" castors, as more exact movements may thereby be given to the
trays, and such castors are better adapted to support heavy weights than are
ordinary castors.
When castors are used, and more especially ball castors, the tops of the trolleys
may be fitted with grooves or tracks within which the castors run, and the floors of
the vans may be fitted with similar grooves extending transversely thereof along
which the castors run as the trays are pushed into the van, and with similar grooves
or tracks running lengthways thereof along which the castors may run as a tray is
pushed endways of the van. Figure 5 illustrates, in transverse section, to an
enlarged scale, one of such grooves or tracks with a ball castor g resting therein.
Figure 6 is a plan of a portion of one of the transverse tracks h of a van and of a
longitudinal track h¹ which crosses the track h. The track is flared or opened at
its mouth for facility in entering a castor therein as a tray is pushed from off a
trolley into the van; and the hinder ends of the tracks upon the trolleys are
similarly flared or opened to facilitate the passage of the castors from the tracks
of the vans into the tracks of a trolley.
By means of the above described appliances the cans may be loaded and
unloaded with great facility, with very little noise, and with no liability of the cans
becoming damaged. Owing also to the less trundling of the cans, the milk is better
preserved.
It will be obvious that appliances of the character of those above described and
illustrated, for loading and unloading milk cans into and from railway vans, may be
employed for loading and unloading into and from such vans of other receptacles,
such for instance as fruit baskets, and articles of merchandise and luggage. In
some cases, such as when a number of small articles of varying size, which cannot
well be stacked with safety, are for the same destination, the trays may be provided
with two or more sides, and such sides may be made readily removable for convenience
in loading the articles on to a tray or unloading them therefrom.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
Means or appliances for use in an improved system of loading and unloading milk
cans, and other receptacles and articles of merchandise and luggage, into and from
railway vans, which comprise trolleys of which the tops are level or approximately
so, with the floors of the vans when the trolleys are on the station platforms, and
loose platforms, trays, or frames, constructed to be capable of being carried by such
trolleys and of being pushed therefrom on to the floors of the vans and from such
floors onto such trolleys, the said loose platforms, trays or frames being adapted to
be loaded with the milk cans, or other receptacles or articles of merchandise or
luggage, and either the said loose platforms, trays or frames mounted on rollers
wheels or castors, or the said trolleys and vans fitted with rollers upon which the
loose platforms, trays or frames may be rolled, substantially as described.
Dated this 27th day of July 1894
STEPHEN WATKINS,
Wolverhampton, Agent for the Applicant.