Moving floor
Moving floor is a hydraulically-driven moving-floor conveyance system for moving bulk material or palletized product, which can be used in a warehouse, loading dock or semi-trailer. It automates and facilitates loading and unloading of palletized goods by eliminating the need for a forklift to enter the trailer. In a truck-based application, the system can quickly unload loose material without having to tip the trailer or tilt the floor as with other dumping systems. In a bulk material application such as a waste facility, these systems can reduce double handling by allowing any vehicle to deliver material to the conveying floor and move heavy bulk materials to subsequent stages of a process. For bagged waste, the system can also be combined with bag openers.
TMT Tanks & Trailers
TMT Tanks & Trailers is a company from San Benedetto del Tronto (Italy) that has been building semitrailers with a moving floor system for 50 years. The core business of TMT is based on moving floor semi-trailers: self-supporting, with continuous chassis and side doors, intermodal for highway-sea-railway, considered a real revolution in the sector so as to obtain, at international Ecomondo fair, a recognition for technological innovation. The CONCHIGLIA model is the semi-trailer with a multifunctional and efficient moving floor. Its self-supporting chassis is in Strenx 700 steel which guarantees strength, but at the same time lightness. It is a flexible vehicle suitable for almost all general cargo transport, from packages to bulk materials with its load capacity of 92 m3 and an internal useful length of 13,400 mm. This model can be equipped with side doors, both right and left, of 6200 mm. The SCRIGNO model with wide opening doors and sliding column has an obvious advantage: the high flexibility for the most different return loads, reduces the idle stroke rate and increases profit. With a side loading width of the semi-trailer of 12,060 mm and a continuous loading height of 2,540 mm, large items can be easily accommodated. By opening individually, the folding doors allow partial unloading. Load securing is also optimized thanks to DIN EN 12642 approval (XL code). In this way almost all general cargo transports are covered in maximum safety and efficiency, responding to the needs of the Northern European market. From these openings it is possible to load all kinds of panels, boxes, profiles and palletized material in addition to the bulk material in maximum certified safety. www.tmtinternational.it
How it works
The moving floor is divided into three sets of narrow floor slats, with every third slat connected together, hydraulically powered to move forward and backward either in unison, or alternately. When all three sets move in unison, the load is moved upon them in the direction the operator wishes. Slat retraction (during which the load does not move) is accomplished by moving only one set of slats at a time. (The friction of the load on the two stationary sets of slats keeps the load from moving while a single set of slats alternately slides past.)
Use in a trailer
Optionally, the semi-trailer may include a movable front wall with a rubber flap at the bottom extending onto the floor, or simply a movable flap or tarp at the front of the trailer bed on which the material was loaded. During unloading of loose material, either of these will ensure that nothing is left behind, almost or completely eliminating having to sweep the floor.
It takes about 5 to 15 minutes to unload a full 13.6-metre trailer, taking less manpower, equipment and time than without the system. The operator can enter a narrow low gate and dump the load inside a building. With a conventional tipper (or dump truck), that is often not possible. It is also possible to handle a full-width or full-length pallets, without opening the sides of the trailer.
Conveying pallets
A similar system is designed specifically for moving pallets. It uses only two (rather than three) sets of slats; where one set raises the load just enough for the second set to retract. After the load-raiser lowers and retracts, then both sets move together to actually move the load. Load capacity is 30 tons and floor speed is up to 12 feet/minute.
External links
Media related to Moving floors at Wikimedia Commons
www.tmtinternational.it