Dan Phillips, project sales co-ordinator at Doughty explained, "The Articulated Carriage is a piece I'd been working on for a little while and thought it would be worth taking along to PLASA to try it out and see just how well it would work. If it didn't perform as expected, I was ready to go back to the drawing board to fine tune the design. But we built the stand and it worked perfectly - and went on to become the talking point of our stand at this year's show."
The new Articulated Carriages allow the Studio Rail perimeter tracks to be used for scenery or lighting, which presents significant benefit to both television and theatre applications. It consists of a laser profiled 6mm back-bone chassis with independent bogies attached at either end. Both bogies are fitted with guide wheels to steer the carriage around each curve.
One bogie is fitted with a large hook for pole operation while the other features a pole operated brake. The Three Point Receiver allows the spigot to rotate freely when corners are encountered, allowing two carriages to work in unison. "This is in a similar manner to that of a train carriage," continued Dan. "The same principle may be applied practically when mounting a Modular 'H' Frame or if a piece of scenery were to require a carriage at each end. When used independently, the spigot will allow a Drop-Arm or Yoke Arm to be rotated as is required."
Compatible with any Studio Rail 60 curve or straight section, the Three Point Receiver is suitable for Euro Spec 28mm spigots and has a safe working load (SWL) of 200kg.
Doughty is ready to take orders for the new kit and Dan is hoping the new addition to the range will prove to be popular on both for theatre and TV use. "Studio Rail was previously the perfect piece of kit for hanging curtains or for use as a Studio Lighting rail, but an installation which used curves was not fully compatible with much other than curtain carriages. We've now taken away that limitation, making it compatible with lights and the entire Modular Rigging range. We hope that our customers in both the TV and theatre worlds will reap the benefits."
(Jim Evans)
