Volume Eleven - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - some more aspects - Patent Applications by George Taylor, of Penarth, 1883 . . .

By thus passing each chain over the rams of both hoisting cylinders the platform is kept horizontal in hoisting and lowering notwithstanding inequality in the action of the rams and by passing the two back chains k. over the rams of both the tilting cylinders the tilting may be effected at any point of the lift and unequal action of the tilting cylinders is compensated.

To enable the staith to be moved back from the face of the loading berth the travelling wheels C. instead of being capable of running in one line, only would be made to swivel as next described and the rear girder B1. is constructed so that its middle portion (which is bent downwards as shown and which is of open box section and embraces the rail D.) may be raised to disengage it from the rail D. when the staith is required to be moved backwards b2. b2. being screws for lifting it.

The staith would be furnished with an ordinary shoot and appliances connected therewith and the platform would have the usual stops for keeping the waggon in position thereon. When hydraulic machinery is used as above described connection would be made with the hydraulic mains by ordinary pipe connections.

The loaded waggons may enter the staith from portable turntables or traversers from either a low or a high level. When they enter at a high level counterweights may be used instead of hydraulic machinery for lowering and tilting the waggon; but with counterweights the tilting is effected by lowering the front of the platform instead of raising the back and for this reason the staith framing should be correspondingly higher when counterweights are used.

Figure 4 is an elevation Figure 5 a plan and Figure 6 a vertical section of one of the travelling wheels of the portable staith mounted in a swivelling carriage for the purpose of enabling the staith to be moved in any desired direction.

C. is the travelling wheel for ordinary motion along the loading berth. 1t has a detachable flange c. secured to it by bolts which when the bolts are released may be raised above the tread of the wheel so as not to interfere tho swivelling motion of the wheel.