To transfer unit loads in horizontal position! (old technology)
We were the first in Europe to state that all transfers between distribution trucks and the railway should be horizontal in order to be able to carry out the transfer under the existing power line. Therefore, CCT was created as a response to horizontal management.
The image shows the entire test facility .
Give the yellow structures at the front may illustrate the truck. The container spigots, which can be raised and lowered, can be seen there.
In the middle, illustrate the truck frame with the indications that tell when the booms are in the right position to allow the sled to come over to the truck with load and stay in the right position.
Demonstrations with, among others, people from SJ
Here are the arms that transition to the truck and then to the fingered ant. We see the corner of a 10 foot container that was also tested to transfer to and from Myran.
A structure had been made so that everyone would get a better overview of what is happening during the movements. In the foreground is the computer equipment responsible for the tests. The equipment contained a lot of wire strain gauges that measured the movements in the material.
A fully loaded swap body where we had to cut holes in the roof to access and load
Here is a switch of a swap body that is loaded to the max to carry out the tests. As a maximum, we loaded the gearbox with a load of 35 tonnes.
The tests were carried out at full scale and clearly overloaded against what would apply in reality. These were tests we carried out and wanted to see that the equipment could handle even overloaded unit loads.
A fully loaded half-height container
The image shows the entire facility from above and where a half-high container has been used for full-scale tests. It was much easier to load that unit load and during the tests we loaded it with 32 tons. There is a krt video at the end of this page showing a transfer.
Test equipment seen from the long side. Here you can see the unit load from the long side and it has been moved over to the railway wagon. The unit load in the raised position and you can see the inflated cushions that are on the sled and support the entire unit load. The container pins on the railway wagon can now be lifted up and take over the unit load. The cushions are emptied on lifting and become flat and the sled can be pulled back to the ant. The conatiner pins are lowered and the unit load then rests on the railway carriage.
Here we have used a 10 foot container for the tests.
It was also about testing the smaller units and then, as in this case, a 100 foot container. It is not common in Sweden, but it is found abroad, especially in Japan. We overloaded it to 14 tons without a problem.
It was handled by only one sled with a pillow on the sled. The cushions had a special structure that ensured that the load did not move lengthwise or sideways during a transfer. That's why we always found the container taps.
The special construction that ensured that the sled could be moved lengthwise in both directions.
The picture shows the unique construction of the power pack which ensured that the sled could be transported in both directions and across rail car and distribution car. That made the ant two-sided.
It could unload the rail car from one side and transfer to a distribution car on the other side.
As you can see from the short video at the end of the page, the actual transfer takes 13-15 seconds. With the ant in position for the rail car and the distribution car in position on the other side. Can the transfer take place in less than 1 minute.
Tests for an interested audience!
We carried out several tests in front of an interested audience and as can be seen there was a built-up platform that gave opportunities to see how the entire process was carried out.
In the picture you can see the sleds with the cushions inflated and they form the base that lifts all the unit loads. The yellow construction can replace the truck in the test bench. We had also connected advanced electronics to monitor all the loads on the test equipment's construction.
Transfer at simple temporary terminal location!
Here one of the first tests takes place to move a unit load between the distribution truck and a railway carriage. Takes place at a very simple and temporary terminal location in Gothenburg.
Then the equipment was transferred to for 6 months for internal tests within Volvo Trucks and with cargo between two of their production facilities.
Below is a video from our technical tests showing a transfer in real time
