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REVIEW: SHUTTERS
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OPENING T ROLLER SHUTT IS
Roller shutters are not a new idea, but they have moved with the times to compete with the demand for improved load access.
• Roller shutters have been around a long time. But, unlike some other longestablished materials and components used in the body building business, shutters have moved with the times.
As demand for more productive distribution vehicles has arisen, there has been an equal demand for improved access to the load.
While curtain-sided bodies have answered much of the demand for good side access to the load, the roller shutter has become the number one choice for rear closure. All the UK's major shutter manufacturers point to the narrow slat (or lath) roller unit becoming less popular for general commercial transport applications. But, this shutter type, with laths in the 34-57mm width range, remains the chosen type for a host of specialist applications, such as fire engines and other emergency service vehicles.
The wide-slat unit which is now the main shutter option for commercial transport use was developed in the USA by the Whiting brothers during the early 1950s. The Whitings put the concept into production: the rest, as they say, is history.
For distribution, wide slat shutters have a number of benefits. Of these the durability and speed of access, compared with earlier narrow slat designs, were the initial attraction. Other benefits include easier cleaning, painting and liverying. In these days of higher standards of perishable goods transport, a further wide slat benefit has come to the fore. The wide-slat shutter can be insulated, making a combination of a temperaturecontrolled body with the benefit of roller shutter access a practical possibility.
Early experience with insulated shutters indicated that the concept was sound, but development was required to achieve a higher level of thermal performance. Subsequently, roller shutter manufacturers have spent a lot of time on improving sealing and insulation performance. As a result some insulated wide-slat-shutter temperature-controlled bodywork now meets ATP Class C test requirements.
HIGH STANDARD
In this country Whiting (UK) claims a very high standard of thermal efficiency for its wide slat Tempsaver 50 shutter, which uses foamed-in-situ techniques, rather than slab foam for the insulation. Last year 50 reefer trailers built by Wincanton Bodyworks with TS50 insulated shutters achieved ATP Class C certification.
The Tempsaver design is now being further developed, with the adoption of a synthetic door mounting arrangement to improve thermal performance. Also available this year is a pneumaticallyoperated balancer arrangement, to provide push-button operation.
A further advantage of the Whiting pneumatic design is the reduction in header rail depth from 216mm to 101.6mm. Prototypes of this design, in operator service on a two-deck trailer, b. • have been found to increase productivity as the reduced depth shutter head rail allows an extra row of roll cages to be carried on the top deck.
Another of the major names in the business is Dover Roller Shutters. This major supplier of wide and narrow slat shutters is also in the process of introducing a number of project improvements, including an air-operated version of its Nyloy 150 shutter. This is actuated by a simple key switch and should be useful for multi-drop operations.
FULLY SEALED
Dover has also won a contract to supply the Danish State Railway with over 400 Nyloy 150 shutters for use on intermodal containers. These shutters are fully sealed and have an opening mechanism which is actuated by infra-red light.
James and Bloom, a Hanson company, makes Bodiguard and Kwikfit narrowslat shutters as part of a wide range of bodybuilding components. The company's latest development is the Bodiguard lightweight PVC roller curtain which has been introduced as a side or rear closure method for light delivery vehicles.
The Henderson shutter range includes a choice of dry freight or insulated wideslat shutters. The company also offers the Citydoor, a small, wide-slat design for side or rear applications which extends roller shutter speed of access in panel vans.
MOST RECENT
One of the most recent entrants to the shutter market is Impetus Trading. This Romsey-based company, with a predominantly Midlands and South East bodybuilder customer base, makes narrow-slat shutters, but it is also building up production of its own wide-slat dry-freight shutter.
This shutter is made from 12mm thick phenolic-coated ply panels. The company says that any strength reduction caused by the use of this thinner material is overcome by the full-width, interlocking alloy hinges used to link the individual sections together.
Robinson Shutters specialises in the production of alloy slat shutters which are used by most UK fire brigades. The company offers a remote central locking system for these shutters, designed to be especially useful for multi-door applications.