I designed the Multi Purpose Drum Trolley, later to be called The Drum Major, because a client asked if there was a drum trolley that would do more than one thing.
The client worked in a chemical company, and asked if we could make a drum trolley that would be easy to use by all types of people simply and easily without too much effort, then be able to load and unload drums from pallets. I didn't realise what a mammoth task that would become, until well into the project.
I noticed that an existing trolley had a spring on the axle which dampened the load when pulling the drum back, so I incorporated a version of that which became the double sided torsion spring. Double sided to spread the load and to provide a softer spring action. So I started from there.
A heavy walled tubing frame with strong cross supports came next. Long handles made for good leverage.
As individually made springs are notoriously different from each other, I had to devise a way of adding or reducing tension, so the variable peg hitch system followed. This allowed the trolley to remain upright whilst being strong enough to provide dampening where required. A delicate balance.
Next came the slide clips that catered for any height drum in that range. The clips were then made two sided - long and short – to cater for various rim depths. These clips enabled any drum rim type to be captured.
We found that if we altered the height of the base of the frame, when the trolley was in the angled position, it would sit just above a standard pallet. We could then push the frame over the pallet, then raise the drum trolley and then deposit the drum onto the pallet. It also worked in reverse – taking a drum from a pallet. We had to add a brake, in order to transition from horizontal back to vertical.
By intentionally placing a second smaller set of wheels half way up the trolley, we could rest the trolley at 45o on to all four wheels, enabling the operator to move the trolley without the load impacting on him/her.
Unintentionally, we found that the spring allowed the trolley handle to be pushed down to horizontal, thereby turning The Drum Major into a drum stand. By adding small internal wheels, the drum could then be rotated, so that the drum bung could be positioned anywhere – great if there was a leak. So now the contents of a 200 Ltr drum could be de-canted into a 20 or 256 Ltr pail.
With a zinc plated for long life this is how the Drum Major became a truly multi-purpose drum trolley...
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