9th Feb 2018
We were recently contacted by the NHS to design a bespoke trolley for the safe transportation of gas cylinders. The trolley needed to carry a total of thirty-two ZX cylinders of various medicinal analgesic / anaesthetic gases, each weighing 14kg. The trolley needed to routinely carry loads in excess of 420kg over variations of ground conditions, be manoeuvrable enough to get around hospital corridors and hospital porters need easy access to load and unload cylinders while minimising lifting.
To fit all the above requirements the trolley was designed around 50*25mm box section steel that allows the trolley to have exceptional strength while having a relatively low self-weight. A turntable steering system was incorporated that allows better control and manoeuvrability when compared to swivel castors’. We selected 40cm solid Polyurethane wheels’ that will never get a puncture, are harder wearing then standard pneumatic tyres, support a ton in weight and provide a degree of shock absorption to cope with the varying ground conditions. We designed fold down ramps and an easily removeable crossbeam; allowing the cylinders of gas to slide on and off the side of the trolley thus increasing efficiency and reducing manual handling.