Scientific American Supplement, No. 312, December 24, 1881 by Various
page 8 of 129 (06%)
page 8 of 129 (06%)
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are two steel disks on which an adjustable cap rests; by means of this
and the ties to the tail and the lower end of the strut a proportion of the weight can be brought on to the post so as to relieve the roller path to any desired extent, and enable the crane to be revolved easily. The truck is 24 ft. long and 16 ft. 4½ in. wide; it is constructed of longitudinal and transverse box girders 2 ft. 8 in. deep, and rests on two axles 6 in. in diameter; round these axles swivel the cast-iron bogie frames which carry the ground wheels. This arrangement was adopted because the crane has to travel up a gradient of 1 in 30, and the bogies enable it to take the incline better; they also distribute the weight more evenly on the wheels. The gauge of the rails is 15 ft, the wheels are 2 ft. 6 in. in diameter, and have heavy steel tires. The weight on each of the front wheels when running with the ballast, but no load, is about 16 tons. A powerful brake is applied to the wheels when descending the incline. All the clutch levers, break treadle, and handles are brought together, so that one man has the crane under his entire control. An iron house, of which the framing only is shown, extends from the gearing right back to the boiler, forming a most spacious engine room and stokehole. A separate donkey engine is provided for feeding the boiler. The truck is furnished with legs under which packings can be wedged so as to relieve the load on the wheels when block-setting. The slings seen under the boiler are for hanging a concrete balance weight; this will weigh about 20 tons. The weight of the crane itself without load or ballast is about 80 tons. The crane was tested under steam with a load of 19 tons with the most satisfactory results; the whole machine appeared to be very rigid, an end often very difficult |
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